Reviews are where a moving customer decides whether to trust you with their furniture, their documents and their grandmother's china. The routine we build is deliberately plain: ask every customer after every move, reply to every review, and never offer anything in return or screen out the unhappy ones. We are a marketing service, not a mover, so our job is the system around the reviews. Your crews earn the reviews themselves.
The rules, before the routine
Two shortcuts are off the table, and the platform says so. Google's prohibited and restricted content policy, as of October 2026, lists among its prohibited practices:
- offering incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, for a review or for removing a negative one
- selectively asking only satisfied customers for reviews, often called review gating
That rules out "10% off your next move for a 5-star review", and it rules out the survey that sends happy customers to Google and unhappy ones to a private form. Confirm the current policy yourself, since platforms update their rules.
The routine we set up
- Ask on the day. The crew lead tells the customer, in person, that a text or email is coming with a review link. A familiar face makes a request feel normal.
- Send one message within 24 hours. Short, polite, with a direct link. Template: "Hi [First name], thanks for choosing [Business name] for your move to [Neighbourhood]. If you have a minute, an honest review helps other people choosing a mover: [link]."
- Send one reminder after a few days. Then stop. Two messages is courteous; four is pestering.
- Reply to every review. Thank the good ones by naming something specific. Answer the critical ones calmly within a couple of days.
- Feed problems back to operations. If three reviews in a month mention late arrivals, that's a dispatch issue, not a marketing one.
Replying to damage and pricing complaints
Movers get two kinds of hard review more than most businesses: something broke, or the bill was higher than expected. A good public reply follows the same pattern each time:
- acknowledge the customer's experience without admitting or denying liability in public
- state the facts briefly, such as what the estimate said and what changed
- invite them to a private conversation with a named role, for example the operations manager
- never share the customer's personal details or invoice in public
Claims, insurance and dispute rules vary by province and by contract, and we don't advise on them. Point customers to your own written claims process and get legal advice where needed.
What's included and the timeline
- Weeks 1–2: review audit across Google and the other sites your customers use; reply backlog cleared with your approval
- Weeks 2–4: request templates, crew-lead script and reply guidelines written in your voice
- Ongoing: monthly count of moves completed versus requests sent versus reviews received, and a reply-time check
How results are measured
We track four numbers each month: moves completed, requests sent, reviews received, and median days since your latest review. The first two should match. If they don't, requests are being skipped, and that is usually where the routine breaks.
Mistakes to avoid
- Asking in a burst after months of silence. A sudden spike looks odd to customers and platforms alike.
- Letting staff or family post reviews. It's fake engagement, and it can cost you the profile.
- Defensive replies. Arguing in public loses future customers who read it.
- Ignoring the content. Reviews are free operational feedback.
Where else customers read mover reviews
Google is usually the first place, but customers may also check other review sites and local social groups. We help you find where your customers actually look and keep your business details accurate there, without spreading effort across sites nobody reads.
Reviews feed local search and lift the conversion rate on your website and quotes. The guide to honest reviews for movers goes deeper on reply wording.
Frequently asked questions
Can we give a discount to customers who leave a review?
No. Google's content policy, as of October 2026, lists offering incentives such as payment, discounts or free services in exchange for a review as prohibited. We don't run any programme that does.
Can we only ask the customers who were happy?
No. The same policy says merchants may not selectively solicit positive reviews. We ask every customer after every move, which is also the honest way to learn where crews slip.
What about a bad review that's unfair?
Reply calmly and factually in public, offer to talk privately, and don't argue. If a review breaks the platform's rules, you can report it through the platform. Future customers mostly judge the reply, not the complaint.
Do you write reviews for us?
Never. We don't write, buy or arrange reviews of any kind. Every review must come from a real customer describing a real move.