Understanding the Referral Flow
After a customer leaves a 5-star review, the Reputation Engine sends them a referral follow-up message 24–48 hours later. Here's what that looks like and what to expect from it.
What Triggers It
The referral automation fires when:
- A customer leaves a 5-star Google review
- That review is connected to a customer contact in your GHL system
- The 24–48 hour wait period passes
Only 5-star reviews trigger the referral message. 4-star and below do not.
What the Message Says
The referral SMS is brief. It thanks them again for the review and asks if they know anyone who could use your services. There is no pressure and no hard sell — it's a single, friendly message.
The customer can:
- Reply with a name/number (which creates a new contact in your system)
- Ignore it (no follow-up is sent)
- Reply STOP to opt out of future messages
Where Referrals Show Up
If a customer replies with a referral, the conversation appears in Conversations in your GHL portal. From there, you or TechForce can follow up with the referred contact.
If TechForce has set up a referral pipeline in your account, the referred contact will also appear there automatically.
What to Expect
Referral rates from this automation are typically low — most customers won't reply — but the quality of the contacts who do is very high. Someone referred by a verified 5-star reviewer is already warm and pre-sold on your quality.
Most businesses see 1–3 referral replies per month from this automation, depending on their review volume.
If You're Not Seeing Any Referral Messages Go Out
Check that you have 5-star reviews in the system — the automation only triggers on those. If you have 5-star reviews but no referral messages are sending, contact TechForce.