Seeking A Professional Advice Regarding Client Feedback

[nasrunfaris]

Dear Upwork Community,

Recently, i completed a long term project (from Aug to Mid Nov 2020) for the repetitive client (each project was handled by different Project Manager). Upon completion on this project, the Project Manager has submitted a refund request due to the overpaid amount deposit in the escrow. The issue was resolved within just few hours as i have approved the Project Manager refund request.

Today, i was shocked and a bit dissapointed reading the client rating feedback (refer image attachment) as the Project Manager rated my cooperation with just a 3-star rating. Besides, it will gives a bad impression towards my other potential clients as well. As i could recall on our text conversation history on upwork message, we do not have major dispute during working, always discuss with the Project Manager regarding my work progress, and project issues that required Project Manager final judgement / evaluation.

What is the professional approach that you could recommend for me to resolve this issue with the Project Manager as i believe perhaps somehow there might be a misunderstanding. Thank you.

[petra_r]

---

Muhammad Nasrun Fa M wrote:

What is the professional approach that you could recommend for me to resolve this issue with the Project Manager

---

It's an overall 4.5 - so not worth arguing over.

Personally, I don't think there is any professional approach when it comes to asking a client to change the feedback. In my opinion it is (almost) always unprofessional.

[nasrunfaris]

Hi Petra, thank you for your suggestion. Really appreciate it.

[youssefbahaa]

Hi Muhammad,

I believe you can just ask him professionally for detailed feedback and ask about the negative points they faced while cooperating with you. You can do that because you care about his feedback and to improve yourself (if he enlightened you about something that wasn't in your mind), NOT to try to persuade him to change his feedback.

Best of luck,

Youssef

[nasrunfaris]

Hi Youssef,

Thank you for your recommendation. Yes, i would prefer to discuss with the Project Manager regarding the cooperation issue that the company or the Project Management had to faced that i may overlook for my self-performance evaluation. I believe that constant communication & cooperation between the client as the stakeholder and the vendor should be the key factor to accomplish to the project goal.  

[petra_r]

---

Muhammad Nasrun Fa M wrote:

 Yes, i would prefer to discuss with the Project Manager regarding the cooperation issue that the company or the Project Management had to faced that i may overlook for my self-performance evaluation. 

---

The contract is over. This is no longer your client. The client's time is valuable, they are not paid to teach freelancers after a job has been ended and completed. 

It is not a client's job to justify their opinion or explain their experience to a freelancer.

[youssefbahaa]

Hi Petra, I would like to tell you my opinion about this, if I may. 
I believe that the relationship between that client and the freelancer is much more important than the contract itself. Aside from the benefits and understanding which will help to achieve the goal, this is what differentiates us from machines. No one will ever force the client to say his feedback or justify it, it is only out of appreciation of the relationship. This will cost him nothing to share advice. And He doesn't have to be paid to do that, he can just refuse. I respect your point (Just business), however, I don't think it is unprofessional to ask for feedback, I think it gives more quality to the freelancer. 

[fcca14]

Nobody is forcing the client to must reply... but if teh work was delivered, payment was made, then the freelancer has the right to ask (politely) if a certain feedback has not been upto his expectation. and likewise the client has the right to reply, or ignore the query.

[petra_r]

The sole reason why we have a JSS and the stars and public feedback are more or less meaningless now is exactly because too many clients have complained too often for too many years about being pestered by unprofessional freelancers to justify or even change their feedback.

This is why most clients now give 5 star public feedback: Because they can't bear the thought of unprofessional freelancers bothering them because they didn't get straight 5 stars.

They leave 5 stars and only make their true feelings known in private feedback (which is what drives the JSS) 

The next step is freelancers posting "I have only 5 star feedback, why has my JSS dropped?"

[nasrunfaris]

This is my own perspective :
Getting a 5-star rating evaluation from the client is a bonus. But the reality is there's always some room of error that we may overlook. A good freelancer should not solely focus on the end result but also need to consider a good customer service with their client, professionally. 

Yes, i agreed that a freelancer should not kept pestering their past client due to rating issue. It is a client right to give their preference rating to the vendor and it is also a freelancer right to get some justifaction insight on their evaluation outcome. Simply, if it is a good review, say thanks and try maintain it. If it is a bad review, say thanks and try to improve it.

In my case, i have decided to move on this issue. Thank you everyone for giving some advice.