“The Sand dilutes the water however also filters it”. Win better freelance clients and black-bagging the fake ones seems a tough ask for Freelancers nowadays. Most of the famous portals like Elance, Freelancer.com and up work are facing the difficulty of reviewing jobs that are so intelligently created to get through the review and bringing the promotion to the workforce. That’s a worry for all: The Portal interface, the genuine clients and the freelancers.
So, by reviewing the trends going on today, I have listed these 4 actionable tips to Win Better freelance clients and avoid the Fake ones:
Dig the Profile and Client Personality:
Most of the fake clients comes for promotion of their websites. Your job is to disconnect with them to stop messaging them on the first hint. If he is giving you a link to visit their website, ask them more questions about the project. If he insist the second time, he is for sure a fake client that’s only trying to increase traffic on their page rather than worrying about your precious time.
See the client’s profile, if it’s new or old. More than 20% of projects posted on major sites are fake. If the profile is old enough and shows work marked from the website. Then only, go for further discussions.
Check if the client has any dispute against its name, this will proof-read things for you.
Ask him to pay some percentage as upfront
If you have a suspicion about your client, ask him politely to pay some percentage as upfront, so that you can collect important premium resources to start the work. Insist him to do so, if he isn’t interested in paying the money. Navigate to the next opportunity straight away. If he is a good client and really wants your services, he will try to compensate on the upfront money rather than saying a straight-forward “No”.
Don’t Believe Verbal promises:
Get everything documented as a Future evidence and for dispute cases. People normally gets informal with clients and thus believing on their Verbal comments and Feedbacks. Technology gives you apps and software, which can keep a record of the conversations, irrespective on what platform.
So, next time you are talking to the customers on your machine, keep the Hawk-eye open.
Know Legal Course for a Dispute
If anyhow, you got struck on a client, who isn’t ready to pay, get ready for the legal action. Doing a homework early to hire a lawyer rather than doing it after a dispute can save you many bucks. Doing send warning letters with the help of lawyer and then use the disclaimer’s points of the website you are working upon to make a strong position. This may also set an example for Fake clients and they will never be doing that again, apart from the work compensation you will receive.
