Frequently Asked Questions on TOS changes regarding information sharing and interviews

[Aleksandar D]

Hi Carlos,

Please note that users are free to share files via Upwork Messages at any time. Documents can be added into Messages for sharing or you can use Upwork’s integration with Dropbox to share files. Your client can send a Dropbox link by clicking on the attachment icon in the Messages and selecting 'Share via Dropbox' as shown in this screenshot. If critical project information is stored in a system that requires an email address to access, you can share your email address for this purpose only. Remember all communications before a contract starts must take place on Upwork. Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

[Zachary H]

How do we schedule a day/time in advance with the recent policy changes to restrict pre-contract communications to only on Upwork. I’ve read there is a scheduling feature in messaging, but I’ve been unable to find it.

If a client want a calendar invite, how do we send that using Upwork and not our personal email?

[Petra R]

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Zachary H wrote:
I’ve read there is a scheduling feature in messaging, but I’ve been unable to find it.

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There isn't.

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Zachary H wrote:
How do we schedule a day/time in advance with the recent policy changes to restrict pre-contract communications to only on Upwork. 

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You just have to schedule the old-fashioned way. "Let's talk on Wednesday, How does 10 am your time sound?"

[Zachary H]

I understand that this is a possibility, given the client has the desire and means to schedule this themselves. Also given the restrictions this new policy puts in place, it’s not uncommon for someone to request the other to schedule time on the client’s calendar.

Many people who manage multiple employees, projects, and meetings have difficulty keeping track of who and what goes where.

Upwork has made this a restriction yet doesn’t provide the means to accomplish it using pretty regular criteria. When a client requests me to schedule a time on their calendar and I push back, it makes me come across as unwilling or just lazy.

This isn’t a difficult addition to make to an application, and therefore should be provided in order to avoid losing projects to freelancers willing to break the rule.

[Vladimir G]

Hi Zachary,

Thanks for reaching out. You are free to use a scheduling tool that does not require the sharing of contact information. You may also use Upwork Messages to discuss and set up an interview. Since we are constantly looking at ways to improve our site, we will pass your feedback on to our team.

[Md Mozibur Rahman M]

Can i share my Behance portfolio on Upwork?

[Goran V]

Hi Mozibur,

We know sharing your past work is important. Therefore, you can share links to external portfolios when you submit a proposal. Note: We understand external portfolios may include contact information, it is still fine to share these, though please make sure to ask the client to only contact you via Upwork. Thank you.

[Izaias A]

How are you guys dealing with the new Upwork ToS when talking and negotiating with potential clients?

I just had this awkward conversation with a prospect:

Just an example of an awkward and far from optimized conversation line.

Usually, I would just either share my Calendly link in my first message or access his, schedule a meeting, and then we would be good to go.

Then in the meeting it's easy to showcase my SEO knowledge and close the deal. 

From the invitations I get, I would normally jump into meetings in 20% of them, and then, I would close 50% of the clients who had a meeting with meeting.

This gave me a final conversion rate of 10%.

However, with the new Upwork ToS, the number of meetings I get is less than 5%.

Anyone else feeling the same thing? How are you dealing with this problem?


Cheers!
Zac Almeida

[Adam P]

For me I started using messenger exclusively precontract when we were originally asked to make these changes.

I wanted to have enough data before the June 26th TOS changes. Or just fully understand how to navigate the nuances of the new flow.

Early on, it was basically the same disastrous deal as before.  The app functionality and quality was rough and I was dealing with a lot of dropped calls and missed connections.

This has gotten MUCH better. 

So kudos to the team here.

I would still really LOVE to see the native app upgraded so we don't need to re-login to the mobile webbrowser version of the website in order to make a call via phone. 

I'm sure this is process is extremely difficult to consolidate, so no hate, but it's a laborious process for users, because you can't just stay logged in and answer a call.

This awkward flow inevidebly leads to high fail rates  for a client or freelancer initiating a call, because there's not enough time to go from App to login mobile web browser, to getting to right profile, to getting to right room, to allowing permission from the device, to accepting a call.

This video was probably peak frustration below...

Just answering the call through the app would significantly improve on the first touch. 

The stress that can arrise from the amount of steps that you need to complete for this seemingly simple action to take place, can definitely throw people off their game, which will also have an impact with closing.

But it's gotten a lot better since this so I remain optimistic. 

As far as the dialogue between my potential clients went, it wasn't that difficult to navigate them to use the platform to make the calls vs. the various forms they unsolicitely threw at me.

Some potentiall clients had issues, but to be honest, I don't think these were people that I wanted to work with anyway. 

Usually my dialogue goes / went as follows....

Potential Client:
"Can you call my cell? | Please schedule a call on my calend.ly! |  Here's a zoom link.... | My skype is xyz can you please connect with me there?"

Me: "Do you mind if we use this platform to make the call? Upwork is making some changes and they want to keep everything on the platform"

Potential Client: 90+% of the time:
"Sure no problem"

I actually am starting to like this new flow more, because I can juist get on a quick call, instead of the necessity to interconnect this POTENTIAL client with any of my more personal social networks.

Now side note, these are mostly invites, so they may want to get in touch with me more vs if I was bidding on the jobs.

Though if I were bidding on jobs, I think I would still prefer this method. My biggest issues early on were the fact that it wasn't working.  Now that I'm not really getting dropped calls, I dig how easy and logical this is. 

The other thing that's now rough for me is managing personal, agency, and multiple client accounts. The disjointedness of it is really diffifcult for me to know when new messages are appearing.

Hopefully they develop a way to aggregate all messages to one feed so you can automatically respond via the profile for that particular relationship -- So it's more like skype. 

All in all I like the direction and once these growing pains are worked out, I predict closing rates will significantly improve.

Now that everyone is using it, their development and debugging will make progress VERY quickly.

[Vladimir G]

Hi Adam,

I appreciate the detailed insight you provided! I'm glad to hear you've been able to use the Call feature without issues and that prospective clients are open to communicating via the platform.

Regarding conducting calls via the Upwork mobile app, while this option isn't available today I can confirm this update is on our immediate roadmap. Our team has been working hard to enable this feature in the Upwork mobile apps and I expect we'll share more information in the next couple of weeks.