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Marketing

How to get reviews in the construction industry: a practical procedure

A step-by-step procedure to collect reviews from your customers: when to call, how to help them write, and how to use AI to simplify everything.

Guido Alberti·8 min read

Problem: your customers are satisfied but no one leaves a review. Your Google profile is half empty while your competitor has 80.

Solution: a 4-step weekly procedure to collect reviews without stress, helping those who aren't tech-savvy.

Result: from 2 reviews a month to 8 or 10, with less effort than you think.

Reviews are the word of mouth of those who don't know you

Word of mouth works brilliantly when your next customer knows someone who has already worked with you. But when a potential customer finds you on Google, they don't know anyone. The only thing they have are other people's reviews.

A profile with 15 reviews and 4.8 stars inspires more trust than any brochure, whether you are in Milan or Palermo. An empty profile or one with 3 reviews from 2021 communicates the exact opposite. The customer doesn't say it, but they think: "If no one has written anything, maybe there's a reason."

And it's not just a question of image. The numbers change in a concrete way depending on how many reviews you have.

Reviews on the profileWhat happens in practice
Less than 5The customer discards you before even calling you. You look like a newly opened or unreliable business
From 10 to 30You start appearing in local searches. A few customers contact you thanks to Google
From 30 to 100Google ranks you higher than your competitors. You receive requests constantly without paying for advertising
Over 100You are the benchmark in your area. Customers choose you before they even see the quote

The point is that your satisfied customers do exist. It's simply that nobody asks them, or you ask them in the wrong way.

Why customers don't leave reviews (even if they're happy)

It's not a lack of gratitude. There are three practical reasons.

The first: they don't know how to do it. Many of your customers have never left a review on Google. They don't know where to click, they don't have an account set up, they get lost in the steps.

The second: they forget. Once the work is finished, the customer goes back to their life. Even if during the handover they say "I'll leave you a wonderful review", three days later they don't think about it anymore.

The third: they don't know what to write. They sit in front of the screen and think "What do I say? Good? Punctual?" The blank page blocks them.

The good news is that you can solve all three problems with a simple procedure.

The 4-step procedure

Step 1: choose a set day

Set aside 30 minutes every week to call the customers whose work finished in the last 2 or 3 weeks. Friday afternoon works well, when the pace on job sites slows down.

You don't need to make 10 phone calls. 3 or 4 a week is enough. In a month that's 12 or 16 requests. Even with a 50% response rate, that's 6 or 8 new reviews a month.

Step 2: ask at the right time

The best time to ask for a review is immediately after the work is finished, when the customer is still enthusiastic. After two months the enthusiasm has cooled down and the request seems out of context.

During the phone call, ask how everything is going first. Listen. If the feedback is positive, the line is simple: "I'm glad to hear it. If you have 2 minutes, a review on Google would really help us. I'll send you the direct link via WhatsApp so it's easier."

Step 3: help those who aren't tech-savvy

This is where the game is won or lost. Most of the reviews you lose, you lose because the customer blocks in front of the screen.

Customer's obstacleHow you solve it
Doesn't know where to writeSend the direct link to the Google reviews page
Doesn't know what to writeSend a 3-line draft they can edit
Doesn't have time to get on the computerTell them to send you a WhatsApp voice message, you'll transcribe it
Doesn't want to appear in personAsk permission to publish a photo of the work with their comment

The draft shouldn't look fake. Three lines that echo what the customer told you verbally: "We replaced all the windows on the ground floor. Job well done, within the agreed timeframe, job site left clean." The customer reads it, changes two words and publishes it. Total time: 90 seconds.

Immediately after the phone call, send a WhatsApp message like this:

"Good morning Mr Smith, thanks for the chat. As I was saying, if you have 2 minutes a review would really help us. I've prepared a draft, edit it however you like and paste it into the link below. Thanks again! [Google link]"

Attach the draft as a message right after. If you ask 10 customers, 6 or 7 will say yes on the phone. Of those 7, 4 or 5 will actually do it if you send them everything ready within 10 minutes of the call.

Step 4: diversify with videos

Written reviews are the foundation. But a 30-second video of the customer showing their new windows is worth ten written reviews.

The trick to lowering resistance: don't ask the customer to stand in front of the camera. Ask them to film the work. "Could you take a quick video of the windows for me? So we can use it to show future customers how they look." The focus is on the work, not the person. Most customers agree without any problems.

You can also invite your best customers to the showroom for a more structured video testimonial. In that case, offer a coffee and 15 minutes of their time. The questions are simple: what were they looking for, how did it go, what do they think now.

BAU Agent

Automate review collection with BAU Agent

BAU Agent identifies the customers to contact, prepares the message with the direct link, generates review drafts and transcribes voice messages. You approve and send. From 30 minutes of work to 5.

See how it works
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How AI simplifies the work for you

Collecting reviews takes time. Artificial intelligence can drastically reduce it on 4 fronts.

First: writing the request messages. Instead of inventing what to say every time, the AI generates a personalised message for each customer based on the type of work done.

Second: creating the drafts. You give the AI your notes from the site survey and the handover, and it prepares a review draft that the customer simply has to approve. Concrete example: the customer sends you a 40-second WhatsApp voice message saying they are happy. You give that voice message to ChatGPT and write "Transcribe this audio and create a 3-line Google review in the first person, natural tone." In 10 seconds you have the draft ready to send to the customer for approval.

Third: transcribing voice messages. The customer sends you an audio message on WhatsApp. The AI transcribes it, tidies it up and you have a review ready to publish (with the customer's permission).

Fourth: turning reviews into content. The best reviews become social media posts, case studies for the website, material for quotes. The AI does this work in seconds.

What to expect after 6 months

If you follow the procedure every week without skipping, the numbers stack up quickly.

MonthNew reviewsTotal on profile (starting from 5)
Month 16 or 811 or 13
Month 318 or 24 (cumulative)23 or 29
Month 636 or 48 (cumulative)41 or 53

After 6 months you have a Google profile that works for you. Customers find you, read dozens of recent reviews and call you already convinced. At that point you're no longer chasing customers. They are the ones looking for you.

What to do now

Take the list of customers from the last 3 months. Choose the 5 most satisfied. Give them a call on Friday afternoon, ask how everything is going and send the link for the review with a ready-made draft. In 30 minutes you've sent out 5 requests. In a week's time count how many have become real reviews.

If you want a system that does this work automatically every week, book 30 minutes with us. We'll look at your Google profile, set up the procedure and show you how AI can cut the time down to just a few minutes a week.

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Want to apply these strategies in your business?

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