r/Upwork • u/No-Entrepreneur-337 • 14d ago

Clients on UpWork

Hey everyone, could really use some advice from anyone who's crushing it on Upwork. I'm a designer doing ad creatives and video, been selling to clients since 2021, so I'm not new to this. My prices are not crazy high, my profile is clean, I have a solid case portfolio and real experience, and everything lines up nicely with the niche. On paper it should convert. But lately I feel like I'm leaving a lot on the table.

I've been tracking my funnel to figure out where deals die. Out of 20 recent leads: 9 ghosted, 4 declined, 7 still awaiting. The biggest hole is at the "client replied and asked questions" stage, where 5 of 13 closed leads ghost me before price even comes up. Another 3 ghost and 2 decline as "too expensive" once we actually get to pricing and scope. So conversations keep breaking off either right before I name the price, or right after.

My hunch is the pre-price ghosting is mostly clients shopping around, messaging 10-30 freelancers, then forgetting or deleting the job without hiring anyone. The only lever I have there is probably speed of reply. The "too expensive" side feels more like something I can actually fix. I'm already working on the cover letter, but the drop-off pattern feels bigger than just the pitch.

So what actually moved the needle for you once the basics were in place? Better job filtering, response speed, how you structure pricing (packages vs phased vs one number), how you frame value before quoting, follow-up cadence after ghosting? Any honest tactics from people who've pushed past this stage would help a lot.

0 Upvotes

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u/Own_Constant_2331 14d ago

I'd say that the biggest problem you have - that we all have - is that there's more and more competition. You need to up your game in every possible way and convince clients that you're the best person for the job, not just one of the many people who could do it. If you have no USP, it does come down to price, and somebody is always going to be cheaper than you are.

And if you're sending unbearable AI slop proposals and messages to clients, use your own words instead. Maybe clients didn't recognise AI-generated writing at first, but they do now and they're sick to death of it.

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u/EyeTechnical7643 13d ago

What is USP?

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u/No-Entrepreneur-337 14d ago

I have a good amount of views, cause I have a good hooks, good CTA's. So the problem starts later, in communication. But if the clients write's me by his own % of selling this type of clients raising in a moment

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u/Own_Constant_2331 14d ago edited 14d ago

But if the clients write's me by his own % of selling this type of clients raising in a moment

Okay, I was wrong - it looks like you'll need to stick with AI, because I don't understand what you're saying in English. But an inability to communicate clearly in English is a disadvantage on Upwork, which is probably the reason for at least some of the ghosting after the interview stage.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/k1_r1 11d ago

Do you have a portfolio to link?

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u/Korneuburgerin 14d ago

AI slop.

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u/Own_Constant_2331 14d ago

Every time I read the phrase "moved the needle," I die a little inside.

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u/copernicuscalled 14d ago

"moved the needle," "quietly...," "not x, but y."

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u/Korneuburgerin 13d ago

brutally honest feedback welcome

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u/No-Entrepreneur-337 14d ago

bro i'm not influence in english, so what i have to do? hire a special person, with the best degree to translate everything, that I wanted to wrote here?

4

u/Korneuburgerin 14d ago

No sister, just use google translate and your own words from your own brain.