Online reviews are one of the highest-leverage marketing activities for a lawn care business. A single new 5-star review on Google can win you several new clients a year — but most operators never ask for them consistently. LawnBook™ Pro's auto review request feature sends a professional review request email the moment a client pays, so you capture that moment of satisfaction without any extra effort on your part.
How It Works
The flow is completely automatic once configured. When a client pays an invoice — whether through the LawnBook payment link, a recorded cash payment, or a manually marked payment — LawnBook detects the payment confirmation and triggers a review request email to that client.
The email is sent from your business name and contains:
- A brief thank-you message for their recent service
- A direct link to leave a Google review on your Google Business Profile
- A direct link to leave a review on Yelp (if you've added your Yelp listing)
- Your business name and contact information in the footer
Clients tap one link and land directly on the review composer — no searching, no navigating menus. This single step removes the biggest friction point that prevents satisfied clients from leaving reviews.
Note: Auto review requests require a client email address on file. If a client record doesn't have an email, no request will be sent for that payment. Make sure to capture client emails when adding new clients to your account.
Setting Up
To enable auto review requests, go to Settings > Review Requests and complete these steps:
- Enable auto-send — Toggle on "Send review requests automatically after payment"
- Add your Google Business link — Find your Google review link by searching for your business on Google, clicking "Write a review," and copying the URL from your browser. Paste it into the Google Review Link field
- Add your Yelp link — Optional. Find your Yelp business page URL and add it here. If left blank, the email will only include the Google review link
- Preview the email — Tap Preview to see exactly what your clients will receive before sending goes live
- Save settings — Once saved, auto-send is active for all future payments
Review requests are sent from a LawnBook-managed email address with your business name in the "From" display name. Replies to the email are forwarded to the email address on your LawnBook account so clients can reach you directly if needed.
Tip: Find your Google review link by going to your Google Business Profile dashboard, selecting "Get more reviews," and copying the short link Google provides. This link goes directly to the review form without requiring clients to search for your business first.
Customizing the Email
The review request email is professionally designed and mobile-optimized by default. From Settings > Review Requests > Email Settings, you can customize:
- Subject line — The default is "Thank you for choosing [Business Name] — we'd love your feedback" but you can customize it to match your tone
- Thank-you message — A short personal message that appears at the top of the email. Keep it warm and genuine — one or two sentences is ideal
- Call-to-action button text — Change the button label from the default "Leave a Google Review" to something like "Share your experience" if you prefer
- Business logo — Upload your logo to appear at the top of the email. Uses the same logo from your invoice settings if already uploaded
The email is always sent in responsive HTML that renders correctly on iPhone, Android, and desktop email clients. LawnBook handles deliverability — the emails are sent through authenticated infrastructure to minimize spam filtering.
Timing
By default, the review request sends immediately after payment confirmation. This catches clients at peak satisfaction — the moment they've just completed a transaction and are happy with the result.
If you prefer a brief delay, go to Settings > Review Requests > Timing and choose from:
- Immediate — Request sends within minutes of payment confirmation (default)
- 1 day delay — Request sends the next day, giving the client time to see the completed work before being asked for a review
- 3 day delay — Request sends 3 days after payment, useful for services where the results take a day or two to fully appear (fertilization, seeding)
A 1-day delay is often effective for one-time service clients who may appreciate seeing the results before being asked for feedback. For recurring clients who already know the quality of your work, immediate sends tend to have higher response rates.
Tip: Test different delays across a season and compare response rates in the tracking view. Many operators find that 1-day delay outperforms immediate for first-time clients, while immediate works well for returning clients who already trust your work.
Tracking
The Review Requests section in Reports shows the status and performance of your automated review campaign over time.
- Requests sent — Total number of review request emails sent in the selected period, broken down by week or month
- Email opens — How many clients opened the email (requires email tracking to be enabled in settings)
- Link clicks — How many clients tapped the Google or Yelp review link in the email
- Client log — A list of every client who received a request, the date sent, and their open/click status — useful for identifying clients who might benefit from a personal follow-up call
- Review count growth — A manually updated counter where you can log your current Google and Yelp review counts over time to track growth in response to the campaign
Note that Google and Yelp do not provide an API for confirming review submissions, so LawnBook cannot automatically verify whether a client actually left a review. The click tracking tells you who engaged with the link, which is a strong leading indicator.
Best Practices
Automated review requests remove the friction of asking, but the quality and consistency of your service ultimately determines your review volume. Here are the practices that lead to the most 5-star reviews over time:
- Nail the timing — Ask when the client is happiest. For one-time cleanups, a same-day ask after they've seen the finished property is highly effective. For recurring mowing, immediate sends after payment tend to work well
- Personalize where possible — The thank-you message in the email is a small but meaningful touch. Mention the season, the service type, or a genuine observation about the property to make the request feel less automated
- Follow up on clicks without reviews — When a client clicked your review link but no new review appeared on Google within a few days, a brief personal text saying "Hey, I saw you might have had trouble leaving a review — happy to help if so" can recover the conversion
- Respond to every review — Google ranks businesses higher when owners respond to reviews. Responding to negative reviews professionally also demonstrates to prospective clients that you take feedback seriously
- Handle negative feedback privately first — If you know a job had an issue, reach out to the client directly before the auto-request sends. Many clients who received a proactive resolution call won't leave a negative review, and some leave positive ones specifically because of how you handled the problem
- Don't incentivize reviews — Offering discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews violates Google's and Yelp's policies and can result in review removal or account penalties