[Bad experience with a customer]

ok got it. But will that be public? It says so, but i cant find what i’ve just written

Yeah, when you view your gig and then scroll to the reviews on that gig.

You responded well.

[Bad experience with a customer]

isnt possible to answer to a review on one’s profile?

isnt possible to answer to a review on one’s profile?

Yes, you should have the option to reply to their review after it appears on your profile.

Be professional and simply explain the situation.

[Can i message my recent buyer?]

Each to their own - but I sometimes feel people on here are far too cautious.

If somebody contacts me about a price for a script and I reply, then I don’t hear anything back, then there’s nothing spammy or intrusive about trying to find out what is going on.

There’s a difference between a nice message and a quick ‘u wanna do this or not’ message.

In terms of regular customers, again, sending a message saying ‘How are you doing, I haven’t heard from you for a while, is everything ok?’ is absolutely fine - the recipient is easily able to ignore it - or more than likely, respond.

To each their own though. My advice on here is for people to be much less cautious about offending people.

I sometimes feel people on here are far too cautious

This is caused by Fiverr being the far too uncautious about banning people. There’s no real hesitation from what we hear at times.

I’d like to think that contacting previous clients in a professional way (as I’m sure you do) would be seen as perfectly legitimate etc but would I risk my account for it? No.

I was once told by a Fiverr account manager that there was no issue with me adding clients on LinkedIn and keeping in touch that way, that I could even initiate that contact with them. Have I done it? No, because customer support won’t care that my account manager said that to me a year and a half ago through a Skoipe voice call. Even if they gave me the chance to prove it, what’s the chances that person is still at Fiverr and remembers the conversation?

On balance, the risk/reward just isn’t worth it.

[Sellers are totally unprotected]

fastcopywriter Can you suggest any good alternative where the buyers flood i.e. a huge list of buyers, can be seen?

Can you suggest any good alternative where the buyers flood i.e. a huge list of buyers, can be seen?

en.wikipedia.org

Neverland

Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place, where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and other mythical creatures and beings live. Although not all people who come to Neverland cease to age, its best known resident famously refused to grow up. The term is often used as a metaphor for eternal childhood (and childishness), immortality, and escapism. The concept was first introduced as "the Never Never Land" in t...

[How to Promote gig in reddit?]

Every site hates people sharing Fiverr gig links - even Fiverrs own forum. It also doesn’t do anything positive for you.

[Sellers are totally unprotected]

Explain how that is different to almost any business anywhere?

lol… Can you walk into a shop, eat a snickers, and then say: I did not like it and I will not pay for it?

That’s it.

lol… Can you walk into a shop, eat a snickers, and then say: I did not like it and I will not pay for it?

That’s it.

You can try it - and if the store owner decides they can refund or say no. Same as Fiverr

[Sellers are totally unprotected]

If the buyer does not like something, then the seller has no mechanisms to protect their work.

Only two options:

1. Either the seller will receive payment, and then negative feedback.
2. Either the seller will not receive payment.

For a long time working as a freelancer, I ran into an orgus number of customers who do not know what they want, cannot clearly articulate their requirements, and are constantly dissatisfied with everything wihtout any reasons (without any constructive criticism).

• Either the seller will receive payment, and then negative feedback.
• Either the seller will not receive payment.

Explain how that is different to almost any business anywhere?

Any business can have a client who is unhappy. They might be unreasonable and demand a refund or leave a review about the company on one or more of the many thousands of review websites online.

These businesses can choose to refund and hope the client is happy then or they can take a negative review. Same as on Fiverr. It’s up to you to learn how to deal with customers, that’s freelancing.

[What are your most effective marketing methods?]

To answer the question, your first step will be to build a time machine to go back to a time when Yahoo Answers was relevant.

[The Art of Saying No Nicely]

Whoa! This is an interesting post, albeit a long one. I had to take breaks in between. You’ve hit a bunch of good points here. :ok_hand:t4:

There is a misconception among sellers that saying no is going to end up badly.

Nope! I don’t have a problem saying “NO”. Of course, I don’t blatantly so “no”. I use nicer words like unfortunately. “Unfortunately, I can’t do XYZ” project.

