Feature request / Enhancement: Allowing freelancers to ask clarification questions to clients

[grbutts]

Hello UpWork,

As an UpWork fan and avid user, I would find it (and I'm sure others as well) beneficial to be able to ask a client a clarification question or two before they submit a proposal. This actually mirrors the real-world, as companies that are responding to RFP's or RFQ's, are able to ask clarification or follow-up questions before submitting an official proposal or quote (which costs time and money of course). This may also help freelancers with their cost estimation, project management time-frame and overall skill match to a job. Just an idea, thanks!

[prestonhunter]

This has alredy been discussed extensively in dozens of threads.

What you propose is not going to happen.

Feel free to do a search using the "Subject" search box that appears at the top of each page in the Community Forum.

[florydev]

---

Guy B wrote:

Hello UpWork,

As an UpWork fan and avid user, I would find it (and I'm sure others as well) beneficial to be able to ask a client a clarification question or two before they submit a proposal. This actually mirrors the real-world, as companies that are responding to RFP's or RFQ's, are able to ask clarification or follow-up questions before submitting an official proposal or quote (which costs time and money of course). This may also help freelancers with their cost estimation, project management time-frame and overall skill match to a job. Just an idea, thanks!

---

I think that asking good questions is a great thing to do in the "cover letter" as it both shows the client you understand the project and let's them know what they may not understand about their project.  If you think of it like that then being able to ask a good question might make your proposal distinct.  So, even if we had this feature I would never ask a good question because that is giving away one method I might use to separate myself from the crowd.

This is why I, personally, wouldn't really use the feature you are proposing.  There are other sites that have this feature and I have heard reports on how it works out and it doesn't sound great.  Furthermore, although I can't say as definitively as Preston that they will never do it but I basically agree it is very unlikely.

Proposing on a project on UW is not analogous to responding to an RFP or even an RFQ at all in my mind.  The last RFP I did took me ten days to prepare.  The last job I won on Upwork took me less than ten minutes to write and it was 3 paragraphs and one of the things I said was that I will probably have a lot of questions in the future (and I have).

[tlsanders]

Just taking advantage of this thread to suggest one more time that Upwork create an "insufficient information" flag for job postings and then auto-email the client when it's been flagged X number of times saying the job has been flagged several times as lacking information and he/she will likely get better proposals if the job description is improved.

This gives freelancers a way to address job postings that don't allow for a targeted bid without providing them the client access that proved problematic on Elance, and would also serve as a very low-effort client training mechanism to improve the overall quality of postings.

[gilbert-phyllis]

---

Tiffany S wrote:

Just taking advantage of this thread to suggest one more time that Upwork create an "insufficient information" flag for job postings and then auto-email the client when it's been flagged X number of times saying the job has been flagged several times as lacking information and he/she will likely get better proposals if the job description is improved.

This gives freelancers a way to address job postings that don't allow for a targeted bid without providing them the client access that proved problematic on Elance, and would also serve as a very low-effort client training mechanism to improve the overall quality of postings.

---

THIS!!! One of the most useful suggestions I've seen here, ever.

[grbutts]

Thanks for the input y'all. I'm just trying to voice some input to see if it's possible; I mean, how do we ever get better without people asking questions or proposing enhancements? The reason I ask is I know they are beta-testing a similar feature, but from the buy-side of UW to the sell-side.

Thanks again!

[richard_wein]

Hello Guy. It can be helpful to think of the proposal as just establishing communication, and not as a firm bid. In my line of work I don't expect clients to post sufficient detail for me to make a fixed bid, and sometimes I'm not even sure when I make a proposal that the job is suitable for me. On fixed-price jobs I always say that my bid amount is provisional or just a place-holder. And recently I've been encouraging clients to switch to hourly.

However, I appreciate that it's more difficult if you're new to Upwork and trying to get established. In my early days on Upwork, I was more inclined to make a fixed bid, and then just suck it up if the job took me much longer than I'd anticipated! In any case, remember that you're not obliged to proceed with your bid. You can pull out of an interview with no penalty (apart from the time and connects it's cost you) up until the time you accept a job offer.