Drop in orders and seller level

[mashas_studio]

That's for sure, but it's depressing when you see that no matter how good, nice, skilled or whatnot you are it will never be enough because someone doesn't know what they want.

[mrubaid820]

It happened to me once; my success score dropped from 9 to 8 and then 8 to 6 within a month. At that time, I was clueless about what was going wrong. So, I turned to this forum for answers and spent time reading to understand the issues.

I compared my strategies and communication approaches when my success score was 9 to how I interacted with new clients. I also analyzed clients with sufficient budgets versus those with lower budgets or who frequently requested discounts.

During the period when my success score dropped, I realized two key factors:

1. I wasn't communicating effectively.

2. Most clients I received had lower budgets, sought discounts, or purchased incorrect packages.

So, I made efforts to improve those aspects, and my success score started to stabilize.

Your success score has also dropped within a month, right? you can also analyze and identify areas for improvement. Reflect on your strategies and communication approaches, just like I did, and try to make necessary adjustments.

[breals]

@khan_abir  - You've been Reported.

If you can't say anything using your fluency in German, Dutch, Spanish or English, then don't say anything at all. 😀

Churning out ChatGPT content fools no one and ultimately makes you looks more foolish,  given your apparent grasp of 4 different European languages. 

 

[mashas_studio]

1 hour ago, mrubaid820 said:

Your success score has also dropped within a month, right?

There isn't really any difference in how I worked before, and how I work now, so basically ever since the success score was implemented what I had was static, no changes at all, and now all of the sudden it just keeps dropping. That's why I am confused, I had so many happy customers, many returning ones, yeah, there is always someone who isn't the nicest among them, but still those weren't many, yet no matter what I do it isn't enough.

[agonza1101]

When an order starts, do you guys communicate in the inbox chat or shift over to the order's chat? Here is why I am asking: my usual approach is to clarify everything with the client in the inbox chat, so by the time I send an offer, all the details are clear on both sides. Once the offer is accepted and the order starts, I typically use the order chat for updates, especially for lengthier projects. For quicker orders, though, if everything is already discussed and sorted in the inbox, I might skip further updates and just deliver within 24 hours, since it is straightforward. I am curious if the new system might interpret this as ineffective communication, even if everything is covered upfront

[mashas_studio]

43 minutes ago, agonza1101 said:

When an order starts, do you guys communicate in the inbox chat or shift over to the order's chat? Here is why I am asking: my usual approach is to clarify everything with the client in the inbox chat, so by the time I send an offer, all the details are clear on both sides. Once the offer is accepted and the order starts, I typically use the order chat for updates, especially for lengthier projects. For quicker orders, though, if everything is already discussed and sorted in the inbox, I might skip further updates and just deliver within 24 hours, since it is straightforward. I am curious if the new system might interpret this as ineffective communication, even if everything is covered upfront

I prefer to chat about the project before ordering and through inbox and then proceed with the order, but sometimes there are those that don't even contact seller and just go straight for the order.

[priyank_mod]

7 hours ago, mrubaid820 said:

How can we identify a buyer's nature to determine if they might leave a negative private review?

Key is to notice the red flags before they place the order. I mean, 90% of my orders even before RTO came in used to be through 'enquiry first---->custom order later' mode. Tone of conversation and choice of words usually help me identify red flags 99% of times (1% do manage to slip through the net like 1-2 buyers per year). 

[ch6k0r]

12 hours ago, mashas_studio said:

That's for sure, but it's depressing when you see that no matter how good, nice, skilled or whatnot you are it will never be enough because someone doesn't know what they want.

Yes it's demotivating and I think we can do nothing to change how buyers behave, some people like to have power and to use it.
In this case, we can only point out how the system gives them so much power by asking for a private review, make it count and heavily affect our stats by not considering any of our public reviews and tips while we fight in the dark trying to figure out what and when it went wrong.
As far as I can tell this is how the Client Satisfaction metric works now.

[mrubaid820]

12 hours ago, mashas_studio said:

all of the sudden it just keeps dropping. That's why I am confused,

Well, the same thing. Private reviews could be the reason for this then. But one positive thing I want to share with you is that the score decreased quickly; you can increase it just as quickly. Since all the bad data has come in just this one-month time period, that's why you can recover from this month's bad data quickly. ( As far as I think, but I'm not sure about it.)

