When someone searches for "ski rental" at a resort, Google shows three shops on the map before any website. What sets those three apart from the rest is almost always the same thing: more reviews, more recent reviews and better ratings. In the audits we do for shops, the average gap between the top three and the others is usually measured in dozens of reviews.
The moment: when the equipment comes back
The best time to ask for a review is when the customer returns the equipment and tells you it went well. They're happy, they have their phone in their hand and they remember your name. Ask right then, in person, and give them a way to do it in ten seconds.
Three tools that work
- A QR code on the counter that takes them straight to writing a review on your listing (Google gives you that link in your Business Profile, under "Ask for reviews").
- An email the next day saying thank you, with the same link. If they booked online, this email can go out automatically.
- Ask for a photo: reviews with photos appear in the carousel on your listing and are more convincing than ten text-only ones.
What Google doesn't allow
This matters, because the consequences are serious: Google can delete reviews or suspend your listing.
- Don't offer anything in exchange for a review: no discounts, no gifts, no prize draws. Google's rules prohibit offering incentives for reviews, even if you ask for an honest opinion.
- Don't ask only happy customers for reviews by filtering in advance who is going to rate you well. Ask everyone.
- Don't buy reviews or ask friends or staff to write them.
Reply to all of them
Reply to every review, including the bad ones, with your name and in a calm tone. For readers, a good reply to a complaint builds more trust than another five-star review. And it tells Google your listing is active.
How Caranva helps
Bookings that come in through Caranva get a thank-you email after the rental with the link to your Google listing, and each product page shows your reviews, so you collect them on Google and they also help you sell. For the rest of your listing, see how to get your shop on Google Maps.
Do you run a rental shop or school? Send me your rates (a photo of your price list is fine) at caranvasports@gmail.com and I'll have it set up for you in 48 hours, with no monthly fee: just 15% of the bookings we bring you. More at caranva.app/para-tiendas.
— Jaime, founder of Caranva
