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salinajazz
Community Member

Active proposals - Client's responsibility?

Hello community!

I received a message from a client asking for the progress of a project which is still under 'active proposals'. We must have had a miscommunication when he only replied 'okay' after I explained the services I could offer for the project. I was waiting for an offer but I did not receive any. In my understanding, this is not yet a closed contract (active job). Please educate me on this since I don't want to be blamed for wasting a client's time just like what happened. Thank you.
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martina_plaschka
Community Member


Rina Celina D wrote:
Hello community!

I received a message from a client asking for the progress of a project which is still under 'active proposals'. We must have had a miscommunication when he only replied 'okay' after I explained the services I could offer for the project. I was waiting for an offer but I did not receive any. In my understanding, this is not yet a closed contract (active job). Please educate me on this since I don't want to be blamed for wasting a client's time just like what happened. Thank you.

You are right to not start working until you have a contract. The client sends you an offer, you click the green "accept offer" button, then you have a contract.

There are 2 possibilities here:

1. The potential client is inexperienced and does not know how to proceed.

2. The potential client is trying to get free work. 

I lean towards no 2, as inexperienced clients want to learn how it works, and are apologetic when not getting it right. Do you see more than zero jobs on his info? There is your answer. 

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martina_plaschka
Community Member


Rina Celina D wrote:
Hello community!

I received a message from a client asking for the progress of a project which is still under 'active proposals'. We must have had a miscommunication when he only replied 'okay' after I explained the services I could offer for the project. I was waiting for an offer but I did not receive any. In my understanding, this is not yet a closed contract (active job). Please educate me on this since I don't want to be blamed for wasting a client's time just like what happened. Thank you.

You are right to not start working until you have a contract. The client sends you an offer, you click the green "accept offer" button, then you have a contract.

There are 2 possibilities here:

1. The potential client is inexperienced and does not know how to proceed.

2. The potential client is trying to get free work. 

I lean towards no 2, as inexperienced clients want to learn how it works, and are apologetic when not getting it right. Do you see more than zero jobs on his info? There is your answer. 

Thank you so much for clarifying that.
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