Client who would recommend never changes

mapes_patty · ‎07-25-2021

It took me a little while to figure out clients and Upwork but I am now Top Rated 100% JSS, etc. but my clients who would recommend has been at 75% probably for a year...(estimating). I had a couple clients who didn't close projects (they were expecting to add enhancements) but with Covid etc. I finally closed at that seemed to be what was being indicated by Upwork when they said they were removing a penalty for that. One of those clients had 3 different projects and never closed any. The first time asked me to close and they would leave feedback but alas they didn't.

Can anyone tell me how long recommend scores are counted, and any thing else I should understand about this?

I have been helping other people get going on Upwork and it bothers me (1) my low recommend % and (2) that I'm not fully versed but trying to get others involved.

All insights appreciated.

Thank you,

Patty **Edited for Community Guidelines**

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-25-2021

Your recommended score is basically your private feedback across your contracts.
It will not change until you get more contracts closed with client feedback.
It updates every few contracts and is dollar weighted.

mapes_patty · ‎07-25-2021

At the moment I have worked nearly exclusively for one client for the past year. Full-time, paid well, and obviously they are satisfied.

Quitting a contract to raise a stat doesn't seem like a good idea, as it is it appears to be detrimental to me.

colettelewis · ‎07-25-2021

Patricia M wrote:
At the moment I have worked nearly exclusively for one client for the past year. Full-time, paid well, and obviously they are satisfied.
Quitting a contract to raise a stat doesn't seem like a good idea, as it is it appears to be detrimental to me.

___________________________________

What counts is having an ongoing gig that pays well with a client that is happy with your work. I wouldn't worry about "the clients who would recommend you", stats. If you have time, you could try for a few smaller jobs, that could potentially raise the bar, but there is always the risk that they won't. You need only to worry about your JSS and keeping your TR status, which are unlikely to change, unless something goes pear-shaped with your current job.

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-25-2021

Nichola just said what I was about saying.

Also, on occasion, freelancers with very low JSS experiencing difficulty landing work as a result get advised to close out contracts.

This absolutely does not apply to you. With a 100% JSS and Top Rated Plus badge, the last thing you want to do is trouble a contract going smoothly because of a "fancy" Recommended score.

But,

I remain a firm believer in risk mitigation, and your exposure to that one client is very high.

So if you have the time, you can take on a few smaller contracts that you can complete with great feedback, to limit how much damage one client can do to your presently pristine JSS.

Cheers!

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

I take your point on risk mitigation though in this case I believe that I am good for the time being. I would rather focus on doing good work for this client and be willing to not overlook signs of change should they manifest.

Thank you,

Patty

2a05aa63 · ‎07-25-2021

I think it's broken. I closed a big contract with a new client few weeks ago and the number didn't change. Same before.

petra_r · ‎07-26-2021

Viacheslav K wrote:
I think it's broken. I closed a big contract with a new client few weeks ago and the number didn't change. Same before.

It doesn't update after every contract, it updates after every several (believed to be 5).

Also, depending on what it is, one contract may have no effect. The closer to 100% you are, the more outcomes it takes to make even 1% difference. That is simply the way percentages work.

It is also not Dollar weighed and over the entire lifetime of your profile (unlike the JSS).

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

That is very important info. I wish I would have had that information before I started with Upwork. I would have approached things differently.

I think that I will reform my recommendations to people who might want to start with Upwork that they need to be better informed about how they will be measured, before they start. Not that I have enough info to give someone.

I am a good earner and I have clients who regularly give me “bonus’s” when I do work for them, but I am stuck with a 75% recommend stat. Phooey on that.

Do you know if prospective clients see the “Client who recommend” stat?

Thank you for your help,

Patty

petra_r · ‎07-26-2021

Patricia M wrote:
Do you know if prospective clients see the “Client who recommend” stat?

Nobody other than you can see that. It's basically your "private JSS".

Patricia M wrote:
That is very important info. I wish I would have had that information before I started with Upwork. I would have approached things differently.

How? What would you approach differently?

Basically, when you take care of your (very carefully chosen) clients, then your JSS and the private feedback percentage takes care of itself.

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

Thanks for visibility info.

I would have approached a prospective client with more focus on what could go awry than what I could do to help the client.

I have learned to be more selective in the jobs that I take, and I weight a client's professionalism, experience and understanding of vocabulary (a big one) with a higher value.

Of course that can eliminate small businesses and non-profits who really need help so it is a mixed bag and I have violated my criteria occasionally.

Thank you,

Patty

tom_l · ‎07-26-2021

Hi Patricia,

I have been working on Upwork for over 10 years and have the 100% job.... score and still 75% as you do.

I have a few 1.5/5 reviews. It doesn't matter to me. The real clients don't care.

I could refund those negative ones but I want clients to see that I don't take bs.

Guess it is up to you.

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

Thomas,

That is very interesting. I guess this is all my Achilles heel. As a data person it is difficult to ignore such a stat!

Thank you,

Patty

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

I do understand how percentages work, but most things in Upwork (all I can think of offhand) are based on time fixed time, not lifetime, so that seems inconsistent to me and would have been valuable to know at the beginning.

