Review management for financial advisors: a routine for asking and a sign-off for replying
Scroll down an advisory firm's Maps listing and the review area sits right under the address. A few lines from visitors, a few replies from the firm, and sometimes a long gap between the two. A referral partner checking a name often reads that area before opening the website. Review management is the dull, steady upkeep of it: who asks, who replies, who reads the draft, and how often someone looks.
Where a firm's review area sits on the mobile
On the mobile of a firm's marketing, reviews are the pieces that hang lowest and sway most, because other people write them. The firm cannot choose the words. It can choose its own side: how a request is phrased, the sort of reply it posts and the person who reads each reply before it goes out.
That is the work this desk takes on. We write the request text and the replies, keep the routine on a calendar the firm agrees to, and hand every public line to the firm's approver of public wording. Review management also feeds the Maps listing upkeep for each office, since the review area belongs to the same listing.
Two limits shape the whole review management routine. No review request asks anyone to describe their finances or how anything turned out, and no reply names a reviewer as a client of the firm or as anything else. Both are our working practice, set down here so the firm can read them before anything starts.
A review routine for an advisory firm, one string at a time
Agree on who may ask
The firm decides which of its people send review requests and to whom. We do not choose recipients, and we do not pick them by mood.
Draft the request wording
We write a short request that points to the firm's Google Business Profile and asks only for a few honest words about the visit. It never suggests what to say, and it never asks about finances or how anything turned out.
Read each reviewer's words on a set rhythm
The listing is checked on a regular rhythm agreed with the firm, which keeps a fresh review from sitting unread beside an older reply.
Draft the reply for sign-off
A reply offers thanks and ends there. It carries no detail about anyone's circumstances. The firm's approver of public wording reads it before it posts.
Tell the principal what the pattern shows
We send a short note describing what reviewers mention about the front desk, the office and the contact route, so the firm can adjust its own routines. We never send a verdict about any person.
What the review routine covers, and what it will not touch
- The request
A request worded once and used the same way
The firm's chosen people send the same short request to each person they choose to ask. Nothing is offered as a thank-you for a review, and no one is nudged toward a particular rating.
- The reply
A reply draft that stays plain
Each reply is a brief note of thanks in the firm's voice. It does not place the reviewer in any relationship with the firm, and it never mentions the reviewer's circumstances.
- The reading
A principal's read of the whole review area
We summarize the themes in the review area in plain sentences, so the principal sees the pattern and decides what, if anything, to change at the firm.
- The edge
A boundary this desk keeps for every advisory firm
No review comes from us. Nobody here writes one, purchases one or asks the firm's friends to post one. A review is only worth hanging if it came from a real visit.
Which hanging piece of the review routine belongs to whom
| Hanging step of the routine | Who handles it | What stays out of the wording |
|---|---|---|
| Review request string | The firm's chosen people send it; we draft the wording. | Any question about finances, any account of how things went and any gift for writing. |
| Reply draft for the advisory firm | We draft; the sign-off person approves before it posts. | Anything that places the reviewer in a relationship with the firm. |
| Critical review on the Maps listing | The principal reads it and decides whether a reply is needed. | Argument, correction of the reviewer and every personal detail. |
| Ceiling hook for the listing | One named person at the firm, always the same one. | Posting from a personal account or a second login nobody has noted. |
Three beliefs about reviews an advisory firm may carry
Said at the planning tableA planner should only ask the people most likely to write something kind.
What the rod showsPicking who is asked by mood tilts the listing, and the firm decides its own routine. We draft one request, worded the same way for everyone the firm chooses.
Said at the planning tableA short thank-you can name the reviewer's relationship to the firm.
What the rod showsA reply names no one as a client. An over-talkative reply pulls the whole listing crooked, so ours stay at a sentence of thanks.
Said at the planning tableReview management is the writing of the reviews themselves.
What the rod showsIt means the routine around reviews. Each review's words stay with whoever wrote them.
Five points to fix for the firm's review area ahead of the first request
- One person at the firm holds the ceiling hook for the Google Business Profile.
- One short request text goes to every person the firm picks to ask.
- No request offers a gift or a favor for writing, and none suggests what to write.
- Every reply draft is read by the sign-off person before it posts.
- The firm reads each platform's own review terms before the routine starts.
That last point belongs to the firm: we do not decide for it what each platform permits.
How review management hangs beside the firm's other pieces
A listing with steady reviews and level details gives the rest of the rod something to lean on. The name and address on the Maps listing are repeated on the office page, as covered in our marketing overview for advisory firms. A referral partner sizing up a firm often passes through the listing first, and whatever call or form follows is counted under lead generation.
Review management does not stand alone. It is one string among several, beside search work and, where the firm wants them, ads. Plan prices are shown on the pricing page. This routine belongs to the search plans, and the contact form is where to ask what each one holds.
Questions a planner asks about review management
Can an advisory firm see every reply before it posts?
Yes. Each reply draft goes to the firm's approver of public wording and waits there until the approver gives a yes. The firm can change a reply, hold it or drop it.
Does review management mean you write reviews for a wealth management firm?
No. We do not write a review, purchase one or ask anyone to write one for the firm. What we handle is the routine around real reviews: how a request reads, the drafted replies and a regular look at the listing.
What should a principal do about a review that criticizes the firm?
Read it, decide whether a reply is wanted, and send any draft through sign-off. A reply stays short and says nothing about the reviewer's circumstances or standing with the firm.
Tell us who holds the ceiling hook for your firm's Maps listing
In the form's note box, list the offices that have a listing. Names of clients and every detail about a person's finances stay out of it.
Which pieces should your firm hang first?
Tell us the service lines you offer, the towns where your clients live and the neighbouring offices that point people toward you. Keep every client name, every account figure and every personal identifier out of what you send.
Ask us to hang the first piece of your search work
Send one question about how your firm turns up in search. The call is taken by our CEO, Ross Cohen, who ends it by naming the first pieces to hang.
The mobile below is only an illustration, and it forecasts nothing.