Review automation for tradesmen: tools and providers ranked
Most tradespeople ask for reviews the same way: they mean to, then forget. Review automation fixes that by tying the request to an event, usually the job closing or the invoice being paid. We looked at six UK providers that build this for trades and ranked them on how the request fires, what happens if the customer ignores it, and what else you get for the money.
The three questions we asked every provider
First, what is the trigger? A review request that depends on you remembering to press a button is not automation. We wanted to see the request fire off a job status change, an invoice, or at minimum a one-tap action from a van.
Second, what happens next? A single text has a poor hit rate. The better systems send a reminder a few days later, and the best ones also go back through past customers who were never asked. That backlog is usually the fastest way to double a review count.
Third, where does the review tool sit? If it is bolted onto a CRM you already use, the trigger data is there. If it is a standalone tool, somebody has to feed it. For the mechanics in detail, our walkthrough of a review automation workflow covers triggers, delays and reminder logic.
1. Riley Marketing
Best for: Sole traders who want reviews, text back and a CRM wired together from day one
Riley Marketing includes Google review automation inside its foundational growth system, which costs £149 a month at the time of writing. The review tool is not sold separately; it sits alongside the CRM with lead status tracking, missed call text back, a website with service and location pages, Google Business Profile optimisation and branded quote pages on the trade's own domain.
Two things stand out for review generation specifically. The automation is driven from the CRM, so a job moving to complete is the natural trigger rather than a manual send. And it includes reactivation of past customers, meaning the system works back through people you have already done jobs for and asks them. For a plumber with five years of happy customers and eleven Google reviews, that backlog is the whole opportunity.
The commercial terms suit a firm testing this for the first time. The system is built before you pay, there is no setup fee, revisions are unlimited and you can cancel any time. Founder Tom Riley handles clients directly and has ten years in search and lead generation, including leading organic growth at an insurtech and running his own lead generation sites.
Trades it works with include electricians, plumbers, heating engineers, roofers, builders, window and door fitters, decorators, landscapers, plasterers and kitchen fitters. It has built sites for Anglia Decor, an industrial painting and roofing contractor, and SET Building & Brickwork in Essex.
2. Trustmark Trades (marketing arm)
Best for: Tradespeople in smaller towns who want review tools inside a flat-fee website package
The marketing arm of Trustmark Trades, based in Hove, runs its own software and charges a flat £299 plus VAT a month with no setup fee, no contract and no per-lead charges. Review request tools are part of the members dashboard, which also handles completed-job posts to the website and Facebook, call tracking through a local landline forwarded to your mobile, and an optional jobs CRM.
Its websites are built around service pages and many small-town pages, and it says it deliberately targets less competitive towns outside the big cities. It does not sell leads or share enquiries, and it avoids guaranteeing rankings or call volumes. It cites a network of more than 170 members and publishes page-count and call-volume results for an electrician, a drainage, plumbing and heating firm, and a paving, landscaping and roofing firm.
3. We Build Trades
Best for: Multi-van firms that want follow-up automation across ads, site and CRM
We Build Trades describes an AI-powered growth system that connects a website, paid media across Google, Meta, TikTok and Bing, AI-powered lead follow-up and a CRM pipeline with reporting, plus area exclusivity. It says it has worked with more than 300 trade companies and that the system has been refined since 2017. Trades named include heating, boilers and heat pumps, electrical, roofing, solar and EV charging.
Review generation is not listed as a named product, but the follow-up and CRM layer is the kind of place a review request would be triggered from. Pricing is not published and there are no case studies on the site, so you would need a conversation to confirm what the review element looks like in practice.
4. LeadFly
Best for: Trades that want review and referral requests built into an AI follow-up workflow
LeadFly, based in Watford, works only with UK trade businesses and sells AI products on fixed monthly fees: website chatbots at £99 a month, an AI receptionist at £299 a month plus setup, and short-form videos at £299 a month. Its AI workflow automation covers quote chasing, reminders, and review and referral requests, with CRM and calendar integration.
