How to Get Your First G2 Reviews

Review platforms such as G2 influence how many B2B buyers shortlist software. Before talking to a vendor, prospects check ratings, read reviews from people in similar roles and compare products side by side. A product with a healthy set of recent, detailed reviews looks established and trustworthy. A product with no reviews, or a handful from years ago, raises questions, even if it is excellent.

For new SaaS companies, getting the first reviews can be surprisingly difficult. Customers are busy, writing a review takes effort, and there is no obvious reason for them to do it. But even a handful of genuine, detailed reviews can make a profile far more credible, and the process of collecting them teaches the company a lot about what customers value. This article explains how to prepare your profile, choose which customers to ask, time the request, write the ask, make reviewing easy, handle incentives responsibly, respond to reviews and use them once they arrive.

As an example, we will follow the customer success lead at a company that sells employee scheduling software for retail chains. The product has around eighty customers, many of them happy, but its review profile has only two reviews.

Set up your profile first

Before asking anyone for a review, make sure your profile is complete and accurate. Write a clear product description that matches how you describe the product elsewhere. Choose the correct categories, since categories determine which comparison grids and lists the product appears in. Add screenshots and, if possible, a short video showing the product in use. Include pricing information, or at least a clear explanation of how pricing works. Fill in company details and list the integrations the product supports.

A complete profile makes reviews more useful to readers, because they can see what the product is and how it works, and it makes the listing more trustworthy. Sending customers to review an incomplete, outdated profile wastes the opportunity.

Choose the right customers

Ask customers who have used the product long enough to give informed feedback, usually at least a few months. Prioritize customers who have achieved meaningful results, who have expressed satisfaction through positive support interactions, survey responses or comments in meetings, and who match your target audience. Reviews from customers similar to the prospects you want to attract carry more weight with those prospects.

Avoid asking only your biggest fans. Reviews that are uniformly glowing can look suspicious, and honest reviews from a range of customers, including some that mention minor drawbacks, are more credible to readers. A review that says the product works very well but the reporting could be more flexible often persuades more than one that says everything is perfect.

For the scheduling software, the customer success lead identifies about twenty customers who have been using the product for at least six months, have reported clear improvements in scheduling time and have given positive feedback in recent check-ins. They include store managers, regional operations directors and HR leads, reflecting the range of people who evaluate the product.

Time the request well

Ask for reviews at positive moments, when customers are most aware of the value they are getting. Good moments include right after a customer reaches a meaningful milestone, such as completing their first month of automated scheduling across all stores; after a successful onboarding; after a support interaction that resolved a problem quickly; after a renewal, when the customer has actively chosen to continue; and after a positive response to a satisfaction survey.

Avoid asking during difficult periods, such as when a customer has an open support issue, is going through a price change or has recently experienced a problem.

Ask personally and simply

Keep the request short, personal and easy to act on. A message from someone the customer knows, such as their customer success manager, is far more effective than a generic automated email. Explain briefly why reviews matter, for example that reviews help other retail teams find the product and decide whether it suits them. Make clear that you want honest feedback, not just praise. Include a direct link to the review page. Mention roughly how long it takes.

For example, the customer success manager might write that she has really enjoyed working with the customer over the past few months, that reviews make a real difference in helping other retail operations teams find the product, and that if they have ten minutes, she would be grateful for an honest review, with a direct link and a thank-you whatever they decide.

Send the request individually rather than as a mass email. Personal requests to a small number of well-chosen customers usually produce more reviews than a broad blast to everyone.

Make reviewing easy

Remove as much friction as possible. Provide a direct link to the review form for your product, so customers do not have to search. Let them know which details are useful to mention, such as their role, the problem they were solving and the results they have seen, but do not script their review. Some customers find it easier to write a review right after a call in which they have just discussed the product's value, so the customer success manager can mention it at the end of a positive check-in.

Handle incentives responsibly

Some companies offer small incentives, such as gift cards or donations to charity, to thank customers for their time. Review platforms have specific rules about incentives, typically allowing them only under certain conditions, such as offering them regardless of whether the review is positive or negative and disclosing them on the review. Check the platform's current guidelines carefully before offering anything, and never offer incentives in exchange for positive reviews specifically. Never write reviews on behalf of customers, create fake reviews or ask employees to review your product. These practices violate platform rules, can lead to reviews being removed or profiles being penalized, and damage trust if discovered.

Follow up once

If a customer agrees but does not get around to it, a single polite reminder after a week or so is reasonable. Beyond that, let it go. Repeated reminders can strain the relationship, and a review written under pressure is rarely helpful.

Respond to reviews

Once reviews start arriving, respond to them. Thank customers for positive reviews, ideally with a personal note that reflects what they wrote. Respond to critical reviews calmly and constructively, acknowledging the issue, explaining what you are doing about it and inviting the reviewer to get in touch. Prospects reading reviews often pay close attention to how companies respond to criticism. A thoughtful response can turn a negative review into evidence that the company listens.

Share critical feedback internally with product and customer success teams. Reviews are a valuable source of insight into what customers value and what frustrates them.

Build reviews into regular processes

Getting the first reviews is a project, but keeping reviews coming requires a process. Build review requests into customer success routines, such as after quarterly business reviews or renewal conversations. Add a gentle prompt to satisfaction surveys for customers who respond positively. Track how many reviews you receive each month and which requests work best. A steady flow of recent reviews is more valuable than a burst of reviews followed by silence, because buyers look at how recent reviews are.

Learn from what reviewers say

The first reviews are also a source of insight. Read them closely and look for patterns. Which features do reviewers mention most often? Which outcomes do they describe? What drawbacks come up more than once? The language reviewers use to describe the product is often more persuasive than your own marketing copy, and recurring criticisms point to improvements worth prioritizing. For the scheduling software, several early reviewers praise how quickly shift swaps are approved but mention that reporting is basic, which gives both marketing and product a clear direction.

Use reviews once you have them

Reviews have value beyond the review platform. With permission, and in line with the platform's guidelines on using review content, feature quotes from reviews on your website, in sales materials and in proposals. Mention your rating where appropriate. Share positive reviews internally, since hearing what customers appreciate motivates the team. Reviews also contribute to how the product is described across the web, including by AI tools that draw on review sites when recommending software, so accurate, detailed reviews help in more places than the review platform itself. Supporting reviews with clear content on your own site, such as comparison pages and case studies that buyers find through search, strengthens that picture further; it is part of what our SEO growth service builds.

Avoid the common mistakes

The mistakes in collecting first reviews are predictable. Companies ask before the profile is complete. They send mass requests instead of personal ones. They ask at bad moments. They ask only their biggest fans. They script reviews or write them for customers. They offer incentives that break platform rules. They chase customers repeatedly. And they ignore reviews once they arrive.

Bringing it together

Getting your first G2 reviews starts with a complete, accurate profile. Choose customers who have used the product long enough, achieved results and match your target audience, and ask them at positive moments with a short, personal request and a direct link. Make reviewing easy, handle incentives within the platform's rules, follow up once, respond to every review and build requests into regular processes. For the scheduling software company, twenty personal requests to well-chosen customers produce a solid set of detailed reviews within a couple of months, and prospects comparing scheduling tools start seeing a product with real, recent evidence that it works for retail teams like theirs.