Read. Apply. Repeat.
This handbook focuses on the delivery system behind review invitations: triggers, messages, links, ownership and testing. It complements the Reviews Playbook by turning a neutral request into a dependable operational process. Start with one customer journey, test it end to end and expand only after the system works. A higher delivery count is not a promise of more reviews or a better rating.
The route through this ebook
- Trigger.
- Deliver.
- Verify.
Use the worksheets digitally in a PDF viewer that supports forms, or print them. Examples are illustrative. Primary references support platform rules; the planning methods are original Flento editorial tools.
The 12 chapters
Each chapter is short on purpose: a clear idea, one thing to do and one worked example. Read one at a time and apply it before moving on.
Chapter 01
Write the program contract
Define why invitations exist and which genuine customer experiences belong in the program. The goal is an easy opportunity to share honest feedback. Keep staff incentives and customer rewards separate from reviews. State that support remains available regardless of participation or rating. A written contract helps a new employee understand the boundary before a campaign or automation makes requests at scale.
Put it into practice
Document the purpose, eligible experience and neutral participation rule.
Worked idea
Example: feedback requests follow completed services, with no reward and no requirement to use particular words.
Sources: Maps content policies
Chapter 02
Choose the experience trigger
Use a dependable business event, such as completed delivery or service completion, rather than an unverified contact list. Timing should reflect when a customer has had enough experience to comment. Avoid triggers based on a positive satisfaction score. Review cancelled or incomplete cases separately without disguising them as completed experiences. The trigger should be auditable by the operational team.
Put it into practice
Identify the record that proves the service event and who maintains it.
Worked idea
Example: a completion status approved by the service team triggers the same neutral invitation path for customers.
Sources: Review requests, Maps content policies
Chapter 03
Separate support from selection
A private feedback form can help resolve problems, but it must not become a filter that only shows Google to satisfied customers. Keep the public option available independently of sentiment. Route a complaint to support without withholding the review link. Test both a positive and negative private-feedback path so the team can see any accidental gating.
Put it into practice
Walk every branch of the journey and remove sentiment-based restrictions on the public invitation.
Worked idea
Example: a support form and public review link are presented independently, rather than showing the link only after a high score.
Sources: Maps content policies
Chapter 04
Choose an appropriate channel
Use channels customers expect from the service relationship and follow applicable permission, privacy and communication requirements. Do not treat a receipt or order as blanket permission for any campaign. Ask the responsible team to approve the channel and opt-out process. Start with a simple route that can be supported reliably rather than adding multiple messages with unclear ownership.
Put it into practice
Record the authorized channel, permission basis and suppression owner in the program brief.
Worked idea
Example: a team uses its approved service-follow-up process and removes contacts when they opt out.
Sources: Review requests
Chapter 05
Prepare short neutral messages
A good message identifies the business, explains the optional action and uses the correct link. Keep the wording free of pressure, rewards, rating requests or suggested review content. Adapt the tone for the relationship without changing the neutrality of the invitation. Avoid making a message appear to come from a person who is not involved in the business.
Put it into practice
Write one message for the selected channel and review it with the service team.
Worked idea
Template: Thank you for choosing [business]. You are welcome to share an honest review of your experience: [link].
Sources: Review requests, Maps content policies
Chapter 06
Validate the destination
Keep one controlled register of review destinations, especially when multiple branches are involved. Test the link on a phone and confirm the displayed business. If you use a redirect, record who owns the domain and can maintain it. A QR code is only as reliable as its destination. Recheck after changes to the profile or printed material.
Put it into practice
Match the customer event to the intended location before activating a message.
Worked idea
Example: the branch ID in a completed service record selects that branch's verified review destination.
Sources: Review requests
Chapter 07
Set a respectful contact limit
Choose a restrained contact policy that fits the business relationship. Repeated reminders can feel like pressure, particularly when a customer has ignored or declined the first invitation. Keep an opt-out or suppression record and do not make review participation a condition of support. Your contact limit is a service choice, not a platform-required cadence or a proven conversion tactic.
Put it into practice
Define when reminders stop and how the team handles a refusal or opt-out.
Worked idea
Example: a small team chooses a single invitation and avoids follow-up pressure when the customer takes no action.
