How My Café Went from 14 to 61 Google Maps Reviews (And What I Learned)

"My daughter told me I was losing customers without knowing it"

I've run the café since 2019. I survived the pandemic closure with frayed nerves and a government furlough scheme. When that all passed, I thought the hardest part was behind me. Then my daughter Lucía, 19, studying Communications, sat down with me over coffee one day and said something that kept nagging at me: "Mum, your competitors have systems for automatically requesting reviews. And you have 14."

Fourteen reviews after five years open. It felt unfair, but I also wondered if it was my own fault.

When Lucía explained how it worked — you send a WhatsApp to the customer asking how their visit was, and if they respond positively, you ask for a review — my first reaction was "that's spam." I said it outright. I didn't like the idea of getting into people's phones with that kind of thing.

My husband Javi, who's bolder than me, set the whole thing up one Saturday morning while I was doing stock. And here's the part that makes me laugh every time I tell it: the first message that went out wasn't to a customer. It went to Germán, our fresh milk supplier from Huesca. Germán messaged back asking if everything was okay. We laughed quite a bit.

From the following week, once it was working properly, things happened that I didn't expect.

The first surprise was Rosario. Rosario has been coming for three years, almost every day at half past eight, a cortado with cold milk and tomato toast. I'd never asked her what she thought of the place. It felt like an odd question for someone who's already part of the furniture. But Rosario replied to the WhatsApp with a long paragraph, talking about the "old-fashioned atmosphere," how the café reminds her of the bar in her old neighbourhood in Teruel. And she left a five-star review.

That taught me something: I'd been assuming that regular customers already knew what they liked about the place. But I'd never actually asked them.

First week: six new reviews. First month: nineteen. After four months, I have 61 reviews and a 4.7-star average. The jump from 4.2 to 4.7 doesn't sound like much on paper, but on Google Maps it's the difference between appearing above everyone else in the neighbourhood or staying buried.

What surprised me most isn't the number. It's what people say. There's a man, Fermín, who mentioned the smell of toasted bread when you walk in in the morning. A mother with a pushchair wrote about how there's always space here and nobody gives you a look. I sensed those things existed, but seeing them written down is different.

I still tell the story about Germán to everyone who asks. As a warning. But mostly as proof that even a bumbling start can turn out well.