[mrubaid820]

12 hours ago, agonza1101 said:

When an order starts, do you guys communicate in the inbox chat or shift over to the order's chat? Here is why I am asking: my usual approach is to clarify everything with the client in the inbox chat, so by the time I send an offer, all the details are clear on both sides. Once the offer is accepted and the order starts, I typically use the order chat for updates, especially for lengthier projects. For quicker orders, though, if everything is already discussed and sorted in the inbox, I might skip further updates and just deliver within 24 hours, since it is straightforward. I am curious if the new system might interpret this as ineffective communication, even if everything is covered upfront

Well, I figure everything out in the inbox. I get all the requirements I need to start an order. If someone messages me before placing an order, I communicate with them clearly. After that, I place the order and inform them in the order box about the further process, confirming that I have everything needed to work on the order. Then, I discuss details like when I'll send the first draft, etc.

[agonza1101]

For me, this is about all the key areas Fiverr emphasizes — areas that remain vague and lack clear, objective guidelines to help us make the most of this system

It seems the only metrics with a transparent impact on our scores are client feedback (private reviews) and order cancellations since these are straightforward "yes or no" factors: if you receive a negative private review or experience any cancellation, your score is likely to be affected. In that sense, it is "clear" (and let me stress the quotes around clear)

But what about everything else? Delivery time, communication, and comparisons with other freelancers within our niche?

[+] Delivery Time: Fiverr advises delivering early if possible, but what exactly qualifies as early? If I deliver five hours before the deadline, that feels early to me and should ideally count positively. But does Fiverr’s system see it that way? Or does it only value deliveries made a full 24 hours in advance?

[+] Communication: What does Fiverr consider "effective communication"? I believe I communicate effectively — my clients are satisfied, as shown through reviews and our chats. Yet, I still receive feedback suggesting room for improvement or even strong negative impact in effective communication and negative impact in client satisfaction for some of my gigs

[+] Comparison with Other Freelancers in Our Niche: Are we being measured against others who offer similar services based on the number of orders we handle monthly, our revenue, or our price range? Does the system assign us a score based on whether our services are priced higher or lower than others in our field?

These are all questions I do not have clear answers to, and without them, it is impossible to create a strategy for navigating this system. I am happy to work within a new system, as long as we all know how to make the best of it. But how are we supposed to build a marketing strategy to maximize our performance if we do not even understand how the system works? Other than trial and error — which feels pretty absurd on what is supposed to be a professional freelancing platform — I do not see any other way

[mashas_studio]

7 minutes ago, agonza1101 said:

Comparison with Other Freelancers in Our Niche

This part is the worst because I don't believe they take into consideration that some of the freelancers work as team, and some work alone. For example I do everything myself, and I can't even start to compete with someone who has 10 people working for them.

9 minutes ago, agonza1101 said:

effective communication

This part for me has always been strong positive, but it might be just how quickly you get back to the customer, do you give them update when to expect the delivery, etc...

38 minutes ago, mrubaid820 said:

Since all the bad data has come in just this one-month time period, that's why you can recover from this month's bad data quickly.

I hope this is right, but I am not quite sure, because this month was nothing out of ordinary from the previous one, or any before it.

7 hours ago, priyank_mod said:

Key is to notice the red flags before they place the order. I mean, 90% of my orders even before RTO came in used to be through 'enquiry first---->custom order later' mode. Tone of conversation and choice of words usually help me identify red flags 99% of times (1% do manage to slip through the net like 1-2 buyers per year). 

This is one good advice, even just basic manners in communication can show you what kind of person you're dealing with.

Yet, it's always that someone wiggle in there, I remember that once I've good 4 star review because customer believes that none of us are perfect and that only God deserves perfection... I mean, whatttttt.....

[mrubaid820]

7 hours ago, priyank_mod said:

Key is to notice the red flags before they place the order. I mean, 90% of my orders even before RTO came in used to be through 'enquiry first---->custom order later' mode. Tone of conversation and choice of words usually help me identify red flags 99% of times (1% do manage to slip through the net like 1-2 buyers per year). 

 

7 hours ago, priyank_mod said:

enquiry first---->custom order later' mode.

I completely agree with you, communicating before the order helps us understand the buyer's nature to some extent. In this regard, 'Seller Plus' or 'Premium Membership' can help us. I am now understanding why 'Top Rated Sellers' join the Seller Plus or Premium membership.