🤔 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?

[onecreater]

Mam I got a testimonial from my client but it not show on my profile. Can you tell me how long time take upwork to show testimonial on my profile after client's submitted of testimonial ????

[NikolaS]

Hi Pankaj,

It may take 10 days for our team to complete the review of the testimonial you have submitted. Please allow our team time to complete the review.

Thank you,

[ravindujayzz]

Hey!

My testimonial from a Non-Upwork Client got rejected saying the client can not be verified. What details should I give to verify my client outside of Upwork?

I provided all the true and accurate information of the client when submitting the Testimonial Request Form.

Please help me with this and advise what I should do to get this testimonial approved. I have been working with this client for a long time now with great client satisfaction and he's confused to as why his testimonial got rejected.

Please advice!

Thanks,

Ravindu 🙂

[tlsanders]

There is a secret process Upwork uses to "verify" your testimonials. They apparently think that you will somehow come up with a way to scam the system if you know what it is, so they won't provide any information. They won't even tell us whether or not they directly harass clients, so you're not likely to get any useful response to this.

[ravindujayzz]

Isn't there any way to get a testimonial? Any things I should consider when requesting a testimonial in the future?

[lucinda_anne]

As I understand it, the non-Upwork client must have a LinkedIn profile.
Once that is done, be persistent, if/when it is rejected. Good luck!

[valery221166]

Hi all!
Since many years I am Top-rated freelancer on Upwork. Recently earned Top-rated Plus state

Question is: during few years worked in one of the most well-known design bureaus of Russia,

Have in portfolio examples of my work from there, that posted years ago. Each work has link to their site. Also have this bureau mentioned in my history of work.
They have on their site the same examples, mentioning me as one of the authors.
Recently requested the testimonial from the company owner. Hi did. He has working Linkedin profile besides. All things I spoke about, are well-known in Russian industrial design world.
Your team didn't approve the testimonial.
I called, asked to fix it.
No result.
I contacted again the support via chat.
They told that the decison is final and I can't change it.

What is the next step I can do?
From one side Upwork gives me Top-rated Plus state, from the other supposes me lier and donesn't want even check the evident things?
I feel myself frustrated very much because of this.

[JoanneP]

Hi Valery,

I checked your account, and it looks like our team has already shared with you more information about the testimonial you submitted. To ensure trust and quality of our marketplace, we can only approve testimonials from clients where we have sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid. In this case, we may not have been able to find sufficient information. You can try requesting another from a different client.

[valery221166]

why doesnt it work?

**Edited for community guidelines**

What wrong with this site?

**Edited for community guidelines**

What wrong with this person?
I spent 2 years of my life working with this guy, and now you tell me that those years don't exist?

[nancyb_design]

Good afternoon.

I am new to the Upwork community and still working on my profile.  I like to request testimonials from several of my previous clients outside of Upwork but they do not have Linkedin profiles.  Is there another way to request?  I have quite a few that don't use it and its quite a big ask of a client to create a profile if they don't use or want it just for a testimonial.  Is there any other way to do this?

Help would be very appreciated.

[calrobert]

Best bet would be to email support with this request.  Try to provide the support team with another form of authentication (about the client).

[JoanneP]

Hi Nancy,

Currently, this feature is only available to clients who have a LinkedIn account. We’ll make sure to announce here in the Community if other platforms become available for this feature. 

[nancyb_design]

Thank you for the response.  It is frustrating as I am a designer with 30 years worth of clients that I cannot get reviews for so it would be wonderful if there was another way to do that.'

I thank you.

Cheers,

Nancy

[cathymontefalcon]

My client has no linked in profile as she is the owner of a company. Can I ask for email instead and send it to upwork?

Thanks.

[JoanneP]

Hi Catherine,

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

[kylebaskin]

Hey there!

I've recently sent out a few testimonials to my clients outside of Upwork. One of their testimonial submissions was denied, claiming they can only "approve testimonials from clients where we have sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid." I can prove that the testimonial is legit with more evidence, whatever that needs to be. I have access to the backend, because again, I created it, so please let me know what I can do to get this testimonial approved.

Thanks!

[lucinda_anne]

Upwork is remarkably opaque about the criteria required for non-Upwork
testimonials. They do demand that the party have a profile on LinkedIn. If
that is provided, and it is again refused, insist and persist.
I do think they have bots handling this until you push back a few times.

[pang_sheng_wei]

Same here, I provided my client’s valid email and LinkedIn and they took the time to write a testimonial for me only to get rejected for vague “invalid contact information”!? can someone from upwork please help me create a support ticket and look into this?

[lucinda_anne]

Keep pushing them. Remind them that the only publicly known criteria is
email and LinkedIn!!!!!!!!!! If they really don't want to post these kind
of testimonials, they should just say so.

