**Viral Testimonials

Freelancer Side Experience

I'm really excited about this feature, but 10 days seems like a long time to wait. Is there any way my request can be expedited?

Thanks for reaching out about your testimonial submission -- we are happy to learn that you're finding value in this feature. Unfortunately, due to the high number of testimonials we receive, we cannot expedite your request. 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!

My client said they didn’t receive the email. How can I resend it?

Send the ticket to "Special Projects" as NEW with a touch response.

Can I edit a testimonial from a client? There’s an error.

Send the ticket to "Special Projects" as NEW with a touch response.

Why did my testimonial get rejected?

Thanks for your question. 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.

I see a new Testimonials section on my profile, what is it about?
Thanks for your question. We know many freelancers have worked with clients outside of Upwork and we want to give them an opportunity to showcase that on Upwork by getting testimonials from these clients.

My testimonial is not displayed on my profile/ When will my testimonial get approved?
Thanks for reaching out about our testimonial feature, which is currently being tested with select freelancers like you. While we are excited to share that the feature is proving to be very popular unfortunately we've received so many requests that it's taking us a while to review each one. As a result, please allow 10 business days for your request to be reviewed. We apologize for the delay, but please know we are still testing and optimizing this beta feature. Thanks!

My client doesn't have a LinkedIn account. Are clients required to have a LinkedIn account for their testimonials to get approved?
Yes, they need to have a LinkedIn profile.

How do I get access to this feature?
While this feature isn’t available at this stage to everyone, freelancers included in the test will see a new Testimonials section on their profile, under their “Work history and feedback“ section.

Is this available to agencies?
Thanks for your question. Yes, this feature is intended to be used by both individual freelancers and agency freelancers. At this stage of testing, only agency freelancers included in the test will see the option in the Testimonial section on their profile. We are planning to roll out this feature to all users soon.

I have privacy concerns with sharing my client’s LinkedIn profile/requested information with you. Can I submit a request while omitting this detail?
Unfortunately not, all fields need to be populated in order for a request to be submitted. Please note that any information you submit to Upwork is processed by Upwork in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Do these testimonials impact my Job Success Score?
No.

Can I request testimonials from past Upwork clients?
The Work History section of your profile reflects your experience with Upwork clients and the Testimonials section is intended to reflect your experience with clients outside of Upwork. That said, we are allowing testimonials from Upwork clients at this time.

How do you verify that a testimonial is legitimate?
Thanks for your question. 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.

Is there a limit to how many testimonial requests you can send?
Yes, there is a limit of 20.

Can I appeal a rejected testimonial?

Send the ticket to "Special Projects" as NEW with a touch response.

Can I delete a testimonial on my page/a testimonial request I send to a client?

Send the ticket to "Special Projects" as NEW with a touch response.

My client has a LinkedIn profile and so does their company. Which link should I submit to Upwork?

Thanks for your question. Please submit the link to your client's individual profile on LinkedIn – we cannot accept links to company profile pages. 

Is there a character limit on testimonials?

Thanks for your question. Yes, the testimonial from your client cannot exceed 800 characters (which averages about 160 English words).

Ask channel: viral_testimonial_cs

Handling Testimonials Approvals/Rejections:

Important: be sure to fill in the In Process tab while handling testimonials. This’ll help to track what is being completed as well as ensure more than 1 person isn’t processing a request at the same time.

Training Deck

Process Doc

CS Quick Review Guide

Use Cases Forwarded by CS/Community/Social:

CS agents may receive appeal requests, edit requests, & deletion requests from FLs. 

• These tickets will be sent to Special Projects by CS agents as “New” with a touch response
• The UIDs needed in the below scenarios can be found within the Identity section and displayed next to “UID” - these are the longer UIDs with a long run of numbers
• Link to access tool here

Testimonial rejected & FL wants to appeal:

1. Open Rejection tab in spreadsheet > fill in green columns
2. Click Filters > check off only “Rejected/Unapproved” > click Apply
3. Search with UID in search box > hit enter to search > click View to see the testimonial/rejection reason
4. Determine if it’s something that can be approved

a. If approving:

i. Click Revert Rejection to push it back to the submitted queue

ii. Go back to Filters > check off only “Submitted” > click Apply and the testimonial should now pop up under the Submitted column

iii. Approve it! See steps under “Handling Testimonials Approvals/Rejections”, if needed.

b. If not approving:

i. Use the created response below

5. Update proper line item in Rejection tab of spreadsheet filling in the orange section; the rejection reason, what action you took, & the date of the action

*There is no “undo” button for this, so be very careful to only do this if we’re 100% sure we want to revert.

