Getting more 4-star reviews recently? Here is how to fix it.

[joakimpe]

If you have been getting more 4-star reviews in the last months, you are not alone. Actually, it's a simple reason for why this is the case, and if you dont already know, it's not your fault.

I have tried and tested one technique that makes 4-stars much less frequent.

Just a sidenote: I will not give you "5 general rules of improving your service!".  No, I have one trick that I have tried and tested, that will help.

First, to understand why my technique I will work, you need to understand why we are all getting more 4-star reviews. 
(If you know why, you can skip this part)

Fiverr has simply changed the rating system recently. Before it was simple; As a buyer you get an option to choose between 1-5 stars. That's it. 
What about today? Well, now buyers are given 5 statements (bad, good, great etc.) The reason we get alot of 4-stars is because the statement that is representing the 4 star is a natural answer. I dont remember the exact statement, but it's along the lines of "Great experience". 5-stars on the other hand is more along the lines of "Exceptional experience". Most buyers dont know this is a rating system, and will simply go with the most natual answer, which normally is answer 4.

The important thing to take away from this is that many buyers missunderstand this, and they dont understand they are leaving a review when answering these statements.

Now that we have understood why you get 4-star reviews, let's talk about how to avoid it:

At the end of each order add something like this:

"When the order is completed you will get asked to select one of five statements regarding how satisfied you are, which corresponds to how many stars you give."
REMEMBER: Do NOT ask for a 5-star review. You can only ask for a review, but not a good review.

The reason why this works so good is because what I just mentioned - many buyers get confused. They dont know that answering the statements are making them leave a review. So just make them aware that the statements are the review itself! Have gotten multiple people contacting me afterwards telling me they did not mean to leave a 4 star 

This works great, hope this helps you!

Edited March 8 by joakimpe

[priyank_mod]

Coaching buyers about the new system is Fiverr's responsibility. 🥲

Sellers guiding the buyers towards 5-star rating is simply manipulation and should be avoided!! 

[joakimpe]

2 minutes ago, priyank_mod said:

Coaching buyers about the new system is Fiverr's responsibility. 🥲

Sellers guiding the buyers towards 5-star rating is simply manipulation and should be avoided!! 

It should be, but they wont. When you are getting the consequenses then you need to do something about it yourself, so this is the answer.

Unfortunalte the system is confusing, and the only thiung a seller can do it to adjust to the new system.

I also belive you missunderstood what I was trying to say with the line, so let me explain:
It is correct, its not allowed to ask sellers to leave a 5-star review. Do not do that.

On the other side, I would like to note. It's absoultely allowed to ask buyers to leave a review, just not ask them to leave a good review. I have been a buyer many times, and the top people on the platform does this. I am also a top rated seller, and have been doing the practise of asking for a review (not a 5 star review) for many years.

I am simply stating that when you complete the order you will be prompted with five statements, and these statements corresponds to one to five stars. Nothing related to a 5-star rating. But I will add this in the thread, so people dont missundertand me!

[vibronx]

1 minute ago, joakimpe said:

and the top people on the platform does this

Not all of them. I have never asked for a review or even mentioned a review in my time on Fiverr. Yet, without guiding my buyers, I have only received a single 4.7-star review in the last two years.

I think it comes down to being able to spot red flags in buyers. We're competitors, OP, and I can see that one of your recent 4.3-star reviews came from a buyer that I turned down because he seemed like he would be too demanding. It's about learning what signs to look for.

[joakimpe]

1 minute ago, vibronx said:

Not all of them. I have never asked for a review or even mentioned a review in my time on Fiverr. Yet, without guiding my buyers, I have only received a single 4.7-star review in the last two years.

I think it comes down to being able to spot red flags in buyers. We're competitors, OP, and I can see that one of your recent 4.3-star reviews came from a buyer that I turned down because he seemed like he would be too demanding. It's about learning what signs to look for.

Good point, it's also important to filter out buyers you think you might have a bad time with. I am just sharing my experience, and this is what has helped for me.

And yes, you are correct, I know which buyer you talk about. This buyer was the outlier here. I was on the edge then I decided to work with them, and I made the wrong decision in doing so. The other ones were happy, as 100% of them came back to me afterwards to work more, and some noticed they left a bad review and apologized. You live and you learn with these I suppose

[graphics_excel]

1 hour ago, joakimpe said:

If you have been getting more 4-star reviews in the last months, you are not alone. Actually, it's a simple reason for why this is the case, and if you dont already know, it's not your fault.

