A quick readout on where the review‑request ask should live once a job closes — what we looked at, what we found, and the call we'd make.
| Platform | Pricing | Strength | Weakness for us |
|---|---|---|---|
| JobTreadWorkflows — native | Included in ~$20/mo per seat | Fires off the same “Closed” event already carrying the job's Lead ID and source — free and traceable. | No review monitoring, listings sync, or competitor benchmarking — it only sends the ask. |
| NiceJob | $75–175/mo | Cheapest standalone; simple widgets. | Duplicates the ask JobTread already does for free. |
| Podium | ~$300–500+/mo | Unified inbox — texting, webchat, missed‑call text‑back. | Only pays off if we're also solving lead‑intake, not reviews alone. |
| Birdeye | ~$300–1,000+/mo | Most full‑featured suite; competitor benchmarking. | Priced and built for multi‑location; overkill for one market. |
| GatherUp | ~$100–300/mo | Cheap; decent listings/SEO schema. | Duplicates the ask; smaller ecosystem. |
| Broadly | ~$300–400/mo | Built for trades; field‑service integrations. | No confirmed JobTread integration; duplicates the ask. |
| Manualstatus quo | $0 | No vendor, no setup. | Depends on staff remembering — the gap this project exists to close. |
One JobTread Workflow, triggered on Closed, does the review ask, the survey, and the billing follow‑up. No new cost, no new vendor, and it inherits the Lead ID and source data already flowing into JobTread — a review traces back to the job that produced it, same as a referral would.
Keep JobTread as the trigger, layer in NiceJob or Podium only for what JobTread can't do — review monitoring, response aggregation, listings sync. A fallback if #1 comes up short in practice, not a starting point.
Route the whole ask through NiceJob, Podium, or Birdeye instead of JobTread. Trades a free, already‑integrated trigger for a paid one that would need its own build to get the same tracing back.
Approve JobTread‑only as the plan — it can be built as soon as leads are flowing into JobTread from Phase 2.
JobTread's docs describe the ask as Google‑specific. Worth checking whether it can also point at Facebook or Yelp.
Text vs. email, right after close vs. a few days later — your call once the mechanism's approved.