I had 200 five-star reviews and my phone wasn't ringing. My competitor had 50 four-star reviews from last month and was booked solid. That pissed me off enough to figure out why. Turns out, Google treats old reviews like expired milk—they might look fine, but nobody's buying.

Old reviews are dead weight. Speed beats stars. Let me prove it.

The 90-Day Cliff Nobody Talks About

Here's what I discovered tracking review performance for three years: Reviews older than 90 days are basically worthless for driving new business.

The data that opened my eyes:

• 0-30 day old reviews: 73% of viewers contact

• 31-60 day old reviews: 31% contact rate

• 61-90 day old reviews: 14% contact rate

• 90+ day old reviews: 4% contact rate

My 200 five-star reviews? Average age was 18 months. Might as well have been invisible.

My Velocity Formula That Works

Fresh reviews equal fresh revenue. Here's the minimum velocity you need:

1 review per 10 completed jobs

Sounds simple? Most contractors get 1 per 100 jobs. That's why they're broke.

My system:

• Complete job on Tuesday

• Send review request Thursday 2 PM

• Follow up Tuesday next week

• Get review or find out why

This ain't complicated. But it takes discipline most don't have.

The $19/Month Tool That Changed Everything

Look, I'm cheap. But this $19 automated review tool paid for itself first day.

What it does:

• Texts customers 48 hours after service

• Sends email if no text response

• Tracks who opened but didn't review

• Follows up automatically once

• Shows me who to call personally

I went from chasing reviews to reviews chasing me. 12 reviews monthly to 47. Same number of jobs.

Timing Data From 3 Years of Testing

I tested everything. Here's when customers actually leave reviews:

Best Days:

• Tuesday 2-4 PM: 34% response rate

• Thursday 1-3 PM: 31% response rate

• Saturday 10 AM-12 PM: 27% response rate

Worst Days:

• Monday morning: 7% (everyone's pissed)

• Friday evening: 9% (nobody cares)

• Sunday afternoon: 11% (family time)

The Tuesday/Thursday rule alone doubled my review velocity.

Why My 4.3 Beats His 4.9

True story that still makes me smile: Lost a bid to a competitor with 4.9 stars. Customer called me three months later. "We made a mistake. His reviews were all old. Yours kept coming. Figured you were busier for a reason."

The math:

• Him: 4.9 stars, 300 reviews, newest 6 months old

• Me: 4.3 stars, 180 reviews, 50 from last month

• Result: I'm booked, he's advertising

Speed beats stars. Every time.

The Simple System Anyone Can Copy

Stop overcomplicating this. Here's my exact process:

Job Completion Checklist:

1. Take 3 photos of finished work

2. Get customer to confirm satisfaction

3. Mark for review request in system

4. Note any special details to mention

Review Request Script: "Hey [Name], just checking that your lawn still looks great from Tuesday's service. If you have 30 seconds, we'd love a quick review about your experience. Here's the link: [link]"

Follow-Up Script: "Hi [Name], know you're busy but wanted to make sure everything's still perfect with your lawn. If you had any issues, call me directly. If not, that quick review really helps us out: [link]"

67% success rate. Not perfect, but consistent.

Velocity Benchmarks By Business Size

Based on tracking my growth and helping others:

Solo operator: 3-5 reviews monthly minimum 2-3 crews: 8-12 reviews monthly minimum 4-7 crews: 15-25 reviews monthly minimum 8+ crews: 30+ reviews monthly minimum

Below these numbers? You're dying slowly.

Real Revenue Impact

I love keeping receipts. Here's what velocity did for revenue:

Low Velocity Era (1-2 reviews/month):

• 12 calls weekly

• Close rate: 31%

• Average job: $127

• Weekly revenue: $470

High Velocity Era (10-12 reviews/month):

• 47 calls weekly

• Close rate: 43%

• Average job: $147

• Weekly revenue: $2,973

Same service. Same prices (actually higher). Just fresh reviews coming in constantly.

The Notebook Where I Track Patterns

My wife says I'm obsessed. She's right. But this notebook made me rich:

What I track:

• Review date/time submitted

• Customer type (residential/commercial)

• Job value vs review likelihood

• Word count patterns

• Which requests get responses

• Platform performance

Patterns I've found:

• $200-400 jobs review most often

• Women review 2x more than men

• Commercial almost never reviews

• Mention employee name = 3x response

• Photos increase response 240%

Competitor Velocity Tracking

This is where it gets fun. I track every local competitor's review velocity. Most have no idea I'm watching.

My spreadsheet shows:

• Mike's Mowing: 8 reviews/month (declining)

• GreenThumb: 3 reviews/month (steady)

• TruGreen: 11 reviews/month (but generic)

• New kid: 14 reviews/month (watch out)

When velocity drops, they're struggling. When it spikes, they figured something out. Either way, I know before they do.

The Bottom Line on Velocity

Reviews are like bread. Fresh sells. Stale sits on shelves. Speed beats quality every single time.

You can have perfect 5-star reviews from 2019. I'll take messy 4-star reviews from last week. Guess who's getting the calls?

Start tracking velocity today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. Because while you're reading this, your competitor just got another fresh review.

And that customer who's searching tonight? They're going to call whoever looks busy. That's what fresh reviews signal—a business that's working, not dying.

Fresh reviews equal fresh revenue. Old reviews equal old news.

Which one are you?

Sources:

• BrightLocal Review Recency Study - https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/#review-recency

• Uberall Review Velocity Report - https://uberall.com/en-us/resources/blog/importance-review-velocity

• Nextdoor Business Recommendations - https://business.nextdoor.com/local/recommendations