Key points at a glance
- Before-and-after photos taken from the same angle are more convincing than any description. A phone is enough if the light is right and the room is tidy.
- For photos of your customers' flats, houses or of the people themselves, get written consent, ideally together with the order.
- Ask every customer after handover for a Google review, with a QR code on the invoice or job report.
- No rewards for reviews, no filtering out unhappy customers: both are banned by Google and by competition law.
- Reply to criticism briefly and factually. Your reply is mainly read by future customers.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change: check the details with your economic chamber or chamber of crafts, your trade guild or your tax adviser.
Why references sell better than advertising copy
Customers can hardly judge the quality of a trades business before they hire it. They cannot see how neatly a cable has been laid or whether the waterproofing under the tiles will hold. What they can see is photos of finished work, and they can read what others say about you. That is exactly why references and reviews are the most important content on your website and your Google profile. Anyone can write “highest quality”. Nobody can fake a photo of a perfectly tiled shower.
Project photos on your phone
You do not need a photographer for every job. A recent smartphone takes good enough pictures if you follow a few rules. The most important one: take the before photo before you start. It is the easiest one to forget, and without it the after photo is only half as strong.
Before photo on day one
Before the first tool comes out of the box. Remember where you stood, for example “in the doorway, camera at chest height”.
Capture the steps in between
Especially for work that will be hidden later: cables before plastering, waterproofing before tiling, roof battens before the tiles go on. It shows how carefully you work.
Tidy up before the after photo
Tools, boxes, cable reels and buckets out. Clean the windows, switch the lights on.
After photo from the same angle
Same spot, same height, landscape format. Add one or two close-ups: grout lines, edge finishing, connections.
Select and caption
Three to five good pictures per project are enough. A short text: the task, the solution, how long it took, the rough location.
- Light: daylight from the side or from behind you, never shoot straight into a window.
- Keep it straight: turn on the grid lines in your camera app. Crooked walls in photos look particularly bad for a tradesperson.
- Go easy on the wide angle: the 0.5x lens distorts small bathrooms. Take a step back instead if you can.
- No filters: colours should look real, especially for painting work and wood surfaces.
- Keep personal items out: family photos, letters with an address, number plates and house numbers do not belong in the picture.
Getting your customers' consent
Photos of your customers' flats and houses are not automatically your marketing material. As soon as someone is recognisable, a house number or number plate is visible or the property can be linked to a person, the photo counts as personal data under the GDPR (DSGVO in German). For pictures of people, the right to one's own image also applies (in Germany § 22 KUG, the Art Copyright Act; in Austria the protection of likeness under § 78 UrhG, the Copyright Act). The safe approach is the same in both countries: ask first and get it in writing.
Only give a rough location: “detached house in Schwaz” rather than the street and house number. Many customers are happy to say yes once they know nobody will recognise their home. People who are proud of their new kitchen often even say: “Go ahead and add my first name.”
Building your references page
A good references page is sorted by service, so a customer planning a new bathroom does not have to scroll through 30 facades. Each project gets a descriptive title, two or three sentences and the pictures. Show eight good projects rather than 40 mediocre ones, and gradually replace old projects with new ones.
| Element | Example |
|---|---|
| Title | Roof renovation of a farmhouse with a dormer |
| Location (rough) | Village in the Rosenheim district |
| Task | Leaking roof, old roof covering, loft to be turned into living space |
| Solution | New clay tile roof, over-rafter insulation, dormer clad in titanium zinc |
| Duration | Three weeks, house lived in throughout |
| Photos | Before, insulation in progress, after (full view), dormer detail |
Use the same photos on your Google profile. Where references belong on your website and what else needs to be on it is covered in the guide What belongs on a trades website.
Reviews after the job
Most satisfied customers would happily write a review; it simply does not occur to them. Unhappy customers, on the other hand, do it unprompted. So if you do not actively ask, you often end up with worse reviews than you deserve. Make asking for a review a fixed part of your process, just like handover and invoicing.
- Ask at handover: “Are you happy with the work? Then a short Google review would really help us.” Asking in person works best.
- QR code on the invoice: scan with the phone, give the stars, done. You can create a code that leads straight to the review form with the review QR code generator.
- Reminder after a few days: a short message with the link once the invoice has been paid.
- On business cards and the company van: the QR code works wherever customers see you. The business card generator makes cards with the code on them.
Your QR code for Google reviews
Create it for free and print it on invoices, job reports or business cards. Your customers land straight on the review form.
How to get it right
- Ask every customer, including those where things did not go perfectly
- Ask right after handover, while they are still pleased
- Reply to every review
- State on your website whether and how you check reviews
Better not
- Discounts, vouchers or gifts in return for a review
- Asking about satisfaction internally first and only sending happy customers to Google
- Reviews from family, friends or your own team
- Buying positive reviews or dictating what customers should write
Google's policies prohibit rewards for reviews and selectively asking only for positive ones. Bought or fake reviews are also unfair competition in both Austria and Germany. If you show reviews on your own website, you must state whether and how you make sure they come from real customers. Details are in the guides to advertising and reviews for Austria and Germany.
Replying to criticism
Sooner or later a bad review will come in. Sometimes it is deserved, because an appointment fell through; sometimes it is unfair. Do not reply the same evening while you are still angry. Sleep on it, then write a short, factual reply. You are not writing it for the annoyed person but for the next hundred readers who are deciding whether to call you.
| Criticism | Good reply (shortened) |
|---|---|
| “Turned up two hours late without letting us know.” | “We are sorry about that. An emergency threw the schedule out, but you should still have had a message. We have discussed it as a team. Michael Leitner” |
| “Far too expensive for a small repair.” | “Thank you for your feedback. Our call-out covers travel, materials and the fault-finding, which took longer in your case. We are happy to go through the invoice with you in person.” |
| One star, no text, unknown name | “Unfortunately we cannot find you in our job records. Please get in touch so we can find out what this is about.” |
In your replies, do not mention any details of the job that the person has not made public themselves, no addresses and no prices from the quote. Report reviews that break the rules (no genuine customer relationship, insults, false statements of fact) directly to Google. More on your profile in the guide Google Business Profile for tradespeople.
References and reviews as a routine
- A before photo on every first day of work
- Photo consent in the quote or handover report
- Select and caption three to five photos per project
- Review QR code on invoices and job reports
- New projects on your website and Google profile once a month
- Reply to every review within a week
Show your references in the best light
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