The problem
Many domestic clients are out when the cleaner calls, so nobody is there to ask for a review, and people choosing someone to let into their home read reviews closely. A company with 12 Google reviews, the newest from last spring, looks quieter than it is. If better reviews won 2 more fortnightly clients at $80£60€71A$115C$113 a visit, that's 2 × $80£60€71A$115C$113 × 2.15 visits a month, about $343£258€307A$495C$485 a month of regular work.
What the AI does
ServiceM8 can send an automatic email or text asking the client for feedback after a job is completed; its pricing page lists this on every plan. Add your Google review link to that message, if the settings let you edit it, so happy clients can leave a review in a couple of taps. Then reply to each review from your free Google Business Profile, thanking the client and passing praise on to the cleaner.
A worked example
A domestic cleaning company in Reading has 3 cleaners and about 130 visits a month, already run in ServiceM8 on the Growing plan ($78£59€70A$113C$111 a month excluding VAT, up to 150 jobs). The owner turns on feedback requests after each completed job, adds the Google review link and replies to new reviews every Monday morning.
Before
12 Google reviews in total, about 1 new one every 2 months
After
3 to 4 new reviews a month, and 2 extra fortnightly clients won over a few months, worth about $343£258€307A$495C$485 a month in regular work
What it's worth
About $102£77€92A$148C$145 a month in profit, at an assumed 30% margin on $343£258€307A$495C$485 of regular work from 2 extra fortnightly clients (2 × $80£60€71A$115C$113 × 2.15 visits a month). That covers the $78£59€70A$113C$111 plan once a second client signs up, and costs nothing extra if the company already runs its jobs in ServiceM8.
How to set it up
- Claim or check your Google Business Profile: service area, hours, phone number and a few photos of the team in uniform.
- Copy the review link from your Google Business Profile so you can paste it into messages.
- In ServiceM8, turn on the automated feedback request that goes out after a job is completed, and check its wording in the settings.
- Get cleaners to mark each clean as completed in the app on the day, so the request arrives while the clean is fresh.
- Reply to every review within a week, good or bad, in a friendly sentence or two.
What goes wrong
- Don't offer discounts or freebies in return for reviews, and ask every client the same way rather than only the happy ones; Google's review policies don't allow incentives.
- ServiceM8 is priced by jobs a month, not users. Each regular visit uses a job, so 160 visits a month goes past Growing's 150 and needs Premium at $158£119€142A$228C$224.
- A request straight after a clean that went wrong invites a bad review. Deal with the complaint first; a calm, polite reply to a poor review still reassures new clients.
- Texts come out of the plan's SMS allowance (300 a month on Growing, then 5p each), so email may be enough for most clients.