New quality reviews for Top Rated Sellers

[frank_d]

And some TRS, let’s face it, were coasting ever since they were promoted.

What would be considered coasting?

Thanks Frank, much appreciated. I guess you answered that with your list of things TRS need to do.

I suppose they didn’t comment of my question about offering extras.

They had that wording which suggested something about doing the gig for the price described, which made me wonder if they meant don’t offer extras.

By “coasting” I mean doing as little as possible just to hang on to the level.

So basically people who I think were coasting are people who only paid attention to the 3 key metrics and offered sub-par service or deliveries. Because they knew they were fine, from a technical standpoint.

Fiverr is basically calling us to keep pushing ourselves and hold ourselves to the highest possible standard.

That’s how I see it anyway.

EDIT: There is no change in terms of extras, or how we up sell buyers. You are still able to do it, and Fiverr wants us to bring in as much revenue as possible. Nothing is different. That part of the email was addressing anyone who is pulling the old bait n switch. So if you feel there’s something misleading with your offering, please get right on it regardless of level. 🙂

[chrisdata]

Thanks @frank_d for the info and everyone who got answers from their SM.
This is the moment I appreciated the existence of Fiverr forum.

[danno1950]

Thanks very much for investigating the issue, @frank_d, and for letting us know what you found. I’m sure this will relieve a lot of confusion and concern. Great job! 😀

[fastcopywriter]

That is inflammatory. I think you should give proof of this to customer support if you have it.

Excuse me? Are you saying that that I am in the wrong for NOT breaking Fiverr and forum rules by adding links to seller profiles?

Are you also suggesting that despite us being told several times that Fiverr does not read the forum, they would within 24-hours implement sweeping TRS reforms. based on a thread posted by a level zero seller? - Without doing any research themselves concerning whether the topic of the thread had any substance?

Your complaints about outsourcing in your other thread were passed along to fiverr staff someone said, which resulted in the message we got. You mention Pros and TRS doing it.

My previous thread was the result of me following a disscussion involving a Pro and TRS seller off of-Fiverr, who had already reaised concerns with Fiverr.

I realize that changes like this must be upsetting for those without a crystal ball to look into to see how they might pan out. However, to be honest, I can’t see why most people are so upset. If you have nothing to hide, surely you have nothing to fear?

As for the outsourcing issue, I can easily provide links to TRS sellers who obviously outsource some or all of their work on a routine basis. I am able to because it was brought to my attention by a Fiverr buyer on another freelance message board, how easy it is to spot TRS sellers who do so now that we have the new blind review feature.

Sorry, but not every seller is a saint and having a TRS badge shouldn’t elevate anyone above scrutiny. This seems to be what you are saying here.

Sorry, but not every seller is a saint and having a TRS badge shouldn’t elevate anyone above scrutiny. This seems to be what you are saying here.

TRS sellers can be demoted. Even before the current level system, they would be demoted over conduct or too many late deliveries, of course, it was done on a case by case basis, not done automatically by the system.

I have previously brought several sellers to the attention of CS who sell the likes of copyrighted video templates

Some sellers pay for those templates. They might have a subscription to the company that allows them unlimited use of said templates.

It’s good to know that the demotion process will be manual because there were too many “mitigating” factors that are not in sellers’ control to stop a demotion if it were just automated.

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

So basically people who I think were coasting are people who only paid attention to the 3 key metrics and offered sub-par service or deliveries.

Some gigs are a matter of opinion! A logo or whatever from a TRS seller, a level 2, level 1, level 0, PRO, can be excellent or horrible, it’s the buyer who makes that decision.

This is no different than the offline world. Advertising agencies sometimes lose their accounts, even accounts they have kept for 20-years might be lost because sales are down or the client isn’t happy and wants to try something new. Some clients change agencies just for fun. It’s not always the agencies’ fault. If you did everything your client told you and he’s not happy with your work, how can it be your fault?

[frank_d]

Sorry, but not every seller is a saint and having a TRS badge shouldn’t elevate anyone above scrutiny. This seems to be what you are saying here.

TRS sellers can be demoted. Even before the current level system, they would be demoted over conduct or too many late deliveries, of course, it was done on a case by case basis, not done automatically by the system.

