Mike K. shares exactly what he changed, what he did every day, and what happened to his call volume when his Google rating crossed 4.5 stars.
For local businesses across Canada and the US, Google reviews have become the single most important factor in whether a potential customer picks up the phone or clicks to the next result. Research consistently shows that over 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations — and that the majority of local searches result in a visit or contact within 24 hours.
Yet most outstanding local businesses are dramatically underreviewed. Not because their customers are unhappy — but because nobody asked them to leave a review at the right moment.
Across our customer base at HeroHere, we track review rates across thousands of individual requests. The patterns are consistent:
The mechanics of a great review programme are now well understood. The timing, the language, the platforms, the follow-up cadence — all of this can be systematised. What separates the top-rated businesses in any category from those struggling to break 4.0 stars is almost never quality of service. It is consistency of asking.
A business that sends 100 review requests a month will accumulate more reviews in a year than a business that does outstanding work but never asks — even if the latter business is genuinely better. This is a solvable problem.
If you are a local business owner reading this, the most important action you can take today is to commit to asking every customer for a review after every service or visit.
HeroHere automates everything in this post — for $30 or $49 a month. Try free with your first 5 customers.
Start free trial