Buckle up, this is a long one, but worth its weight.

When someone’s AC dies in July or their garage door jams at midnight, they’re not digging through your “About Us” page. They’re pulling up stars. And the numbers don’t lie: nearly 8 in 10 Americans say positive reviews make them more likely to choose a business and they read about ten reviews before they trust you (BrightLocal).

Even a tiny bump pays off. A business that climbed from 3.5 to 5 stars on Yelp didn’t just look better it slashed its advertising costs and saw a 10x return on ad spend inside a single month.

So no, reviews aren’t fluff. They’re fuel. The companies who win like A1 Garage Door Service or NexGen Air treat them like a core growth channel, not an afterthought.

Let’s break down the playbook you can implement.

Short-Term Boosters: Incentives & Promotions

Sometimes you need a spark. Short-term programs don’t replace a long-term culture, but they can create momentum, and momentum gets you volume. Here’s how to juice review counts without crossing the line.

Gift Card Giveaways & Raffles

The move: run a raffle. Every customer who leaves a Google or Yelp review this month gets entered to win a $50 gift card, a free tune-up, something small but worth it. Not every review is five stars — nor should you require that — but the act of asking with a little fun attached gets people off the fence.

Execution: mention the giveaway in your follow-up texts or on the thank-you card the tech hands over. Say something like: “Drop us a review on Google or Yelp this month and you’re entered to win a $100 Visa card — our way of saying thanks.” At the end of the month, pick a winner, post it on social, tag them if you can. It closes the loop and reminds others.

Keep it clean: Google bans outright payment for positive reviews and Yelp flat-out says no incentives. So frame it as a sweepstakes tied to feedback, not payment for stars.

Real world: one plumbing shop ran a “Review & Win” contest where each Google review was a raffle ticket for a free water heater flush. Another HVAC crew teamed with a local coffee shop and handed out $5 gift cards on the spot for anyone who left a review. Both saw their review counts spike in a single month.

Technician Bonus Programs & Competitions

This one’s about the team. If you want reviews to pour in, your employees need skin in the game. Front-line techs drive the customer experience. Reward them when customers rave.

How to structure it:

• Pay-per-review: Give $10–$20 every time a customer drops a five-star and names the tech. Simple, direct, effective.

• Leaderboards & contests: Track reviews by tech. At month-end, pay $300 to first, $200 to second, $100 to third. Or do quarterly contests with bigger prizes like a TV, a weekend trip, etc..

• Raffle system: Each review = one raffle ticket. Draw a single big prize ($500 cash, paid day off). Keeps everyone engaged, not just the top dogs.

The key: make it visible. Post the counts weekly, celebrate wins in Slack, shout them out in meetings.

Case in point: A1 Garage Door bakes reviews right into his pay system. “You’ve got to get five-star reviews. The better you perform, the more you make.” - Tommy Mello says. That clarity turned reviews into a competition and a habit.

Free Tune-Ups or Discounts

Another lever: give something back. A free furnace tune-up, a 10% coupon on the next service, even a warranty upgrade these gestures can turn “Yeah, I’ll get to it” into “I’ll review you tonight.”

How to frame it: don’t make it sound like a bribe. Phrase it as a thank-you gift. Example: “We hope you’re happy with today’s service! As a thank-you for leaving us a Google or Yelp review, we’ll give you 10% off your next visit (or a free annual inspection).” That positioning keeps you on the safer side.

Caution: Google doesn’t allow outright incentives for positive reviews (policy), and Yelp is even stricter — they flat-out ban offering perks for reviews (Yelp’s stance). That said, many contractors run “thank-you” promos quietly. The safe play? Limited-time campaigns. “This October, leave us a review and we’ll flush your water heater for free.” Short bursts, small value-adds, and never tied to a “five-star only” requirement.

Example: NexGen Air ran a summer push where customers who left a review got a free AC filter replacement and system check before peak season. Low cost, high perceived value, and it created a wave of fresh reviews.

Build a Long-Term “Review Culture”

Giveaways are great for a jolt, but the companies who dominate Google and Yelp don’t rely on constant carrots. They build systems. Culture. Muscle memory. Reviews stop being a campaign and start being the byproduct of how they run.

Follow-Up Systems (Timing Wins)

Here’s the truth: most happy customers never review you. Not because they’re unhappy, but because they forget. They’re busy. Timing and persistence win here.

Best practice: hit them quickly, then remind. The sweet spot is an SMS within 24 hours, followed by an email a couple days later, and maybe one more gentle nudge after a week. That cadence can double or triple conversion rates.

Sample sequence:

• Same-day text: “Hi, this is John from ABC Plumbing. Thanks for trusting us today! If you could share your experience in a quick Google review, it’d mean a lot.” Texts have monster open rates, so they’re the first strike (Housecall Pro).

• 2–3 day email: “Hope your system’s running smooth. If you haven’t had a chance yet, would you mind leaving us a quick review on Google or Yelp? It helps us improve and helps neighbors find us.”