They think “the customer is always right” means that they have to do whatever they want. This is simply not true and is definitely not what Mr. Selfridge meant when he coined it.

I always cringe when people say this. I never bought into this tagline!

You come across as a professional. You know why some people always ask to see the manager? It’s because they want the person in authority, the decision maker. MAKE YOURSELF “THE MANAGER” by valuing yourself properly.

I’d go beyond that by making myself “THE CEO” by taking control of my ship. Managers are underrated and don’t get paid well.

I would literally earn more if I was a 16 year-old working in McDonalds.

I’m curious how did the person react to this line? 🔺

I’m curious how did the person react to this line? 🔺

He asked

so how much would be your price for this kind of work?

I gave my normal rate and he responded with:

ok please let me know total amount for the first package

and send me the gig and i ll pay

and that was it.

[The Art of Saying No Nicely]

I do like the way you handle those to a point, I just don’t think it is making you money

Well, since kicking the needy budget cretins aside who seem to have evolved to take other peoples time for granted, I’ve had my most successful freelance year to date. - And when I do wave off a $10-$20 buyer on Fiverr, its usually because I am opting to take on an order which requires zero client communication on what is now my main writing platform.

You’re playing the long game. - Be someones best buddy and they will hopefully keep on ordering long into the future.

I play the short, diversify everywhere and target the best and easiest revenue stream game. - Is there a $30 order I can take off-Fiverr today right now without any fiddling? If yes, that gets my priority. - Bye bye Mr. Be as Vague as Possible in my Fiverr inbox.

Meanwhile, my regulars on Fiverr (all of whom either messaged me with a full brief or ordered directly initially), keep on placing orders for more content without need of constant communication.

It flows, it works fine for me, and my way of doing things helps increase income whilst also severing reliance on Fiverr. (And it reduces the unholy amount of time which I still need to spend on Fiverr related admin).

In this case, please don’t worry about my personal finances. They are very, healthy thank you. 🙂

That’s all great, glad it works for you - my point was that it is not making you money from Fiverr clients. If you make more/better/easier elsewhere that is a separate thing and fair play for going for it.

You’re playing the long game. - Be someones best buddy and they will hopefully keep on ordering long into the future.

Eh, nope. It isn’t the long game and isn’t down to being buddy-buddy.

In this case, please don’t worry about my personal finances. They are very, healthy thank you. 🙂

Well - that is a load off my mind!

Jks, I wasn’t referring to your finances, just the fact that you confirmed - your approach is not making money from those Fiverr clients that I am referring to. My OP and comments here are more related to making money through Fiverr and from clients here but of course, there are other alternatives that might be better for some.

[The Art of Saying No Nicely]

Valuing yourself and respecting your own boundaries will actually make you better at what you do, as well as happier.

I fully agree.

It leads you to speak with customers from the same level, as an equal, as the person in control.

Sadly, my biggest gripe is not being able to set a fixed number of revisions or stop buyers hitting the revision button 1, 2, 5, 10 times just because they can. - Being able to do that gives them the power.

MAKE YOURSELF “THE MANAGER” by valuing yourself properly.

This is actually why I decline to work with most buyers. Everything you say is sound. It just can’t be practically applied to a system which can see buyers physically hit the revision button however many times they like, and get fully delivered orders canceled by CS on request.

From my own experience, saying no more and closing even potentially problem orders down at the message stage, has boosted my productivity and earnings considerably. This is perhaps not the kind of customer service Fiverr wants. However, as far as ongoing workflow and new orders go, limiting your services also makes them scarcer and increases demand. (At least in my opinion).

By modus operandi when faced with messages like:

BUYER

Hi i have a ton of work for you, but i would like to negotiate a little the price right now you are charging 1000 words / 15$, so every word is 0.015 i would like to be charged around 0.005 $ per word, please let me know if you can do it, here you can find the first set of package

Is to say a simple: “No, sorry.”

In cases where that buyer may then place an order, (and they often do) it is because they have found one or more sellers willing to take on their request. Sadly, they have had deliveries returned to them which are simply unusable. The next time I hear from them, they are, therefore, pleading for help rather than trying to make me beg for work.