Response for testimonial going into review: We don’t have a formal appeals process, but I will see if we can have your testimonial manually reviewed again. This may take some time, so your patience is appreciated. We’ll keep you updated.

Response if declined after review: Unfortunately, your testimonial was reviewed for a second time and it cannot be approved. We were not able to find sufficient evidence that the contact information is valid. You can try requesting another from a different client.

Some examples of when we may approve an appeal, but please know this list is not exclusive:

• Auto rejections (we have some auto-rejection logic in place that detects the same IP from client / freelancer). It is plausible that they are in the same office or area, so they can get a review.
• If the FL provides more evidence, especially if we rejected it based on a bad LinkedIn profile link. (FL might have copy and pasted it in wrong for example)

Edit requested by FL:

1. Open Edit Requests tab in spreadsheet > fill in green columns
2. Click Filters > check off only “Approved” > click Apply
3. Search with UID in search box > hit enter > click View to read them, if multiple shown
4. Find the specific testimonial FL is referring to based on info given
5. Make edits requested > click Save Changes > close out of popup box

a. The changes can be seen by going to the FL’s profile

6. Update proper line item in Edit Requests tab of spreadsheet filling in the orange section with the date it was completed

*This is live on their profile as soon as Save Changes is clicked.

Response if this isn’t a situation where an edit can be made: Thanks for your question. At this time you cannot edit a testimonial (we are planning to add that option later) but you can hide it from your profile. To hide it, select “OFF” under “Visibility.”

Examples of when we may edit a testimonial (list is not exclusive):

• Correcting the spelling of a name
• Typo/grammatical errors
• If FL’s last name/surname was added and they want it removed

FL requested to delete a testimonial:

We aim to only delete pending requests and recommend hiding approved requests. If a freelancer insists on deleting approved testimonial, consult or get an approval from a Team Lead before deleting.

1. Open Delete Requests tab in spreadsheet > fill in green columns
2. Click Filters > check off only “Pending” > click Apply
3. Search with UID in search box > hit enter to search > click View and be sure to find the specific one the FL is referring to, if there are more than one pending
4. Click the trash can icon > click Yes on popup box verifying if this is to be deleted
5. FL will then be able to resubmit to the CL, if they’d like

*There is no “undo” button for this, so be very careful to only do this if we’re 100% sure we want to delete.

Response if FL is looking to delete an approved testimonial: Thanks for your question. At this time you can hide it from your profile. To hide it, select “OFF” under “Visibility.”

Examples of when may request to delete a pending testimonial (list is not exclusive):

• The FL sent it over to the CL with an incorrect email address
• The FL may have simply changed their mind
• The FL didn’t include enough info and wants to delete to resubmit request

FL states CL never received email:

After resending, we can also suggest the FL suggests to the CL to search for the words “has requested a reference” in their inbox to see if it went to their spam folder.

1. Open Client did not get Email Requests tab in spreadsheet > fill in all columns
2. Open Maligun tool 
3. Input the CL’s email address under ‘Recipients’ and widen the dates, as needed (these will showcase all the emails sent to that email address during that time period)
4. Search for the email with subject line: (Freelancer Name) has requested a reference
5. Click the UID link for that email and click “Resend Email” on the bottom of that next screen

If you cannot find the email, two explanations:

1. Client is an Upwork user and is suspended - search the CL’s email in OBO to confirm. If so, this response can be used: Due to the status of the Upwork account associated with this email address the request cannot be resent at this time. You can try requesting a testimonial from a different client.
2. We may have an incorrect email address - request the FL double checks on the spelling with their CL and try to submit again