ArchelHow a customer chooses a landscaping company
A homeowner has been looking at the garden all winter and decides this is the year. They search for landscapers in their area in March, when every other homeowner is doing the same. They open three profiles and look at two things: photos of finished gardens and reviews that say the work was done when promised and the garden was left as it should be. A profile with recent reviews and photos from the last season gets the site visit. A profile with no new reviews since the summer before last looks like a company that may not still be trading.
Where landscapers and garden companies lose reviews
The last day is a rush
The crew clears the site, loads the van and moves to the next job. Nobody asks. The customer stands in a finished garden, delighted, and that moment passes without a link.
Winter goes quiet on the profile
Reviews come in a burst over summer and then nothing from October to March. Google and homeowners both read that as a business that has stopped, right when next season’s enquiries are being decided.
Reviews without photos
A landscaper’s best proof is the garden. Reviews that come without a photo, and a profile that has not had new photos added since the website was built, undersell the work by a long way.
How the review system works for a landscaping company
The job is marked complete after the final walk-through with the customer, once the last bit of turf is down and the site is cleared. The trigger is the walk-through, not the invoice.
A short text or email with a direct link to your Google review page. It mentions the garden, invites a photo if they would like to add one, and asks for a review in one tap.
No review after three days means one reminder. That is the last message. Anyone who has already reviewed is tagged and never asked again.
New reviews land in your inbox with a reply drafted for approval. Good ones get a thank-you that mentions the project. Difficult ones get a factual reply and an invitation to call.
When the ask goes out
For a landscaping company the ask goes out the morning after the final walk-through. The customer has had an evening to sit in the new garden and show it to someone. That is when the review is warmest and most detailed. For maintenance customers on a regular round, the ask goes out once a season after a visit, not after every cut, so it never feels like nagging. Smaller jobs like fencing or a patio follow the same rule: finished, cleared, then asked.
Past customersReactivation
Years of finished gardens sit in your quotes folder and accounting software, and most of those customers were never asked. A one-off reactivation run sends one honest message to that list with the link. Gardens that have had a couple of seasons to grow in are often the ones customers are proudest of, and their reviews and photos give a profile the depth it needs before the spring rush. For a company with a quiet winter, this is also the way to keep the profile moving between October and March.
The rulesWithin Google's policy and UK law
Every customer gets the same request. We do not ask how the project went and only send the link to the ones who are pleased, because that is review gating, it breaks Google policy, and since the DMCC Act 2024 it breaks UK consumer law as well. No discount on next year’s maintenance, no free visit, no incentives of any kind. A maximum of two messages per customer, and a reviewed tag that stops the sequence the moment a review appears.
How it works
Twenty minutes. We look at your Google listing and the landscapers and garden companies ranking above you, and show you the gap.
Requests trigger from the way you already close a job. Your past customer list is cleaned for the reactivation run. You approve every message before it goes.
Reviews come in, replies go out with your approval, and you get a short plain-English update every month.
Further reading for landscapers and garden companies
How to Get More Landscaping Leads and Stop Seasonal Slumps
UK landscapers lose money two ways: being invisible on Google and forgetting past customers. Here is how to fix both and keep the diary full year-round.
How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Trade Business
Reviews are the lifeblood of local search. Here is the exact blueprint for turning every happy customer into a five-star Google review, automatically.
Why Local Service Businesses Lose 40% of Their Enquiries
Most local businesses are not short of leads. They are losing the ones they already have. Here are the three silent leaks draining revenue and how to fix them.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Our work is seasonal. Does the system help in winter?
Yes. The reactivation run can be timed for the quiet months so the profile keeps gaining reviews when no projects are finishing. Every review is answered promptly, which also keeps the profile looking active through the winter.
Can customers add photos with their review?
Yes. The request invites a photo, and Google allows customers to attach them. Reviews with photos of the finished garden do more for a landscaper than any other kind of review.
How does it work for regular maintenance customers?
They are asked once a season, after a visit, rather than after every cut. The system keeps track so nobody on a fortnightly round is messaged repeatedly.
What about a review complaining about plants that did not take?
A reply is drafted the same day: factual, calm, and offering to come and look. You approve it before it goes out. Handled well, that kind of review shows the next customer that you stand behind the work.
We do small jobs and big projects. Is the request the same?
The flow is the same, the wording is not. A patio and a full garden redesign get different messages, and the trigger for both is the final walk-through rather than the invoice.
Other sectors
See what it would look like for your landscaping company
Book a call and we will go through your listing and your nearest competitors together. If reviews are not your problem, we will say so.
Book a call