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drawn
Community Member

Name of the Client

I've noted the name of the client is displayed 'after' I submit a proposal. Would there be a means to see their name without submitting a proposal first? My guess is, no, but I wanted to ask.

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

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tgstudio
Community Member

No. If the client name is listed they would be slammed with emails from all over begging to be hired for the project. Similar incidents have happened in the past when the client inadvertently put their contact info in the job posting.

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tgstudio
Community Member

No. If the client name is listed they would be slammed with emails from all over begging to be hired for the project. Similar incidents have happened in the past when the client inadvertently put their contact info in the job posting.

The thing is that I have seen in communications the value of being able to put someone's name to personalize a proposal- how can we do that with limited information?  As a freelancer, I want to deliver proposals that will get me results.  

Sometimes past freelancers that worked with the client will mention the name in their review.

resultsassoc
Community Member

If the client has made at least five hires, it's in someone's feedback or the job description. "Need a logo for Greg P Associates in Boston" is pretty specific. Also, "Greg P at GP Associates is a great client!" With a few clues, I can find the name even without that. "New firm in Boston specializing in fly excrement purification needs ..." How many can there be?

Indeed. In the feedback, the freelancer name the individual they worked with, and more often than not, named the organization or individual who posted.  Thanks.


Bill H wrote:

If the client has made at least five hires, it's in someone's feedback or the job description. "Need a logo for Greg P Associates in Boston" is pretty specific. Also, "Greg P at GP Associates is a great client!" With a few clues, I can find the name even without that. "New firm in Boston specializing in fly excrement purification needs ..." How many can there be?


Hi Bill I don't know you... but I know people have been missing you so it's good to see you. Also your post made me laugh, so thanks.

ad7ec88b
Community Member


No. If the client's name is listed they would be slammed with emails from all over begging to be hired for the project.

nhansen
Community Member

I wouldn't hire someone who is begging to begin with.

 

I see the value that Upwork brings to the table is the guaranteed payments and the ability to showcase your past experience in a verified manner. Even if I could track down the company and apply via other means, I wouldn't do so because the way things work on Upwork I believe increases my chance of getting the job over applying via other means and it provides me with the reassurance I will get paid.

517acd3d
Community Member

I don't get why clients would be slammed with emails from all over if their names appeared prominently before we submited proposals. How does having a name increase email traffic?

I also don't get why I need to play detective and fish out the client's name from the feedback. And if the name does appear in the feedback, doesn't that cause the client to be slammed with emails from all over?

 

I just had a situation where I submitted a proposal only to discover after the fact that it was in response to a client with whom I held a prior conversation regarding a different job that didn't pan out, and had I known who the client was in advance, I wouldn't have applied and wasted six credits, my time, and his time (his name didn't appear in the feedback).


Upwork should rethink this limitation and hopefully present the clients' names prominently so that we can better personalize our propsals and appear more professional.

 

 

re: "Upwork should rethink this limitation and hopefully present the clients' names prominently so that we can better personalize our propsals and appear more professional."

 

I understand your perspective, but Upwork is not going to do that.

 

Sorry.

I see lots of companies post their names in job posts. The fact is, if a company doesn't do that it could put Upwork freelancers at a disadvantage versus applicants to the same job via other platforms. The reason being that reading up on a company helps one to be prepared for an interview.

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Ben. 


Names of persons and companies are not allowed in job posts to prevent users from circumventing the website and communicating off the platform before a contract starts. Both are violations of the Upwork Terms of Service. 

However, I took note of your experience, and I will be sharing it with the team for their review.


~ Avery
Upwork

Knowing the client's name is a bad thing. Many inexperienced users who don't know that a client can only see the first two lines of a proposal before clicking on it, will waste these precious two lines with a greeting and an empty space after that. 

Then Upwork can enhance the client's preview experience by merging the salutation line with the next paragraph, just like Gmail does when one previews message threads.

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