I see this as my way of helping people learn for themselves that super cheap often also means super nasty. As a result, they grow as individuals, learn how to invest in their own business, and increase their chances of entrepreneurial success in the long-term.

(Though I am a wee bit evil in this regard.)

All that said, if I could set up a gig where buyers could only hit the revision button however many times I say they can and not have orders canceled unless I fail to deliver, I would likely bring my way of communicating with buyers more in line with yours. 🙂

Sadly, my biggest gripe is not being able to set a fixed number of revisions or stop buyers hitting the revision button 1, 2, 5, 10 times just because they can

Yep - this really irritates me. I want to offer zero revisions and I dont want clients to mistakenly think they are entitled to them. Unfortunately Fiverr seems unable or unwilling to allow me this “grace”. However, they need to really change their messages. Look at what shows up when a buyer goes to click “Accept”:

It is a wonder that anyone clicks Accept when they see this!

Why does it say this on a gig that doesn’t and never has offered revisions?

However, even if this situation is a bit more Sh#t Happens! than Get Sh#t Done, I think there are ways to handle it.

It just can’t be practically applied to a system which can see buyers physically hit the revision button however many times they like, and get fully delivered orders canceled by CS on request

I tend not to get the serial revision requesters but that is likely down to my categories. However, I do believe that if one firmly establishes their value initially that it is easier and more effective to refuse these. On the few occasions it has happened, I handled it in a similar way to handling someone asking for discounts.

As for CS cancellations - I haven’t had that happen so I dunno, it just seems extremely odd.

say a simple: “No, sorry.”

I do like the way you handle those to a point, I just don’t think it is making you money - although you are providing the world with a charitable service, namely educating people.

[The Art of Saying No Nicely]

We all get them:

• Buyer wants a discount
• Buyer wants a free sample
• Buyer wants more than he has paid for
• Buyer asks for a revision which is actually completely different to what was ordered
• Buyer wants to discuss something at length before/after an order
• Buyer wants to cancel after delivery

Very often, people on the forum complain about this type of buyer and label them as “bad buyers”.
However, that is not always the case and I would suggest that the number of actual “bad buyers” is significantly less than one might imagine based on the number of posts about them.

What I have found at every level and various price points is that these requests come from a place of not understanding, not realizing, not being aware of what they are doing. This might sound absurd but having experimented with various ways of handling these situations, the vast majority of such questions are actually manageable, if done in the right way.

Firstly, there will always be exceptions and some unreasonable people. However, if you seem to get more problematic buyers than others, then it is likely to be time to look at yourself and how you manage things. If you have ever worked in retail, you will be aware of just how odd the general public can be. If you haven’t, then you would be in for a shock.

So what do you do when you find yourself dealing with someone who acts like this?

• The simple solution is to “get rid of them”.
  Simply sending a negative reply will get rid of some, while others will have a pointless retort such as “this is terrible customer service”, “why are you even offering this then?” or “I found someone who will do it cheaper”.
• Or, you can address what they have said with a professional response

1. Thanks for your message, unfortunately I don’t do x, y, z but I can do a, b, c, would that work for you?
2. No I don’t offer discounts on my services as my prices are already lower than I charge anywhere else.
3. I would be happy to change the order for you and have included a custom extra below to cover the additional cost of making this change for you.
4. Sorry, but I don’t cancel after I have done the work. If there is something you would like changed then we can discuss the options for that.

• Or, you can just do what they want and then moan about it later, having spent 6 hours working on a $5 order
  Please don’t do this. It devalues you and everyone else on the site. More than that, it will actually demotivate you and cause your work and customer service to suffer for other clients. If you have 6 hours to spare, instead of working for less than $4, work on promoting yourself, learn how to use social media, blogging, and other promotion methods. This will be much more valuable to you than the “lost” $4.

Saying no to someone is not a bad thing.

There is a misconception among sellers that saying no is going to end up badly. They think “the customer is always right” means that they have to do whatever they want. This is simply not true and is definitely not what Mr. Selfridge meant when he coined it. Read the top 5 reasons why this phrase is wrong, or actually, why what people think it means is wrong.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that you should put yourself FIRST and the customer SECOND.
Now, that is not a slogan that any company will ever use publicly but if that is your mentality (and you have any kind of business sense) it will make you more successful and lead to better served and happier customers.

