Meeting Discussion Follow-Up (Founder)

[levinewman]

For those interested in my meeting with Mr. Kaufman, many things were addressed over the hour. I wanted to highlight a few things I mentioned to him and his team and a few things they discussed in return. First and foremost, I talked about legitimacy, communication, and sustainability in regard to buyers, sellers, and Fiverr itself. I also used the thread that had ideas to add to the discussion, so please know that I did, in fact, present your thoughts and feelings along with my own.

Some of these things included:

1. The current PRO-roll-out and the impact it's had on newly promoted sellers and existing PROs alike. The confusion it has had on how it's being implemented, how it affects existing PROs, and the legitimacy of being a "PRO" as a whole versus a "PRO" in an individual gig. 
2. The "hidden review system" and its legitimacy and effectiveness as it pertains to sellers. Good News! They've taken a lot of the thoughts and feelings about it and will be implementing new/better changes by the end of this year. 
3. The need to use the Verify system for new sellers, create a potential "paywall" for these new sellers, and to create legitimacy to deter spam/fake/detrimental accounts. 
4. The potential for adding a "paywall" for buyers using the Buyer Request feature. 
5. Poor communication between Fiverr and sellers and how it leads to negative experiences for buyers. And by extension, how the forums are an entry point for many buyers and sellers and the negativity surrounding a lack of communication creates poor behavior by people who should be leading by example. 
6. Separating experience between sellers while still establishing unique differences between each level that go beyond pricing structure.
7. Creating hard-and-fast standards that everyone can see and reach for in regard to becoming a Top Rated or Pro seller and how to determine the legitimacy of each individual gig/service.
8. The adoption of AI versus embracing the capabilities and offerings of real creators. Finding the right balance while making people the focus.
9. Creating confidence for sellers by improving communications efforts, creating concrete standards, and finding ways to legitimize efforts through measurable data. 

While we talked about quite a lot, this was just a quick list of things I wanted to share with everyone, because it's important there is transparency in communication. And while I don't work for Fiverr and there's a lot of volatility here on the forums, sharing this information is still the right course of action. We all want to succeed and to do that we need to be clear and concise with our efforts and in the ways that we support Fiverr--and in the ways they can support us.

This was by no means a complete list and I'm not advocating that they will implement everything we talked about. I'm simply relaying that this is what was talked about at the very highest level, so our voice is being heard where it matters most. We can only hope to maintain those lines of communication and create a better path forward together.

As always, please feel free to leave me your feedback and please try to keep an open, positive mind. I will be sending them more information and staying in contact as per their request, so your ideas, thoughts, feelings, and suggestions are always welcome.

 

@frank_d @smashradio @donnovan86 @tatjanamitevska @bethanyvo @uk1000 @nickkold @dylesto @vickiespencer @danno1950

(Tried tagging Vickieto but doesn't show up! Unofficially tagging you)

[donnovan86]

@vickieito Levi wanted to tag you, I will tag you for him.

As for @levinewman, thank you for sharing these and I hope they will be heard. I am a bit scared learning that they will change private feedback AGAIN. But hopefully it leads to more transparency. Right now the best way to know your BSR is to assess your inbox, because a low BSR means no people are contacting you.

Well, I wish they will consider our ideas and improve the platform while improving communication with sellers. 

[levinewman]

9 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

I am a bit scared learning that they will change private feedback AGAIN. But hopefully it leads to more transparency.

I don't want to speak for anyone or promise anything, but I will say the vibe and response I got within the meeting was definitely something I would consider extremely positive when it comes to seller success and the feedback system. 

[donnovan86]

That's what matters. Hopefully we get to see some GOOD changes soon, because the ones made during the first semester of 2023 brought quite a lot of issues for sellers. Hoping for the best, as always. Thanks for sharing these with management, Levi. At least they heard some of our issues/challenges. 

