Every business owner knows reviews and referrals are gold. Almost none of them have a system for getting them. Most rely on hoping a happy customer remembers to post something, or on an awkward ask at the wrong moment. This week we’re talking about how to turn that hope into a repeatable process, one that runs whether you’re busy, distracted, or having an off week.
Let’s Talk!
Shahid Nizami, VP APAC & GCC, Braze
“We’ve all received the “how did we do?” message days after an interaction, when chances are you’ve already moved on. Yet it remains a common way to ask for reviews.
“The problem is not asking. It’s asking everyone, at the same time, regardless of how their experience went. Reviews and referrals should not be treated as campaign businesses switch on when they need ratings. They should be part of an always-on advocacy journey, informed by customer engagement data signals that show when someone is engaged, satisfied or most likely to shout about a brand.
“The Coffee Club applied this approach by targeting high-frequency users and encouraging them to leave a rating. In less than two weeks, its app store rating increased from 2.4 to 4.1. Referrals follow the same logic: ask customers who have already been delighted.
“It’s also a strong use case for AI, but while 98% of ANZ marketing leaders say AI helps them understand customers more accurately, only 34% say they’re using real-time data to assemble content at the moment of engagement.
“The opportunity is to make advocacy a measurable part of customer journeys, not a generic request in the inbox.”
Jeremy Vo, Co-founder and CEO, Piper
“I used to think reviews were something you chase. The best products are their own referral system.
“A guest picks up the grinder at dinner, hears the burrs crack a peppercorn, and asks where it’s from. Every dinner party is a referral programme.
“Reviews still need a system. Ours runs on 4 moments, not equal ones.
Delivered, not dispatched. Our best by a mile. When the courier marks it delivered, we send a short personal note: did it arrive well? Box open on the counter, first grind fresh. That’s the happiest they’ll be with us, so that’s when we ask.
After 30 days of real use. The automated ask lands after a few weeks of cooking. First impressions are about the box. A month in, the review is about the product.
When support goes well. A ticket resolves well, our agent asks. Some of our warmest reviews started with something going wrong.
Once we know you. I run discovery calls weekly, and ask one-to-one once there’s a relationship.
“The result: 4.96 out of 5 across 233 verified reviews, 98% five-star, 6 months after launch. Timing is the system. Ask when someone is happy, not when your calendar says so.”
Tania Fielding, Director, Little Luxe Marketing
“Building a reliable system for customer reviews and referrals needs to be part of your overall marketing strategy. Both help build trust and provide social proof that your business delivers a quality service or product.
“Start by making reviews a natural part of the customer journey.
“Once a product or service has been delivered, incorporate a review request into your follow up process. Ideally, use your existing CRM to automate this, with a team member managing the process to ensure nothing is missed.
“Consider how you communicate with customers throughout their journey. If email is your primary channel, follow up by email. If you communicate primarily via SMS, use that. Make it easy by linking directly to where you want the review to land, such as your Google review page. Give customers enough time to experience your product or service before asking for feedback. Monitor the process and refine it if reviews aren’t coming through. Is the timing right? Are there barriers preventing customers from responding?
“And don’t assume happy customers will automatically refer others. Ask for referrals. Consider an incentive, such as a discount on a future service, to encourage referrals. Reviews, however, should always reflect genuine customer experiences and not be incentivised.
“A reliable system doesn’t need to be complicated. It needs to be repeatable, easy for customers and consistently implemented.”
David Caruso, Founder & CEO, BuyFactory.direct
“A system only works if it doesn’t depend on someone remembering to run it. Every sale across our 60-plus brands triggers an automatic request for a public review, on Trustd.reviews, Trustpilot or Google, somewhere we can’t quietly delete the bad ones. That’s the part that actually makes it worth anything: a review you can’t edit convinces the next customer more than ten lines of your own copy ever will.
“Referrals, honestly, we’ve never built as a formal program. What we’ve found instead is that the review system does most of that job for us. A genuine review with real words in it does the convincing a referral bonus would have tried to buy, and it costs nothing but asking at the right moment.
“If I were starting from nothing, I’d build the review trigger first and worry about a formal referral structure second. A business with honest, visible reviews gets referred anyway. People recommend what they can point to.”
Matt Hodgson, Founder, Bring Digital Performance
“Reviews aren’t a nice-to-have anymore. Google weighs them heavily in local search, and AI engines like ChatGPT and Gemini read that user-generated content when deciding which businesses to recommend. So treat review collection as a system, not a favour.
“Having built review programmes across automotive, hospitality and retail, I’ve found five things matter most.
“Timing. Ask at the moment of peak satisfaction, which varies by category. In property, that’s when the contract of sale is signed.
“Channel. Email generally outperforms SMS for us, but test both in your category.
“Friction. People are time-poor. Keep the request short, link straight to the review platform and offer a prompt or two on what they might mention. Every extra click costs you reviews.
“Persistence. Don’t be shy about asking again. A follow-up a few days later catches people who meant to and forgot.
“Response. Thank every reviewer with a reply that references what they actually said. It shows future customers, and Google, that someone’s listening.
