Reviews
Most businesses know reviews matter. Far fewer have an actual system for getting them, which is usually the entire problem. Here's what actually works, and what to avoid entirely.
The best time to ask for a review is right after a customer says something positive, whether that's out loud after a job or in a follow up message once a service is finished. Waiting a week and sending a generic email to everyone in your database gets a fraction of the response of asking in the moment.
A direct link that takes a customer straight to the review box, sent by text or email, removes almost every excuse not to leave one. If someone has to search for your business on Google themselves and find the right place to click, most people simply won't finish.
Never pay for reviews, never write them yourself, and never offer a discount specifically in exchange for a review. All three violate Google's policies directly and can get a business profile suspended entirely, which costs you every review you've already earned along with your map pack visibility. It's not worth the risk for a shortcut that a real system replaces anyway.
A business that responds to reviews, good and bad, reads as more trustworthy than one that never does. A short, professional response to a bad review often builds more trust with future customers than having no negative reviews at all, since it shows a real person is paying attention.