Google Reviews – What is it?
Reviews allows you to connect your Google Business Profile to PocketSuite to request and manage reviews. Once enabled, your Google Review rating will be added to your Online Booking site and you will be able to request reviews on client receipts and with automatic follow up messages to clients after appointments. You can also respond to Google reviews directly through PocketSuite. Read the full writeup and watch the tutorial video here.
How do review requests work?
On certain receipts, clients will see an option to leave a review. Likewise, after certain appointments, clients will receive a text requesting a review. When clients leave a review, they’re first left in PocketSuite and the client is prompted to leave that review on Google if it’s a 4 or 5 star rating. We can’t post the review for the client, but we copy the review so they can paste and leave the review in just a few taps. This restriction protects your public reputation from negative reviews. All reviews, regardless of rating, are recorded and shown in your Reviews dashboard where you can respond directly to the client.
For review requests sent over text, the “Request reviews after appointments” setting allows you to set how often clients receive text requests. For example, “Only once per month” means that a client will receive a maximum of one text request per month, regardless of how many appointments they had that month.
How much do reviews cost?
Reviews are free to use, regardless of whether you use Leads!
What transactions and appointments trigger review requests?
Review requests on receipts and over text are tied to bookings and other items paid through PocketSuite as follows:
- Services, Reservations, and Drop-In Classes
- When a service, reservation, or drop-in class booking is completed and charged, the review request will appear on the receipt and the request will be sent over text after the appointment.
- If there’s a 100% deposit on the booking, the request will be sent over text after the appointment but it will not appear on the deposit receipt. The request will appear on gratuity receipts after the booking.
- Product Orders
- When an order is charged, the request will appear on the receipt.
- The request will be sent over text after the order is complete, marked by pickup or delivery
Review requests are sent over text one hour after the time of the transaction, except during quiet hours between 10 PM and 6 AM local time. Keep in mind that your settings of how often requests are sent over text still apply, so a client will only receive one text in the time period you specify regardless of the number of transactions they have within that time period.
What does the text message requesting a review say?
The text says “How was your experience with {business}? Tap here to leave a review!” At this time, this message cannot be customized. If you do not have a business name in PocketSuite, your name will be used instead.
What if I want all my clients to go to Google, regardless of the rating they leave?
You can always share your Google review link independently using Saved Messages and Smart Campaigns. In fact, there is a Smart Campaign specifically for this purpose!
Do reviews cost anything?
If you’re on a PocketSuite Premium, Team, or Enterprise plan, reviews are included in your subscription! You can also use the Reviews feature independently of Leads. Please note that if you’re using both Leads and Reviews and you have an outstanding Leads balance that was not charged due to a declined payment, review requests will not be sent until this balance is paid.
What’s the difference between PocketSuite and Google reviews?
When clients respond to a review request from PocketSuite, they first leave that review on a website hosted by PocketSuite. These reviews are recorded and available for you to read and respond to on your Reviews dashboard. These PocketSuite reviews are private and will never be shared or posted publicly. Google reviews are reviews that are left publicly on your Google Business Profile. These include both reviews from clients who we sent to Google (after they left a PocketSuite review) and reviews from anyone who went directly to your Google Business Profile to leave a review. The Reviews dashboard shows these Google reviews so that you can more easily manage your responses to them, but PocketSuite does not control these, anyone who finds your business on Google can leave a Google review.
Can I limit which clients receive review requests?
Currently, all clients will receive review requests when the feature is in use. This is why only four and five star reviews are sent to Google. With this safeguard, you can collect feedback from all clients without worrying about negative public reviews.
Can I turn off review requests sent over text while still requesting them on receipts?
Yes! Under Settings > Leads & reviews > Request reviews after appointments, select Never to turn off review requests sent over text. When “Opt-in to reviews” is turned on but this setting is set to Never, review requests will still be shown on receipts and your Google reviews will still be displayed on your Online Booking site, but requests will never be sent over text.
How do I turn off Reviews or disconnect my Google Business Profile entirely?
You can turn off Reviews by heading to Settings > Leads & reviews and toggling “Opt-in to reviews” off. If you wish to turn off only the automated review request messages, you can do so under Settings > Leads & reviews > Request reviews after appointments > Never.
To completely disconnect your Google Business Profile from PocketSuite, head to Settings > Leads & reviews and tap Disconnect at the bottom of the screen.
If I ask for a review and my client doesn’t respond, will it keep asking them?
Great question! No, your client will only be asked once even if they don’t respond. Depending on how often you’ve sent review requests to be sent, they will be asked to leave a review again at the next interval, but never more than once in each time period.
Can I turn the review feature on and off so I am not overwhelmed by reviews?
Good question! We don’t recommend turning it off as reviews are extremely valuable in driving your online presence. That said, if you ever want to turn it off you can. Just head to Settings > Leads & reviews and toggle Reviews off. If you still want to show your Google Reviews on your Online Booking site and have review requests on receipts but not send text requests, set “Request reviews after appointments” to None so clients won’t receive any texts.
I just created my Google Business Profile but I still can’t connect to PocketSuite, what do I do?
Since you just created your Google Business Profile in the last few days, please try again once it’s been three days from setting up your Profile. Newly created Profiles, especially those that are unverified, can take around three days to process before they’re ready to connect.
What permissions am I giving PocketSuite in managing my Google Business Profile?
We use multiple integrations to make this feature possible and these permissions are a blanket set of permissions Google creates when someone uses these integrations. PocketSuite will never delete your account or add anyone an additional owner of your listing. It is in our best interest to keep protect and grow your online presence. The only things we would change publicly about your profile are as follows:
- If you use Leads, your Online booking link will be posted and we will share a list of your services (only those set to Show Online) so when someone searches for a service in your area, Google knows to surface your profile
- If you use reviews, you can respond to Google reviews from PocketSuite, which we then send to Google to post as a public response. No response would ever be sent unless you initiate it from your Reviews dashboard.
What information do you share with Google? How do you protect us and our privacy from Google?
In short, we don't share any information that is not already public. The only information we share that is not already part of your Google Business Profile is your Online Booking link and a list of the services, classes, packages, subscriptions, reservations, and products you’ve created in PocketSuite and toggled Show online on, meaning the items that appear on your booking site publicly already. All other information we actually are collecting from Google, all of which is already public, in order to properly match your Google Business Profile to your PocketSuite account.