I have previously brought several sellers to the attention of CS who sell the likes of copyrighted video templates

Some sellers pay for those templates. They might have a subscription to the company that allows them unlimited use of said templates.

It’s good to know that the demotion process will be manual because there were too many “mitigating” factors that are not in sellers’ control to stop a demotion if it were just automated.

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

So basically people who I think were coasting are people who only paid attention to the 3 key metrics and offered sub-par service or deliveries.

Some gigs are a matter of opinion! A logo or whatever from a TRS seller, a level 2, level 1, level 0, PRO, can be excellent or horrible, it’s the buyer who makes that decision.

This is no different than the offline world. Advertising agencies sometimes lose their accounts, even accounts they have kept for 20-years might be lost because sales are down or the client isn’t happy and wants to try something new. Some clients change agencies just for fun. It’s not always the agencies’ fault. If you did everything your client told you and he’s not happy with your work, how can it be your fault?

Some gigs are a matter of opinion!

I do agree that art is subjective.

Design can be perceived differently by two similar people.

However, I think TRS and Pro sellers need to operate above that level.

Where you define scope explicitly, communicate concepts clearly and leave no room for interpretation.

The last time I delivered something and the client responded with “what is that? That’s not what I wanted” was back in 2014.

I since developed a framework that ensures both sides are happy, and there are no unpleasant surprises.

Again to clarify: this isn’t black magic.

I’m not saying that whatever I make the client loves immediately.

I am saying that the client puts their subjective lens aside and sees the video I deliver for what it is:

Exactly what their organization needs for their goals.

If you did everything your client told you and he’s not happy with your work

If you did everything your client told you, you are at fault: you should always take lead. Lead them to where they need to go. That’s why they hired you.

[cyaxrex]

Sorry, but not every seller is a saint and having a TRS badge shouldn’t elevate anyone above scrutiny. This seems to be what you are saying here.

TRS sellers can be demoted. Even before the current level system, they would be demoted over conduct or too many late deliveries, of course, it was done on a case by case basis, not done automatically by the system.

I have previously brought several sellers to the attention of CS who sell the likes of copyrighted video templates

Some sellers pay for those templates. They might have a subscription to the company that allows them unlimited use of said templates.

It’s good to know that the demotion process will be manual because there were too many “mitigating” factors that are not in sellers’ control to stop a demotion if it were just automated.

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

So basically people who I think were coasting are people who only paid attention to the 3 key metrics and offered sub-par service or deliveries.

Some gigs are a matter of opinion! A logo or whatever from a TRS seller, a level 2, level 1, level 0, PRO, can be excellent or horrible, it’s the buyer who makes that decision.

This is no different than the offline world. Advertising agencies sometimes lose their accounts, even accounts they have kept for 20-years might be lost because sales are down or the client isn’t happy and wants to try something new. Some clients change agencies just for fun. It’s not always the agencies’ fault. If you did everything your client told you and he’s not happy with your work, how can it be your fault?

Some sellers pay for those templates. They might have a subscription to the company that allows them unlimited use of said templates.

I am aware of this. This is why I did my research beforehand. This involved bringing the matter to the attention of the design studio behind the then most commonly sold real estate video template on Fiverr. (To confirm it was being sold without the copyright owners permission.)

In that case, the owner complained and many sellers had gigs removed. However, within a couple of weeks, most were back up and running.

[fastcopywriter]

Some gigs are a matter of opinion!

I do agree that art is subjective.

Design can be perceived differently by two similar people.

However, I think TRS and Pro sellers need to operate above that level.

Where you define scope explicitly, communicate concepts clearly and leave no room for interpretation.

The last time I delivered something and the client responded with “what is that? That’s not what I wanted” was back in 2014.

I since developed a framework that ensures both sides are happy, and there are no unpleasant surprises.

Again to clarify: this isn’t black magic.

I’m not saying that whatever I make the client loves immediately.

I am saying that the client puts their subjective lens aside and sees the video I deliver for what it is:

Exactly what their organization needs for their goals.

If you did everything your client told you and he’s not happy with your work

If you did everything your client told you, you are at fault: you should always take lead. Lead them to where they need to go. That’s why they hired you.

However, I think TRS and Pro sellers need to operate above that level.

