How Do I Get More Customer Reviews for My Kitchen Fitting Business?

For installers

If you've been fitting kitchens for years and most of your work comes through recommendation, there's a good chance you've got far more happy customers than your online reviews suggest. I've seen businesses that have been trading for 10, 15 or 20 years, have fitted hundreds of kitchens and still only have a handful of reviews online.

The fitter knows they're good. Their previous customers know they're good and the people who've recommended them know they're good. The problem is that somebody finding them for the first time doesn't know any of that. They can only judge what they find.

That's why reviews have become such an important part of running a trade business. They don't replace the reputation you've built, but they help make that reputation visible to somebody who wasn't there to see it being built.

The examples here are kitchens, but asking for honest feedback and looking after your reputation matter just as much to bathroom installers. It should be part of how an installation business finishes its jobs.

Make asking for a review part of finishing the job

Most installers don't deliberately forget about reviews. The job finishes, you're sorting the last few things, clearing your tools and thinking about the next installation. The customer tells you they're delighted, you thank them and move on.

Three weeks later you remember you should have asked for a review. Then it feels a little awkward, so you don't.

I think the answer is to stop relying on memory and make asking for an honest review part of finishing every job. Deal with outstanding issues properly, but do not use the customer’s happiness as a test for whether they receive the review link. The invitation should be consistent, whatever rating you expect.

It does not have to sound like a marketing script. Something along the lines of “Thank you for choosing us. I’d really appreciate an honest review of your experience. I’ll send you the link so it is easy to find.” is enough.

The important word is honest. You're not asking somebody to say you're brilliant. You're asking them to describe their experience.

Don't be frightened to give them a gentle nudge

This is another one I understand from the customer's side as well. I've done it myself. Somebody does a great job, you tell them you'll leave a review and you genuinely mean it. Then you get home, the phone rings, dinner needs made, work gets busy and suddenly three weeks have gone by.

It doesn't mean the customer didn't appreciate what you did. Life just got in the way.

So I don't think there's anything wrong with a polite reminder. If somebody said they would leave a review and hasn't got round to it, a gentle email or text with the link can be helpful rather than annoying.

There is obviously a line. You don't want to chase somebody five times until they eventually leave a review just to make you go away. Ask properly, make it easy and perhaps give them one sensible reminder. After that, leave it.

Make leaving the review as easy as possible

Don't ask somebody to leave a review and then expect them to go searching for the right profile themselves. Send the link. Use the tools that are available to you. Google Business Profiles can provide a direct review link and QR code. That QR code can go into a handover pack, completion email or wherever it naturally fits into the way you finish the job.

Google reviews can also have a little more friction than some people realise because the customer needs to be signed into a Google Account to leave one. They can use a non-Gmail address for that account, but for somebody who isn't already signed in or comfortable with Google, it can still become a stumbling block.

I've seen customers struggle with review systems over the years, and every additional step gives somebody another opportunity to think, I'll do that later. Which often means they never do. Make it easy.

Don't put your entire reputation in one place

Google reviews are important. I certainly wouldn't ignore them. But I've never liked the idea of having every piece of customer feedback sitting in one place.

Over the years I found platforms such as Houzz useful, and in the UK there are other legitimate review and business-directory platforms such as FreeIndex. Depending on your business there may also be industry directories, retailer platforms or other places that make sense.

I think there is real value in having your reputation visible across more than one legitimate source. That doesn't mean asking every customer to copy and paste the same review onto Google, Houzz, FreeIndex and another four websites. I'd rather see a natural spread develop over time.

Some reviews may be on Google. Others may sit on an industry platform. You may have detailed customer stories or testimonials on your own website. Another customer might review you somewhere else entirely. When somebody searches your name, the important thing is that they keep finding evidence of real customers having real experiences with the business.

That becomes even more relevant now that people aren't only using Google to find installers. As we've covered elsewhere, AI search can draw information together from several places. Having a genuine reputation that exists beyond one profile gives customers, search engines and AI systems more independent information to work with.

Don't abandon Google because it can be awkward

There is a balance here. Because Google sometimes creates friction for customers, it can be tempting to give up on it and concentrate entirely on an easier review platform. I wouldn't. Google is still hugely important for local discovery, so I'd continue building genuine Google reviews while also allowing the wider reputation to grow elsewhere.

The aim isn't to have 25 profiles with two reviews on each. It's to avoid your entire reputation depending on one company, one platform or one algorithm. That's a slightly different thing.

Reply to the reviews you receive

I was always encouraged to reply to customer reviews, and I still think there is a lot of value in doing it properly.

