Send a short, personalised text within one to two hours of completing the job, while the result is fresh. Include your direct Google review link, keep it under three sentences, and never offer a reward. The message must identify your business and include a way to opt out, as required under the Spam Act 2003. One polite ask at the right moment converts far better than two follow-ups a week later.
Key takeaways
- Send your review request within one to two hours of job completion, during business hours, while the result is still fresh in the customer's mind.
- Include your direct Google review link so the customer can leave a review in one tap.
- Under the Spam Act 2003, every review request SMS must have consent from the recipient, identify your business by name, and include a working opt-out (Reply STOP) honoured within five business days.
- Never offer a discount, gift card, or any reward for a review: incentivised reviews breach ACL s29 and Google's review policies.
- Ask every customer, not just the happy ones. Selective solicitation (review gating) is prohibited by Google and is misleading under ACL s18.
Send a short, personalised text within one to two hours of completing the job, while the result is fresh and the customer is still satisfied. Include your direct Google review link, keep it under three sentences, and never offer a reward. The message must identify your business and include an opt-out option under the Spam Act 2003. One polite, well-timed ask converts far better than two follow-ups sent days later.
Updated 11/10/2026
Why does SMS work better than email for review requests?
Trade customers check email on their own schedule, which might be three days after your message arrives. A text lands on the phone they carry everywhere, gets read within minutes, and requires one tap to act on if you include your direct Google review link. The friction between intention and action is the main reason customers who say they will leave a review never do.
Timing compounds this. For trade work the window is tight: once the tradie has left and the customer has moved on with their day, the result fades into the background. An SMS that arrives while the freshly tiled bathroom or rewired switchboard is still visible gets the customer at the peak of their motivation.
For the physical-world complement to the SMS, a printed QR code on your invoice or handover card gives the customer a second channel that works even if they miss the text.
Ready-to-use SMS templates
These templates are short, direct, and compliant with the Spam Act 2003 requirements for sender identification and opt-out. Replace the bracketed fields with your own details.
After a completed job
Hi [First name], thanks for having us out today. If you have a moment, a Google review really helps other locals find us: [your direct review link]. No pressure at all. Cheers, [Your name] from [Business name]. Reply STOP to opt out.
After a quote that turned into a job
Hi [First name], the [job type] is all done. Really appreciate you choosing [Business name]. If you are happy with how it went, a quick Google review means a lot: [your direct review link]. Cheers, [Your name]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Gentle follow-up (one time only, two to three days later)
Hi [First name], just checking in after the [job type] on [day]. Hope everything looks good. If you get a chance, a Google review helps us a lot: [your direct review link]. Thanks again, [Your name] from [Business name]. Reply STOP to opt out.
One follow-up is the limit. Sending three reminders turns a polite ask into pressure, and pressure produces reluctant reviews or no review at all. For a broader system that keeps reviews flowing without any ongoing effort from you, see our guide on getting more Google reviews without nagging your customers.
What does the Spam Act 2003 require for a review request SMS?
A review request SMS is a commercial electronic message under the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Commercial electronic messages (including SMS) require consent, sender identification, and a functional unsubscribe honoured within five business days under the Spam Act 2003. Three requirements apply:
| Requirement | What it means in practice | Indicative penalty (ACMA) |
|---|---|---|
| Consent | The customer must have consented, expressly or by providing their number as part of hiring you (inferred consent) | Up to approx. $220,000 single breach (indexed, verify current) |
| Sender identification | The message must include your business name so the recipient knows who sent it | Up to approx. $220,000 single breach (indexed, verify current) |
| Functional unsubscribe | The customer must be able to reply STOP (or equivalent), honoured within five business days | Up to approx. $2.1 million repeat breaches (indexed, verify current) |
Penalties can reach approximately $220,000 for a single breach and approximately $2.1 million for repeat breaches (indexed, verify current). These are statutory maxima for context, not a prediction for any business. This is general information, not legal advice.
For a customer who gave you their mobile number to book a job, inferred consent generally covers messages directly connected to that transaction, including a completion follow-up asking for a review. For any message sent weeks later (a seasonal promotion, a maintenance reminder), you need express consent captured at the time of booking.
As the ACMA states: "You must not send, or cause to be sent, a commercial electronic message that has an Australian link unless the message includes a functional unsubscribe facility."
What does the ACCC say about incentivised and fake reviews?
Posting, soliciting, or failing to disclose incentivised reviews is an ACCC enforcement priority under ACL s18 and s29. The rules are straightforward:
- Never offer a reward. No discount off the next job, no gift card, no draw entry. Offering anything of value in exchange for a review is misleading conduct. Civil penalties for a company are the greater of $100,000,000 (for conduct on or after 28/03/2026), three times the benefit obtained, or 30% of adjusted turnover for the breach period. For an individual, up to $2,500,000 per contravention (verify current). These are statutory maxima for context, not a prediction for any business. This is general information, not legal advice.
