Unresponsive clients: should I end the contracts?

[philomenaaah]

Hi there,

I'm a Top Rated Freelance and I two of my contracts that are "in progress" are actually in "stand by". I was not worried with this until one potential client ask me how would I manage all the contracts and still work for him. It was only one situation that I clarifyed and everyhing was ok. But I started to think that, maybe, if my potential customers analyze my profile they can actually think that I'm too busy to work for them, which is not true, and not answer to my offers.

So, at this moment I have two fixed price contracts with the same situation: my clients just disappeared:

• One of them is a long term fixed price contract and client tried to scam me. The situation was solved with the precious help of the support team, but I never heard from him anymore (I sent a message and I couldn't get any answer yet);
• The other one is a contract of $5 that a potential client offered to me to do a test, and I never heard from him anymore (I already sent 2 messages and, well... nothing happen).

I read the help section but I'm worried about the JSS. What do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

[prestonhunter]

It sounds like you need to learn how to do fixed-price contracts correctly.

Don't accept a fixed-price contract until you have the information and input files you need in order to finish the work.

Then do the work.

Then submit it using the "Send Work / Request Payment" button.

That is what I do. I don't send messages to the client. I don't ask the client if the task is done. I was hired because I know how to do the task. I know when it is done.

If the client is "unresponsive," then I get paid automatically.

If I never hear from the client again, then I just close the contract myself, eventually.

[philomenaaah]

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Preston H wrote:

It sounds like you need to learn how to do fixed-price contracts correctly.

Don't accept a fixed-price contract until you have the information and input files you need in order to finish the work.

Then do the work.

Then submit it using the "Send Work / Request Payment" button.

That is what I do. I don't send messages to the client. I don't ask the client if the task is done. I was hired because I know how to do the task. I know when it is done.

If the client is "unresponsive," then I get paid automatically.

If I never hear from the client again, then I just close the contract myself, eventually.

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I'm sorry. Maybe I didn't explain myself correctly. I didn't said that the clients didn't pay for my work. The job was done in both contracts and my work was paid. My clients disappeared after that. I've sent messages asking if they would need my services again or not and they didn't answer anymore.

[michael_skaggs]

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Filomena S wrote:
I'm sorry. Maybe I didn't explain myself correctly. I didn't said that the clients didn't pay for my work. The job was done in both contracts and my work was paid. My clients disappeared after that. I've sent messages asking if they would need my services again or not and they didn't answer anymore.

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Once they get what they needed and pay the freelancer, clients often disappear. There's nothing wrong with that, it just means they don't have any more work they need from you. Nothing says they have to respond, either.

Most likely, they just don't know that the contract remains open until it's closed by either party. If you've done the work and gotten paid for it, there is absolutely no harm in leaving it open for a while to see if they might need something added to it (adding another milestone, for example). If it's been a while, you can go ahead and close the contract from your end, since it's likely they've long since forgotten about it, having already completed the contractual obligations of the job.

[philomenaaah]

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Michael S wrote:

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Filomena S wrote:
I'm sorry. Maybe I didn't explain myself correctly. I didn't said that the clients didn't pay for my work. The job was done in both contracts and my work was paid. My clients disappeared after that. I've sent messages asking if they would need my services again or not and they didn't answer anymore.

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Once they get what they needed and paid the freelancer, clients often disappear. There's nothing wrong with that, it just means they don't have any more work they need from you. Nothing says they have to respond, either.

Most likely, they just don't know that the contract remains open until it's closed by either party. If you've done the work and gotten paid for it, there is absolutely no harm in leaving it open for a while to see if they might need something added to it (adding another milestone, for example). If it's been a while, you can go ahead and close the contract from your end, since it's likely they've long since forgotten about it, having already completed the contractual obligations of the job.

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And that will not hurt my JSS?

[sergio-soria · Accepted solution]

As long as the contracts were paid they will not affect your JSS negatively, unless you have a ton in that situation, so it's better not to let them pile up. But it's also important not to close them all at the same time. Close the oldest one, then complete succesfully a couple of other gigs and close the other much later.

Some clients pay attention to the line saying you have jobs in progress but most don't.

[philomenaaah]

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Sergio S wrote:

As long as the contracts were paid they will not affect your JSS negatively, unless you have a ton in that situation, so it's better not to let them pile up. But it's also important not to close them all at the same time. Close the oldest one, then complete succesfully a couple of other gigs and close the other much later.

Some clients pay attention to the line saying you have jobs in progress but most don't.

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Thank you so much.