• 1 week reminder: light touch, not nagging. “Just circling back, reviews help us more than you know…”

Tools like Podium, Birdeye, or NiceJob can automate this, stop reminders once a review is left, and keep the whole flow consistent.

Pro tip: always make it stupid-simple. Use Google’s short URL for your review form, or drop a QR code on your invoices. For Yelp, don’t send direct links (they track them). Instead, tell customers: “Find us on Yelp by searching XYZ Plumbing [City].” That dodge can keep you clear of filters.

Train Techs to Ask

Your technicians are the difference between “we’ll see” and “five stars.” They’re already face-to-face with the customer at the moment of peak relief the AC kicks back on, the leak is fixed, the garage door works again. That’s when the ask lands.

Coach the moment. When the customer’s smiling, that’s your window. As one review expert put it: “When a customer is standing before you happy, satisfied, and smiling, they are ready to write you a glowing review. You just have to smile back and ask.”

Give them a script. Techs aren’t copywriters. Hand them something simple:

“I’m glad we could get this fixed today! We rely on word of mouth, and if you feel I did a good job, it’d mean a lot if you left a quick review on Google or Yelp. I can text you the link to make it easy. Our manager reads every review, so it really helps me, too.”

That framing works because it’s personal (names the tech), makes it easy (offers a link), and shows accountability (manager reads it).

Make it standard. Put “Ask for review” right on their close-out checklist. Same as shoe covers, same as wiping down work areas. Normal, not optional. Some shops even slap a sticker on every iPad: “Don’t forget the review.”

Deal with the awkwardness. Some techs feel like asking is pushy. Train them that if they solved the problem, they’ve earned it. And most happy customers don’t mind being asked, about 70% will leave a review if someone asks them directly. If you don’t ask, you’re leaving reviews up to the angry ones who don’t need prompting.

Close the loop. When a customer names a tech in a five-star, shout it out. Drop it in Slack. Mention it in team meetings. “Shout-out to Sarah another rave review on Yelp this week!” Recognition reinforces the behavior.

Case study: Bulwark Pest Control trained every tech to ask, face-to-face, at the happiest moment. Senior techs even coached juniors on ride-alongs until they nailed it. Result? Dozens of fresh Google reviews each month, and a company-wide attitude that reviews aren’t awkward favors, they’re just part of the job.

Deliver a Five-Star Experience

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: you can’t hack your way to a five-star profile if the service sucks. Incentives and scripts only work if the foundation is solid.

Hire and train for service, not just skill. Shoe covers. On-time arrivals. Explaining work in plain English. Cleaning up after yourself. These aren’t extras; they’re the standard in today’s world/ Companies that crush reviews invest in customer service training like it’s their product.

Under-promise, over-deliver. Tell a customer you’ll arrive between 1–3, show up at 12:50. Quote two hours, finish in one. Lubricate the rest of the hinges while you’re fixing the spring. These little “wow” moments turn into review gold: “They went above and beyond…”

Stay consistent. One bad apple can tank your average. That’s why companies like NexGen built processes for everything from how phones are answered to how options are presented. Founder Ismael Valdez calls it “structure.” That’s how they racked up over 5,000 reviews in just a few years.

Fix screw-ups fast. You will get bad reviews. Everyone does. The move is to respond immediately, professionally, and try to make it right offline. Many customers will update their one-star to a four or five if you show up to fix it. And even if they don’t, potential customers reading your reply see a company that owns mistakes.

As Paul Swain of Mad4Tools put it: “If a customer has a positive experience with our brand, they’re more likely to buy from us again, tell their friends, and leave positive feedback online.”. Reviews are just echoes of experience, nail the experience and the stars follow.

Bringing It All Together

Reviews aren’t a side hustle. They’re oxygen.

Google and Yelp are where trust is built (or lost) before you even pick up the phone. If you want to grow, you need both the sparks (gift card raffles, tech bonuses, seasonal promos) and the systems (follow-ups, training, customer-first operations).

The formula:

• Push hard on Google. Direct links, SMS asks, QR codes, steady flow.

• Play it cool on Yelp. Focus on Yelpers, quality detail-rich reviews, and organic nudges.

• Incentivize ethically. Reward your techs, gamify it, but don’t demand only five-stars.

• Build habits. Train the team, script the ask, and celebrate wins.

• Fix what’s broken. Bad reviews are lessons. Use them.

• Stay consistent. Fresh reviews every week beat a flood once a year.

Because here’s the kicker: every five-star review is a piece of sales copy you didn’t have to write. It’s trust at scale. And in home services, trust is what converts.

Start small. Run a contest. Train your techs. Automate your follow-ups. Then layer it all together. Before long, you’re not just another name in the map pack, you’re the one with hundreds of glowing stories, the company homeowners feel safe letting into their living rooms.

That’s how A1 did it. That’s how NexGen did it. And that’s how you can, too!