1 October 2026 · 5 min read · Oscar Markham
Your reviews are about the fitting, not the kitchen
Ask somebody about their new kitchen and they will tell you about the design and the finish. Ask them to write a review and they will write about the fitters: whether they turned up, whether they cleaned up, whether anything was damaged, whether the snags got sorted. That is the part of the experience customers can actually assess, and it is what the next customer reads.
The fitting week is the product
It is the only part of the process where the company is physically in somebody's home, and it is what the review will be about.
A beautifully designed kitchen fitted badly produces a worse review than an ordinary kitchen fitted well, which is uncomfortable and true.
Snagging decides the rating
Almost every kitchen has a snag list. What determines whether the customer is happy is how quickly it gets dealt with, not whether it existed.
A company that returns promptly turns a complaint into the thing the review praises. One that goes quiet after final payment earns the opposite.
Ask at handover, in the kitchen
The moment the customer first sees it finished and clean is the moment to ask, in person, with the review page open on your phone.
A text a fortnight later, after the snag list has been sitting, converts far worse.
Ask them to mention the specifics
'If the fitters looked after the house, it would really help if you said so.' That is the sentence the next customer is looking for.
Generic five-star reviews reassure nobody. A line about the house being left clean reassures everybody.
Reply to every one
Briefly, and without arguing on the negative ones. Offer to sort it privately.
Prospective customers judge the company far more on how it responds to a complaint than on the complaint itself.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.