Adding reviews and loyalty as a recurring service: a guide for agencies

A practical guide to packaging, pricing, installing and reporting on review collection and loyalty for local business clients, without making promises you cannot keep.

By Loylo5 min read

Many agencies that serve local businesses already handle SEO, social or websites. Reviews and loyalty sit naturally beside that work. They are visible in the venue, easy to explain, and suit a monthly fee, because the service keeps running after set-up.

This guide covers how to package the service, price it, install it and keep clients. It makes no promises about results. How a service performs depends on the client, the market and the work you put in.

1. Decide what you are selling

Start with three building blocks.

  • Review collection. NFC tags and QR codes at the venue that let every customer leave a review on their own phone.
  • Loyalty. A digital stamp card collected by tapping a tag, which customers can keep in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
  • Review management. One inbox for reviews from Google, Trustpilot and Tripadvisor, with replies drafted for approval.

Then group them into a small number of packages. Three is usually plenty. For example:

  • Reviews: collection, plus the touchpoints.
  • Reviews and loyalty: adds the stamp card and Wallet passes.
  • Full service: adds review management, where you draft and post replies for the client.

Tie each package to work you will actually do. Review management takes ongoing time every month, so price it to reflect that.

2. Price from your costs

Before you set a monthly price, work out what each client costs you to serve.

  • Hardware. Touchpoints, shipping and replacements. Plates wear out and venues rebrand.
  • Your time. The set-up visit, the staff briefing, monthly reporting, and replies if you offer review management.
  • Payment fees on what you charge.
  • Usage costs, such as Wallet passes, AI reply drafts and text messages, which platforms usually charge per use.

Decide how you will recover the hardware cost. You might charge a one-off set-up fee, or spread it across a minimum term. Either way, say in your terms what happens to the touchpoints if the client leaves.

Choose a billing frequency for each package. Monthly is easier to start. Annual means fewer payments to chase. Some agencies offer both.

3. Pick where to start

Your existing clients are the easiest first conversation. You already know their business, and they already know you. After that, choose a niche where reviews and repeat visits clearly matter to the owner: cafés, restaurants, salons, gyms or local trades. A narrow story is easier to tell, and your examples will fit the next prospect.

4. Sell it honestly

The rules on reviews have tightened. Google, Trustpilot and Tripadvisor ban review gating and any incentive for a review. In the UK, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act bans fake and concealed incentivised reviews, and the CMA’s guidance treats asking only satisfied customers as misleading. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission bans incentives that depend on what a review says, and says gating can be deceptive. Our guide to compliant review flows sets out the detail.

That shapes what you can say.

  • Do not promise a star rating, a number of reviews or a search ranking.
  • Do not offer to filter negative reviews or keep them off Google. In the UK, offering services that facilitate misleading review practices is itself banned.
  • Do not offer stamps, discounts or prize draws in return for reviews.
  • Do say what the service does. It makes asking every customer easy and consistent. It gives every customer an optional private way to reach the team, next to an equally prominent public review button. It is built to follow the platforms’ rules.

A compliant set-up is a reason to buy, not a weakness to explain away.

5. Install it properly

The install is where the service succeeds or fails. Use a checklist.

  • Confirm the client owns and controls its Google Business Profile, and get the correct review link.
  • Agree where each touchpoint goes. Review plates suit tables or the till. Stamp tags suit the place where customers pay or collect.
  • Test every tag with an iPhone and an Android phone once it is fixed in place.
  • Set the loyalty rules with the owner: stamps needed, the reward, and how staff confirm a redemption.
  • Leave a one-page guide at the venue for new staff.

Then brief the staff. This matters as much as the hardware.

  • Mention the review touchpoint to every customer, not just the happy ones.
  • Never hold back a stamp until someone reviews.
  • Never watch a customer write a review, or suggest what to say.
  • No staff targets or prizes for review numbers.

6. Report on what you can measure

A short monthly report keeps the service visible. Report activity you can stand behind, such as:

  • review requests started, and how many customers went on to the public review page;
  • new reviews on each platform, and how quickly replies went out;
  • loyalty cards started, stamps collected, rewards redeemed and Wallet passes added;
  • which touchpoints and areas of the venue are busiest.

Avoid claiming the service caused a change in revenue or footfall unless you can show it.

7. Keep clients

Clients stay when the service stays visible and useful.

  • Reply to reviews promptly if you manage them.
  • Replace worn touchpoints before the client notices.
  • Refresh the reward from time to time.
  • Walk the owner through the report, rather than just emailing it.
  • Ask what is coming up, such as a new site, a menu change or a refit, and plan touchpoints for it.

8. Get the paperwork right

Put a simple agreement in place. Cover the term, cancellation, what the fee includes, who owns the hardware, and who owns the accounts. The client should own its Google Business Profile and its customer data.

Under UK and EU data protection law, you will often process the client’s customer data on the client’s behalf. That usually calls for a data processing agreement. If you are unsure which role you have, get advice.

Where Loylo fits

Loylo is a white-label platform for this kind of service. Agencies brand it as their own, run it on their own domain, and bill clients through their own Stripe account, with price bands they set. Loylo designs, prints and drop-ships the NFC and QR touchpoints. Review flows are built to Google’s rules and to UK and US review law, and they are locked so they cannot be switched off. The licence is a one-time payment. Touchpoints, shipping and usage credits (such as Wallet passes, AI reply drafts and messaging) are paid for as you use them, and fair-use limits apply.

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