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The one-star review strategy that builds instant trust
Google reviews are the single most visible trust signal for any local solar business.
Most installers do everything possible to avoid one-star reviews — and rightly so. But once you already have a genuinely strong reputation, there’s an opportunity to do something a little different.
In this video, I break down a creative, tongue-in-cheek one-star review strategy that turns the worst possible review into one of your strongest rapport-building assets.
This is not for early-stage installers.
This only works if your reputation is already rock solid.
But if it is, this can stop prospects in their tracks — right at the moment they’re actively looking for something to distrust.
For context, this video was originally recorded on 8 January 2026, views & strategies may have changed since.
Featuring
Video transcript
Here is the transcript with timestamps removed and formatted into clean, justified-style paragraphs for easy reading and reuse:
Happy Sunday evening. I’m back with a pretty fun one this evening. This is a genius one-star review strategy for solar companies that already have an absolutely stellar reputation and want to do something a little creative, a little out there, and a bit punchy to differentiate themselves and build rapport very early in the solar sales and marketing process.
Without further ado, Google reviews are the lifeblood of any local services business. If you don’t already have at least 50 Google reviews and an average rating of 4.8 stars or higher, then this video isn’t really for you yet. That said, you should still watch it, because it shows the level you should be aiming for and a strategy you can use once you get there.
Trustpilot and product reviews are great, but nothing matches the visibility of Google reviews. When someone searches your business, 99 times out of 100 it’s the first thing their eyes are drawn to. The Google Business Profile stands out far more than the organic search results below it. People’s eyes dart straight to it, which makes the rating displayed there absolutely critical.
Because of that, one of the worst things you can do is get a one-star Google review. It drags the rating down and stands out immediately when people click into your profile. Normally, you’d do everything possible to avoid that. Or should you?
This is where it gets interesting. People almost always sort reviews by the lowest rating first. When there’s a sea of five-star reviews, they want to know what went wrong. Humans are far more interested in bad news than good news. So they’ll click “sort by lowest” to find the worst experience. Why not give them something you actually want them to read?
Instead of letting the lowest-quality negative review take that spot, get a customer to write a tongue-in-cheek one-star review that says something like:
“Honestly, their return on investment forecasts are utter rubbish. I’ve saved twice as much as they said I would. I’ve now got so much spare money that my wife upgraded her Asda slippers to UGG boots. It’s ridiculous. I’m playing above my league. One star.”
It instantly builds rapport. Someone reads it, has a chuckle, and thinks, “I was actively trying to find the worst experience, and this is the worst thing I can find.”
Another example could be:
“They installed everything peacefully, didn’t disturb me while I worked from home. The system is working perfectly and performing better than I ever expected. As a Brit, I wanted something to complain about. I feel like they’ve robbed me of that experience. One star.”
Or this:
“Tom, Mark, and Joe installed a battery storage system for us a few weeks ago. We just had a power cut. All the neighbours lost power, but we ran the house on batteries. Now I’ve got Margaret and John in my kitchen telling me stories about walking to school ten miles in the 80s. The power is still out, I’ve got 92% battery left, and I’ve got no idea when they’re going to leave. Thanks, guys. You ruined my Christmas.”
Imagine that being your only one-star review. It’s a done deal. People were actively looking for something negative and couldn’t find it. All they found was humour that reinforces how good you actually are. At that point, rapport is built before you’ve even spoken to them.
Let me know if you want to try this. I’d love to help facilitate it, although it’s a very simple idea you can implement yourself. I’ve seen it work in other industries, but I haven’t seen it used in solar yet. I’m genuinely excited to see what it could do and whether people mention it when they enquire, saying it made them laugh.
If you like ideas like this and want more creative ways to generate demand for your solar business going into 2025, you’ll want to enter your email using the link on this post. And if you want us on your team coming up with these ideas proactively, rather than waiting for content to drop, you can continue through the same link, answer a few questions about your business, and book a call with our team.
That’s it. I’ll see you in the next one. I hope this was useful, and please do let me know if you try it — I’d genuinely love to see it in action.
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