But I wouldn't reply to every review with the same: “Thanks for the kind words. It was a pleasure working with you.” You can do far more with the reply.

Imagine the customer writes: “They were fantastic. They arrived on time every single day and kept us informed throughout the installation.” Your reply could say: “Thank you. I'm really pleased you picked up on the timekeeping. It's something we've always worked hard on because we know you're arranging your own day around having us in the house, so turning up when we said we would matters to us.”

Now think about the next customer reading that. The original review says your timekeeping was good. Your answer explains why your timekeeping is good and that it's something the business consciously works at. That is much more powerful than simply saying thank you.

I've always thought of a good review reply almost as a second opportunity to tell the story. You're not contradicting or rewriting what the customer said. You're acknowledging it and, where appropriate, adding a little context around why that part of the service matters to you.

People do read the responses. Remember that you're not only replying to the customer who wrote the review. You're also speaking to the next customer who's considering whether to call you.

Don't turn the reply into another sales pitch

There is a danger of overdoing this. If somebody writes a lovely review, don't respond with four paragraphs listing everything else your business does.

Keep it natural. Pick up on something genuine from what they've said, thank them and, if there's a useful opportunity to explain why that part of your service matters, do it. Every response doesn't need an SEO keyword stuffed into it either. You still need to sound like a human being.

Ask while the experience is still fresh

The best reviews tend to contain details. The customer remembers that you kept them informed when the worktop was delayed, sorted a problem with the appliances or arrived when you said you would. Six months later, a lot of those details have disappeared.

That is why I prefer asking close to completion, while the experience is still fresh. Make the same honest invitation as a normal part of the process, including when an issue needs following up. Resolving the problem matters in its own right; it should not become a way of deciding whose feedback is allowed into public view.

Let the customer use their own words

Don't write the review for them. Don't tell them to mention the communication, the workmanship or your name. Don't ask them for five stars. Let them tell you what mattered.

One of the interesting things about customer reviews is that people often pick up on parts of the service you didn't realise were particularly important to them. Maybe it was that you answered your phone. Maybe you tidied up properly every evening. Maybe they'd had a terrible experience with a tradesperson before you and simply appreciated that you turned up when you said you would.

Those things matter to the next customer as well.

A review isn't only about getting more work

There is another side to reviews that doesn't get talked about enough. It feels good to receive one.

I've had hundreds of reviews over the years and it never really mattered whether it was number five or number 55. You'd wake up, see an email saying somebody had left a review and there was still that feeling that the customer had actually taken time out of their day to say something about the work you'd done.

There was a meme that used to go around about a small business owner doing a little happy dance when somebody left a review. There's more truth in that than people probably realise.

Running a small business isn't particularly easy. You're competing against other local businesses and, increasingly, national companies with marketing teams and much bigger budgets. Then a customer takes five minutes to tell the world that you did a good job. That matters.

And I think sometimes we forget to tell customers how much we genuinely appreciate it.

What about a bad review?

If you've traded for long enough, there's a reasonable chance you'll eventually get one.

Don't answer it at 10 o'clock at night while you're angry. Read it properly. If there is something you genuinely need to put right, deal with it. If you disagree, explain your position calmly.

And remember the same principle as with a positive review: the response isn't only for the person who wrote it. Future customers will read it too. A sensible, professional response to a difficult review can sometimes tell me more about a business than another five-star review ever could.

Never buy or manipulate reviews

This is one place where there shouldn't be much grey area. Don't buy reviews, ask friends who weren't customers to leave them or offer customers money, discounts or gifts in exchange for any Google review, whatever rating they leave. Don't only send the review link to customers you think will give you five stars either.

The value is in the review being real. Google prohibits incentivised and manipulated reviews, and UK consumer-protection rules now specifically address fake reviews. But even without the rules, fake reviews defeat the whole purpose. You're trying to demonstrate that people can trust your business. Manipulating the evidence of that trust isn't a particularly good place to start.

Build it slowly

You don't need 100 new reviews next month. If you complete three or four jobs a month and steadily make genuine review requests part of your process, look at where the business could be in a year.

Some customers will forget. Some won't leave one. Some will leave one on Google. Others might use another platform that's easier or more relevant to them. That's fine. You're building a genuine history, not trying to win a review competition.

Over time that becomes incredibly difficult for a competitor to copy, because they can copy your website or your advertising fairly quickly. They can't instantly copy years of real customers talking positively about dealing with you.

Every Install can help you build the process

Customer Reviews & Social Proof is available inside Every Install Pro. It's there to help turn reviews into part of the way you finish and follow up jobs rather than something you remember to think about when the diary goes quiet.

Explore Customer Reviews & Social Proof in Every Install Pro →