Sources: Maps content policies
Chapter 08
Prevent duplicate delivery
Use a stable internal event identifier to distinguish a genuine service from a retried message. Record delivery attempts and stop repeated sends from the same trigger. Do not add customer details to tracking URLs. A system that retries after a technical error should have a clear ceiling and an owner. Test cancelled, duplicated and corrected records before launch.
Put it into practice
Write the duplicate rule and test one repeated event with a harmless test contact.
Worked idea
Example: the same completed service cannot create a second invitation simply because an export is uploaded twice.
Sources: Campaign URL measurement
Chapter 09
Give staff a usable handoff
Explain what the program does, what employees may say and how customers can decline. Avoid requiring staff to collect a number of reviews or asking them to watch someone complete the process. Give them a private support route for concerns that arise during the handoff. Training should make the invitation calm and consistent, without turning it into a script customers must comply with.
Put it into practice
Practice the handoff with a customer who declines and one who raises a concern.
Worked idea
Example: an employee points to an optional feedback link, then continues the service without asking for proof of a review.
Sources: Maps content policies
Chapter 10
Monitor delivery separately
Track whether a message was attempted, delivered or suppressed using the data your channel genuinely provides. A click does not establish that a review was posted. People can open the link without completing the process, and reviews may not appear immediately. Avoid connecting named customers to public reviews without a valid and appropriate reason. Aggregate operational logs are often sufficient.
Put it into practice
Create separate columns for delivery status, link health and observed public feedback.
Worked idea
Example: an undeliverable message becomes a contact-quality issue, not evidence that the customer refused to review.
Sources: Review requests
Chapter 11
Test without manipulating reviews
Use internal test contacts to verify delivery and links, but do not post fabricated customer reviews to test the program. Check templates, location selection, duplicate suppression, opt-outs and failure handling. Make a rollback plan that pauses sends while preserving the records needed to diagnose a fault. Only launch after the responsible owner can explain the end-to-end path.
Put it into practice
Complete a dry run and confirm that test data never becomes a public customer contribution.
Worked idea
Example: a tester opens the correct business destination and stops before submitting a review.
Sources: Maps content policies
Chapter 12
Improve one part of the system
Choose a single operational issue such as broken links or duplicate delivery. Save the baseline, make a focused correction and check the result. Treat review growth as contextual feedback rather than proof of message causation. Do not optimize wording toward higher ratings or exclude unhappy customers to improve numbers. A sound program earns trust by making honest participation simple.
Put it into practice
Review link health, delivery errors and pressure risks before testing message variants.
Worked idea
Example: fixing branch routing reduces misdirected invitations without claiming a guaranteed increase in reviews.
Sources: Profile performance definitions, Maps content policies
Workbook sheets
The PDF includes four fill-in sheets. Here is what each one asks you to record. Download the PDF to type into them or print them.
Workbook 01
Invitation program contract
Make the boundary clear before launching any automation.
- Eligible genuine experience
- Trigger and source record
- Neutral invitation wording
- Approved channel and permissions
- Support and opt-out routes
- Owner and stop conditions
Workbook 02
Location-link register
Use one sheet per location and recheck after changes.
- Business and branch identifier
- Verified profile name
- Review destination
- Redirect or QR owner
- Phone scan test result
- Change-triggered retest rule
Workbook 03
Delivery quality test
Use harmless test contacts; do not create public test reviews.
- Normal delivery result
- Repeated-event suppression
- Wrong-location prevention
- Opt-out handling
- Failure and retry limits
- Pause / rollback owner
Workbook 04
Operational improvement log
Separate delivery evidence from review outcomes.
- Delivery issue
- Current evidence
- Focused correction
- Baseline and comparison window
- Other changes to note
- Decision and follow-up owner
Sources
Official documentation supports platform rules. The examples, routines and worksheets are Flento editorial tools. Links open the publishers' own pages. Check them for the current version, since platform documentation changes.
- Review requests · Google (opens in a new tab)
- Profile performance definitions · Google (opens in a new tab)
- Product and free signup · Flento (opens in a new tab)
- Maps content policies · Google (opens in a new tab)
- Campaign URL measurement · Google (opens in a new tab)
Global scope: apply the platform guidance to an eligible business. Local operating requirements, customer expectations and feature availability may differ. This publication makes no guaranteed performance or ranking claims.
