Updated February 15, 2022
Here, you’ll find strategies and scripts for every conceivable customer interaction. They’re broken down into the 3 sections of the homework help process:
- Bid Placed
- In Progress
- Pending Approval
This guide is best used on a need basis as questions arise. Read end-to-end, you can message your student in any conceivable situation.
Bid Placed
Initial bid
Strategy
- Always use fair bid standards to bid on questions
- By doing so, you:
- Establish a working plan for answering the question.
- Prove you’re committed to helping the student.
- Gain leverage to charge an add-on fee if the student adds extra work.
Script
- I have reviewed [DESCRIBE THE QUESTION]. I’ll deliver the answer in [NAME THE FILE FORMAT YOU’LL SEND]. It will take [X DAYS / HOURS] for me to answer the question. I’ll send the answer in [X DAYS / HOURS] once the bid is confirmed. With your approval, I’ll start working on this in [X DAYS / HOURS]. If you choose my bid, you will always want to work with me for these kinds of questions. I will do whatever it takes to 100% deliver your answer on time and earn a 5-star rating from you.
Negotiation via chat
Strategy
- To set a price:
- Bear in mind the refund policy. If you are asking for more money, are you prepared to deliver a higher standard than the StudyGate guarantee?
- Do not lower your bid price by more than 20%. Why? It suggests the original price was artificially inflated. To establish a price, use this price calculator and fair bid standards.
- Are you going to charge add-on fees later? If so, be clear about it and explain why before charging in some detail so they could understand. Typically, add-on fees should not be charged unless the student adds extra work later on.
- Here is some general negotiation advice:
- Be honest about it if you couldn’t help the student with that specific topic. It will save you and the student unnecessary lost time.
- Students hate negotiating. Avoid it if at all possible unless the student brings it up.
- If you need to be available at a specific time, make sure you know what time that is in your local time zone.
Script
- If the student offers an unacceptable price:
- I’m sure you’ll get some cheap bids, but do you really want to risk this project on a tutor who isn’t the right fit?
- I’d be happy to work at this price, but it would take an extra [NAME TIME FRAME] to complete.
- If the student offers acceptable or partially acceptable price:
- Sounds good. I’ll update my bid so we can finalize.
- I can offer as low as [PRICE]. Let me know if that’s alright.
- If you want a better price:
- I could answer this question for [PRICE] in exchange for a [PERCENTAGE] grade guarantee.
Student shares contact information to pay off the site
Strategy
- Soliciting student payments off of StudyGate violates our terms of use and will result in a permanent account ban.
- StudyGate reserves the right to ban accounts that share or solicit contact information.
- If this happens, you can report it by submitting a ticket to the admin.
Script
- Sorry, I’d prefer to keep our communication on the site.
- It’s against site policy to share personal contact info.
- Please share your files using a Google Drive link.
Student asks you to work before payment
Strategy
- Unless you intend to complete a project for free, we recommend waiting until payment is complete to begin.
- It can be tempting to work for free to establish a relationship with the student, but students don’t always use valid payment methods.
- Established customers don’t ask tutors to work for free.
Script
- I’m sorry, it is against SG policy to work before the bid is confirmed.
- I can start on this immediately once you confirm my bid.
After bid is confirmed
Strategy
- Acknowledge confirmation and show gratitude.
- Do not wait for students to check in for status updates.
- Instead, routinely keep the student updated on your progress.
Script
- Thanks for confirming my bid. I plan to start on this [WHEN].
- Just to let you know that I completed [DETAIL]. I’ll keep you posted.
In Progress
Emojis
Strategy
- Should be used in any script to
- Lighten the mood 🐨
- Indicate the location of a hyperlink👆
- Encourage or sell to the student 💯
- Communicate excitement 🥳
- Use graphic emojis instead of typed emojis like this: : )
- Keep the skin tone neutral.
- StudyGate works with students and tutors from all over the world, and we prefer to be judged by our abilities.
Script
- Emoji library: 📙 Emojipedia — 😃 Home of Emoji Meanings 💁👌🎍😍
Cancel a question
Strategy
- Cancelling should be rare and unexpected.
- When cancelling, the goal is to save the relationship with the student.
Script
- Hi [NAME], I’m really sorry about this.
- I’ve got a personal emergency here and I can’t complete this question for you like I had planned.
- I’d rather cancel now than leave you hanging at the last minute. You should get a full refund to your SG wallet.
Files don’t share
Strategy
- StudyGate allows up to 10MB transfer of files in most formats.
