Businesses often hear two pieces of advice that seem to conflict: ask every customer for a review, but do not spam people. The way through that tension is to separate sentiment selection from operational eligibility.
What generalized solicitation gets right
The FTC says marketers should not ask for reviews only from customers they think will leave positive ones. That does not mean every phone number in a database should receive a text. It means the rule for who receives a request should not be “people we predict will praise us.”
Operational eligibility is different
Legitimate reasons not to send include a cancelled service, prior opt-out, recent request, invalid contact data, an open interaction, or lack of appropriate messaging permission.
| Rule | Basis | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Send after completed jobs | Operational state | Sensible |
| Exclude recent recipients | Frequency | Sensible |
| Exclude opt-outs | Customer choice | Necessary |
| Send only after a private 4 or 5 rating | Predicted sentiment | Avoid |
| Staff hand-pick “happy” customers | Predicted sentiment | Avoid |
What about a private survey first?
Private feedback can be valuable for service improvement. The problem appears when the private score becomes a gate whose purpose is deciding who gets access to a public review request.
A defensible policy
Define eligibility in writing. Base it on completed genuine experiences, consent and contactability, frequency controls and neutral operational criteria. Apply those criteria consistently. Then let customers decide what they want to say.