That’s not my experience. When I was promoted to TRS, I wasn’t better than anyone else. I was simply getting a lot of orders, was never late, and had a lot of happy clients, and a few unhappy ones. I don’t know why my editors chose me, maybe it was easier to become TRS back then, maybe I got lucky.

As for PRO sellers, that’s way above TRS, those are chosen by Fiverr, they’re expected to be pro’s in the real world, not just Fiverr.

If you did everything your client told you, you are at fault: you should always take lead. Lead them to where they need to go. That’s why they hired you.

No I’m not. They hired me to perform a task, not to manipulate them, lead them, influence them, etc. That’s not just Fiverr, that’s the real world. Advertising agencies get a creative brief by the client, and they stick to the brief. They might present an additional idea just for fun, if the client is open minded, but 99% of the time, you stick to what the client wants even if he’s wrong.

My friends who work in web marketing tell me the horror stories of clients that want to be on the first page of Google but aren’t willing to do everything they need to do to make that happen. Or they tell me of awful products that won’t sell no matter what you do to sell them. I believe them, this idea that the customer is always right and the creators are always wrong is absurd.

[cyaxrex]

However, I think TRS and Pro sellers need to operate above that level.

That’s not my experience. When I was promoted to TRS, I wasn’t better than anyone else. I was simply getting a lot of orders, was never late, and had a lot of happy clients, and a few unhappy ones. I don’t know why my editors chose me, maybe it was easier to become TRS back then, maybe I got lucky.

As for PRO sellers, that’s way above TRS, those are chosen by Fiverr, they’re expected to be pro’s in the real world, not just Fiverr.

If you did everything your client told you, you are at fault: you should always take lead. Lead them to where they need to go. That’s why they hired you.

No I’m not. They hired me to perform a task, not to manipulate them, lead them, influence them, etc. That’s not just Fiverr, that’s the real world. Advertising agencies get a creative brief by the client, and they stick to the brief. They might present an additional idea just for fun, if the client is open minded, but 99% of the time, you stick to what the client wants even if he’s wrong.

My friends who work in web marketing tell me the horror stories of clients that want to be on the first page of Google but aren’t willing to do everything they need to do to make that happen. Or they tell me of awful products that won’t sell no matter what you do to sell them. I believe them, this idea that the customer is always right and the creators are always wrong is absurd.

No I’m not. They hired me to perform a task, not to manipulate them

I agree. If freelancing was like fairyland, it would be nice to “lead clients to where they need to go.” However, unless you are a fully fledged web marketing firm with dedicated departments for everything from SEO to video production, this simply isn’t possible.

Buyers on Fiverr order single services. (At least, for the most part.) @frank_d could create a Super Bowl-ready video ad. You could also create an ad copy capable of making someone remortgage their home to buy golden fidget spinner. At the end of the day, though, the client needs to know how to use what they are taking delivery of in the first place.

It sounds awful. However, I’d estimate that at least 80% of people I work with on Fiverr aren’t going to get any benefit out of what they order from me. The biggest problem usually rests with the fact that they have bad overall business ideas. Either that or they simply aren’t up to taking any personal responsibility for the success of their venture.

My friends who work in web marketing tell me the horror stories of clients that want to be on the first page of Google but aren’t willing to do everything they need to do to make that happen.

This is true. I worked for a while for a top crypto news blog. They asked if I had any SEO suggestions for their site. There were lots of problems with it and I was reluctant to offer any advice. However, I did suggest they upgrade from HTTP to HTTPS. Some kind of disaster doing this saw them go down for a day and they never ordered from me again. With some people, it is, therefore, just better to keep a kind of professional distance.

[fastcopywriter]

No I’m not. They hired me to perform a task, not to manipulate them

I agree. If freelancing was like fairyland, it would be nice to “lead clients to where they need to go.” However, unless you are a fully fledged web marketing firm with dedicated departments for everything from SEO to video production, this simply isn’t possible.

Buyers on Fiverr order single services. (At least, for the most part.) @frank_d could create a Super Bowl-ready video ad. You could also create an ad copy capable of making someone remortgage their home to buy golden fidget spinner. At the end of the day, though, the client needs to know how to use what they are taking delivery of in the first place.

