How many Google reviews does a removals company need to rank in the local pack?

There is no fixed threshold, but businesses with 20 or more reviews tend to rank noticeably higher in local search results. What matters most is consistency: two to four new reviews per month is a healthy rate for a small removals company. Google favours businesses that receive a steady flow of recent reviews over those with a one-off burst from months ago.

Can I offer discounts or incentives for Google reviews?

No. Google's terms of service explicitly prohibit offering incentives (money, discounts, gifts) in exchange for reviews. Doing so can result in reviews being removed or your Business Profile being suspended. The most effective approach is simply asking satisfied customers to share their honest experience.

How does Move and Store's automated review collection work?

When a customer pays for a completed job through the platform via Stripe, Move and Store automatically sends them a review request email containing a direct link to your Google Review page. The default delay is 24 hours after job completion, but you can configure it up to 7 days. This feature is included on the Pro (Â£29/month) and Scale (Â£79/month) plans. No manual follow-up is needed; every paying customer receives a request.

Should I respond to negative Google reviews?

Always. A calm, professional response shows potential customers that you take feedback seriously. Acknowledge the issue, apologise where appropriate, and offer to resolve it privately. A well-handled negative review can actually strengthen your reputation. See our guide on handling removals complaints for a detailed framework.

How do I create a short link for my Google review page?

Sign in to your Google Business Profile and click 'Ask for reviews'. Google generates a short link you can copy and share. If you use Move and Store, you configure this link once in your account settings and the automated review emails use it from that point on.

Do Google Reviews help more than paid ads?

They serve different purposes and work best together. Google Ads (such as Move and Store's Phones Ringing pack at Â£50/month) drive immediate enquiries, while reviews build long-term organic visibility and trust. A strong review profile means your organic listing converts better, and your ad spend goes further because potential customers trust you before they even click.

How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Removals Business

Why Google Reviews Are the Most Important Marketing Asset for Removals Companies

When someone searches "removals company near me" or "man and van [town name]", Google shows two types of results: the local pack (a map with three business listings at the top) and the standard organic results below. The local pack captures the vast majority of clicks, and for most removals enquiries, the businesses shown there win the work.

The single biggest factor determining which businesses appear in the local pack is Google Reviews: the number of reviews, the average rating, and how recently you received them. A removals company with 60 five-star reviews from the last six months will consistently outrank a competitor with five reviews from two years ago, even if the competitor has a better website.

This matters because removals is an inherently local, trust-dependent service. Customers are handing over everything they own. They are not choosing the cheapest quote; they are choosing the company they feel most confident about. A strong review profile provides that confidence before you even answer the phone.

The numbers behind it

Local pack dominance: the top three map results receive the majority of clicks for local service searches. If you are not in the local pack, most searchers will never see your business.
Trust and conversion: over 90 per cent of consumers read online reviews before contacting a local business. For high-trust services like removals, this figure is even higher.
Recency matters: Google gives more weight to recent reviews. A business that received four reviews this month will outperform one that received 20 reviews a year ago and nothing since. Consistency is everything.

If you are starting a removals business, building your Google review profile should be a top priority from day one. Every job is an opportunity to earn a review that works for you permanently.

Why Most Removals Companies Fail at Collecting Reviews

The problem is not that customers are unwilling to leave reviews. Most happy customers would leave one if asked at the right moment. The problem is that asking consistently, at the right time, for every single job, is extremely difficult to do manually.

You finish a job at 5pm on a Friday. You are tired. You drive home, eat dinner, and by Saturday morning the moment has passed. Maybe you send a message on Monday, but the customer has already moved on. Multiply that by every job, every week, and you see the pattern: even companies with excellent service end up with far fewer reviews than they deserve.

The solution is to remove the manual step entirely.

Automated Google Review Collection with Move and Store

This is where Move and Store changes the game. On the Pro and Scale plans, the platform includes fully automated Google Review collection. Here is exactly how it works:

You complete a job and mark it as done in the system.
The customer pays through the platform via Stripe.
Move and Store waits for a configurable period (the default is 24 hours; you can set it anywhere up to 7 days).
The system sends the customer a review request email containing a direct link to your Google Review page.

That is it. No manual follow-up. No copying and pasting links. No forgetting. Every single customer who pays through the platform receives a review request at exactly the right moment: soon enough that the experience is fresh, but not so immediately that it feels pushy.

