how to ask for reviews
Review Request
Most businesses ask for reviews too late, through the wrong channel, with a message that sounds like a marketing email. Deploy this automation and every request fires at peak satisfaction, uses the customer's preferred channel, and references the specific interaction that just happened.
About this automation
Type
Review Request
Industry
Free to use
✓ Yes
Deploy time
Under 5 min
Triggers
API
Delivers via
Email, SMS
How the request flows
Step 1
Trigger event
Purchase, service completion, or appointment occurs
Step 2
Primary review platform
Where most customers should be directed
Step 3
Alternate platform for repeat reviewers
Shown if the customer already reviewed on the primary platform
Step 4
Message tone
Personalized, references the specific interaction rather than a generic ask
Step 5
Timing rules
Configurable per interaction type, e.g. immediately after checkout vs a few hours after a service call
The automation
Trigger: a purchase or service completes
Fires at the moment the interaction ends, never mid-experience. Connect via direct API, Zapier, or any webhook-capable tool.
API
Review request sent
A short, warm message via Email or SMS. Personalised with the customer's name and your business.
Sentiment-based routing
Satisfied customers go straight to the review platform. Dissatisfied ones are routed to your team privately.
Positive sentiment
One tap to your Google review page, while the experience is still fresh.
Needs attention
A short private form reaches you directly, fix it before it becomes a 1-star review.
Ask-to-review conversion tracked
Which channel, timing, and message convert best, updated as requests go out.
Why this automation matters
The question of how to ask for reviews is really three questions: when to ask, how to ask, and where to ask. Get any of the three wrong and the conversion rate drops significantly. Ask too late and the emotional peak of the experience has passed. Ask via email when the customer primarily uses their phone and the request gets buried. Ask with a generic "leave us a review" message and it reads like a bulk marketing email rather than a personal acknowledgement. Deploy FeedbackRobot's review request automation and all three questions are answered correctly for each customer interaction. The timing is triggered by the event itself: a purchase, a service completion, an appointment. The channel is selected based on how the customer engaged or what your data shows has the highest response rate for your customer type. The message is personalised to the specific interaction, referencing what the customer bought or what was resolved. The automation also handles the decision of which platform to direct each customer to. A customer who already left a Google review can be directed to Trustpilot or your industry-specific directory. A new customer can be directed to Google for the broadest impact. These decisions happen automatically based on rules you set once, and the result is a consistent stream of new reviews distributed across the platforms that matter most to your business.
Expected outcome
Connects to the platforms that matter
Triggers
API
Channels
Email, SMS
Common questions
How is this different from the email review request template?
This one adds platform-routing logic, redirecting customers who've already reviewed on your primary platform to an alternate one, whereas the basic email review request template always points to the same platform.
How does it know if someone already left a review?
It checks against your connected review platform data for that customer's contact information, if there's a record of a prior review, it redirects rather than asking again on the same platform.
Can I use both email and SMS for this, or does it pick one?
Both channels are available and the choice can be based on customer preference or contact data available, it isn't locked to a single channel.
What if a customer has never been asked before and has no review history?
They're directed to your primary platform by default, since there's no prior review to route around.