It sounds awful. However, I’d estimate that at least 80% of people I work with on Fiverr aren’t going to get any benefit out of what they order from me. The biggest problem usually rests with the fact that they have bad overall business ideas. Either that or they simply aren’t up to taking any personal responsibility for the success of their venture.

My friends who work in web marketing tell me the horror stories of clients that want to be on the first page of Google but aren’t willing to do everything they need to do to make that happen.

This is true. I worked for a while for a top crypto news blog. They asked if I had any SEO suggestions for their site. There were lots of problems with it and I was reluctant to offer any advice. However, I did suggest they upgrade from HTTP to HTTPS. Some kind of disaster doing this saw them go down for a day and they never ordered from me again. With some people, it is, therefore, just better to keep a kind of professional distance.

Buyers on Fiverr order single services. (At least, for the most part.

Exactly! That’s why I’m skeptical about those who want to work on teams on Fiverr.

I’d estimate that at least 80% of people I work with on Fiverr aren’t going to get any benefit out of what they order from me.

There are many dreamers who need brand names, Facebook ads, articles, etc, and then there are the serious people that need all that, and can recognize quality when they see it. Of course, serious or not serious, each client is a gamble, and you never know who you’re dealing with until you deliver.

My job isn’t to tell people that their dreams will never be realized, that their business ideas are horrible. After all, I could be wrong, maybe they will succeed, and even if they don’t, it will be a great learning experience.

However, if someone messages me with something like this: “Help! I lost my job! I need to sell 200 t-shirts on Teespring to pay the rent,” I will tell him to look for another job, to find full-time income before betting everything on Teespring or some other platform.

Nice talking to you, glad we can agree on something. 😉

[lenasemenkova]

I’m not sure why TRS and PRO got lumped into one in this discussion. We don’t know if PRO got the email (I doubt they did). I’m aware that there are a few sellers who are both (in which case, mad kudos to you, seriously and without irony) but you’re considered an amateur if you’re “just” a TRS.

Prolific, professional, willing to go above and beyond and occasionally one of the faces of fiverr, but an amateur. There is a huge difference in presentation of who you are on and for the platform, advertising and selling features. So I find it odd that the expectations are presented in this heightened marketing speak of leading the charge and illuminating the way while as a TRS you still are just a seller. With sales draughts half of the forum doesn’t believe TRS even have, crazy people CS doesn’t do anything about and the rest of the fun stuff.

For the record, I’m confident in my abilities but I have my price range and my place (which isn’t PRO that is on ads that are all over the walls of Berlin right now) and while I’m willing to give the buyers the beauty and the magic of it all, there is a certain limit to my magic. I can only hope that fiverr understands that.

PS I appreciate the update, Frank. It definitely helped me with digesting that extremely ill-timed email.

[sidude]

I got the same message. Seems they are sending this to all top rated sellers and letting everyone know that they are not only relying on automated metrics.

[misscrystal]

I understand what Frank means about leading clients where they need to go. That’s what a good professional does when someone comes to them for help and doesn’t know what they need. It’s not always the case that a client needs to be led however but TRS should understand that it might be part of their job in some instances. I’m talking about making suggestions on what they should purchase and expect, and what is possible and what isn’t.

There are lots of times when it’s not appropriate to simply take directions, but offer more of an explanation of why it might be better to do things a certain way for best results.

This runs into the issue of offering extras after the client places an order much of the time, if they didn’t contact you before placing the order… So you need to be super good at communicating the reasons for offering extras, as well as be willing to go ahead with the base price even though it may be obvious they need extras.

[emeraldawnn]

Sorry, but not every seller is a saint and having a TRS badge shouldn’t elevate anyone above scrutiny. This seems to be what you are saying here.

TRS sellers can be demoted. Even before the current level system, they would be demoted over conduct or too many late deliveries, of course, it was done on a case by case basis, not done automatically by the system.

I have previously brought several sellers to the attention of CS who sell the likes of copyrighted video templates

Some sellers pay for those templates. They might have a subscription to the company that allows them unlimited use of said templates.

It’s good to know that the demotion process will be manual because there were too many “mitigating” factors that are not in sellers’ control to stop a demotion if it were just automated.

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

So basically people who I think were coasting are people who only paid attention to the 3 key metrics and offered sub-par service or deliveries.

