Clients - What are they told about the importance of leaving feedback?

[wlyonsatl]

Preston,

You are the most frequent poster here who is both an active client and an active freelancer.

In regards to the importance of feedback for freelancers, what guidance or instructions does Upwork provide to clients when they are presented with the form for providing feedback on a completed project?

Thanks in advance.

[versailles]

Since we wait for Preston to chime in, as far as I remember, the screen looks identical to the one you are presented with from the FL side when you leave your feedback to the client.

[prestonhunter]

Rene is right.

It looks pretty much the same whether you're a freelancer or client.

I don't recall seeing any "guidance" about the importance or relevance of feedback.

Maybe there is a plain-text sentence there. Nothing that stands out, as far as I recall.

[feed_my_eyes]

I think that everybody understands what feedback is for, so I'm not sure what sort of "guidance" you have in mind, Will. I would strongly disagree with any attempt by Upwork to pester my clients in any way.

[wlyonsatl]

Christine,

I don't think many people would say "informing" and "pestering" are anywhere close to being the same thing.

[petra_r]

---

Christine A wrote:

I think that everybody understands what feedback is for, so I'm not sure what sort of "guidance" you have in mind, Will. I would strongly disagree with any attempt by Upwork to pester my clients in any way.

---

I took it as something along the lines of "Please bear in mind that your feedback, private and public, will affect the freelancer's metrics and ..."

... which would lead to many clients not leaving honest feedback because they'd feel pressured or emotionally manipulated into leaving only perfect feedback. 

I'd be vehemently opposed to anything like that.

Like Christine said, everyone knows how feedback works. There are places that are far stricter than Upwork.

Ebay, for example, considers sellers who have a DSR (their private feedback and equivalent of the JSS) of less than 4.7 out of 5 as "below standard" and starts restricting their activities... - That's the equivalent of a 94% JSS.

[wlyonsatl]

"...everyone knows how feedback works..." ?

Judging from the daily deluge of freelancer concerns about the JSS system and neverending requests to understand exactly how client feedback affects each freelancer's JSS, it's really pretty silly to claim that "...everyone know how feedback works."

If so many freelancers, who bear the brunt of the JSS and client feedback, don't understand how it works, the likelihood that clients are well-informed about is zero.

If a person is not capable of discussing a subject with someone in a way that is not confrontational or pestering, they are unlikely to have the other social skills needed to be a successful freelancer. (Yes, there are exceptions for everyone who thinks they're above average in every way.)

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Will L wrote:

"...everyone knows how feedback works..." ?

Judging from the daily deluge of freelancer concerns about the JSS system and neverending requests to understand exactly how client feedback affects each freelancer's JSS, it's really pretty silly to claim that "...everyone know how feedback works."

---

I don't follow this argument. If Upwork doesn't want to explain to freelancers exactly how the JSS is calculated, then they're not going to explain it to clients, either.

When I said that "everyone knows how feedback works," I meant that people get asked for feedback all the time, and they know that others will read their reviews and decide whether or not to engage with that business or individual, based on what they say. This isn't a new concept. I don't see how Upwork saying something like "Feedback is important!" will change client behaviour. But you still haven't explained exactly what you think that Upwork should be telling clients?

[colettelewis]

As I understand it, when a client closes a contract he or she is obliged to leave feedback in order to close the contract. Petra please correct this if I am wrong. My point being (if I am right) that certain obligations are laid upon the client. 

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Nichola L wrote:

As I understand it, when a client closes a contract he or she is obliged to leave feedback in order to close the contract. Petra please correct this if I am wrong. My point being (if I am right) that certain obligations are laid upon the client. 

---

That's my understanding as well. I think that in many cases, clients avoid closing contracts because they don't want to leave feedback, for example if they have nothing nice to say but don't want to be "mean", or they're just sick of being asked for feedback multiple times a day from every company that they deal with (I certainly am). I don't think it's because they're uninformed.

[researchediting]

---

Will L wrote:

"...everyone knows how feedback works..." ?

Judging from the daily deluge of freelancer concerns about the JSS system and neverending requests to understand exactly how client feedback affects each freelancer's JSS, it's really pretty silly to claim that "...everyone know how feedback works."

If so many freelancers, who bear the brunt of the JSS and client feedback, don't understand how it works, the likelihood that clients are well-informed about is zero.

---

Ah. You take freelancers' JSS complaints at face value. Well, then. No wonder you speak of its "brunt" rather than its effect.

And you imagine that a request for clients' honest assessment of a freelancer's performance would be enhanced by introducing factors that have not been derived from the actual performance—that extraneous information would improve the honesty and accuracy of that assessment? Personally, I'm pretty happy with clients having zero knowledge about JSS.

Upwork corporate determines what we know about JSS: they tell us things that they expect to influence our behavior in a profitable way—for them and for us—and they withhold information about mechanisms that they do not want to influence our behavior. It is intentionally black-boxed for all parties. Most if not all replies from moderators about JSS are repetitions of what they have been told to say or are allowed to say about it. 

If you want a peek behind the curtain: Most insights offered by freelancers about JSS are based on a reasonable inference that it is based on the Net Promoter Score metric for customer satisfaction. You could share whatever information you like about what we think we know about JSS with your clients. I'd rather focus on delivering the contract goods.

[petra_r]

---

Douglas Michael M wrote:

---

You could share whatever information you like about what we think we know about JSS with your clients. I'd rather focus on delivering the contract goods.

---

... which generally (!) results in the JSS taking care of itself.

---

[wlyonsatl]

Thanks for the information, Preston.