Let’s be honest: in 2025 I won’t even buy a €10 sticker sheet without checking reviews first. And when it comes to hundreds of euros for an F1 weekend? You bet I’m scrolling through Trustpilot like I’m reviewing race data after quali.

Fans behave the same way — which is exactly why your online reputation matters more than ever.

And yes, we’re going to fix it with email marketing. Because email lets you speak to the right people at the right moment — the ones who actually experienced your service.

If your business lives anywhere near motorsport, you already know how fragile reviews can be. One negative Trustpilot rating can wipe out the impact of several five-star ones. And the funniest (or saddest) part? A portion of what people complain about is completely outside your control.

As a ticketing platform, promoter, or event organiser, you can’t influence:

• whether it rains all weekend
• traffic jams on the way to the circuit
• the quality of food stalls
• toilet cleanliness
• whether someone left home late and missed FP1
• and so much more

You can educate fans and prepare them better, but some complaints will always slip through. And because it takes multiple 5★ reviews to offset a single 1★, your score is constantly under pressure.

There are many ways to improve your reputation: better service, clearer communication, better onboarding. But today’s newsletter is about something more specific:

This approach is for people willing to put in a bit of extra effort, be personal with customers, and try something smarter than the usual “Please rate us!” blast.

Step 1: Stop sending everyone straight to Trustpilot

If your “leave us a review!” email leads to angry 1★ ratings or no ratings at all, it’s time to change the approach.

Instead of pushing everyone directly to your public Trustpilot page, add a middle step: a short feedback survey.

This helps you:

• gather real feedback first
• understand what actually went wrong
• identify happy customers before they go public
• reduce the chance that frustrated people will vent in the most visible place

It’s not about hiding criticism. It’s about timing and targeting.

Step 2: Build a short post-event survey

The tool doesn’t matter much — Typeform, Google Forms, anything works as long as it’s simple and mobile-friendly.

Aim for 3–5 questions, for example:

• What did you enjoy the most?
• Would you recommend this experience to a friend? (Yes/No)
• Is there anything we could improve?
• How many stars would you give us (1–5)?

That last one is your internal Trustpilot indicator.

Send the survey to:

• people who attended a specific race or event/what you are offering
• customers who recently completed a booking
• guests who just came back from their motorsport weekend

It should take them no more than about four minutes. Easy for them, extremely valuable for you.

Step 3: Ask nicely and personally

The email that invites people to fill in the survey should sound like it comes from a human, not a robot.

For example:

Key principles:

• Personal tone – write as a person, not as “The Company”
• Low pressure – you’re asking for feedback, not begging for 5★
• Clear purpose – you want to improve the experience, not just your rating

Fans are much more likely to respond when it feels like their opinion matters.

Step 4: Do the manual work (this is where the magic is)

Once the responses start coming in, don’t just export a CSV and forget about it.

Go through responses and:

• identify everyone who gave you 4★ or 5★
• note what exactly they liked (specific mentions are gold)
• create a segment of these happy customers

Then send them a second, more personal email. Something like:

Yes, this is more manual work than blasting one generic “Review us!” link. But it dramatically increases the chance of getting genuine 5★ reviews from people who already told you they were happy.

Step 5: Use low-star feedback to actually improve things

What about the people who gave 1–3★?

They’re not “bad customers.” They’re:

• early warning signals
• patterns you need to spot
• a roadmap for what needs fixing

Look at their answers to see:

• where communication broke down
• which instructions weren’t clear
• which expectations weren’t set
• what keeps repeating in their complaints

You can also reply personally:

• thank them for being honest
• apologise if something went wrong
• share what you’re doing to improve

Even if they never go to Trustpilot, this kind of response builds trust and can turn someone from a critic into a cautious supporter.

Why not just fake it?

Beyond the ethical issue, platforms like Trustpilot actively look for signs of manipulation.

Fake reviews:

• are often detected and removed
• can get your profile flagged
• damage trust far more than a single bad review ever could

You can’t fix a reputation by pretending everything is perfect. You fix it by listening, improving, and asking the right people at the right time to share their real experience.

The real win

This approach doesn’t just give you a nicer rating.

It also helps you:

• deepen relationships with your customers
• gather real, actionable feedback
• make better decisions about your service
• and build a reputation that’s actually earned, not engineered

All it takes is:

• one simple survey
• two thoughtful emails
• and some time spent reading and responding

No shortcuts. No fake reviews. Just honest conversations and smart use of email.

Because when you genuinely care about your service, your fans will care about your reputation too.

Of course, this approach won’t catch everything. A negative review may still slip through — that’s normal, and honestly, sometimes deserved. But by using this system, you dramatically increase the number of positive, genuine reviews that reflect the real experience. You get better insights, stronger relationships, and a healthier reputation built on honesty rather than shortcuts. And in the long run, that matters far more than chasing a perfect score.