[moikchap]

27 minutes ago, levinewman said:

vibe and response

What was the Vibe And Response to the various paywall suggestions? From what I understand, those things would be disruptive two of the company's core strategies (Expand the service catalog, Expand the geographic footprint). It would be odd to me if they actually consider it

[levinewman]

3 minutes ago, moikchap said:

What was the Vibe And Response to the various paywall suggestions? From what I understand, those things would be disruptive two of the company's core strategies (Expand the service catalog, Expand the geographic footprint). It would be odd to me if they actually consider it

Again, I won't express everything explicitly so as to not lead anyone on or misrepresent their intentions, but I felt like it was given consideration in patient thought and not brushed away. That's my own personal opinion and not reflective of their beliefs or desires. The conversation was about building legitimacy and alleviating other problems. 

[terrygrantvo]

So what did they have to say about all that? It's a nice list of things to be discussed, but did they actually have answers or was this just suppose to be one of those 'tell us your thoughts and we'll get back to ya' sort of meetings?

[levinewman]

9 minutes ago, terrygrantvo said:

So what did they have to say about all that? It's a nice list of things to be discussed, but did they actually have answers or was this just suppose to be one of those 'tell us your thoughts and we'll get back to ya' sort of meetings?

I hear what you're saying. I guess it's a bit of both. They definitely had some answers and they also had some let's follow up and see how this progresses. I think it would be shortsighted to expect them to just make immediate changes or have immediate answers based on real-time feedback because there are a lot of moving parts. I also want to make sure I'm not expressing what those answers are/were in detail because with all honesty they're not my answers "to give" and I don't want to put words or perceptions out there that aren't expressively provided and/or approved by them. I will say with 100% certainty they were listening, responsive, and receptive and I didn't feel as if my/our thoughts were being brushed aside. 

I know that's a political answer, but I believe it's the right answer.

[grayprogrammerz]

are there any plan about upgrading the website ?

technology looks to be old, like of 2010, it isn't enhanced, like competitors did:

- inbox works like email chat

- buyers don't have voice messages

- no search option in inbox

- slow chat, incorrect message sequences sometimes, can't notification many times...

note that saving every second, saves time = earn more money in less time

 

2 hours ago, levinewman said:

4. The potential for adding a "paywall" for buyers using the Buyer Request feature. 

You mean buyers will be charged for brief ? Is that fair ? I mean buyers already paying 25%+.

May be it should be done for sellers instead, like upwork does (you pay coins while bidding). May be that help for 3rd point (to prevent spammer sellers).

or may be anti bot mechanism, like some buyers does "If you understood all requirement, write "jumbo" at start of offer"... and here can does itself...

 

between, thanks a lot for being our voice

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by grayprogrammerz

[levinewman]

1 minute ago, grayprogrammerz said:

are there any plan about upgrading the website ?

You mean buyers will be charged for brief ? Is that fair ? I mean buyers already paying 25%+.

 

I honestly did not discuss the site but I'll make a note about functionality for sure. 

And in terms of the buyer "paywall," it was only mentioned for those specifically posting jobs available. The "buy-in", as it were, is to lead to more jobs/gigs being awarded to sellers and less spam or wasted connections. The idea is to build early investment in actually hiring someone. The pitch was that this buy-in would then be transferred to the order itself when it's created, so it's not actually wasted or taken without regard.

[vickieito]

On 7/12/2023 at 6:40 AM, levinewman said:

For those interested in my meeting with Mr. Kaufman, many things were addressed over the hour. I wanted to highlight a few things I mentioned to him and his team and a few things they discussed in return. First and foremost, I talked about legitimacy, communication, and sustainability in regard to buyers, sellers, and Fiverr itself. I also used the thread that had ideas to add to the discussion, so please know that I did, in fact, present your thoughts and feelings along with my own.

Hi @levinewman! I'm happy to hear that you were able to cover so many of our concerns and topics during your meeting!

On 7/12/2023 at 6:40 AM, levinewman said:

this is what was talked about at the very highest level, so our voice is being heard where it matters most. We can only hope to maintain those lines of communication and create a better path forward together.

Thank you for reaching out to our forum community and helping us to get our voices heard! There are so many changes that Fiverr is rolling out right now, so I'm curious to see how our comments will affect all of these changes in the coming months.