The short answer
Ask the moment the repair order is paid — when the customer is relieved and the car is fixed — and ask every customer the same way. Shopmonkey's own Google Reviews Manager is only on its Genius and Multi-Shop plans; on Basic and Clever the API is there but no review request is. ReviewNudger connects to any Shopmonkey plan with an API key and a webhook you create yourself, and sends one neutral text or email with a one-tap Google review link when an order is paid in full.
Why auto shops get fewer reviews than they deserve
A shop turns 40 cars a week and has 70 Google reviews after six years. The work is good; the asking is not happening. The service advisor hands back the keys, runs the card, and the customer is out the door — the one moment they would happily say something nice passes in thirty seconds. The "review us" sign by the register converts almost nobody, because it depends on the customer remembering later.
Shopmonkey holds the customer, the vehicle, the order, and the exact moment of payment. On its top plans it ships a Google Reviews Manager; on the plans most independent shops run, it does not. Either way, the payment event is the trigger that matters, and it is available to every plan through the API and webhooks.
How the paid-order trigger works
In Shopmonkey you create an API key and a webhook, and paste the key plus the webhook's signing secret into ReviewNudger — no password sharing, no OAuth screen. When a repair order is paid in full, Shopmonkey sends the event; ReviewNudger verifies it, looks up the customer's email and phone, and applies your sending rules.
After the delay you choose — an hour after pickup, or that evening — the customer receives one neutral review request by text or email with a one-tap link to your Google review form, then a couple of gentle follow-ups you control if they do not respond. Estimates, unpaid orders, deposits, and $0 warranty visits are recorded and skipped; split payments and repeated updates to one paid order ask once; a customer with no email or phone on file is recorded and skipped, and the connection panel shows how many.
Every paying customer gets the same ask. Filtering to the customers you think were happy is review gating, against Google policy and the FTC consumer-review rule. The public Google link is always on the landing page; an unhappy customer can send private feedback from the same place so you hear it first.
What a month looks like
Shops that ask every customer by text shortly after payment typically turn around a third of requests into reviews — a 40-car week becomes roughly 50 new Google reviews a month. New reviews sync into one inbox with an AI reply suggestion, a negative review triggers an alert so the advisor can call before the next customer reads it, and your cooldown keeps a customer with two visits in a month from being asked twice.
Frequently asked questions
Which Shopmonkey plans work with this?
All of them. API keys and shop-configured webhooks are available on Basic, Clever, Genius, and Multi-Shop. ReviewNudger does not need the Google Reviews Manager that ships on the top tiers.
What about estimates, deposits, $0 tickets, and split payments?
Only an order that becomes paid in full triggers a request. Estimates, partial payments, and $0 warranty or comeback tickets are recorded and skipped. Split tenders and repeated updates on one paid order collapse to a single ask.
Does the customer have to be in Shopmonkey with a phone number?
Yes — the request goes to the email or mobile on the customer record attached to the order. Orders with no reachable contact are recorded as skipped with the reason, so you can see how often the front desk is leaving the phone field blank.
Will it text a customer who was in last week too?
Not if your cooldown says otherwise. ReviewNudger keys each request on the order and applies your per-customer cooldown (30 days by default for new accounts), so a comeback visit does not produce a second ask.