Got a bad review or negative criticism on Fiverr? Worried that your gig is about to die? Upset about losing your 5 star rating? Don’t panic! This guide is designed to help you to deal with a buyer who gives you a bad review and show you how to use them as stepping stones for growth in your freelance career on Fiverr.
In this article, I will share insights into understanding your bad review, scrutinizing the events that led to the review, and show you how to reply in a professional manner so the review has a minimal impact on your Fiverr profile.
You will also learn strategies for proposing solutions, learning from the experience, and managing your online reputation. You can’t avoid bad reviews, but you can sometimes make them work for you!
Understand Why You Got a Bad Review on Fiverr
As a Fiverr seller, it’s important to understand the feedback you get when you get a bad review. Your first step should be to calm down. If you’re anything like me, you will feel a powerful shot of adrenaline as your fight or flight response kicks into action.
Sit it out. Sleep on it. Complain to a friend. Do what you need to do to get over the initial emotional shock. Whatever you do, never ever respond to bad Fiverr reviews when you are still feeling emotional!
When you have calmed down, it’s time to take a deep breath and look at the bad rating you got. Try to understand why the buyer left the feedback. Although you spent hours creating a great service, not everyone will be satisfied with the work you deliver.
When you scrutinize feedback, you can pinpoint areas where you could improve your skills or offerings. Even though constructive criticism might be hard to accept at times, it offers invaluable insights that can aid you in refining your services and drawing in happier clients.
Analyze your feedback and take note of any recurring themes or suggestions. This practice will empower you to make educated decisions when it comes to addressing problems and implementing necessary changes.
Analyze the Situation Behind the Bad Rating
When you analyze why your customer reviews are bad, start with why you’re getting bad reviews. This is especially true if you used to get great reviews but suddenly you aren’t. It’s easy to say that that you got scammed on Fiverr by a bad buyer and to stay away from Fiverr because Fiverr support offered no help.
This is the emotional mindset speaking.
Fiverr customer support can only help with marketplace issues that violate TOS. Do not use Fiverr expecting that it will help in case of a dispute unless you accept that there needs to be a clear TOS violation and that without a violation, you will not need help.
More frustratingly, even when there is a clear TOS violation, Fiverr may not appear to do anything. You’re not quite on your own, but you are the person who ultimately has to deal with the situation and its fallout.
You need to analyze the situation that led to the bad review so you can get a clearer idea of the buyer’s point of view and the issues they had on their side. When assessing the bad rating, don’t forget to keep these three things in your mind:
- Spot trends: Spend some time reviewing other poor feedback to detect any recurring themes. This can offer invaluable understanding of areas where you need to improve as a freelancer.
- Evaluate customer expectations: Determine if the bad review came from miscommunication or unmet expectations. Reflect on your interaction with the customer, making sure no miscommunication took place.
- Understand the buyer’s point of view: Step into the customer’s shoes so you can better understand their dissatisfaction or frustration. This enables you to react with empathy and address their concerns effectively.
By carefully looking at the circumstances behind your 1 star or 2 star reviews, you can start to understand what went wrong. Many freelancers do not do this, instead getting upset and reacting, moving on fast from a very unpleasant situation.
This is a mistake: Fiverr cares how you treat customers, even when you are in a dispute. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you need to take a bad review from a buyer seriously. Read the reviews with an open mind to what your buyer was thinking.
Respond to Bad Fiverr Reviews Professionally
After understanding potential reasons behind your feedback, it’s vital to react professionally when addressing the concers that the buyer expressed.
Regardless of whether they have a genuine grievance, got confused, or could be be described as a scammer who was eager to leave a bad review to bet their money back, you need to respond professionally. It’s normal for buyers to check for a bad review first. They are mainly checking to see how you handle feedback.
Think about it: when you buy something, you want the transaction to be smooth – but you also want to know how you will be treated if something goes wrong. A professional response is very effective here, sometimes more so than all of your 5 star reviews!
Good reviews are easy to deal with. A bad review is not. You need to demonstrate empathy, showing that you recognize their disappointment and concerns. You need to assure them that their view is important. Active listening and communication matters. Express a desire to work more to fix the solution (but only if you are prepared to – and know that this will probably not help to change the feedback).
Your response should be courteous and respectful. Avoid being defensive or confrontational, and definitely don’t call them a “fake Fiverr buyer” or something like this. Leave a review that puts you in the best possible light, because people on Fiverr are judging your ability to handle poor situations, not what you call your buyer’s attitude problem.
Imagine how you might feel when thinking about buying something, only to see the seller gruffly say, “you get what you pay for” to an unhappy customer!
Your objective should always be to find a resolution and maintain a healthy relationship with the customer. By empathetically responding and addressing their issues, you’re paving the way to provide appropriate solutions to resolve the situation.
How I Dealt with a Bad Review on Fiverr
Once, I had a 1-star review from a client who simply didn’t understand what I had given him, even though I was able to provide exactly what he needed. Despite my best efforts he left disheartened.
He told me he felt I had a quality service and that I was a good service provider, but that I wasn’t giving him the “good stuff.”
