My clients are struggling to start contracts with me

[m_roothman]

Hi there, My client is wanting to start a contract with me but there is an error message that is popping up. This has never happened before. It says : "You cannot join this team until the client adds a complete address. Please wait until the client does so" Is that on my side or his side?

Also, is there any other way for me to send contracts if the client is already on upwork? The direct contracts options doesn't work if they already have an account? I have tried this and for some reason I can't send direct contracts as their email is already associated with upwork. (A bit of a pain!) A lot of my clients are new and have no idea how to start contracts or accept proposals. They also don't know how to change rates from "per hour" to "per project" and thus it would be so much easier if I were able to send them contracts from my side. 

Thank you

[PradeepH]

Hi Mariska,

Thank you for your message. You cannot initiate a direct contract with a client who is already registered on Upwork. Could you please request the client to add a complete address to their company account before you accept the contract? 

Thank you,

Pradeep

[m_roothman]

Hi Pradeep, 

Thank you for the reply. I will speak to my client about that, but I still think it would be helpful if there was a way for freelancers to initiate contracts. The reason for this is sometimes, with a proposal, the clients select per hour and after a chatting to them, we come to an agreement on a set rate. It really confuses them to then change it for a set rate. I also had clients who asked me how to accept proposals....so this all takes time for me to explain to them or to share resources on how to do it from their side. Surely there should be an easier way? As I am on the freelancing side, is there any explainer videos I could share with my clients for future reference?

[759e32fa]

Hi Mariska,

Thank you for your feedback. Currently, Upwork is deisgned in a way where clients create job postings in order to get proposals from freelancers who have the skillset and most often, experience in the role they're looking to fill in. Freelancers can propose a new contract or new milestone when their project ended with a client they've worked with before, not just any client from the platform as this may negatively affect their experience, like getting offers from different freelancers of different niches that don't apply to their business.

It's a good initiative to help out clients in navigating the platform especially when they're new. You can direct them to this article to learn how to review and manage proposals on their job listings.

We appreciate your help and we're hoping that this would lead your clients to have a good impression of you even before you start a contract.

[m_roothman]

Hi AJ, 

Thank you for your feedback. I have saved the link for any future clients in order to share it with them. From my new clients, they do a struggle a bit to navigate the platform once they start but I am sure that article will help. 

Thank you for the feedback, 
Mariska