I also think that dollar weighted would make this stat more meaningful since a client's dissatisfaction can sometimes be driven when their poor communications, not understanding vocabularly, etc. and I found that much more frequently with small contracts than larger ones. Lessons learned of course, but I would think more transparency for people new to the platform would be helpful to them.

Can you tell me if prospective client's can see this stat?

Thank you,

Patty

tlbp · ‎07-26-2021

Patricia M wrote:
I do understand how percentages work, but most things in Upwork (all I can think of offhand) are based on time fixed time, not lifetime, so that seems inconsistent to me and would have been valuable to know at the beginning.
I also think that dollar weighted would make this stat more meaningful since a client's dissatisfaction can sometimes be driven when their poor communications, not understanding vocabularly, etc. and I found that much more frequently with small contracts than larger ones. Lessons learned of course, but I would think more transparency for people new to the platform would be helpful to them.
Can you tell me if prospective client's can see this stat?
Thank you,
Patty

Clients don't see the stat. It contributes to your JSS as does having long-term clients. Most organizations do not release the full details of their algorithms because doing so provides scammers with a recipe book. Your JSS is 100%, right?

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

Tonya,

I totally get not releasing the fullness of an algorithms but a few hints like "Last 18 months, "Last five years" would have been helpful.

Yes my JSS is 100%.

Its the seeming discrepancy that nags, you know.

Thank you,

Patty

lysis10 · ‎07-26-2021

Be careful what you wish for. Last time I complained, mine dropped to 70.

Now I'm at 62% and I'm so proud of myself I got almost 40% of people to have a meltdown on me. 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Don't worry, one day you can get there. Just gotta get some ragefacers in your contracts. ❤️

richard_wein · ‎07-26-2021

Most of what's on the My Stats page is pretty useless. I hardly ever look at it any more. Sometimes I look just to see my last 12 months earnings.

And my "clients who would recommend" % never changes either. It's always been 100%.

petra_r · ‎07-26-2021

Richard W wrote:
And my "clients who would recommend" % never changes either. It's always been 100%.

You never had poor private feedback 🙂 That's good!

richard_wein · ‎07-26-2021

Petra R wrote:
Richard W wrote:
And my "clients who would recommend" % never changes either. It's always been 100%.
You never had poor private feedback 🙂 That's good!

I did once. But I perked it before it affected my "clients who would recommend" %.

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-26-2021

Actually, you can't perk that out of your Recommended score.
It remains there, but that particular outcome no longer factors into the JSS, Upwork tells us.
Probably your score actually indeed rounds out to 100%.

petra_r · ‎07-26-2021

Richard W wrote:
You never had poor private feedback 🙂 That's good!
I did once. But I perked it before it affected my "clients who would recommend" %.

Nope... You perked the wrong contract 😉 Or perked needlessly!

(The perk does not remove the impact of a contract on the private JSS)

Abinadab A wrote:
Probably your score actually indeed rounds out to 100%.

He only had 54 closed contracts with feedback. It could not average out at 100% if there was a poor outcome in there

richard_wein · ‎07-26-2021

Petra R wrote:
Richard W wrote:
You never had poor private feedback 🙂 That's good!
I did once. But I perked it before it affected my "clients who would recommend" %.
Nope... You perked the wrong contract 😉 Or perked needlessly!

(The perk does not remove the impact of a contract on the private JSS)

I definitely perked the right contract. It took my JSS back from 92 to 100. There must be another explanation.

ETA. Maybe the client's private feedback wasn't bad enough to count as a "wouldn't recommend". But I doubt that. I only had about 12-14 feedbacks at the time, so an 8% drop means that the contract counted zero (near enough) towards my score. (This was when all contracts were weighted equally.)

petra_r · ‎07-26-2021

Richard W wrote:
I definitely perked the right contract. It took my JSS back from 92 to 100. There must be another explanation.

Oh! Now THAT is very weird indeed!

lysis10 · ‎07-26-2021

Richard W wrote:
I did once. But I perked it before it affected my "clients who would recommend" %.

I'm so jealous of the freelancers who use the perk and the client rages on the client forum that the freelancer removed their feedback. I can't get in on the Availability badge and no client has ever done that to me. It's not fair. Everybody else gets all the good and fun stuff.

lysis10 · ‎07-26-2021

Richard W wrote:
Most of what's on the My Stats page is pretty useless. I hardly ever look at it any more. Sometimes I look just to see my last 12 months earnings.

And my "clients who would recommend" % never changes either. It's always been 100%.

Dat last 12 month revenue number is beautiful. I like to look at it and draw little hearts around it.

richard_wein · ‎07-26-2021

Jennifer M wrote:
Richard W wrote:
Most of what's on the My Stats page is pretty useless. I hardly ever look at it any more. Sometimes I look just to see my last 12 months earnings.

And my "clients who would recommend" % never changes either. It's always been 100%.
Dat last 12 month revenue number is beautiful. I like to look at it and draw little hearts around it.

I enjoyed looking at it when it was going up. But it's been heading down for the last 6 months, and now it's like my guilty conscience reminding me that I'm not working hard enough.

mapes_patty · ‎07-26-2021

Good job Jennifer!

You made me laugh. I will be careful!

Thank you,

Patty