I had given him the same level of service and quality of work I give everyone. I told him to use what I had given him and see if it worked.
After all, that’s what matters.
Three months later, he came back to me. What I had created was very effective. He had made a lot of money. He learned an important lesson: that experts might not always deliver what you want. It’s a rookie buyer error.
That rookie buyer error and review almost lost me my Pro and TRS badges. I was not pleased at all. It didn’t affect my ability to sell on Fiverr – but Fiverr noticed that I hadn’t delivered to my usual high standards.
Even though I had.
You may have noticed something in that story. Let’s talk about it a bit more.
Ignore the Bad Review: Offer Your Buyer Solutions
My solution was simple: he had paid for something. I have a “no cancellation” policy where you do not get your money back if you are dissatisfied. Instead, I’m happy to offer suggestions or do some more work. Many buyers and sellers want to cancel the order quickly, but Fiverr’s never been happy with that; it loses out on commissions!
Of course, if I have made a terrible mistake, I will refund your money. But as a top rated Fiverr seller, I simply don’t make terrible mistakes, nor do I think that minor mistakes (such as a simple spelling error that is easily fixed) is a refundable mistake.
When I deal with negative feedback, I have a plan. First, I calm down, then I look at what the buyer’s feedback, then finally I offer a solution. It might be something as simple as “please just try what I wrote – you might be pleasantly surprised.”
By staying professional, even though hours ago I had been red in the face with anger, I was able to send the buyer off with no extra work to try content that I knew would deliver the result he wanted. Did this improve my review?
No. ?
But he did come back three months later, full of praise, which translated into more work and 5 star reviews. That’s powerful stuff, turning a 1 star buyer into a 5 star buyer.
For buyers who notice this, it’s proof that I can deliver – and also take care of my customers. Of course, this is just one bad situation out of many possible ones. Here is are three practical steps to find the best way to soothe aggravated (and aggravating!) buyers:
- Open Dialogue: Initiate conversation with the customer, listen attentively to their issues, and understand what they were expecting. Suggest different options that might be more suitable for them. This approach promotes trust and teamwork.
- Extra Support: Extend support beyond what’s expected, such as providing easy-to-follow instructions, tips for troubleshooting, or even considering a refund or replacement if the situation calls for it. This extra effort displays your commitment to keeping your customers happy.
- Constructive Use of Feedback: Negative feedback isn’t necessarily a bad thing; instead, use it as a chance to improve your services. Consider the customer’s comments and make required changes to avoid repeat occurrences. Showing your willingness to adapt and improve your services makes customers feel valued and appreciated.
The other important lesson I learned was to simply not work with buyers who didn’t understand what they wanted.
Not because couldn’t help them, or because I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to work with them because of Fiverr.
Fiverr Is Harsher Than Buyers with a Single Bad Review
Fiverr has infinitely higher standards than buyers, and when you’re a TRS and a Pro, it is Fiverr who you should worry more about. If the system decides you’ve done something wrong, there is little anyone can do about it.
This is one of the less attractive sides of working on Fiverr, but I digress. I kept my TRS and Pro badges in the end, since the buyer was an anomaly, and I had not been getting enough reviews to offset its impact at the time.
I only found this out because I was in the Seller Plus program and my Fiverr Success Manager contacted me to let me know, and offered me strategies to help me stay on top.
The moral of this story? Always ask for feedback so you have a healthy bank of glowing reviews to offset the impact your ugly bad review – but never ask for positive feedback (that’s against the TOS).
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a new seller or a veteran: Fiverr is far harsher than regular buyers if you have one bad review. It’s not fair, but it is what it is on a competitive marketplace.
Learn From Any Truths In the Bad Review
After you’ve addressed the concerns of your customers and offered them solutions, it’s time to shift your focus to your own development and improvement. Accepting constructive feedback is a great way to pinpoint the areas that need work.
Keep in mind that learning isn’t a one-time event, but a continuous journey. Now, if you’ve been dealing with a buyer who seems like he was out to scam you from the get-go, you need to understand three things:
- Their bad review is worthless: there is nothing constructive in it; they are using their bad review as leverage to destroy you. They know that many new sellers will crumple at the first challenge.
- They want you to give them endless work: They may pay you $5, but in reality they want much more work than this done. The whole time, you will be blackmailed over 5 buck bad review.
- They are easy to spot: They are almost always rude, dismissive of your work, and often disappear when you need feedback. Sometimes, they may be clueless. My advice? Don’t even start work. Cancel the order. Save yourself the misery.
For normal buyers, listen. Their bad review is more helpful that you might think!
Could you have communicated better? Did you overpromise your ability to deliver? Were there other issues with the service? Sometimes, it’s just a person who doesn’t understand, which means you need to be clearer about your service and with your delivery.
Embracing Constructive Criticism
When you get negative feedback, take it for what it is: a part of your learning curve and a chance to better your abilities as a Fiverr seller. An opportunity to change your viewpoint. Being open to constructive criticism help you grow and improve your offerings.