Valuing Yourself Properly

Valuing yourself and respecting your own boundaries will actually make you better at what you do, as well as happier. It leads you to speak with customers from the same level, as an equal, as the person in control. If you are good at what you do, this is extremely good for customers because you will not waste their time, you will price fairly and be happy to deal with that customer - all of which means they feel they have got a better service. You come across as a professional. You know why some people always ask to see the manager? It’s because they want the person in authority, the decision maker. MAKE YOURSELF “THE MANAGER” by valuing yourself properly.

Then, when you say no, the customer knows you mean it and take your word as being the final word. If it is about price, be clear about why the price can’t or has to change - eg. I had this conversation recently:

BUYER
Hi i have a ton of work for you, but i would like to negotiate a little the price right now you are charging 1000 words / 15$, so every word is 0.015 i would like to be charged around 0.005 $ per word, please let me know if you can do it, here you can find the first set of package

MY RESPONSE
How about this.
I will do a great job of translating but I would like to be paid around $1 per word!
Seriously though, why do you think I would cut my price down to $5 per 1000 words. I would literally earn more if I was a 16 year-old working in McDonalds.

Now, my response was friendly and clear as well as establishing the fact that I value myself correctly. It had a little humor, but was also quite straight to the point - what you are offering is not enough, period.
This has resulted in a series of projects with this client and will total 250k words by the end, all at my going rate with a small discount that I offered after the first 50,000 words.

If I had just said “No” to the client, that would have been the end of it.
If I had accepted that rate, I would be absolutely miserable working on this while having to send away higher paying clients. Moreover, the client is exceptionally happy with the work and the overall experience.

Now, this situation is just one of many similar cases where the initial contact with the client was what others would call negative. Some clients do not order with me because my price is higher than their budget - that’s ok. They go away disappointed because they cannot work with me - some even come back weeks or months later having saved up the required amount!

So there you have it, dealing with “bad buyers” is not so bad usually. How you handle them can dramatically change things for both of you. Try it out next time and see how it goes.
If you disagree or can take nothing else from this whole post, just go read the Valuing Yourself Properly section again.

[Official Thread • Our Cars / Motorbikes / Bicycles / Shoes / & Transport]

Looks fast. Sehr gut.

Looks fast

Nah, its kinda like having a BMW body with a Lada engine.

Nice, but let me show you one better

Some of us prefer to hide our Hobit feet, I know from other posts that you go by the “if you have it, flaunt it” mantra.

I’d foot the bill to buy you a pair of Jordans. 😂

On a shorty like me, those will look like knee-high boots!

[Official Thread • Our Cars / Motorbikes / Bicycles / Shoes / & Transport]

This is what gets me around at the moment.

[Official Thread • Our Cars / Motorbikes / Bicycles / Shoes / & Transport]

Nice car but your garden needs work.

[Custom Offer - how to stop the countless revisions?]

THANK YOU ALL for the enormous help. I’m saving this page’s text in a txt file so I’ll be able to refer to it for future trouble. It’s a lot of useful information. Hope this helps others I hope. Again, THANK YOU.

That’s what the forum is for!

[Custom Offer - how to stop the countless revisions?]

First message for a specific time period, or?

And can I put a blank gig, like some of the people do, like “Tip Jar” or something and redirect them there?

Thank you!

With any order, you can add a custom extra to the order at any time - that’s how you charge for additional revisions.

Didn’t see that. Will try to find it.

First message must be responded to within 24 hours - after that it doesnt count, even with a year between messages.

I use consultation gigs where people can ask me any question about a particular subject for $25.

Didn’t see that. Will try to find it.

Within an active order page, as part of the message box - you will see it there

[Custom Offer - how to stop the countless revisions?]

No, I don’t want to get that far. He just paid $50 so he probably expects me to write a whole book, so he could justify the money spent. I just need to find a way to offer a Custom Offer with the ability to pay for the revisions.

With any order, you can add a custom extra to the order at any time - that’s how you charge for additional revisions.

[Custom Offer - how to stop the countless revisions?]

OK, guys and gals, problems again. He completed the order and said “See, I marked as complete”. But now is continuing to ask me questions about other things, so I don’t get my response rate dropped, I basically stay and answer.

