Here's a head-up that my answer is going to be on the contrarian side... And it's gonna be on the long side as well.

Okay - I know reputation marketing is a hot topic right now. And businesses that hear about it might want to rush into getting reviews so they have the "most" and "highest" reviews. It sounds great but unless it results in an increase in business (i.e. sales, leads, etc) and generating a return on the investment it ends up just being an activity trap and a waste of resources.

This is very similar to helping a client get to number 1 for a Google search for a specific long-tail keyword. So many businesses bought into this as a "sure-thing" strategy when it was (and continues to be) a useless tactic.

I'm not saying that these tactics are wrong for all businesses... But I am saying that (1) they aren't necessarily right for all businesses either and (2) unless they are being employed strategically they have a low probability of helping the business achieve it's goals.

So when it comes to local reviews - however popular and "in" it might be - it's simply NOT right for all businesses and markets.

The "right" tactics are those that are aligned with a strategy that is specific to a given business based on the market, product/service, owners, goals, etc.

So my suggestion is that putting "heavy emphasis on helping them get the most local reviews" might be YOUR strategy for them - but unless it's THEIR strategy as well you might be setting yourself (and them) up for failure.

That said - here are some tips to generate leads for those businesses whose business model and strategy it makes sense to invest in:

1. Know Your Market
If your market either searches for your client's service or product online AND they use reviews to choose whom to do business with - then reviews make sense. The key then is to find out which sources they go to make their buying decisions and post reviews there.

2. Know Your Message
The content of the reviews must be consistent with what the potential customer / client is looking for. And if you did your homework with #1 (Know Your Market) you will be intimately familiar with the trigger words they will respond to. This will allow you to know which comments to capture as you instruct your reviewer on how to leave the review.

3. Know Your CAC
It's reasonable to invest some money in capturing reviews - including online services as well as internal training for staff and printed materials to support getting reviews. So know your (client's) cost of acquisition of a customer to help determine how much they can afford to reasonably invest in the process.

4. Be Consistent (aka Congruent)
How you communicate with your clients / customers should be consistent with all of your other successful communications with them... Same style, same message, same timing, etc. So only "be awesome" if that's a part of your style. Be outrageous and ask again and again if you've determined that your clients respond to that. Be straight forward, kind and only ask once if they respond to that. In other words, once again, know your market and be who they expect and want you to be.

5. Make It Easy For Them
It's easy to just ask your clients for reviews... To ask them to go online when they get home and just go to your Google Local Page (or wherever) and write a few lines, etc. Easy for YOU, that is. The reason this often fails is that it's not necessarily "easy" for them.
So you may have to do some digging and experimenting to find out what gets YOUR clients to post a review. In one of my businesses we use three different approaches (one for each of 3 client segments) to get reviews.

For specific actionable ideas on getting more reviews let's chat. And if you want assistance with discovering or developing a business model (that directs WHICH tactics, such as getting the most local reviews, to use) I can help with that as well.

In any case, I wish you (and your clients) the best of luck and the greatest success!