An Amazon insider blew my mind about reviews. "Trust me," he said. "4 stars plus, people buy. Below 4 stars, they don't." But here's the kicker... 5-star reviews? People don't trust them. Too perfect. Too suspicious. The sweet spot is 4.2 to 4.8 stars. This matches exactly what I've been telling clients for years. Remember my old client with zero reviews while his competitors had 10+ at 4.8 average? He got zero enquiries. But the real gold came from someone in the travel space. “Don't fear bad reviews. It's not about the review - it's how you deal with it." When someone leaves a 1-star review and you reply: "Yep, we screwed up. Here's how we fixed it." That builds more trust than fifty 5-star reviews ever could. Social proof isn't about being perfect. It's about being real. People want to see: ✅ Others have bought before them ✅ Problems get resolved ✅ Real humans run the business ✅ You care enough to respond My client who was getting battered on reviews? Started replying to every single one. Good and bad. Sales went up 30% in two months. Not from better reviews. From showing they gave a damn. Stop hiding from social proof. Start using it properly. What's stopping you from asking customers for reviews? P.S. Ask every customer: "What could we do better?" That question alone is worth its weight in conversions.
Exactly, reviews aren’t about perfection, they’re about proof that you care and can handle problems. The way you respond builds far more trust than flawless ratings ever could.
So true, funny how people don’t trust “perfect,” yet when we’re delivering a service it feels like everything has to be flawless or it won’t work.
Well said Simon Peat A complaint or unhappy customer can be turned into a huge advocate and evangelist if the complaint or ‘negative’ review is dealt with speedily, authentically and sympathetically. It’s never a bad thing to put your hands up and say ‘our fault – we’ll put it right’. Mistakes happen. The worst thing you can do is try to cover them up or not accept responsibility. Learn from them. You can even use them to your advantage to show how customer orientated you are…
Really enjoying your advice series, Simon, this one about social proof prompted me to ask a question. It all makes perfect sense, but it feels almost impossible for a startup or newcomer. Everyone has to start somewhere, of course, but putting just one or two reviews on a website, even if it’s a great one, never looks ideal. Presumably it's best to wait until you have a batch of them (and hopefully good ones!), so at what point would you say it’s best for a business to start publishing external reviews on their site?
LOVE this!!!
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3wLove this, such a clear reminder that authenticity beats perfection. The 4.2-4.8 sweet spot makes total sense, and owning mistakes publicly (with how you fixed them) is exactly what builds trust. Asking customers "What could we do better?" is gold, and tools like Reputic can help capture that feedback, surface and organize reviews, and keep response workflows consistent so teams can actually follow through. Thanks for the practical reminder to treat reviews as conversations, not just ratings.