Why this approach works so well

No customer gets missed. Whether you do five jobs a week or fifty, every paying customer receives a request.
The timing is optimised. Requests are sent after payment confirmation, when satisfaction is at its peak and the customer has proof the job is genuinely complete.
Minimal friction for the customer. The email contains a direct link to the Google Review form. One tap, write a few words, submit. No searching for your business or navigating multiple screens.
It compounds over time. After six months of consistent automated requests, you will have a review profile that most competitors simply cannot match.

Automated review collection is included on the Pro plan (Â£29/month) and Scale plan (Â£79/month). It is genuinely one of the highest-ROI features available to any removals business: the reviews you collect will drive organic enquiries for years. See the full plan comparison for details.

Combining Reviews with Paid Advertising

Google Reviews build your organic visibility over time, but what if you need enquiries now? This is where paid advertising and reviews complement each other.

Move and Store offers a "Phones Ringing" starter pack at Â£50/month: a managed Google Ads campaign designed specifically for removals companies to drive immediate phone calls and quote requests. While those ads generate leads from day one, your growing review profile works in the background, improving your organic ranking so that over time you rely less on paid traffic and more on the free enquiries that come from a strong local presence.

A strong review profile also makes your paid ads more effective. When a potential customer clicks your ad and sees dozens of five-star reviews, they are far more likely to pick up the phone than if they see a business with no reviews at all. Reviews and ads are not competing strategies; they are force multipliers for each other.

When and How to Ask Manually

Even with automated requests, the face-to-face mention at the end of a job still matters. When a customer hears you ask in person and then receives an automated email with a link, they are far more likely to follow through than if the email arrives cold.

The ideal approach

Face to face, as you finish: "If you're happy with how today went, we'd really appreciate a quick Google review; it makes a huge difference for a small business like ours."
Via text or WhatsApp (if sending manually): A short, personal message with the direct review link. Text messages have open rates above 90 per cent, compared to around 20 per cent for email.

"Hi Sarah, thanks for choosing us for your move today! If you have a moment, we'd love a quick Google review: it helps other families find us. Here's the link: [your Google review link]. Thank you! â€” Tom, Move Right Removals"

Keep it personal (use their name), keep it short, and include the direct link. If you are using Move and Store's automated emails, the manual step is just the face-to-face mention; the follow-up email with the link is handled for you.

Setting Up Your Google Review Link

You need a direct link that opens the Google review dialogue for your business. Sending someone to "search for us on Google" adds too many steps and most people will not bother.

Sign in to your Google Business Profile.
Click "Ask for reviews" (this may also appear as "Get more reviews").
Copy the short link Google provides.

If you are using Move and Store, you configure this link once in your account settings and the automated emails use it from that point on. No need to copy it into every message manually.

Responding to Reviews: Both Positive and Negative

Positive reviews

Always respond. A brief, genuine thank-you reinforces the relationship and shows future customers that you engage with your clients. Mention something specific about the job if you can:

"Thanks, Sarah! Glad we could get you into the new place on time despite the rain. Enjoy the new garden!"

Negative reviews

These happen to every business eventually. How you respond matters far more than the review itself. Potential customers judge you on your reply.

Stay calm. Never respond in anger, however unfair the review feels.
Acknowledge the issue. "I'm sorry to hear you weren't happy with the service."
Take it offline. "I'd like to understand what went wrong. Please call or email me directly so I can look into this."
Be brief. A long, defensive response looks worse than a short, professional one.

A thoughtful response to a one-star review can actually increase bookings. It proves you take responsibility and care about getting things right. For a complete framework on turning complaints into opportunities, see our guide on handling removals complaints.

What to Avoid

Google takes review integrity seriously, and shortcuts backfire badly:

Never buy fake reviews. Google's detection is increasingly sophisticated. Fake reviews get removed, and your Business Profile can be suspended.
Never offer incentives. Discounts, gifts, or prize draw entries in exchange for reviews violate Google's terms of service.
Never review your own business or ask friends and family who were not genuine customers.
Never copy and paste the same response to every review. It looks robotic and undermines the trust reviews are supposed to build.

Building a Review System That Runs Itself

The best removals companies do not treat reviews as an afterthought. They build a simple, repeatable system:

Deliver excellent service (the foundation of everything).
Mention reviews face to face at the end of every job.
Let your software send the review request automatically after payment.
Respond to every review: positive and negative.
Watch your local pack ranking climb as your review count grows.

With Move and Store, steps 2 through 4 are either automated or prompted by the platform's CRM, which tracks every customer interaction. You focus on doing great removals work; the system handles the reputation-building.

Within a few months of consistent review collection, you will have a Google profile that sells your business 24 hours a day, for free. That is the kind of competitive advantage that compounds over time and is almost impossible for competitors to replicate quickly. Start your free trial and see how it works.