Information checked: 21 July 2026.
Review management is the process of requesting genuine feedback, responding professionally and using recurring themes to improve the business. It should never pressure customers, filter who is invited or offer rewards for positive ratings.
In brief: Invite genuine feedback consistently and treat reviews as customer-service evidence, not an SEO commodity.
Create a fair request process
- Ask customers after a real transaction or completed service.
- Use the same neutral request for a defined group, not only happy customers.
- Do not offer discounts, gifts or competition entries for a review.
- Do not ask staff, contractors or connected parties to pose as customers.
- Make the request optional and avoid repeated harassment.
Response framework
How to respond
- Positive
- Response goal: Thank the customer and acknowledge a specific point; Avoid: Generic promotional paragraph
- Mixed
- Response goal: Recognise both strengths and concern; Avoid: Arguing about the rating
- Negative
- Response goal: Stay factual, apologise where appropriate and move details offline; Avoid: Publishing personal information
- Suspected policy violation
- Response goal: Preserve evidence and report through the platform; Avoid: Threats or organised retaliation
- Serious safety or legal issue
- Response goal: Escalate internally before public reply; Avoid: Admitting facts not yet investigated
Operational workflow
- Assign a named person and response target.
- Capture the complaint in the normal customer-service system.
- Investigate before making factual claims.
- Reply briefly and protect personal data.
- Resolve the underlying issue where possible.
- Review monthly themes and process changes.
Measure more than rating
Track response time, repeated service issues, resolution and whether feedback identifies unclear website information. A perfect average is less useful than a credible record of real experiences and responsible responses.
Readiness check
The business has a written request rule, response owner, escalation path and evidence-retention process.
A common way this goes wrong
Review requests are sometimes sent only to customers believed to be satisfied. This review gating distorts feedback and can breach platform rules. Define a neutral eligibility rule and use it consistently.
Review records
- Date and transaction basis for requests.
- Response owner and target time.
- Escalation notes kept outside the public reply.
- Monthly themes and resulting service improvements.
What to do now
Write a neutral rule describing when customers are invited to review and who replies. Test it on a small group and ensure complaints are transferred into the normal service-resolution process.
Sources and date checked
Search, product and regulatory information was checked against the following primary sources. Interfaces and policies can change, so recheck operational details before acting. Date checked: 21 July 2026.
Keep the decision under your control
Retain the relevant accounts, source material, supplier terms and recovery information. Recheck changing prices, interfaces and rules before acting.