Automated Reviews & Reputation Management

The Cooledge Reviews feature helps you collect more Google reviews automatically, capture private feedback from customers, and showcase your best reviews on your website and quote pages—all without manual effort.

1. Getting Started with Reviews

Prerequisites

Before setting up automated reviews, you'll need:

• Active Cooledge Subscription: Any plan includes the reviews feature
• Google Business Profile: A verified Google Business listing for your business
• Customer Contact Details: Email and/or mobile numbers for your customers

Connecting Google Business Profile

To start collecting Google reviews, you'll need to connect your Google Business Profile:

1. Go to Marketing → Reviews in the portal sidebar
2. Click the Reviews tab
3. Click Connect Google Business
4. Sign in with your Google account that manages your business listing
5. If you have multiple locations, select the correct one
6. Authorise Cooledge to access your reviews

Once connected, Cooledge will automatically sync your existing Google reviews throughout the day.

For detailed connection instructions, troubleshooting, and sync information, see: Google Business Profile Integration →

2. Setting Up Review Automation

The automation settings control when and how review requests are sent to your customers.

Accessing Automation Settings

1. Go to Marketing → Reviews
2. Click the Automation tab
3. Configure your preferences

Automation Triggers

You can trigger review requests automatically when:

Job Completed:

• Review request sent when a job status changes to "Completed"
• Great for service calls and repairs
• Customer receives the request after your preferred delay

Invoice Paid:

• Review request sent when an invoice is paid in full
• Ensures customer only gets asked after full payment
• Ideal for larger installation projects

You can enable one or both triggers depending on your workflow.

Timing Settings

Delay Days (0-30):

• How many days to wait after the trigger before sending
• Default: 1 day (gives customer time to experience your work)
• Set to 0 for immediate sending

Send Time:

• The time of day to send requests (in your business timezone)
• Default: 9:00 AM
• Requests scheduled overnight will be held until this time

SMS Quiet Hours:

• SMS messages won't be sent during these hours
• Default: 9:00 PM to 9:00 AM
• Prevents late-night disturbances

Channel Settings

Email:

• Professional email with your business branding
• Includes direct link to the review landing page
• Tracked for opens and clicks

SMS:

• Short, punchy message with a short link (cldg.com.au/r/...)
• Higher engagement rates than email
• Uses your registered SMS number or Cooledge sender ID

You can enable both channels—email sends first, then SMS.

Follow-up Reminders

Enable automatic follow-up SMS reminders for customers who haven't engaged:

• Default delay: 48 hours after initial request
• Only sent if customer hasn't clicked the link
• Skipped if customer already left a review or feedback

Cooldown Period

Prevent over-requesting from the same customer:

• Default: 90 days between requests to the same customer
• Minimum: 14 days
• Ensures customers aren't annoyed by frequent requests

3. Job Category Filtering

You can filter which jobs trigger review requests by category:

1. In Automation settings, find Job Categories
2. Select specific categories (e.g., "Split System Install", "Service Call")
3. Leave empty to trigger for all job categories

This is useful if you:

• Only want reviews for installation jobs, not service calls
• Want different automation rules for different work types
• Need to exclude certain job types from automation

4. How Customers Experience It

The Review Landing Page

When customers click the review link, they see a branded landing page:

Step 1: Rate Your Experience

• "How did we do?" prompt
• 1-5 star rating selection
• Quick tap to select their rating

Step 2: Next Action

The page always shows both options, but emphasis varies by rating:

For 4-5 Star Ratings:

• Prominent "Leave a public Google review" button
• Links directly to your Google Business review page
• Secondary option to send private feedback

For 1-3 Star Ratings:

• Prominent "Send private feedback" form
• Encourages sharing concerns before going public
• Still shows Google review option

Private Feedback Form

Customers can provide detailed private feedback:

• Message: Required, minimum 10 characters
• Tags: Optional quick-select (Scheduling, Pricing, Workmanship, Communication, Other)
• Contact: Optional email/phone if they want a response

5. Managing Private Feedback

Private feedback helps you catch issues before they become negative public reviews.

Accessing Feedback

1. Go to Marketing → Reviews
2. Click the Feedback tab
3. View all submitted feedback

Feedback Status Workflow

• New: Just received, needs attention
• Acknowledged: You've reviewed it, working on resolution
• Resolved: Issue addressed, no further action needed

Handling Feedback

For each feedback item:

1. Review the rating and message
2. Check if they left contact details (indicates they want a response)
3. Add internal notes for your team
4. Contact the customer via phone or email links
5. Update status as you work through the issue

Feedback Notifications

Get email notifications when feedback requires attention:

• Notification sent for ratings ≤3 stars
• Notification sent if customer provided contact details
• Toggle notifications in Settings → Business → Feedback Notifications

6. Viewing Your Google Reviews

Reviews Dashboard

The Reviews tab shows all your synced Google reviews:

• Total reviews and average rating from Google
• Individual reviews with customer name, rating, and comment
• Review date and whether you've replied
• Matched customer (if auto-detected or manually matched)

Review Matching

Cooledge automatically matches Google reviews to customers using timing and name similarity. There are three levels:

Auto-Matched (High Confidence):

• Matched automatically—no action needed
• Based on timing (customer clicked Google link shortly before the review appeared) and name similarity
• Shows as "Matched to [Name] (auto)" on the review

Suggested Matches (Medium Confidence):

• When the system isn't confident enough to auto-match, it suggests a likely customer
• An amber "Suggested: [Name]" banner appears on the review
• Click Confirm to accept, or Dismiss (✕) if it's wrong
• Use the Match: With Suggestions filter to quickly find reviews needing attention

Manual Matching:

• For unmatched reviews with no suggestion, click the link icon on the review
• Search for the customer by name, email, or phone
• Click to confirm the match

Matched reviews help you track which customers left reviews and update their record.