Some gigs are a matter of opinion! A logo or whatever from a TRS seller, a level 2, level 1, level 0, PRO, can be excellent or horrible, it’s the buyer who makes that decision.

This is no different than the offline world. Advertising agencies sometimes lose their accounts, even accounts they have kept for 20-years might be lost because sales are down or the client isn’t happy and wants to try something new. Some clients change agencies just for fun. It’s not always the agencies’ fault. If you did everything your client told you and he’s not happy with your work, how can it be your fault?

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

Actually, the kicker is… I have never had a success manager! All TRS sellers supposedly get one, but I don’t have one.

And, I suspect the change in demotion and promotions for TRS is done for situations like your own. It was all automated and, perhaps, from this point on, it won’t be. Dunno… not sure! Just a thought!

[misscrystal]

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

Actually, the kicker is… I have never had a success manager! All TRS sellers supposedly get one, but I don’t have one.

And, I suspect the change in demotion and promotions for TRS is done for situations like your own. It was all automated and, perhaps, from this point on, it won’t be. Dunno… not sure! Just a thought!

I’ve never had a SM either.

As far as demoting TRS, it might be obvious in some cases that someone shouldn’t be one. I would think that it would be easy to tell from general feedback comments and ratings if clients were happy or not, as a consistent grumbling would indicate a demotion is needed.

Likewise, consistent praise, combined with outstanding uniqueness and excellence, would indicate that the seller deserves to be TRS.

[lenasemenkova]

I had a success manager at some point, we’ve spoken back when I was Level 2 because they wanted to ask me a few questions for an article for Fiverr blog. Now when I think about it, I got promoted to TRS right after I was interviewed. So maybe it was an interview for the TRS as well.

I was told to “reach out anytime” but I’ve never had a reason to and now I would probably but it’s been years and I have no idea if she’s even working for the company anymore.

[misscrystal]

I had a success manager at some point, we’ve spoken back when I was Level 2 because they wanted to ask me a few questions for an article for Fiverr blog. Now when I think about it, I got promoted to TRS right after I was interviewed. So maybe it was an interview for the TRS as well.

I was told to “reach out anytime” but I’ve never had a reason to and now I would probably but it’s been years and I have no idea if she’s even working for the company anymore.

You have such an excellent communication style. That might be part of the total package they are looking for in TRS.

[fastcopywriter]

Where did you hear that? I was TRS and got demoted. All my messages to CS were a waste of time. My Success Manager (each TRS seller gets one) did nothing for me. I hope you’re right, I would rather have Fiverr tell me, “OK, here’s the deal, either delete that gig or you’ll get demoted from TRS” and I would have gladly complied.

Actually, the kicker is… I have never had a success manager! All TRS sellers supposedly get one, but I don’t have one.

And, I suspect the change in demotion and promotions for TRS is done for situations like your own. It was all automated and, perhaps, from this point on, it won’t be. Dunno… not sure! Just a thought!

You didn’t miss much, my success manager didn’t do anything for me. Didn’t tell me how to make more money, what new gigs to create, what prices I should be charging, etc.

[misscrystal]

You didn’t miss much, my success manager didn’t do anything for me. Didn’t tell me how to make more money, what new gigs to create, what prices I should be charging, etc.

No one can tell you those things. That would make them responsible if those suggestions didn’t work out well. And it would make you more of an employee of theirs even though they weren’t getting compensated with money.

[emeraldawnn]

You didn’t miss much, my success manager didn’t do anything for me. Didn’t tell me how to make more money, what new gigs to create, what prices I should be charging, etc.

I’m more of the mind that I know what does and does not work for me. I really don’t need someone to say, “hey, this isn’t a really good gig.” If I feel a gig is not performing well, I know that it needs to either be deleted or discontinued until I find a gimmick that works for it. The only person that knows your business is you. They may suggest something, but the reality is, you and you alone are the sole person who knows what will and will not work.

[frank_d]

I’m not sure why TRS and PRO got lumped into one in this discussion. We don’t know if PRO got the email (I doubt they did). I’m aware that there are a few sellers who are both (in which case, mad kudos to you, seriously and without irony) but you’re considered an amateur if you’re “just” a TRS.

