Honest reviews and recommendations from real clients are one of the strongest things a freelancer can have. They tell a stranger, in someone else's words, that you deliver. This lesson covers how to earn and ask for them, how to handle mistakes, and how to look after client information.
Ask for reviews and recommendations
Clients who are happy often do not think to leave a review, so ask, at the right moment: just after you deliver work the client is pleased with. Make it easy:
- On a marketplace, politely remind the client that a review on the platform helps you.
- For local clients, ask if they would write two or three sentences you can share, or record a short voice note, and whether you may use their name and business name.
- Suggest what might help, such as what you did and how it was to work with you, but let them use their own words.
Always ask permission before you show a client's name or words publicly.
Never buy or fake reviews
Do not pay for reviews, write reviews for yourself, swap fake reviews with friends or ask family to pose as clients. Marketplaces detect and remove fake reviews and can close accounts for it. In a small community it is easily discovered, and once people know one review is fake, they doubt all of them. A small number of real reviews is worth far more.
Handle mistakes and complaints well
Everyone makes mistakes. What clients remember is how you handle them.
- Own it quickly. "You are right, I used the old price. I am sorry."