Short answer: ask every customer with an email on file, within a day of the visit, with your Google review link; draft a reply to every review the day it lands, including the one-star ones; never buy or fake a review. Twenty reviews in a quarter is realistic for a busy venue that asks.
Asking
The request goes out after a booking, a completed job or a purchase with an email on file. Short, personal, with the direct review link. Staff can also hand a QR card at the counter. Don't ask everyone at once; ten a week reads as real because it is.
Replying
Every review, every time. Positive: thank, name a specific, invite back. Negative: acknowledge, don't argue, offer to sort it offline, and fix the thing. The reply is read by the next hundred customers; the star is read by Google's ranking.
What not to do
Incentivised reviews, review swaps and review-gating (only asking happy customers through a filter) breach Google's policy and Australian Consumer Law guidance on testimonials.
Marketing, reviews and content module
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Written by Christian Stewart, Stewart Systems, Wollongong. Published 2026-09-29. Records and flags, not legal, WHS or insurance advice; rules change, check the regulator for the current one.