ArchelHow a customer chooses a plumbing and heating firm
The boiler goes off on the coldest morning of the year. The homeowner searches "emergency plumber near me" and rings the first firm on the map with good recent reviews. They do not compare quotes. They do not read websites. The whole decision happens in the time it takes to scroll three listings. A plumber with a full diary of happy customers and a dozen reviews from years ago loses that call to a newer firm whose reviews are from last week.
Where plumbers and heating engineers lose reviews
Emergency jobs end with relief, not a review
You stop the leak, the customer thanks you at the door and you are gone. They are relieved, which is exactly when they would write something, and nobody asks them.
Annual services are the same customers, never asked
Every boiler service is a customer who has used you before and will again. They are the easiest review you will ever get and the service reminder is the only message they receive.
Installs take a week and the ask has no date
A new boiler or a full bathroom runs over days. The job finishes when the commissioning paperwork is done, and by then everyone has moved on to the next one.
How the review system works for a plumbing and heating firm
The trigger is the job being marked done from your phone or the office, with the job type set so a callout, a service and an install each get their own timing.
The customer gets a short text with a direct link to your Google review page, worded the way you would say it on the doorstep.
If there is no review after a few days, one follow-up goes out. Two messages per customer, never more.
New reviews are picked up and a reply is drafted for you to approve, so your listing shows a firm that is paying attention.
When the ask goes out
Plumbing and heating has three kinds of job and they need three different clocks. An emergency callout ends with a relieved customer, so the request goes out within the hour. A boiler service ends with the paperwork and the customer is calm, so the ask goes out that evening with the service record. A new boiler or a bathroom ends with commissioning and sign-off, so the request waits until the job is marked finished and goes out the next morning, once the customer has had a hot shower in the new setup. We set the delay per job type once and it runs itself from then on.
Past customersReactivation
A plumbing and heating firm with a service book has the best review list in the trade: customers you see every year who already trust you. We clean that list, remove anyone who has already reviewed you, and run a one-off campaign asking them properly, with a direct link. The same goes for past install customers in your invoicing app. For an established firm it usually moves the review count more in a month than the previous five years did.
The rulesWithin Google's policy and UK law
Every customer gets the same request, the one who had a tap washer and the one who had a new heating system. We do not ask how it went first and only send the happy ones to Google. That is review gating, it breaks Google policy and it is unlawful under the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. No discounts on the next service in exchange for a review, and a hard limit of two messages per customer. A direct line to you sits next to the Google link for everyone, so a customer with a drip under the sink tells you first.
How it works
Twenty minutes. We look at your Google listing and the plumbers and heating engineers 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 plumbers and heating engineers
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.
How to Rank Higher on Google Maps for Plumbers
Practical steps to rank your plumbing business higher on Google Maps: GBP optimisation, reviews, NAP consistency, and local signals.
Why You're Losing Plumbing Jobs to Missed Calls
If your phone rings while you are under a sink, that caller rings the next plumber. Here is why missed calls cost UK plumbers thousands and how to fix it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Will an emergency customer really leave a review?
They are the most likely of anyone to do it, as long as the ask arrives while the relief is fresh. A text within the hour with a one-tap link gets written up. A vague mention at the door does not.
I service the same boilers every year. Do those customers get asked every time?
No. Once a customer has left a review they are tagged and the system stops asking them. Anyone who has not reviewed you gets asked after their next service, which is how the service book turns into reviews over a year.
What about Gas Safe and other registrations?
They stay exactly as they are. This builds the Google reviews people see on the map. Your registration details belong on your listing and your site, and we will check they are there.
Can the ask go out with the service record or the invoice?
Yes. For services and installs the link can sit at the bottom of the service record or invoice email as well as going by text. The paperwork is already the moment the customer feels the job is done.
What happens if a customer is not happy?
They get the same message as everyone else, with a direct way to tell you next to the Google link. Most people with a problem would rather you came back and sorted it than write about it, if you give them the route.
Other sectors
See what it would look like for your plumbing and heating firm
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.
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