Here are three strategies to efficiently handle constructive criticism:
- Be receptive: Meet a bad review with an eagerness to hear and understand. Don’t be defensive and don’t take comments personally. Treat this as a golden opportunity to gain insights and bring about the necessary changes.
- Evaluate the feedback: Take the time to understand areas for development your buyer highlighted. Break them down and pinpoint practical measures you can implement to better yourself, improving your skills as a seller.
- Ask for advice: Get in touch with seasoned sellers for guidance on how to handle your bad review. They can provide useful advice, suggestions. The Fiverr Forum is a great place to do this.
Accepting constructive criticism is an important aspect of your growth journey as a Fiverr seller. Many sellers never get past their angry response to a bad review. You should use it as a chance to learn, better yourself, and stand out in your chosen field.
Implementing Feedback for Growth
It’s no good just listening to bad feedback. You have to do something about it, too! Implementing the feedback will help you to progress and grow as a Fiverr seller to. It’s a good idea to use strategies that let you take advantage of customer feedback.
- Start by dedicating some time to go through and interpret the feedback from your clients.
- Look out for recurring issues to pinpoint areas that need your attention.
- Make a plan targeting these issues.
You may need to seek further education or resources, altering your operations or communication methods. While this might seem annoying, the reality is that you are growing your skill base and meeting the demands of your customer base.
If you want to grow as a business, this is a never-ending process. It’s a good idea constantly ask for feedback and refine your approach, upgrading your abilities and services as a Fiverr seller as you go along. You may still get negative reviews along the way, but each is a stepping stone to a better future, not a career-ending catastrophe.
Continuous Learning and Improvement
As a Fiverr seller, maintaining a cycle of learning and refining your skills is one of the parts of the job nobody talks about! Here’s how you can foster effective feedback management for constant growth:
- Accept and learn from feedback: Being receptive to your clients’ comments and suggestions is important. Viewing the feedback with an objective lens can help pinpoint where improvements need to be made. Apply these changes to improve your services.
- Keep pace with your industry: Dedicate some time to research and stay up-to-date with the newest trends and developments in your sector. This can help you stay ahead of your peers, offer fresh and updated solutions, and deliver more value to your clients.
- Pursue further training and development: Make the most of online courses, webinars, and workshops to improve your skills and broaden your knowledge. The cycle of learning not only improves the quality of your work but also exhibits your dedication to excellence to potential clients.
Through constant efforts to improve, you can deliver an unmatched experience for your clients and attain sustained success on Fiverr. While your direct competitors on Fiverr sleep or rest on their hard-earned laurels, you’re constantly learning, growing, and improving.
Managing Your Online Reputation
Handling your internet reputation involves two main elements: dealing with unfavorable feedback and cultivating a positive virtual persona.
Negative comments can be a stumbling block, but responding with composure and professionalism is a must – addressing any issues and providing solutions.
Correspondingly, if you make an effort to develop a positive internet persona by delivering consistently excellent work, interacting with clients, and soliciting positive remarks, your reputation will grow.
After all, if you have lots of positive reviews, do one or two reviews really harm you? I have quite a few, but they have not impacted me, because I deal with them swiftly. Together with a high price business model, I put off buyers who may potentially be out to scam me – because my bad review makes it very clear that they will not get anywhere!
In some ways, negative reviews can be your best friend on a platform where people are scared of getting less than 5 stars. As I mentioned above, there are some buyers who take advantage of this. But just like everyone else, they assess risk before buying. Someone like me is simply too much risk. My negative reviews show that I:
- Don’t refund when clients are unhappy and the mistake is not mine
- Leave a professional review on their profile. Sometimes, it’s a bad review
- Will outlast them in any long, drawn-out dispute, bad review or not
In the end, they will target someone else. These days, I rarely get a bad review since I simply cancel as soon as I notice any signs of unnecessary friction. I can do without the headache and the stress.
On the other hand, most buyers will see my professional handling of buyers who can be very angry when they write their bad review of my services.
Just remember: your online reputation is not purely measured by how many stars you have, and negative reviews have their own usefulness.
Wrap Up: A Bad Review Sucks, But They Can Be Good
Fiverr is just as challenging as it can be rewarding, and buyer reviews are no exception (and in February 2024, Fiverr’s feedback systems only got more complicated!). Getting a bad review is inevitable, but you shouldn’t look at it as a setback, even if it does feel horrible in the moment. In reality, it’s a moment for you to grow through careful introspection.
By choosing to understand the reason behind the feedback and addressing it professionally, you can mitigate the worst impact of a bad Fiverr review. It’s not the absence of bad reviews that makes a great seller – it’s how a seller handles an unhappy client that makes them great.
Just remember one thing: never write a response to a bad review when you are upset about it. Your job is to create a calm, collected, and professional response that makes you look good. Trust me, when you’re spitting fireballs or weeping gently into your pillow, your response is going to be terrible.
Embrace your bad review for what it is: a moment to reflect on what you could have done better. Slowly, but surely, you’ll become a stronger seller more in tune with the demands of your buyers. And that can only be a good thing!