Prolific, professional, willing to go above and beyond and occasionally one of the faces of fiverr, but an amateur. There is a huge difference in presentation of who you are on and for the platform, advertising and selling features. So I find it odd that the expectations are presented in this heightened marketing speak of leading the charge and illuminating the way while as a TRS you still are just a seller. With sales draughts half of the forum doesn’t believe TRS even have, crazy people CS doesn’t do anything about and the rest of the fun stuff.

For the record, I’m confident in my abilities but I have my price range and my place (which isn’t PRO that is on ads that are all over the walls of Berlin right now) and while I’m willing to give the buyers the beauty and the magic of it all, there is a certain limit to my magic. I can only hope that fiverr understands that.

PS I appreciate the update, Frank. It definitely helped me with digesting that extremely ill-timed email.

I only mentioned Pro alongside TRS to make the point that those two levels are very similar in a sense.

Fiverr expects a lot from both levels.

That email was strictly for TRS, Pros did not receive that email.

I am both a Pro and TRS and so I can see what’s happening on the other side of the fence as well.

I don’t think that a TRS is “just a seller”. I truly believe that being a TRS means you actually do stand out and the expectations are higher. I am also faced with a huge slump in sales since late May, early June. Same as everyone. If it puts your mind at ease my SM said that the demotion metrics do not factor in volume of sales. So you can’t lose your TRS level just because there weren’t many sales for a month or more.

From your reply I see you feel kind of frustrated towards the Pro section of the website.

Seems like your main gripe is with the name itself though and not what it actually stands for.

Would you feel differently if they called it “Super sellers” or “Premium sellers”?

They obviously named it Pro because of the shift in target audience (they were now targeting large brands and agencies) and because they knew it was a major pain point up until then (people ranting on the internet about scammers on the platform)

I am not defending Fiverr, just to clarify. Nor do I think they did everything right.

They did make lots of senior sellers here feel neglected and cast aside by promoting this new thing, this Pro section. And by naming less than 1% of the sellers Pro, what does that say for everyone else?

I keep reading people mocking the name because they feel they were automatically labeled as “amateurs”.

I understand why you may feel that way. I sometimes look like I am defending Fiverr but rest assured I am not. I do think this whole Pro launch/expansion could have been done a lot differently.

End of OT. 🙂

[frank_d]

However, I think TRS and Pro sellers need to operate above that level.

That’s not my experience. When I was promoted to TRS, I wasn’t better than anyone else. I was simply getting a lot of orders, was never late, and had a lot of happy clients, and a few unhappy ones. I don’t know why my editors chose me, maybe it was easier to become TRS back then, maybe I got lucky.

As for PRO sellers, that’s way above TRS, those are chosen by Fiverr, they’re expected to be pro’s in the real world, not just Fiverr.

If you did everything your client told you, you are at fault: you should always take lead. Lead them to where they need to go. That’s why they hired you.

No I’m not. They hired me to perform a task, not to manipulate them, lead them, influence them, etc. That’s not just Fiverr, that’s the real world. Advertising agencies get a creative brief by the client, and they stick to the brief. They might present an additional idea just for fun, if the client is open minded, but 99% of the time, you stick to what the client wants even if he’s wrong.

My friends who work in web marketing tell me the horror stories of clients that want to be on the first page of Google but aren’t willing to do everything they need to do to make that happen. Or they tell me of awful products that won’t sell no matter what you do to sell them. I believe them, this idea that the customer is always right and the creators are always wrong is absurd.

OK, first of all let me apologize if it seemed like I was saying: “this is your fault”.

Let me take another shot at this.

That’s not my experience. When I was promoted to TRS, I wasn’t better than anyone else. I was simply getting a lot of orders, was never late, and had a lot of happy clients, and a few unhappy ones.

So basically you only focused on your key metrics, even though those were not a thing on our dashboard yet. OK I have a question: if you could go back, right before your demotion from TRS, knowing what you do now, would you have done anything differently?

They hired me to perform a task, not to manipulate them, lead them, influence them, etc.

I never said anything about manipulation, or being an interim CEO of their company or caring about whether or not their project will be a success.

What I meant was: lead the discussion.

If a buyer comes to you with a crappy brief, don’t take on that project.

