One day, you're casually scrolling through the job openings on Upwork.

Suddenly, you receive a job invite.

Your heart beats faster as you open it.

This is the PERFECT job opening for you - it's everything you wanted, and you feel that you are more than qualified to do the work.

So you spend one hour doing research about the client - you check his past jobs, find out about his company, and see what kind of freelancer he likes hiring.

And so far, you like everything you see - it seems like the perfect job from the perfect client.

So you carefully craft a cover letter to capture your client's attention. In fact, you spend one hour just writing your cover letter. This is a cover letter that you put your heart and soul into.

It's the ultimate cover letter.

You excitedly hit "Submit, " and then you can't get up from your computer. You're anxious and excited to hear back. So you just sit there staring at Upwork.

You hit "Refresh" to see if your client replied - nothing.

You go on Facebook for a few hours while waiting and refresh - nothing again.

24 hours pass and still nothing.

Now comes your dilemma - do you follow up with the client? How do you do so without sounding desperate?

Well, a few weeks ago Anna Soriano, our WAHP Community Manager and Resident Kulit shared some of her best practices when following up with clients. (Original text with English translation)

Anna's Tips for Following up with Upwork Clients

Before
Me: Hi client,
I am interested in applying for your job post..blah blah

Now
Client : Hi Anna,
I am still interested. Blah blah blah

Nabaliktad ang mundo. ? (The world has now gone upside-down)

So Paano ba ifafollow up si client pag after mo magreply sa invite for interview naging deadmabels na siya sa yo? (So how do you follow up with clients that just disappear after you reply to interview invites?)

Here are some tips on following up:

1. Pwede ka munang mag-antay ng ilang araw bago mo siya imessage at least 2 to 3 days leeway baka busy lang kaya hindi ka pa binabalikan. (Wait for at least 2-3 days before following up with clients. They may just be busy)
2. Habang inaantay mo yung reply ni client apply ka din muna sa ibang job posts para if in case di siya magreply may iba kang nakaabang na possible job candidacy. (While waiting for the client to respond, keep applying to other job posts. So that in case he never gets back to you, you have other possible job candidacies)
3. Icheck mo din ang activity ni client if may nahire na ba siyang iba para may idea ka rin ba kung may inaantay ka ba o may pinili na siyang iba at ng maka move on ka na rin. Baka one week na antay ka pa rin ng antay aba'y mag move on ka na bes ?. (Check the client's activity and see if they've hired someone else. You may be waiting for a week only to find out they've chosen another freelancer - if they have, move on. )
4. Lastly, eto yung recent kong natutunan sa event na inattendan ko last week be ASSERTIVE ?. Hindi kase pwde na mangulit sa Upwork messenger na tipong nagbebeg ka na para ihire ka ni client. You just have to show how confident(ly beautiful with a heart) you are while following up the client. 😉 (Lastly, be ASSERTIVE. You can't just send the client messages sounding like you're begging and desparate for a job. You just have to show how confident you are when following up with the client. )

If you look at the screenshot Anna gave us, you notice that she doesn't sound like she needs the job - instead, she shound like the client is inconveniencing her by not responding. Kasalanan pa ni client.

She typed:

"Hey CLIENT, any updates on the job you are offering? Have you chosen already another person?"

But in reality, she's telling the client:

"Hey CLIENT, you invited me to the job but haven't gotten back to me. If you want to hire me, let me know - or else, I'll just look elsewhere."

Just like in love life, you shouldn't be left hanging forever. 'Di pwede MU-MU lang

If it's been more than three days, you can ask the client "Hey, I thought you wanted me, are we doing this or not?" Tayo na ba o hindi?

Thanks to Anna "Kulit" Soriano for providing the content for this post.