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ยป Forums ยป Freelancers ยป ๐Ÿค” Non-Upwork Client Testimonials
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hidemi-takagi
Community Member

๐Ÿค” Non-Upwork Client Testimonials

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 itโ€™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?


 

 

335 REPLIES 335
899987e4
Community Member

Hi Joanne,

      Thanks for your concern, but how do I actually reach out to your team. Any link or tab to use?

 

Thanks.

 

Hi Melchizedek,

 

We apologize for the confusion. Please note that our team reviewed your request and the testimonial has been approved. Happy Upworking!

~ Vladimir
Upwork
sahabsarkaar
Community Member

Hi! I have an important client who's willing to write a testimonial but I'm not able to send him testimonial request since he doesn't have LinkedIn account. IS there any other way he can write a testimonial for me? He's non-Upwork client. Thank you.

Hi Zahid, 

 

I'm sorry, but they need to have a LinkedIn profile so that they can submit a testimonial for you.

~ Joanne
Upwork
16eefb57
Community Member

Hi,
I made mistake putting the name of my client in requesting a testimonial. 

Hi Jessa,

 

I would just like to confirm, would you like to have the testimonial request cancelled?

~ Joanne
Upwork
nayanagraw
Community Member

I would also like to know the samething.

Hi Nayan, 

 

Could you please share specific questions you would like us to answer so that we can better assist you? 

 

Thank you,

~ Nikola
Upwork

Can anyone please tell the process of verification of testimonials for the non-Upwork clients in brief? So that we could decide whether or not we should go for it, for which clients and in what situations.
Also I would like to know how does the testimonials impact profile ratings for the new freelancers out there.

Hi Nayan,

 

Thank you for following up. Please know that 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. 

We do have tools and a system in place to review and check the validity of the testimonials. To better ensure the integrity of our review, we do not share the details of our process. Thanks for your understanding.

 

I would like to clarify that testimonial will not impact your profile stats such as Job Succes Score but it may help with presenting your past client's experience with you. 

 

Thank you, 

~ Nikola
Upwork

Thanks.
It answers my doubts.
grahamdundon
Community Member

Hi, I've just had a non-UpWork testimonial rejected by you on the grounds that there was not enough evidence that the contact information was valid.

I would like to know what was the issue with the contact info as his email is an active email I have been personally using for months and his LinkedIn is absolutely a valid (and premium) account.

Having spoke with him earlier today, I have been assured the the testimonial was submitted in full this morning.

I tried to re-request a testimonial from him in case this was some sort of error but UpWork has registered this to have been a rejected request and won't allow this.

Of course a testimonial on my profile is a fantastic addition endorsing my professional capabilities and will also aid in my search for future work on the platform.

I would really like to resolve this ASAP.

Hope you can help, thank you! 

Hi Graham,

 

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.

~ Joanne
Upwork

hi upwork team, can you kindly check ticket ID #30429511. I just submitted it.

 

I requested testimonial from my client and gave her linkedin profile which has over 500 connections, i am the designer and developer of her business website. Her photo, name, position, and company name is all listed in the linkedin profile, so i dont really understand what you mean by cant verify. So i created ticket id #30429511 hoping that this will provide you guys further evidence that this is indeed a legitimate profile and is my customer giving an honest review. Can you please check my ticket and this issue because both me and my client went to great lengths to make this happen. She wrote a long review for me and now i cant even retrieve it. If you need any more information at all to prove anything please please ask me. Thanks upwork

 

Hi Cecil,

 

I'm sorry to hear that the testimonial got rejected. I followed up with the team handling your case and you can expect an update on your support ticket very soon.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork

Thanks so much Aleksandar, 

 

hope all the added info helps. 

- i gave proof that the email was her work email used when communicating with me for web work

- i gave proof of our whatsapp convo

- i gave proof of her corporate video on youtube from 2013

- i gave proof of my admin access privilege to her wordpress backend. 

 

Sorry i know its boring stuff but you know for us new freelancers to the site, a review can accelerate our placements to hirers. 

 

I appreciate all your effort UW Team! Great job so far! Robot Very Happy

arsalanodesk
Community Member

I dont understand this feature its just no testimonial in my profile since they acive this feature.. Because Its just for outside from the upwork. Unfortunately, When I asked to my personal business director that can you please give me email 'testimonial' that I can link with my upwork profile. He just replied quietlly* and asked have you been working freelancing website while you give your 100% on this job! I was just given bad impression to my client that he don't like. AS upwork Don't like to work with outsiders.. Same as Outsider dont like to work as freelance with other websites... 

I think I cannot fullfill this section. Because I feel not good to ask testimonials again!

