Do you have a Fiverr inbox full of messages that you haven’t responded to yet? It’s important to stay on top of your messages because responsiveness is a key factor in your success on Fiverr.
Understanding response time & response rate
Responsiveness refers to the tracking of a Fiverr seller’s response rate (what percentage of inbox messages you reply to within twenty-four hours) as well as your response time (how quickly you respond to a new request in your inbox). Replying within 24 hours is necessary for your response to be tracked. Response time is based on the last 60 days of a seller’s activity and tracks the amount of time it takes for a seller to respond when they receive an inbox message. Response time tracks all responses, not just the first message from the buyer.
Because inbox messages can quickly get out of control, learning to manage different types of inbox messages and situations is really important. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you are confronted with looming deadlines, work/life obligations, and an inbox full of messages, but it’s also manageable.
Tracking Response Rate helps quality sellers stand out and gives sellers a tool to understand their performance.
How does it work?
The Response Rate Indicator tracks a seller’s first response to a new request. While it is important to continue responding to buyers until a conversation has concluded, those later messages are not a factor in the overall Response Rate.
The Response Rate Indicator factors only the last 60 days of seller activity, so sellers always have the option of improving their performance over time and will not experience long-term consequences for poor Responsiveness.
While Response Rate is visible to sellers only, Response Time is visible to buyers.
Improving response time & rate
Responsiveness influences the traffic sellers receive, so sellers who want to grow their businesses should prioritize keeping a good response time and rate. Use the following tips and suggestions for responding quickly and effectively to some common issues:
Spam
Spam and solicitations do not require responses. You can report them to our team. Note: Spam must be reported within 24 hours. You have the option to "unmark as spam" if you would like to respond. If you do so, you must respond within 24 hours or it will affect your response rate.
“I’m just too busy to answer everybody”.
Sometimes you can’t take on a project right now, and that’s ok! It’s important to let the buyer know that so they can find somebody else, and not just leave them wondering. Using Fiverr’s Quick Response feature, you can have a quick template message ready to go and send it to anybody asking for work you can’t take on.
Quick Response is a tool that enables Fiverr sellers to efficiently respond to the kinds of messages that they receive over and over again by manually sending a pre-written template reply. Here’s a suggested template: Thanks so much for the request! I can’t take this request on right now, but please keep me in mind in the future. Best, {Your Name}
Buyer is asking for a free work sample
Just because a buyer asks for something doesn’t mean you have to provide it. The most important thing is just to respond to them politely and let them know you won’t be able to fulfill that request. Here’s a suggested template for responding to a request for free samples:
Dear Potential Buyer, thanks for reaching out. While I am delighted that you are interested in learning more about my product/service, please note that I do not provide samples. If you would like to view examples of my work, please check out my Gig portfolio or even purchase my Basic Gig if you'd like.
Buyer asks for something you can’t do
In addition to boosting your response rate, responding to a request that you can’t fulfill can actually help you grow your business. How? Well, you never know what that buyer might need in the future. Responding to them quickly and politely to thank them for their request but declining the work builds a rapport and shows that you care about your customers. This person might turn to you in the future when they have a project you can do.
“I’m away from my computer a lot.”
Download the Fiverr app. The Android and iOS apps will provide an immediate notification whenever a buyer response is sent to your inbox. Using the app is practical for sellers who are students or have full-time jobs that don’t involve sitting in front of the computer all day.
The key in all of these problems is that responding quickly (and politely!) is better than no response at all. Not only does it raise your responsiveness rate, an indicator that many buyers refer to before they choose a seller, but it builds your network and your business.
Learn more with Response rate and response time FAQs