Best of Luck.

[JoanneP]

Hi Sheng Wei,

To ensure trust and quality of our marketplace, we can only approve testimonials from clients where we have sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid. In this case, we may not have been able to find sufficient information. You can try requesting another from a different client.

[pang_sheng_wei]

Hi Joanne,

What is considered as “sufficient evidence of valid contact information”? In my case I have provided a real email address and LinkedIn profile link - what more do you require? This is a real client and if you are sincere you would simply 1) tell us what is missing/invalid and 2) help us approve the testimonial when we have met this “sufficient evidence” requirement, instead of telling us to ask another client. Can you help?

[AveryO]

Hi Sheng, 

It looks like the team has already reached out to you and confirmed that this is a known issue and the team is looking into this further. I'm sorry if this has caused inconvenience on your end. 

Our engineers are currently looking into this further and the Customer Support Team will update you through your support ticket with information about the issue. Feel free to update the same ticket thread (Ticket #29231247) if you need further help regarding the same concern. 

[gulamazam96]

How I can Add testimonials in my Upwork profile?

[BojanS]

Hi Mafidul Islam,

You should be able to request a testimonial by going to your profile and click on the plus in the right upper corner of the Testimonials section. 

Let us know if you need any further assistance. 

[nadeemjaved1255]

I have sent recently a testimonial request to my non-Upwork client before 3 4 to 5 days ago but still, he not received any email any notification about testimonial request from Upwork what should I do now please help me with proper guidance thank you

[christopherlee9]

Hi...I would like to request testimonials from clients but some of my clients don't have Linkedin accounts for verification. Are there other options for them to write me a review?

[JoanneP]

Hi Christopher,

Your client will need to have a LinkedIn profile so that you can request them to submit a testimonial for you.

[nadeemjaved1255]

Hi, I have requested Upwork testimonial to my nonwork clients I have submitted their LinkedIn profile email address first name and last name but my clients didn't receive any mail from Upwork for non-upwork client testimonial please help me how to solve this issue because I am new to Upwork and want to start my freelance career from Upwork as well

[BojanS]

Hi Muhammad,

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

[renewvisual]

My non-Upwork client's testimonial was not approved. Despite the fact that even on LinkedIn I have a recommendation from this client.

[BojanS]

Hi Oleh,

You can try requesting another from a different client. In order to ensure the trust and quality of our marketplace, we can only approve testimonials from clients where we have sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid. In this case, we may not have been able to find sufficient information. 

[6d23a15e]

How to get testimonials from previous customers without linkedin

[petra_r]

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Ebony M wrote:

How to get testimonials from previous customers without linkedin

---

You can't.

[alainmuhanano]

Impossible,

Upwork doesn't have this option yet. 

[renewvisual]

---

Bojan S wrote:

Hi Oleh,

You can try requesting another from a different client. In order to ensure the trust and quality of our marketplace, we can only approve testimonials from clients where we have sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid. In this case, we may not have been able to find sufficient information. 

---

Bojan,

I understand  I can try requesting another from a different client. But this client is one of my main and key non-Upwork client and I can provide any evidence that the contact information is valid. 

[renewvisual]

---

Bojan S wrote:

Hi Oleh,

You can try requesting another from a different client. In order to ensure the trust and quality of our marketplace, we can only approve testimonials from clients where we have sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid. In this case, we may not have been able to find sufficient information. 

---

Hello. Already three testimonials from my clients have not been approved. I do not understand the reasons. The requests must include a link to the client's profile on LinkedIn. So you're probably reviewing these profiles. So you should have seen that my profile has written recommendations from all these clients. And these recommendations were published a few months ago, so it's obviously not fake.

I want to submit new requests for testimonials from these clients and ask you to consider them in more detail.

[NikolaS]

Hi Oleh,

I checked and it seems that you already created a support ticket for the issue you are experiencing with requests for testimonials. Please allow more time for our team to review your case and respond accordingly to your ticket. You will be notified of their response.

Thank you,

[cath_andersson]

Hello,

I would like to send a Testimonial request to clients that I have from outside Upwork. Unfortunatley some of my clients do not not have a LinkedIn profile. How do I get around this?

Many thanks in advance for your support!

[petra_r]

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Catherine A wrote:

I would like to send a Testimonial request to clients that I have from outside Upwork. Unfortunatley some of my clients do not not have a LinkedIn profile. How do I get around this?

---

Unfortunately you can't get around that. At this point in time, you can only request testimonials from clients who have a LinkedIn profile.

[cath_andersson]

Thank you Petra!

Do you know when Upwork is going to address this limitation?

Kind regards