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joshhutton
Community Member

Client Information before submitting a proposal

Is there any way to see details of a client before submitting a proposal? It's no good giving details afterwards so if it's not possible, Upwork should really add this feature. 

 

It's usful to be able to

a. find out a person's name before writting a covering letter

b. to find details about an organisation e.g. look at their website, facebook etc. 

 

Just makes writting covering letters and submitting proposals a lot easier. 

 

 

8 REPLIES 8
dataextract
Community Member

In order to bypass Upwork?

 

Many will start contacting them directly to avoid Upwork.

 

Both of your reasons are pointless. Sorry.

Well I suppose that's a fair point, but I disagree that my points are pointless. 

 

It's always better to address covering letters to the actual person that's going to read them plus I think if you're planing on working for someone it's usfeul to know what kind of company you're going to work for. Like any normal job applicaiton. 

 

I do however take your point about bypassing Upwork.

prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Is there any way to see details of a client before submitting a proposal? It's no good giving details afterwards so if it's not possible...

a. find out a person's name before writting a covering letter

b. to find details about an organisation e.g. look at their website, facebook etc."

 

Josh:

By design, Upwork intentionally does not provide this information. The other freelancers writing proposals for these jobs equally do not have this information. So you are at no disadvantage by not having this information.

 

re: "Upwork should really add this feature."

I can assure you that Upwork is not planning to add this feature. If this is an absolute requirement for you, then you are welcome to focus your efforts on platforms that provide this information.

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Josh,

 

Not having this information gives you something important to add to your proposal - questions you have about the company, why it needs your services, how you provided solutions on similar projects, etc.

 

This can be used to your advantage by saying in your proposal to the potential client what your skills are, as well as highlighting your expertise by asking the right questions before you are even hired in order to help them fully define their project - not all clients even know exactly what they want.

 

This doesn't apply across all types of projects done through Upwork, but, in general, letting the client know you are more interested in their project than in talking about yourself can work to your advantage.

Very useful, thanks Will. 

Will's advice is excellent.

 

Clients ARE NOT INTERESTED in you.

 

But clients are VERY INTERESTED in their own projects and companies.

 

When you ask a client about her project or company, you are asking them to discuss one of their favorite topics.

Thanks so much for this, Will.

I will incorporate this into my future proposals.

I didn't know this, ad I think it might be the reason I am unable to win jobs I bidded on.

Highly appreciated, Sir.

funkewoe
Community Member

Hi Josh,

 

From my experience, if you want to address the client by name in your proposal/cover letter, you can get the client's name from feedback left by other freelancers who have worked with the client. Not for every client though; but at least, for older clients who have worked with several freelancers, the chances of you getting the first name, last name or an alias is assured.

 

This is what I have observed and used when I first signed up as a freelancer 2years ago until I went dormant. 🙂

 

As said, before you submit your proposal, once you select/click on the particular job post, visit the client's recent history section, and go through (mindful of your time) the feedbacks and if you are lucky, you might just find the client's name or company name.

 

NB: Some client accounts are managed by 2 or more people hence, in the feedbacks you may see different names. If that's the case, I advice you go with your generic "Dear Sir/Madam" or "Hello".

 

Thank you.

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