This is the most explicitly automated review request on the list after Riley, since it is part of a workflow engine rather than a dashboard button. The catch is that it is a component, not a system. You bring your own website and your own CRM, and LeadFly's automation runs across them. No case studies are published, and the one savings claim on the site is unattributed.
5. Get A Trades Website
Best for: Sole traders who want quotes, invoices and review requests in one simple portal
Get A Trades Website, run by Gary from Edinburgh and working UK-wide, builds fixed-price websites and offers a trades business portal that handles quotes, invoices, leads and reviews. Published prices run from £149, £299 and £499 quick-start sites to tailored builds typically between £750 and £3,000 or more, with an SEO tune-up at £39 a month and managed SEO from £149 a month.
The appeal for review automation is that the invoice and the review request live in the same tool, so the trigger is right there. Trades covered are broad: plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, joiners, bricklayers, handymen, decorators, plasterers, tilers, bathroom and kitchen fitters, flooring fitters, gas engineers and landscapers. There is one plumbing and tiling case study plus live client sites across several trades.
6. Scale Through Us
Best for: Trades buying a full paid-ads package who want reputation management thrown in
Scale Through Us, based on Great Portland Street in London and working UK-wide, sells a fully managed growth department: Facebook, Instagram and Google ads, web design, SMS marketing, reputation management, email, SEO, CRM integration and automation, and growth consultancy. It caps clients at three businesses per niche per location.
Reputation management is listed as a service, but the site does not describe the mechanism, and pricing is not published. Proof is limited to three short testimonials from electrical, roofing and driveway clients rather than detailed case studies. Trades named include roofing, electrical, plumbing, solar, driveways and paving, construction, HVAC, damp proofing, renovations and bathroom fitting.
Where the review request actually fires
| Provider | Trigger | Past customer reactivation | Sits inside a CRM | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Marketing | CRM job status | Yes | Yes, included | £149/month |
| Trustmark Trades | Members dashboard | Not stated | Optional jobs CRM | £299 + VAT/month |
| We Build Trades | Not described | Not stated | Yes, CRM pipeline | Not published |
| LeadFly | AI workflow | Not stated | Integrates with yours | From £99/month per product |
| Get A Trades Website | Portal alongside invoices | Not stated | Portal, not full CRM | Sites from £149 one-off |
| Scale Through Us | Not described | Not stated | CRM integration | Not published |
Picking the right one for your situation
If you have fewer than 30 Google reviews and a few years of past customers, the reactivation piece matters more than anything else on this page. Riley Marketing is the only provider here that names it, and the pay-after-build model means you can see the system before committing. It also means you are not then shopping separately for a missed call text back provider or a CRM.
If you already have a site you like and a CRM you use, LeadFly's workflow automation can drop review and referral requests on top without replacing anything. Trustmark Trades makes sense if you want the whole web presence rebuilt around small-town pages and reviews are a secondary aim.
Whatever you pick, measure it the right way. Reviews are an input. The output is enquiries that turn into booked work, which is why we argue for counting marketing in jobs rather than leads. And if your invoicing app is where jobs close, check how invoicing tools connect to review requests before buying anything standalone.
Frequently asked questions
Is it allowed to automate Google review requests?
Yes, as long as you ask every customer rather than only the happy ones and you do not offer incentives. Filtering unhappy customers away from Google breaks Google's rules.
How soon after the job should the request go out?
Same day or next morning works best, while the result is fresh. A reminder three to five days later picks up most of the people who meant to but did not.
Can I ask customers from two years ago?
You can, and reactivation campaigns to past customers often produce more reviews than new jobs do in the first month. Keep the message short and remind them what the job was.
Do I need a CRM for review automation to work?
Not strictly, but without one the trigger has to be manual. A CRM with a job status is what lets the request fire itself.