Talk to them about their brief, propose a new scope, tell them when their budget won’t get them far.

Leading the conversation means you are ahead of your client, know where you want to go, and seek alignment with them early on to see if you want to work with them or not. And how you are going to do either.

Just by saying that you are someone who just performs tasks can be very limiting for you.

People come to you with a problem. Your service may be the solution.

My friends who work in web marketing tell me the horror stories of clients that want to be on the first page of Google but aren’t willing to do everything they need to do to make that happen. Or they tell me of awful products that won’t sell no matter what you do to sell them. I believe them, this idea that the customer is always right and the creators are always wrong is absurd.

I assure you none of your friends lead any discussions with their clients.

The customer is always right? I never said that, don’t believe it either.

[lenasemenkova]

I only mentioned Pro alongside TRS to make the point that those two levels are very similar in a sense.

Fiverr expects a lot from both levels.

That email was strictly for TRS, Pros did not receive that email.

I am both a Pro and TRS and so I can see what’s happening on the other side of the fence as well.

I don’t think that a TRS is “just a seller”. I truly believe that being a TRS means you actually do stand out and the expectations are higher. I am also faced with a huge slump in sales since late May, early June. Same as everyone. If it puts your mind at ease my SM said that the demotion metrics do not factor in volume of sales. So you can’t lose your TRS level just because there weren’t many sales for a month or more.

From your reply I see you feel kind of frustrated towards the Pro section of the website.

Seems like your main gripe is with the name itself though and not what it actually stands for.

Would you feel differently if they called it “Super sellers” or “Premium sellers”?

They obviously named it Pro because of the shift in target audience (they were now targeting large brands and agencies) and because they knew it was a major pain point up until then (people ranting on the internet about scammers on the platform)

I am not defending Fiverr, just to clarify. Nor do I think they did everything right.

They did make lots of senior sellers here feel neglected and cast aside by promoting this new thing, this Pro section. And by naming less than 1% of the sellers Pro, what does that say for everyone else?

I keep reading people mocking the name because they feel they were automatically labeled as “amateurs”.

I understand why you may feel that way. I sometimes look like I am defending Fiverr but rest assured I am not. I do think this whole Pro launch/expansion could have been done a lot differently.

End of OT. 🙂

I’m willing to bet that “pro” is not made accidental or interchangeable for a softer term to make me feel better 🙂 It’s a good sales point and while, admittedly, that divide rubbed me wrong when it was first introduced because it kinda drives the wedge between the professionals and the other people, I get why it’s there.

I’m against putting the two in the same category for the sake of discussion which I keep seeing happening. It’s a different experience. There are certain expectations (I would hope) that overlap but it’s a different experience.

Good for them for not punishing people for making less, though. Especially considering the crazy ups and downs that have been happening lately.

[lenasemenkova]

You have such an excellent communication style. That might be part of the total package they are looking for in TRS.

Thank you. 🙂 If Fiverr’s taught me something, it’s getting to the point immideatly.

[misscrystal]

Thank you. 🙂 If Fiverr’s taught me something, it’s getting to the point immideatly.

it’s getting to the point immideatly.

Like your artwork. It’s direct and attractive.

[catwriter]

I’m posting this here even though it’s not strictly for Top Rated Sellers, because it’s related to overall quality that is required of all sellers:

I’ve just noticed some changes/additions in the ToS (the latest update was this month):

"Gigs and/or users may be removed by Fiverr from the Site for violations to these Terms of Service, which may include (but are not limited to) the following violations and/or materials:

• Promoting Fiverr and/or Fiverr Gigs through activities that are prohibited by any laws, regulations, and/or third parties’ terms of service, as well as through any marketing activity that negatively affects our relationships with our users or partners."

This one probably covers, among other things, spamming other Fiverr sellers on Twitter and elsewhere.

" * Gigs are required to have an appropriate Gig image related to the service offered. An option to upload two additional Gig images are available to all Sellers. Sellers must deliver the same quality of service as shown on their Gig images. Recurring deliveries that don’t match the quality shown on the Gig images may lead to the Seller’s account losing Seller status or becoming permanently disabled."

I’m not completely sure if this is new or if I’ve just noticed it now, but either way, this could be a useful way to get rid of those who put beautiful gig images and deliver awful design.