What is considered a good returning rate ?

[english2french]

Hello everyone,

I just would like to have your opinion on what could be a good returning rate for returning customers...

As this is probably a signal for future customers, I am wondering what you coud consider as a good signal 🙂

No way this can be advertised on our profile for those of us wanting to render it visible to potential customers ?

Cheers,

Christine

[65dab6ce]

Interesting...

Never considered the possibiity of having that data publicly displayed on profiles before. I'm curious to see how the community feels about this.

You probably know this but this information is currently in the stats page (long term clients.)

Personally I think I'm happy with anything over 20% with the goal to continue to see that number grow.

[gilbert-phyllis]

I never thought about it, either, but I like the idea.

You know, though, 48 hours after they start doing that, there'll be a 50-page thread of complaints about how they define it.

[mwiggenhorn]

I almost never have repeat clients.  A client has a particular need that can't be handled internally, so they hire me.  They are not apt to have a similar need again in my experience.

[feed_my_eyes · Accepted solution]

---

Phyllis G wrote:

I never thought about it, either, but I like the idea.

You know, though, 48 hours after they start doing that, there'll be a 50-page thread of complaints about how they define it.

---

The complaints would be somewhat justified, though, since repeat business varies a lot depending on what services you provide. Some freelancers just get hired by one or two clients for whom they work for long periods of time, while others (such as logo designers) are unlikely to get hired by the same client more than once. 

My own "repeat" percentage on Upwork usually hovers around the 30% mark, which I'm relatively happy with, but I don't think it's a statistic that would look impressive on my profile unless it was above 80%. 

[gilbert-phyllis]

---

Christine A wrote:

---

Phyllis G wrote:

I never thought about it, either, but I like the idea.

You know, though, 48 hours after they start doing that, there'll be a 50-page thread of complaints about how they define it.

---

The complaints would be somewhat justified, though, since repeat business varies a lot depending on what services you provide. Some freelancers just get hired by one or two clients for whom they work for long periods of time, while others (such as logo designers) are unlikely to get hired by the same client more than once. 

My own "repeat" percentage on Upwork usually hovers around the 30% mark, which I'm relatively happy with, but I don't think it's a statistic that would look impressive on my profile unless it was above 80%. 

---

I guess it would depend on whether it was 'long-term clients' or 'repeat clients'. My stats right now indicate 50% long-term. I just looked through all my contracts. Slightly fewer than half my clients have hired me more than once or for long periods of time. I don't have the patience to tote it up by contract. I wonder if they're weighting them by dollar value in the long-term metric.

For me it would be a plus but I can see how it wouldn't be for all categories. It would need to be optional. Probably should file under 'be careful what you ask for.'

[researchediting]

---

Phyllis G wrote:

---

I guess it would depend on whether it was 'long-term clients' or 'repeat clients'. My stats right now indicate 50% long-term. I just looked through all my contracts. Slightly fewer than half my clients have hired me more than once or for long periods of time. I don't have the patience to tote it up by contract. I wonder if they're weighting them by dollar value in the long-term metric.

---

If I recall, this number is volatile rather than cumulative, because clients fall into or out of the "long-term" category based on a window of recent activity. Perhaps a mod can clarify.