“Referrals. A customer who’s just left a glowing review is primed to recommend you. That’s the moment to ask.”
Michael Russell, Managing Director and Senior Finance Broker, Finwave Finance
“Most businesses that struggle to get reviews and referrals consistently have the same problem. They rely on goodwill and memory instead of a system. Goodwill is real but it does not scale, and memory fails at exactly the moment you are busiest.
“Timing matters more than most people realise. The window is immediately after a positive outcome, not at the end of a billing cycle or when you remember to ask. If a client just settled finance, received a result, or expressed satisfaction unprompted, that is the moment. Waiting a week cuts your conversion rate significantly.
“Make the ask direct and personal, not automated. A template message feels like admin. A short personal message referencing their specific situation feels like a conversation and converts at a meaningfully higher rate.
“For referrals, the mistake most businesses make is asking generally. Do you know anyone who might need us? That puts the cognitive work on the client. A better question is specific: do you know any other business owners in a similar position to where you were six months ago? That framing is easier to answer and more likely to produce a name.
“Build both into your post-settlement process as a standard step, not an optional one. Document it, assign it to a specific person, and track it. Anything that depends on someone remembering to do it will not happen consistently.
“The request is not the awkward part. The silence after a great result is.”
Bart Wolkowski, Founder, King Work
“I’ve found that reviews and referrals work better when they’re built into the customer journey rather than left to chance.
“For reviews, we’ve set up a simple process: once a customer has completed onboarding, we ask them to leave a review on Google Maps. Having a clear point in the process means we’re less likely to forget to ask.
“Referrals need a slightly different approach. If customers are happy with the product, a referral promotion can give them an extra reason to recommend it to someone else. We’ve had several clients come to us through referrals, so we know they can be a meaningful source of new business.
“The key is to make both processes easy to follow. Decide when to ask for a review, make the request straightforward, and give satisfied customers a simple way to refer others.
“You don’t need a complicated system to get started. A consistent process that fits naturally into how you serve customers is far more useful than relying on memory or waiting for recommendations to happen on their own.”
Sarah Richardson, CEO, Loyalty APAC Group
“Building a successful strategy around reviews and referrals requires understanding what motivates customers to advocate for you, and building those opportunities into your loyalty program.
“Referral programs vary considerably depending on the industry, the product or service, and the value of the purchase. Encouraging someone to recommend a coffee shop is very different from asking them to refer a friend to a bank or car dealership. When it comes to reward, this must be attractive enough to motivate members, while still making commercial sense. In some cases loyalty points or discounts are enough, whereas higher value products may require a greater incentive.
“Loyalty programs can identify their most engaged members and the right moments to ask for a review or referral, ideally following a positive experience, purchase or reward redemption. The process must be simple, and businesses should measure not just the number of referrals but how many convert into customers and their long-term value. Reviews must also be genuine, with incentives rewarding participation rather than positive ratings.
“According to the ALA 2025 Annual Loyalty Insights Report, 58% of loyalty program members are likely to recommend the brands whose programs they belong to. The key to this opportunity is turning that willingness to recommend into actual advocacy.
“Ultimately, the stronger the relationship with your customers, the more likely they are to recommend you. A well-designed loyalty program can provide both the motivation and the mechanism to make that happen.”
Billy Loizou, Area Vice President and General Manager, APAC, Amperity
“A reliable reviews and referrals system starts with the customer experience. Make it easy for customers to share honest feedback, and give them a reason to recommend you. The ask should feel like a natural part of the relationship.
“Start with accurate, connected customer data. Bring purchase, loyalty and service information together so you can recognise the same customer across channels. That helps you avoid duplicate requests and spot an unresolved issue before asking for a referral. Ask practical questions. Has the customer had time to use the product? Have we already asked? Is there a problem we need to fix first?
“Then build a simple, repeatable process. Set clear triggers for when to ask, make someone responsible for responding, and limit repeat requests. Keep review requests focused on honest feedback. For referrals, make the benefit clear to both the customer and the person they refer, with straightforward terms and an easy way to share.
“Finally, close the loop. Share feedback with support, service and product teams so they can resolve issues and improve the experience. Track review response rates, referral conversion and whether referred customers return. Compare the value they generate with the cost of the reward.
“The aim is to earn trust and repeat business. Knowing who your customers are, understanding their experience and acting on what they tell you makes reviews and referrals part of how you grow customer value.”
Jonathan Reeve, ANZ Director, Eagle Eye
“Reviews and referrals undeniably work best as part of a broader loyalty strategy, not just a one-off ask.
“The programmes that successfully win customer reviews and referrals treat loyalty as strategic infrastructure: capturing rich first-party data, enabling real-time personalisation, and staying relevant wherever the customer chooses to shop.
“You can’t know who to ask if you don’t know who they are, so start with data. Loyalty data enables you to identify members across any platform, so a request reaches the right person at the right time. Then comes personalisation. Generative AI can adjust the timing, channel, content and offer for each customer based on their patterns and preferences, so a review or referral request arrives when it suits the individual, not in a batch send that’s all too easily ignored.