I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t really know how to proceed with him.

I already said something like: “Hello _________. I am happy to amend the changes to your order to make sure you are completely satisfied on this occasion. However, this is the last revision, as agreed upon when you placed your order. I will be happy to carry out a further ___ revisions for an extra $ __’.” how @rebekahgillian suggested, but he doesn’t care.

He: “Okay bro, super, but tell me more. Tomorrow you will tell me more, I marked as complete, you see?”

Response rate only counts for the first message - if you never respond again it will not affect your response rate.

When someone decides to continually ask questions, suggest that they order another gig.

Say something about the fact that you do not have time to answer endless questions (in a nice way)

[Custom Offer - how to stop the countless revisions?]

I think it is important to realize that many people don’t actually realize the big deal requesting a revision is. People see the button there and just click it because they have the option to. If you didn’t know better, you would probably do the same thing. This is why a professional and courteous response like @rebekahgillian has suggested is so effective. It is sensible and when people are told, they usually understand.
Remember too that there is a misconception out there that Fiverr sellers are desperate, will do anything for $5, really need the money and that the buyer can therefore keep asking for things. When you set them straight and come across professionally, this challenges all of the incorrect assumptions the buyer has and forces them to rethink.

I offer zero revisions on any gig but any time there is a reasonable request, I just do it.
If you offer revisions, it can be a good idea to define what a revision is in your delivery message. Do it in a nice way but make it clear what they can request. Color changes, font changes, etc are things that are usually acceptable revisions, asking you to change what they asked for originally is not a revision, it is a change of plan - that should cost extra.
Of course, how anyone runs their business is up to them- if you like a client for some reason, be free to do something free for them, it doesn’t mean you have to do it every time.

[Custom Offer - how to stop the countless revisions?]

Do the same as when you want to stop the drug dealer harassing you.

Just say no.

[Your favorite office/desk]

your handsome dogs

The thing is, Kaya isn’t even the pretty one - that honor goes to Juna (on the right)…

image.jpg605×661 116 KB

This photo shows Kaya in her more natural, “derpy” phase.

For a second I thought there was a third one at the top of the image…

It’s 3am here ok?

3am means 03.00 for those unfamiliar with the 12 hour clock

[Your favorite office/desk]

With a dog sitting in my lap, although it does make typing difficult. Kaya, what do you say? Dog puts paws on keyboard {JIO{N UHDH(PHDGU&DH D

I’m sorry, Paul. Kaya stole the spotlight. Cuter than you,too! 🤭

Cuter than you,too!

But it is close IMO

 

[Your favorite office/desk]

I am a big fan of hotel lobbies for working. Comfy couches, some but not too much background noise and usually decent coffee available.
Much better than doing it at a cafe where you tend to be surrounded by “writers” with Macbooks, wearing glasses they don’t need, ordering weird beverages (or worse, not ordering anything), trying to look busy but any time you stroll past them they have FB, Twitter, Insta or Reddit open - presumably researching of course :roll_eyes:.

[Questions For Buyers: What do you look for in sellers?]

Working with your perspective as a buyer (with respect to your 2nd post on the platform)

If you don’t mind me asking, that is. Even amidst the bumpy situation you faced with the new seller, does the fact they made an exceptional delivery TRUMP their inability to meet the stated deadlines (including the extensions requests asked for) and also whether it can guarantee return orders from you in the future?

It’s a good question. The thing is, this seller knew that I was not in a rush for this order. I told them at the beginning to choose how long to take. They had 2 extensions to that, they asked for 1 day and each time I said take 2 days! I really wasnt in a rush for this so it didnt affect me aside from the fact that I dislike people being unprofessional. If they had said 10 days in the beginning then everything would have been fine. Instead they said 4 and took 10…

I might use them for similar stuff as the price was good and the end delivery was good but if I have a deadline then no, I won’t use them again. I would actually have tipped more for this service if they had not messed around. As it was, I gave them $5 on a $25 order but if all had gone well, I would have tipped more, probably $25 as it was really cheap.

Remember though, I am not a typical buyer in that I tend to look at things from the seller’s point of view and I am rarely in a hurry for something. That is not normal.