If you run an HVAC company in American Fork, you already know the market isn't exactly empty. Between the growth along the Wasatch Front and the number of new neighborhoods popping up in Utah County, there's plenty of demand, but there's also no shortage of competition. When a homeowner's AC goes out in July or their furnace stops working in January, the first thing they do is pull out their phone and search "HVAC near me" or "AC repair American Fork." What shows up first? Usually the businesses with the most reviews and the best ratings. Not the ones who've been around longest. Not the ones with the nicest trucks. The ones with reviews. If your Google Business Profile is sitting at a dozen reviews while a competitor has two hundred, you're losing jobs before anyone even calls you.
Why Most HVAC Businesses Don't Have Enough Reviews
It's not because their customers are unhappy. Most HVAC techs do solid work and customers appreciate it. The problem is that collecting reviews feels awkward and gets deprioritized the second things get busy, which in HVAC is basically always. Your tech finishes a job, the homeowner is relieved and happy, and then everyone goes on with their day. That moment of satisfaction disappears without turning into anything useful for your business. A lot of owners also rely on email to ask for reviews, which has terrible open rates and even worse click-through rates. Others ask verbally but don't make it easy enough for the customer to actually follow through. The intent is there, the system just isn't.
The 5-Step Review System
Step one is getting your Google review link. Go into your Google Business Profile, find the option to share your review link, and shorten it with something like Bitly so it's easy to text. Save it somewhere your whole team can access it.
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Get more Google reviews →Step two is asking at the right moment. In HVAC, that moment is right after the job is done and the customer has confirmed everything is working. Not a week later, not in a follow-up email. Right there, while the tech is still on-site and the homeowner is still feeling the relief of having heat or cool air again. That's your window.
Step three is using text instead of email. Text messages get read. A simple message that says something like "Hey, it was great helping you out today, if you have a second we'd really appreciate a Google review, here's the link" works far better than any email template. Keep it short and personal.
Step four is following up once. If the customer didn't leave a review after 48 hours, send one follow-up text. Just one. Something brief that acknowledges you don't want to bug them but wanted to make it easy. After that, let it go. You got the job done and you asked twice, that's enough.
Step five is responding to every review you get, good or bad. Google notices this activity, and so do potential customers in American Fork who are reading through your profile before they call. A short, genuine response to each review shows you're actually running an active, professional operation.
What a Realistic Review Growth Timeline Looks Like for an HVAC Business in American Fork
If you implement this consistently with every job, expect to see noticeable growth within 60 to 90 days. An HVAC company doing even 10 to 15 jobs a week has real opportunity here. If even 20 to 30 percent of those customers leave a review, you're adding dozens of reviews a month. Within six months, it's reasonable to go from 15 reviews to well over 100. That kind of growth changes where you show up in local searches and how many people trust you enough to make that first call.
The hard part isn't the system, it's doing it consistently when you're also managing dispatch, techs, and equipment. That's where having some automation behind the process makes a real difference.
If you want to take the manual work out of this, check out TrailMark Digital's review automation service built specifically for local service businesses like yours. It handles the follow-up so your team can focus on the job.