I have tried and tested one technique that makes 4-stars much less frequent.

Just a sidenote: I will not give you "5 general rules of improving your service!".  No, I have one trick that I have tried and tested, that will help.

First, to understand why my technique I will work, you need to understand why we are all getting more 4-star reviews. 
(If you know why, you can skip this part)

Fiverr has simply changed the rating system recently. Before it was simple; As a buyer you get an option to choose between 1-5 stars. That's it. 
What about today? Well, now buyers are given 5 statements (bad, good, great etc.) The reason we get alot of 4-stars is because the statement that is representing the 4 star is a natural answer. I dont remember the exact statement, but it's along the lines of "Great experience". 5-stars on the other hand is more along the lines of "Exceptional experience". Most buyers dont know this is a rating system, and will simply go with the most natual answer, which normally is answer 4.

The important thing to take away from this is that many buyers missunderstand this, and they dont understand they are leaving a review when answering these statements.

Now that we have understood why you get 4-star reviews, let's talk about how to avoid it:

At the end of each order add something like this:

"When the order is completed you will get asked to select one of five statements regarding how satisfied you are, which corresponds to how many stars you give."
REMEMBER: Do NOT ask for a 5-star review. You can only ask for a review, but not a good review.

The reason why this works so good is because what I just mentioned - many buyers get confused. They dont know that answering the statements are making them leave a review. So just make them aware that the statements are the review itself! Have gotten multiple people contacting me afterwards telling me they did not mean to leave a 4 star 

This works great, hope this helps you!

Your topic has really opened my eye to definite possibilities with the new rating system for buyers. I think we need to figure out a way to enlighten our buyers in order to ensure that their review reflects the efforts we put into achieving the best on projects.

[hasembd]

I faced this situation very recently! But the buyer was very gentle.

He did not understand the metrics. He wanted to give me a 5-star review but mistakenly happened that.

From my side, this is the matter I did not expect though I make him happy with my designs...

 

[texvox]

Fiverr is a bit too wishy-washy on what they feel is acceptable or not when it comes to engaging buyers regarding reviews. Rather than risk Fiverr suddenly deciding that I said something the wrong way and flagging me for it I instead use the "enhanced look" of the Seller Plus subscription to check out average review ratings they give sellers in tandem with the "Request to Order" function, also via Seller Plus enrollment, to ask lots of pre-order questions and heavily vet potential new buyers. 

By doing these two things I've dodged a lot of buyer bullets and have declined projects from a lot of clueless new buyers who have no understanding of the platform, as well as some tenured buyers who have a history of giving lackluster reviews, or who require teeth-pulling to give me any information about their project. This has enabled me to both protect myself from destructive buyers as well as build up a strong, quality client list over the past year. 

[hasembd]

7 hours ago, joakimpe said:

When the order is completed you will get asked to select one of five statements regarding how satisfied you are, which corresponds to how many stars you give."

Got another 4 stars on one of my projects (got scared)... If I use this option, Is it not a way to force them to get 5 stars and under the rule of manipulating the review system?

[joakimpe]

7 hours ago, hasembd said:

Got another 4 stars on one of my projects (got scared)... If I use this option, Is it not a way to force them to get 5 stars and under the rule of manipulating the review system?

No, what I showed you is just letting them know how it works:

"When the order is completed you will get asked to select one of five statements regarding how satisfied you are, which corresponds to how many stars you give."

You are not asking them "please dont leave 4 star / please give me a 5 star". It is simply just informing the buyer. Because most of these new 4 stars are coming as a result of confused buyers

[joakimpe]

11 hours ago, texvox said:

Fiverr is a bit too wishy-washy on what they feel is acceptable or not when it comes to engaging buyers regarding reviews. Rather than risk Fiverr suddenly deciding that I said something the wrong way and flagging me for it I instead use the "enhanced look" of the Seller Plus subscription to check out average review ratings they give sellers in tandem with the "Request to Order" function, also via Seller Plus enrollment, to ask lots of pre-order questions and heavily vet potential new buyers. 

