Completing jobs and receiving reviews

After you've completed a job and received payment, you should mark it as completed in your Partner Dashboard. This notifies the merchant that you want to close the job, and gives them a chance either to approve your request or to decline if there's still work that's required. Once the merchant approves the completion request, they will be asked to leave a review.

By marking your jobs completed, you make it easier to track your success in the Shopify Experts Marketplace, and build trust with the merchants that you work with. You'll also help improve the marketplace's matching algorithm so that it can better identify successful relationships and improve future matching. This helps us match you with the best merchants for you to have successful working relationships with.

You can also receive reviews for jobs completed outside of the Experts Marketplace. These reviews help to capture the work that you do across the Shopify platform and communicate your skills to merchants.

If you complete work on an accepted proposal, then you can't mark it as complete on the Jobs page. You can manually request a review from the merchant. An accepted proposal is work that wasn't linked to a specific Shopify store when the proposal was accepted.

Complete a job

1. Log into your Partner Dashboard.
2. Click Jobs, then click the job that you want to mark as completed.
3. On the job's page, click Complete job.
4. Optional: Enter a message to the merchant.
5. On the Send job completion request dialog, click Send request.

The merchant then receives a notification in their Shopify admin, where they can approve or decline the completion request.

After the merchant has approved the request to mark the job as complete, they can leave a review relating to your quality of communication and quality of work. Once the review is completed it will show up in your reviews tab in the Partner Dashboard, where you view and reply to reviews.

Receiving reviews from jobs completed outside of the Shopify Experts Marketplace

To help capture the work that you do across the Shopify platform, you can also collect reviews for jobs that you complete outside of the Shopify Experts Marketplace.

Requesting reviews for development store transfers

If you have a published Experts Marketplace profile, when you transfer a development store, you can manually request a review from the merchant. When you create a review request, Shopify generates a link that can only be used by the merchant who owns the store. You can email this link to the merchant, or share it using any other channel you prefer. You can only request one review at a time from each merchant.

Steps:

1. Log into your Partner Dashboard.
2. Go to Stores, then click the store that you transferred to the merchant.
3. Click Request a review.
4. Copy the review request link and send it to the merchant.

Manually requesting job reviews

If you completed a job for a merchant outside of the Experts Marketplace, or you completed work on an accepted proposal, then you can manually request a review from the merchant. When you create a review request, Shopify generates a link that can be used only by the merchant you specify. You can email this link to the merchant, or share it using any other channel you prefer. You can request only one review at a time from each merchant.

Steps:

1. Log into your Partner Dashboard.
2. Go to Services > Reviews.
3. Click Request review.
4. Enter the merchant and project details, then click Next.
5. Review the request, then click Create review request.
6. Copy the review request link and send it to the merchant.

The review request appears on the Services > Reviews page under the Pending tab. After the merchant completes the review, the request will appear under the Completed tab, and the review will appear on your Shopify Experts profile.

Replying to reviews

Replying to reviews can help you maintain or improve your relationships with merchants. Replying to reviews can also show potential merchants how active and engaged you are. You can reply to reviews if you have an owner account or if you have an owner account with the Manage public listings permission. You can change an account's permissions from the Partner Dashboard.

Steps:

1. Log into your Partner Dashboard.
2. Go to Services > Reviews.
3. Click the review that you want to reply to, and then click Reply to review.
4. Enter your reply, then click Submit reply.

When you reply to a review, the merchant who left the review is notified. Although you can reply to every review, consider replying to reviews that have the lowest ratings, or that mention an issue the merchant has experienced. Prompt replies can help engage the merchant in a meaningful conversation.

Ideally, your response should address the merchant's review in a clear and concise way. If possible, you should personalize your response to the merchant.

Responding to a positive review

Online reviews are an important aspect of marketing your business. Responding to positive reviews can help build your brand identity and reputation.

• Thank the merchant for the review.
• Be specific so that the merchant knows your reply is from a real person and isn't a templated response. For example, you can quote something the merchant said in their review.
• Use your response for marketing. Include your business name and keywords to help your online ranking.
• Create a call to action in your response. For example, you can say “Next time you need anything, let us know” or “If you know anyone else looking for help, pass them along.”
• Share positive reviews with your online followers to show merchants that your company is doing great work.

Responding to a negative review

Negative reviews happen for different reasons, such as events outside your control or a mismatch of expectations. Replying to a negative review shows merchants that you aren't a neglectful company and are being proactive about feedback.

• Thank the merchant for providing feedback. Show that your organization appreciates and values the feedback.
• Show empathy and apologize for the negative experience. Make sure that your response is authentic and acknowledges the merchant's concerns even if you believe they're wrong.
• Respond quickly and write short responses. Don't let prospective merchants think that you dismiss reviews.
• Be strategic. You can take responsibility for the negative review but also use it as a marketing opportunity. Reference positive experiences that previous merchants have said about your business. For example, you might say "Most of our merchants appreciate our attention to detail. I'm sorry that we were unable to meet your expectations for the job."
• Move the communication to another platform, such as email. Give the merchant a way to reach you to discuss or resolve the issue.
• Don't hurt your SEO. Avoid mentioning your business name or using keywords in your response.

Next steps

If you haven't done so already, then you can create an invoice and send it to the merchant.