🤔 Non-Upwork Client Testimonials

[hidemi-takagi]

This topic is meant to be sent to other freelancers but if anyone from Upwork has an opinion - I would love to hear it.

I received a top-rated freelancer status about 3 years ago and managed to keep it for the past few years since and today I received Upwork "Strengthen your profile with non-Upwork client testimonials" mail which I assume quite a lot of freelancers gets now as the feature rolls out and you can see this option in your profile.

I have mixed feelings about it and wanted to hear what other freelancers think about this feature.

On the good side, I totally agree that it is a cool feature to have on your profile as I work very hard to help my clients get Google feedbacks to their businesses and I know the value of such feedbacks but the difference here is that I have to "ask" one of my clients to create a feedback via email invitation (which of course, I can soften the issue with a chat with the client prior to that mail to let them know about it) but I do feel a bit strange to "ask" clients to do such a thing from one important issue which is my client privacy since I have no ideas what do Upwork will request from my client to "verify" -- since the mail states "The testimonial will display on your profile once it’s verified by Upwork."

Besides the fact that it might be a bit troublesome to a client to write a feedback -- but that might not be too hard to do, I am worried that Upwork process of "verification" of that feedback might invade my client privacy or maybe they will be requested to "prove" something which will also might invade their personal or business privacy.

Does anyone know in detail what kind of information Upwork will require from a non-upwork client for the verification process and what kind of "hoops" the client has to go through in terms of back and forth communication with Upwork verification team?  

I deal with my clients always with care about their feelings and pay a lot of attention to make sure their privacy is well kept, and I never before asked a client for  "assistance" to help me in my career - therefore, before I do any move such as request them to enroll in some verification process, I want to make sure it will not be "painful" or even bothersome in any way and most of all, will not invade their privacy (personal or business).  

Any thoughts about this or did anyone went through the process and know what did their client has to go through to get that testimonial process complete?

lastly - I am wondering if anyone knows if this is now a "mandatory" requirement to keep a top-rated status or it is just an extra feature and a top-rated status is relying solely on Upwork clients feedbacks?

[asim_hammad1999]

Hello!
For the past three months i have been getting a notification regarding 'Add testimonials to your profile'. I have requested it from 2 my clients but they didn't bothered to answer it and rest of my clients never share their email addresses. 
So what the actual problem is that this notification keeps on being popped up at my profile's 'header' which sort of now disturbing me. So i want it to be removed. 
Can you please help me by letting me know how to remove it?
I am sharing the attachment so you get an idea regarding it. 
Thanks.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[AleksandarD]

Hi Hammad,

Thanks for reaching out to us. For now, there is no option to stop the notification from showing on your profile. However, I will share the feedback with our product team for consideration.

Thank you

[rynarud]

Hi Aleksandr!

How long each request should be in “Pending”? 2 days past one of testimonials is still on hold. Does it mean being rejected? Thanks!

[NikolaS]

Hi Irina,

Unfortunately, due to the high number of testimonials we receive, we cannot expedite your request. While the quoted review time is within 10 days, please know in most cases we complete our review within 5 days. We truly appreciate your patience through this process!

[jenores]

Hi Nikola,

I send a testimonial request to a client last 24th of February and the client recieved and completed the testimonial 25th of February.  5 days past and testimonial is still pending. Does it mean it is being rejected? Thanks!

[AleksandarD]

Hi Jennifer,

Please allow 10 business days for your request to be reviewed. We apologize for the delay, but please know we are still testing and optimizing this beta feature.

Thank you.

[b69b0c31]

Hi Aleksander,

I sent by mistake a request of testimonials initially aimed to a former non Upwork client to my own email address.
Would it be possible to correct the email and send it back again to my client ?

Thanks

[BojanS]

Hi Michael,

We'll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with your request. 

Thank you for reaching out to us. 

[afrahmuste]

Hello, I wanted to ask about testimonials. In the section, it is a must to fill the client's LinkedIn account. What am I supposed to do if they don't have LinkedIn account? Isn't the Google account's information enough?

#Admins please make this issue clear, thanks.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Afrah,

Yes, they will need to have a LinkedIn profile. Thank you.

[cd3cd107]

Why does it need to be a LinkedIn profile? Many of my clients don't have one and never will. They're SMBs with no desire to have one. What about a link to their company page where they DO have a profile?

[BojanS]

Hi Gregg,

Currently, this feature is only available to clients who have a LinkedIn account. 

[cd3cd107]

Hi Bojan,

Understood and thanks. Then perhaps it should be a feature request. 🙂

G

[kateryna-maksym]

Hello!

Could you please inform when Linkedin profile will not be required for non upwork testimonials?

I have five years of projects with the university, and university President is ready to give a testimonial. 

He is at the university site, he has a corporate e-mail, he is active on facebok, but he is not on Linkedin

Thank you

[AleksandarD]

Hi Kateryna,

We don't have information when or whether LinkedIn profile will be removed as a requirement, but for now, I can confirm that clients need to have a LinkedIn profile. I'll share your feedback with the team for review.

Thank you.

[charlesnm]

Hi sir.I have sent testimonial requests to my clients but they have not yet received the e-mails.What could be the problem?

[BojanS]

Hi Charles,

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about the request you're referring to? I'll check that for you and assist you accordingly.

Thank you!

[VladimirG]

Hi Hammad,

As a follow-up to Aleksandar's post, I wanted to confirm that we took notice of your feedback and our team is working on improvements to the banner that you found somewhat intrusive. We appreciate the experience you've shared with us in the Community.

[asim_hammad1999]

Dear Upwork Representative,

Thank you so much for acknowledging.

[dayanaq]

Hello, I have the same problem that Hammad had. I've requested testimonial from a client but he didn't bothered to answer it too 

I want to remove that notification and please don't send more notification e-mails to my client requesting for a  testimonial.

[AveryO]

Hi Dayana, 

I'm sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. As Vladimir has advised Hammad, we have shared this information with the team. However, I'll make a follow up on this feedback so that it can be considered. 

As for your client, could you please confirm if they are continuously receiving emails from Upwork? 

[hidemi-takagi]

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Hidemi,

I`m sorry about the delay with this.
Just to confirm that I`ve escalated your concern once we (Moderators) have more details, we will post an update here. Thank you.

[hidemi-takagi]

Thank you, Goran!