By doing these two things I've dodged a lot of buyer bullets and have declined projects from a lot of clueless new buyers who have no understanding of the platform, as well as some tenured buyers who have a history of giving lackluster reviews, or who require teeth-pulling to give me any information about their project. This has enabled me to both protect myself from destructive buyers as well as build up a strong, quality client list over the past year. 

Correct, this is a great way of getting rid of bad buyers.

However, what I am talking about is not bad buyers that want to give you a bad review, it's simply buyers that get confused with the new system. The sentence is just informing them how the system works, and it's not even close to breaking the rules.

This is coming from a Top Rated Seller. I ask for reviews all the time, and Fiverr are ok with this. They are just not ok with you specifically asking for a good review. That would be manipulation.

But the sentence I gave is also even further from this rule, as you are just informing about the new confusing system, and not asking for a review.

[texvox]

1 hour ago, joakimpe said:

Correct, this is a great way of getting rid of bad buyers.

However, what I am talking about is not bad buyers that want to give you a bad review, it's simply buyers that get confused with the new system. The sentence is just informing them how the system works, and it's not even close to breaking the rules.

This is coming from a Top Rated Seller. I ask for reviews all the time, and Fiverr are ok with this. They are just not ok with you specifically asking for a good review. That would be manipulation.

But the sentence I gave is also even further from this rule, as you are just informing about the new confusing system, and not asking for a review.

I'm also a top rated seller, and Fiverr has also given me clearance to ask for reviews. But customer service can be quite fickle, and I've heard of people being told something is OK to do or say and suddenly being dinged for doing exactly that one day because one or two words were on the naughty list. 

I see where you're coming from though, and offering some vague guidance on at least understanding the system is a good thing. It is quite disappointing that Fiverr has rolled out their current system and doesn't seem to have given buyers much in the way of guidance on how to understand these changes. As usual, they change something and put the onus on us as sellers to make it work. 

 

[smartdezigns]

17 hours ago, joakimpe said:

"When the order is completed you will get asked to select one of five statements regarding how satisfied you are, which corresponds to how many stars you give."

Nothing is gonna work. Buyers will still leave 4* or 4.7* reviews no matter what and later they will make an excuse that it was mistakenly done.. 

Why is it difficult for buyers to leave 5* reviews when everything is clearly explained in the reviews page? What's so difficult now?

P.S. Don't try to teach newbies about "Review Manipulation" by using the word "stars". Else newbies will ask for 5* reviews and their account will be banned because of your suggested tip. Avoid it.

[joakimpe]

1 minute ago, smartdezigns said:

Nothing is gonna work. Buyers will still leave 4* or 4.7* reviews no matter what and later they will make an excuse that it was mistakenly done.. 

Why is it difficult for buyers to leave 5* reviews when everything is clearly explained in the reviews page? What's so difficult now?

P.S. Don't try to teach newbies about "Review Manipulation" by using the word "stars". Else newbies will ask for 5* reviews and their account will be banned because of your suggested tip. Avoid it.

I understand where you are coming from but I think you may have misunderstood what I was trying to convey.

I do not condone any type of review manipulation. I am only giving tips on how to improve communication. Usually I only need to worry about communication between my services and the buyer, but in this instance I need to be the communicator on behalf of Fiverr's system, since it's not clearly explained and I get the consequences. I belive I have been very clear about not asking for 5 stars, so if someone does asks for this, then it's not on me.

The reason why it's harder for clients to leave a 5 star is because it's not clearly explained anymore. You say it's clearly explained, but the fact of the matter is that it's not anymore unfortunately.

Buyers dont use it as an excuse, at least for me. Because I dont ask them why they left a 4 star. They come to me on their own accord and tell me how sorry they are. It's just reality of how it is. Maybe you found the system on the buyer side to be easy to understand, but for many it's not

[smartdezigns]

3 minutes ago, joakimpe said:

Buyers dont use it as an excuse, at least for me. Because I dont ask them why they left a 4 star. They come to me on their own accord and tell me how sorry they are. It's just reality of how it is. Maybe you found the system on the buyer side to be easy to understand, but for many it's not

Then Fiverr should teach Buyers about it. Sellers cannot do that so it's up to the buyers that how they want to rate us. 