But Its your choice to ask with your clients politely may be they will help to give some feedback.. 
I will also try to ask with my client AHhhhhh now upwork know I have more personal Clients to working for them :(.. ahhhh... Any way . I will do try to fullfill this section 

Hi Aleksandar, thanks for your hard work and effort, i managed to get this sorted out with the UW backend team. Heart

katelynpohlmann
Community Member

I'm trying to get started on Upwork and I know how important having reviews on your profile are, but none of my clients are on LinkedIn and you can't request a testimonial without a LinkedIn link. Is there any way around this?

Hi Katelyn,

 

I'm sorry, but they need to have a LinkedIn profile so you can request a testimonial.

~ Joanne
Upwork

I have a few questions regarding non-Upwork testimonials. 

- Does the company name appear in the testimonial?

- Does the client name and/or email address appear in the testimonial?

- I have clients who no longer work at the company for which I performed services. Therefore they cannot use their email address from their NEW job, though their Linkedin page DOES reflect their employment at that past company. Can I use their personal email address to request a testimonal OR will it be rejected for that by Upwork?

Thanks, Rob

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Rob,

 

I understand that you have privacy concerns with your client's information being shared with Upwork. Please note that any information you submit to Upwork is processed by Upwork in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

 

You're free to use any email address. Please be sure to use the correct email that the client has access to since the instructions on how to submit a testimonial will be sent to it. 

 

You can also check out this thread where other freelancers shared their experience and feedback about Testimonials feature.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork
arbilocutare
Community Member

Hi,I have been requesting for a client testimonial from my client outside Upwork since last June of last year. He said he did not received any email from Upwork. I decided to request for another testimonial from the same client yesterday. It went through and he informed me about it.

 

Now, I logged in to my account to see if the testimonial is already posted but all I could find is the previous request made last year.

 

Will the testimonial appear in my profile, or will it take a few days? Also, does Upwork allow testimonials from outside clients?

 

I will appreciate any answers you could give me.

 

Thank you.

Hi Arbil,

 

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. 

~ Joanne
Upwork
12e37393
Community Member

I have a client I worked with last year that was not through Upwork. I want to ask for a testimonial from her, but when I go into the request form, it ask for their LinkedIn profile which she does not have.

 

What should I do?

Hi Dan,

 

In order for us to review and check the validity of the testimonial, we do require your client to have a LinkedIn profile.

 

Thanks!

~Andrea
Upwork
44450041
Community Member

A review that my client outside upwork left, was rejected by upwork. However, this client is a real client. Then why did the review by him get rejected? Please note, it takes efforts to ask clients to leave a review on Upwork. After all the efforts, if the review gets rejected, it is disheartening.

Hi Payel, 

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. 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. 

 

Thank you,

~ Nikola
Upwork
adnan1naeem
Community Member

Hey My client just gave me testimonial but it is not visible my profile .He said he had submitted the testimonial but my profile is saying that the testimonial is being held  for approval of upwork.How long would it take to get approved because it is like  aweek he had submitted the testimonial

Hi Adnan,

 

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.

~ Joanne
Upwork

Hi @Joanne.It is been more then 15 days my testimonisal is under review from upwork and it is not being approved while the client had sent testmonial on the day i requested it.Can you please tell me wqhat is taking so long ??

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Hi Adnan,


I'm sorry about the delay with this. Our team will review your testimonial as soon as possible and will reach out to you with the results. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork
e5af5e7b
Community Member

There have been a few clients that have written me testimonials.  But the status has been on pending for the last few days.  How long does it take for the review to be published and is there a review process for each review that is wrtten?

Hi Olivia,

 

Please allow 10 business days for your request to be reviewed. You will be notified as soon as our team completes the review. Thank you. 

~ Joanne
Upwork

Hello upwork team,

One of my clients gave testimonial on Feb. 14, another on Feb.19. Both of them made second attempt. One of them had additional request from you. More than 10 working days passed, but still non of the testimonials is published, and only one of them has a comment "We'll email you as soon as your testimonial is approved". This is demotiavting both for clients and for myself, who is new for your services. Thank you in advance for solving the issue.

Hi Kateryna,

 

Please bear with us as this may take a little time to get information since weโ€™re waiting on a response from another team. We appreciate your patience and will update you as soon as possible.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork

Hi Kateryna, 

We apologize for the delay as we had to wait on another team. I can confirm that one of the testimonials is already displayed in your profile. Once your other client submits their testimonial, the team will proceed with their review. 


~ Avery
Upwork

Hello Avery,

 

Thank you for your reply and approving one of the testimonials.

The other client has sent her testimonial on February 14 for the first time, and she has sent it for the second time several days ago. You say that you did not see the second testimonial. I will appreciate if you could check the system issue, and I hope you manage to solve it.

Thank you 

Hi Kateryna,

 

Could you please reach out to me via PM (click on my name) and share more details with me about your client? Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork
amin_raiyani
Community Member

 
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