Why is matching needed? Google reviews are anonymous to businesses—Google doesn't share the reviewer's email or account details. The only way to connect a review to your customer is through timing and name clues. Cooledge does the heavy lifting automatically, but some reviews need a quick human confirmation.

Hiding Reviews

You can hide reviews from your widget displays:

1. Find the review in the list
2. Click the visibility toggle
3. Review won't appear in embedded widgets

Note: This only affects Cooledge widgets, not your actual Google listing.

7. Embeddable Review Widgets

Showcase your reviews on your website and quote pages with customisable widgets.

Overview

Cooledge offers two types of review widgets:

• Website Embed Widget – Display reviews on any webpage with a simple embed code
• Quote Page Widget – Show reviews directly on your public quote pages

Both widgets support carousel or list layouts, light/dark themes, custom colours, and rating filters.

Quick Setup

1. Go to Marketing → Reviews
2. Click the Embed tab (for website) or Widget tab (for quotes)
3. Customise your widget appearance
4. Copy the embed code and paste into your website

For complete widget setup, customisation options, and troubleshooting, see: Review Widgets & Embedding →

8. Manual Review Requests

Sometimes you need to send review requests manually.

Sending Manual Requests

1. Go to Customers and find the customer
2. Open their customer detail page
3. Click Request Review
4. Choose channel (Email, SMS, or both)
5. Confirm and send

Manual requests:

• Use the same landing page as automated requests
• Respect cooldown periods
• Appear in your review request history

Skipping Automation for Specific Jobs

If you don't want automation for a particular job:

1. Open the job detail page
2. Find the Skip Review Request toggle
3. Enable to prevent automatic requests

Useful for warranty work, callbacks, or sensitive situations.

Customer Opt-Out

Customers can be excluded from all review requests:

1. Go to Customers and find the customer
2. Edit their profile
3. Toggle Don't request reviews to ON

9. Tracking & Analytics

Review Request History

Track all sent requests:

1. Go to Marketing → Reviews
2. Click the Requests tab
3. See all requests with status:
   • Pending: Scheduled, not yet sent
   • Sent: Delivered, awaiting customer action
   • Completed: Customer engaged (reviewed or gave feedback)
   • Expired: No engagement within tracking window

Landing Page Events

For each request, track the customer journey:

• Link clicked: Customer opened the landing page
• Rating selected: Customer chose a star rating
• Google review clicked: Customer went to Google
• Feedback submitted: Customer sent private feedback

Google Stats

Monitor your Google Business performance:

• Total reviews: Count from Google
• Average rating: Your star rating
• Reviews this month: Track growth over time

10. Best Practices for Tradies

Timing Your Requests

• Same day or next day for service calls (work is fresh in mind)
• 1-3 days for installations (customer has time to enjoy it)
• After invoice paid for larger projects (ensures no payment disputes)

Maximising Response Rates

• Use SMS: Higher open rates than email
• Send during business hours: 9am-6pm gets best responses
• Enable follow-ups: Gentle reminder increases completion
• Keep messages short: Customers are busy too

Handling Negative Feedback

1. Respond quickly: Contact customer within 24 hours
2. Listen first: Understand their concern fully
3. Resolve genuinely: Fix the problem if possible
4. Follow up: Ensure they're satisfied with resolution
5. Ask again: Happy customers may update their rating

Showcasing Reviews

• Homepage: Widget near top of your website
• Quote pages: Build trust before customer accepts
• Service pages: Relevant reviews for each service type
• Google Business: Respond to reviews (shows you care)

11. Troubleshooting

Reviews Not Syncing

If your Google reviews aren't appearing:

1. Check GBP connection status in Reviews tab
2. Click "Sync Now" to manually refresh
3. Ensure your Google account has access to the business
4. Reconnect if the token has expired

Requests Not Sending

If automated requests aren't going out:

1. Check automation is enabled for the trigger
2. Verify customer has email/phone on file
3. Check cooldown period hasn't blocked them
4. Ensure job category matches filter (if set)
5. Verify the job/invoice status triggered correctly

Widget Not Displaying

If the embed widget isn't showing:

1. Check embed code is complete
2. Verify JavaScript is loading (check browser console)
3. Ensure you have reviews to display
4. Check minimum rating filter isn't hiding all reviews

Customer Not Receiving Request

If a specific customer didn't get their request:

1. Check request history for status
2. Verify contact details are correct
3. Check customer isn't opted out
4. Check job isn't set to skip reviews
5. Review quiet hours settings for SMS

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Related Articles:

• Review Widgets & Embedding → – Detailed widget setup and customisation
• Google Business Profile Integration → – Connection, sync, and troubleshooting
• Client Communication → – Unified inbox and messaging
• Job Management → – Managing jobs from quote to completion

Need help with reviews? Email us at support@cooledge.com.au