- Never gate reviews. Do not ask customers for a star rating first and only send the happy ones to Google. Review gating is prohibited by Google's policies. As Google states: "Don't discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers."
- Never post on a customer's behalf. Even with permission, a review posted by the business rather than the customer is not genuine.
- Ask every customer. Selectively soliciting positive reviews while discouraging negative ones is itself a form of manipulation that the ACCC has flagged as misleading under ACL s18.
The templates above ask every customer, offer nothing in return, and do not coach the wording. That is the safe baseline.
How do I get my direct Google review link?
Your Google review link is a short URL that opens the review box directly, skipping the search step entirely:
- Search for your business name on Google while signed in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile.
- Click "Ask for reviews" in the management panel above the search results, or find it inside your Google Business Profile dashboard under "Get more reviews".
- Copy the short link. It will look like
g.page/r/your-business/review. This is the URL you paste into every template above.
Save this link somewhere permanent: your phone notes, a pinned message in your work chat, or a bookmark. It does not change unless you delete and recreate your Business Profile. Once you have it, paste it into your ServiceM8 or Tradify SMS template and every automated message will carry it.
How do I automate the review SMS from ServiceM8 or Tradify?
The biggest reason tradies stop sending review requests is not forgetting to write the message, it is forgetting to send it at all after a long day. Automation removes that variable.
Both ServiceM8 and Tradify let you create an SMS template that fires automatically when you change a job status to complete:
- Get your Google review link using the steps above and save it.
- Open the SMS template settings in your job management app. In ServiceM8 this is under Settings, then Automations. In Tradify it is under Settings, then Notifications.
- Create a new SMS template using one of the templates above. Use the merge fields your app provides for the customer's first name and the job type.
- Set the trigger to fire one to two hours after the job status changes to complete, during business hours. A one-to-two-hour delay is a practical window that balances recency with giving the customer time to inspect the result (directional, not from a formal study).
- Test on yourself first. Complete a test job, wait the delay window, and confirm the SMS arrives with the correct link and your business name visible.
For a deeper look at what each platform supports, our ServiceM8 vs Tradify comparison covers the automation differences. For a fully built review-request system wired into your job management app, Google review automation for tradies covers the complete solution.
Want review requests running on autopilot?
The templates above take five minutes to set up in your job management app. Once they are running, every finished job gets a compliant, personalised review request without you thinking about it.
If you want to see where reviews fit into the bigger picture of getting more leads and converting more jobs, book a free 15-minute discovery call and we can walk through your current setup together.
Common questions
Does my review request SMS need an unsubscribe option under the Spam Act 2003?
Yes. The Spam Act 2003 requires that any commercial electronic message, including a review request SMS, includes a functional way for the recipient to opt out. The unsubscribe request must be honoured within five business days. Replying STOP is the standard mechanism for SMS.
Can I offer a discount or gift card to encourage a customer to leave a review?
No. Incentivised reviews breach Google's review policies and are an ACCC enforcement priority under ACL s18 and s29. The ACCC treats offering or receiving a reward for a review as potentially misleading conduct. The only safe approach is an unconditional ask with no reward, no condition, and no filtering of who you ask.
When is the best time to send a review request after finishing a job?
Within one to two hours of completing the job, during business hours (generally 8am to 7pm). The work is still fresh, the customer has had a moment to inspect the result, and they are likely near their phone. Sending a request days later drops the conversion rate significantly.
Can I automate the review SMS from ServiceM8 or Tradify?
Yes. Both ServiceM8 and Tradify allow you to create an SMS template triggered when you mark a job as complete. Set the trigger to fire one to two hours after completion, use a merge field for the customer's first name, and paste in your direct Google review link. Include your business name and a Reply STOP line in every template.
What counts as consent for a review request SMS under the Spam Act?
For a customer who gave you their mobile number to book a job, you generally have inferred consent from the existing business relationship. This covers messages directly connected to the transaction. For follow-up marketing sent weeks later (a seasonal promotion, a maintenance reminder) you need express consent captured at the time of booking, such as a checkbox on the quote or booking form. Inferred consent covers messages that are directly related to the original transaction. The further in time or topic the message is from the job, the more it shifts toward needing express consent.
Written by
Mitchell Cross
Founder, TradieBuddy AI
Mitchell Cross is the founder of TradieBuddy AI. He identifies the pain points and bottlenecks holding Australian trade businesses back and fixes them, improving profitability, efficiency and scalability. He builds the automations and systems that cut admin, capture missed leads, and connect a business's tools into one place, and writes these guides to share what actually moves the needle for tradies.
More from Mitchell Cross →