(Or why one person in a bad mood can ruin your career as a freelancer!)
With more and more people hiring online I think a lot of clients tend to search by rating first. But 100% positive feedback to me means one of 3 things:
1 - they haven’t taken on many projects
2 - they have been lucky
3 - they are a pushover.
Now the first could be fine - they may be new to the site but experienced elsewhere. But if they’re not - it could mean they haven’t been chosen for many jobs due to price or quality of work. They may be wonderful designers who refuse to work for peanuts, or they may be completely new to the business. Maybe the 1 or 2 client they have have been happy and that’s great, but maybe they had low expectations or were already friends with the designer.
When I say they might have been lucky this is me saying they might have only had decent/nice clients. Feedback scores reflect on the client as well as the designer. Some clients, not too many, but some are … to put it politely just not very nice. They can be unreasonable, demanding, changeable, stressed, unsure - anything anyone else can be. And if you cannot mind-read what they want first time or agree to every demand (at midnight - the night before the project is due - for no extra pay) you could be landed with a very unfair feedback score.
As for being a pushover. I expect some people are thinking - great! A pushover is just what you want to get your own way. It isn’t. You have hired a professional. 9/10 they know better than you what you want. If you say you want your book set in 18pt Comic Sans - a pushover will do it. A decent designer will not. They will explain why that isn’t a good idea, why it will reduce your sales and reputation and they will offer alternatives. THIS is what you should want. Someone to work with you to give you a better product. Not someone who will blindly do as you say.
So there you are.
If you are hiring online don’t take a 100% feedback score as the be all and end all. If you look at the work and someone with an 80% score looks the best to you… they just might be - read the feedback of course and make up your mind. Don’t just overlook them. You might be missing the best freelancers that way.