- The admin is not online to transfer files 24/7.
- If you cannot transfer a specific file type, please create a ticket on your dashboard naming the file type so we can notify developers.
Script
- I can’t see the file you sent. Can you send to me via Google Drive?
- How can I make my Google Drive document public
- This link will explain how to share 👆
Complaint
Strategy
- The temptation of a complaining student is for them to add on extra work piece by piece as they find extra details to change.
- Our goal is to neutralize the complaint cycle.
- Lead the student to explicitly confirm any and all issues in list format, one time only.
Script
- I’m sorry you’re not happy with this experience so far.
- Screenshots help me see exactly what’s going on. Where is the problem happening?
- Got it. Based on what you’ve shared, we need to update
- [ITEM 1]
- [ITEM 2]
- [ITEM 3]
- Anything else I’ve missed?
- Awesome! I’ll get started on this.
Add-on fee
Strategy
- Add-on fees work best when the student adds extra requirements to the original question.
- Do not charge add-on fees if the requirement is unchanged.
Script
- Thanks for this extra information. It will help get a more detailed result.
- With this new info, answering your question will take an extra [HOURS] to complete. To complete it, the extra fee would be [PAYMENT AMOUNT].
- The good news is that I still can complete this by your original deadline.
- The good news is that it wouldn’t delay your answer by much time at all. I should be able to deliver by [DATE AND TIME].
- Let me know if that’s alright and I can send over the invoice.
Pending Approval
Mark as delivered
Strategy
- Instead of automatically marking the question as delivered, ask the student to review your answer when you finish.
- Then they can accept it via chat, and you can mark it complete so they would accept in the system right away. This avoids your waiting 14 days for the question to auto-complete.
- This helps avoid disputes.
- Best for communicative students.
Script
- Hi, here is your answer. Would you mind taking a look at it to let me know what you think?
- If you approve, I’ll mark it as delivered so you could leave a review.
Ask for a review
Strategy
- Best for non-communicative students.
- Best for short deadlines of less than 24 hours.
Script
- Thanks for choosing me to help with your homework!
- If you approve of my answer, would you mind writing a quick review about it?
- Your feedback helps me do my job better.
After positive review is received
Strategy
- Best practice is to demonstrate gratitude.
Script
- I just saw your review and wanted to say thanks a lot! If you have additional questions like this in the future, I’m here to help.
After negative review is received
Strategy
- Students have the power to edit their reviews of your work after the question is complete, so it pays to periodically check your reviews.
- We recommend digging deep to understand their complaint. What do they know about this job that you don’t?
- Don’t ask for help before you understand their complaint. Goal is to achieve consensus surrounding the problem before requesting review edit.
Script
- Hi, I noticed your review of my work.
- It seems like you don’t like [NAME THE ISSUE]. Have I got that right?
- Anything else I might have missed that made this turn out poorly?
- You obviously know what you’re talking about here, and I respect that. But negative reviews really hurt my reputation on SG.
- If you had time to edit your feedback, it would mean a lot to me.
Dispute
Strategy
- How we handle disputes
- Our internal standard is to resolve disputes within 24 hours.
- There are two possible options. The student wants:
- Correction
- Refund
- Either way, the goal is to maintain the relationship so they would give you another chance in the future.
Script
- Just saw your dispute. And I want to make this right.
- I’d be happy to fix this for you.
- How much time do we have?
Programming Dispute
Strategy
- Point out there are many reasons why this could happen, then start a live session to troubleshoot.
- Don’t charge extra to fix a technical problem.
Script
- Just saw your dispute. This could be a configuration issue, setup problem, or difference between versions of the coding language.
- To fix this, I’d like to start a video chat. This will help me see how the code is running on your end. Are you available to connect?
Offer a settlement / Submit a justification
Strategy
- It’s the tutor’s job to resolve the dispute. You are the service provider and your customer has a complaint.
- Establish consensus with the student before offering a settlement or justification.
- Describe what went wrong on the question and what was fixed. Then state your intentions for action in writing.
Script
- Here’s what happened:
- [ITEM 1]
- [ITEM 2, etc.]
- Here’s what was fixed:
- [ITEM 1]
- [ITEM 2, etc.]
- Per our discussion I’m going to [STATE YOUR INTENTIONS].
Conclusion
Congrats, you made it to the end! As you can see, we value concise communication that respects the student and stays on topic.
We will always obsess over the student experience, make sure we are almost always correct, and earn the trust of others._