90% of the sellers are facing the same issue i.e. their buyers are saying that they wanted o to give 5* but mistakenly gave 4*.

[lalitsdmittal]

On 3/8/2024 at 4:54 PM, priyank_mod said:

Coaching buyers about the new system is Fiverr's responsibility. 🥲

Sellers guiding the buyers towards 5-star rating is simply manipulation and should be avoided!! 

I agree, I never ask my buyer to leave any review. If they feel like it, they do it. Otherwise, fiverr reminds them regularly after the order is completed.

[Alex.M]

On 3/8/2024 at 5:28 PM, texvox said:

Rather than risk Fiverr suddenly deciding that I said something the wrong way and flagging me for it I instead use the "enhanced look" of the Seller Plus subscription to check out average review ratings they give sellers in tandem with the "Request to Order" function, also via Seller Plus enrollment, to ask lots of pre-order questions and heavily vet potential new buyers. 

Unfortunately, what you see there it's not accurate at all. If you manually check the reviews given by the buyer you will see in some cases reviews lower than 5 stars even if you see '' Average rating given 5* ''  .. I know it says Average however from 10 reviews if the buyer is giving 2-3 4 star reviews the average is not even close to 5 stars.. It should be around 4.7-4.8 reviews but I think that Fiverr is not showing the reality there even if you have seller plus.

 

It's the same in the case of buyers with 'Average order price' above 100$ ... HOW can it be above 100$ when they bargain for services that are 25$ ...? 

[melwrde]

Until this change, only very few people gave me ratings less than 5 throughout my history.

But with this new change I got 4.7 rating even buyers was very happy with my work. With this rating he has said "Mel was fantastic to work with and I'd recommend him to anyone."

So I think, with this new change even 4.7 is a good rating now? Isn't it?
Because new system is affecting to all of us equally.

[shaileshputhran]

@Kesha can you please share your insight on this topic? Can we send this message suggested by the owner of this post to the buyers? Do you think it's any kind of manipulation? 

[smartdezigns]

42 minutes ago, shaileshputhran said:

Can we send this message suggested by the owner of this post to the buyers? Do you think it's any kind of manipulation? 

Why don't you read the following thread and get your answers:

 

[podassistant]

I have been getting 4-star review. how do change the review? Please anyone can help me ? 4-star review affect my account?

[shawnevian99]

It's unfortunate, but I've also experienced a surge in 4-star ratings lately, despite providing what I believe to be excellent service. It seems to be a common trend among many sellers. My service is the same as before but the increase in 4-star ratings is alarming to me. But if it is common and happening to every seller then I think this might become a normal thing and gigs will sit at 4.6, 4.8, 4.5 stars average rating instead of 4.9 and 5 star rating as they are now.

[smartdezigns]

On 4/9/2024 at 9:30 AM, podassistant said:

I have been getting 4-star review. how do change the review? Please anyone can help me ? 4-star review affect my account?

That buyer has already told you via his/her review that what could be improved further (level of effort and visual appeal. So work on them for the next orders.

Secondly, you cannot do anything in this regard neither you can request your buyer or Fiverr Support to change it because you'll get a warning (on review manipulation) and then you'll lose your Fiverr account so let it go. 

Improve your services then.. 

[jonsalichs]

This just happened to me today and I know for a fact the buyer was satisfied as we are working together again with another project already. I have only received a single four in the four years or so I've been on Fiver.

I noticed another thing that may be contributing to this as well. I went to give my buyer five stars through the app and it physically wouldn't let me give five stars, only four stars max. So, I had to wait until I got home and do it on my PC. I imagine if this is happening to the common buyer they aren't gonna take the effort to complain and go on PC to do it. Maybe this is related to this new system not being congruent with the app design. I don't know.

It's frankly quite disappointing that a site like this that has been in operation for years cannot seem to get it's QoL features under control even to the detriment of its customers. I hope that they will address this, but I won't hold my breath. 

Edited April 30 by jonsalichs

[mark_sgp]

Are 4-star out of 5-star ratings considered unacceptable? To me, that seems like a successful gig outcome. Does the Fiverr platform punish 4-star ratings?

Personally, I would reserve a 5-star rating for exceptionally fantastic service (and similarly, 1-star ratings for absolutely terrible, unacceptable service).