“Once you have your customer’s attention, you need to make it worth their while. According to Eagle Eye research, 66% of consumers would take part in personalised games, contests or challenges through a loyalty programme, rising to 80% of millennials and 74% of Gen Z, so reviews and referrals could be added as part of a challenge. Build automated, personalised offers that speak directly to your customer groups.
“As much as possible, do it in real time, and this is where AI-powered solutions are your best friend. Our platform, for example, executes more than 1.7 billion personalised offers weekly and manages over 750 million loyalty member wallets.
“In short: identify members through loyalty data, personalise when and how you ask, reward participation, and do it in real time.”
Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia and New Zealand, Thryv
“I recommend treating reviews and referrals as the next stages of the customer journey, with the same care you give winning the business.
“I would also suggest setting up a clear trigger for requesting a review, allowing customers time to experience the outcome. Build it into your follow-up process with one gentle reminder, so asking becomes a consistent part of your service.
“Make responding easy with a direct review link and a helpful prompt: ‘Please leave us a review sharing your experience with our business.’ This encourages specific feedback that helps prospective customers understand the value you deliver.
“For referrals, I would make this part of the thank-you process. A credit towards a future service can reward an introduction that becomes a customer, encouraging repeat business, while recognising the trust someone has placed in you. Keep incentives separate from review requests, so feedback remains honest.
“I also recommend to connect introductions to your customer records so you can personalise your welcome, thank the right person and identify which relationships generate valuable work.
“Regularly assess where the process gains momentum or loses it, from review requests that prompt a response, to referrals that become customers. Then use these insights to refine your timing and follow-through.
The Thryv Growth Platform™ can help make review requests consistent through automation, freeing you to focus on the personal follow-through that turns customer goodwill into business growth.”
Michael Powrie, Founder and CEO, NeonNow
“Most businesses ask for reviews at the wrong moment. They send a generic email a week later, when the moment has faded from the customer’s mind. The best time to ask is straight after you solve a problem and you’ve banked some goodwill.
“Your contact centre should sit at the heart of your review system. Set a simple rule: when an interaction ends with the issue resolved and the customer happy, send a review request within the hour, on the channel they just used. Keep it to one tap and one link.
“AI makes this practical at scale. NeonNow detects intent in real time and summarises every interaction, so teams can see which conversations ended well and trigger the follow-up automatically. The same data shows you if you need to make a call to resolve any issues. A frustrated customer needs a person on the phone, and a problem fixed properly often turns a critic into an advocate.
“Referrals work the same way. Find the customers who praise your team by name, thank them personally, and give them an easy way to introduce someone.
“Don’t forget to track your efforts by checking response rates and referral conversions every month.”
William Chu, Founder and CEO, GemIQ
“The best system for customer reviews and referrals is the one that’s built around making you easy to recommend.
“If you solve a real problem, you do it well, and you’re easy to work with and take feedback on board, your customers won’t be able to help but to refer you.
“When I started GemIQ, I walked into jewelry stores with a prototype and no reputation. What grew the business most was jewelers showing other jewelers. People don’t refer you because you asked. They refer you because you made their life easier, and they’d like to do the same for someone else.
“So design for that. First, get customers to a visible win fast, because that’s when they’re proudest and most talkative. Second, ask in that moment and make it as easy as possible for them, like a short quote or a quick video. Third, make your results easy to show a peer in seconds.
“Then close the loop. When a customer’s feedback shapes your product, tell them. Nothing builds loyalty faster, and loyal customers are your best referral channel.”
Janty Mohammed, Co-founder, AIIMS Group
“Many businesses are too passive about chasing reviews and just wait for them to happen organically. The ones that grow consistently make them an integral part of the sales process.
“It has to be embedded into the system as second nature. A customer who just had a great experience is at peak motivation, and that window closes fast. If you are not asking within 24 to 48 hours of a completed job or service, you are leaving most of that motivation on the table.
“Build the ask into your process. There are tools to make it automated, and working with an expert can help you trigger at the right moment. This will consistently outperform the best-intentioned manual outreach.
“Referrals work the same way. Give your best clients a reason and a moment to refer, not a generic “tell your friends” but a specific, easy ask tied to a real outcome they just experienced.
“The businesses winning on reviews and referrals are not luckier. They are more deliberate.”
Blake Norrish, Head of Marketing, Positive Salary Packaging
“In high-trust industries like novated leasing, customers want to hear from people who’ve been through the experience themselves. Word of mouth is our most consistent revenue source, and it’s one of the things you can’t fake. It needs to be earned.
“We’ve put four practices in place to make it easier for customers to share their experiences:
Ask at the right moment. We equipped our sales team to recognise opportunities to ask for reviews. Consistency helped grow reviews from around one a month to eight to ten.
Seek informed perspectives. We’re focusing more on customers two years into their contract, who can speak to the full experience beyond sign-up.
Automate follow-ups. We schedule feedback and review requests throughout the customer journey, so asking doesn’t depend on someone remembering.
Learn from feedback. We track themes and sentiment, respond to reviews, and use recurring insights to improve.
“It’s important to make asking for reviews a consistent process, while delivering an experience worth recommending. Reviews make customer trust visible, while referrals show that trust is strong enough for someone to recommend you to others.”
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