How a fence company gets Google reviews: the install-day ask, scripts and a healthy pace
The install-day script, who on the crew should ask, how to text the link, what a healthy review pace looks like for a fence company and how to answer the bad one.
A fence company has one shot at a review. The customer is thrilled for about an hour on install day, standing at the new gate, taking a photo for the family group chat. Three days later the fence is just the fence. If nobody asked in that hour, the review usually never comes.
That is why the median fence contractor on Google has 16 reviews while the top tenth has 113 or more. The difference is almost never the quality of the work. It is whether asking is part of the install checklist or something the owner meant to do.
Why the count matters more than the stars
74.5% of fence contractors are rated 4.5 or higher. Stars are table stakes. What a homeowner comparing three quotes actually reads is the number next to the stars and the date on the newest one. A company with 4.7 and 160 reviews beats a company with 5.0 and 11, every time, in the map pack and on the kitchen counter.
Google also uses count and recency as a ranking input for the three-business map pack. So a review earned in May does two jobs: it helps close the June estimate and it helps you show up for the July search.
Who asks, and when
The crew lead asks, on install day, during the final walkthrough. Not the office the next morning. Not an automated email a week later. The walkthrough is when the customer is checking the gate latch, running a hand along the top rail and saying this looks great. That is the moment.
The script is short:
"Glad you like it. One thing that helps us more than anything is a Google review. I am going to text you the link right now while we are both standing here. Two sentences about the fence and the crew is plenty."
Then the crew lead sends the link from the company phone before leaving the driveway. The text is one line: "Here is the review link from today's fence install. Thank you, [crew lead name]." The link should be the short review URL from your Google Business Profile, not the profile page. Google explains how to find it on its review link help page.
Give the crew lead a reason to care. Many companies pay $10 to $20 per review that names a crew member. That is cheap against a $4,000 job and it turns the ask into a habit instead of a favor.
The second ask
About a third of customers will say yes at the gate and forget by dinner. Three days later, the office sends one more text: "Hope the fence is holding up to the dog. If you have a minute, here is that review link again." One reminder, no more. A second reminder annoys people and a third gets you reported.
If you have a Nextdoor presence, the same customer is worth asking for a recommendation there, because fence buyers on Nextdoor ask neighbors by name.
What a healthy pace looks like
Count your installs, not your estimates. A fence company that finishes three jobs a week has about 150 chances a year. If the crew asks every time and a third follow through, that is 50 reviews a year. That alone moves a company from the median to the 75th percentile, which is 47, in one season. Two seasons at that pace puts you past 100, where only 11.6% of fence contractors are today.
If your current count is under 10, you are with the 40.5% of companies that homeowners skip. The fastest way out is to go back through the last 90 days of completed jobs and send a personal text from the owner: "This is [name], we installed your fence in April. Would you leave us a short review? It helps a small company more than you would think." Expect one in five to respond.
Repairs and small jobs count too
Fence repair, a single gate, a storm-damaged section: these are low-ticket jobs that owners often treat as favors. They are review opportunities with the same weight as a $9,000 install. A $350 gate repair with a review attached is worth more to the company than the $350.
Handling the bad one
Every fence company eventually gets a 1-star over a scheduling delay in May or a neighbor who thought the fence was on their side of the line. Reply within a day, from the owner, in two or three sentences, without arguing. "We missed our window on this one and I am sorry. The spring backlog is not an excuse. If you will call me directly I want to make it right." Future customers read your reply, not the complaint.
Then bury it. Ten new reviews in the next month push it off the first screen. 12.4% of fence contractors sit under 4.0, and almost all of them got there by going quiet after a bad spring rather than by doing bad work.
What not to do
- Do not buy reviews or trade them with other contractors. Google removes them and sometimes suspends the profile.
- Do not gate the ask behind a survey so only happy customers see the link. Google's policy prohibits it.
- Do not leave reviews from the office computer on behalf of customers. They get filtered.
- Do not put a review QR code on the invoice and call it done. Nobody scans an invoice.
Frequently asked
Should I offer a discount for a review? No. Google's terms prohibit incentives for reviews and a discount in the review text is a flag. Pay your crew lead for asking, not the customer for writing.
My installs are mostly subcontracted. Who asks? Whoever does the final walkthrough with the customer. If that is the sub, the sub asks and sends your link, and you pay the sub the same per-review bonus. If nobody does a walkthrough, that is the first thing to fix.
How fast should I reply to good reviews? Within a week, one sentence, mentioning the fence style. "Thanks, the cedar board-on-board turned out great and we appreciate you picking us." It shows future readers the owner is paying attention.
Review requests after every install are part of the free 14-day trial. Text or call (385) 334-3643 and the link, the script and the texts are set up for your crew within two days.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, fence companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor