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This post is the first of a series on How to Select a Great Freelancer Online. It specifically discusses how to use past customer feedback and work histories to ‘read between the lines’ and reveal a freelancer’s real performance. You can find the index for the series and the first article here.

Part 1 of How to use customer feedback/ratings covers:

• How to use the average feedback rating (or score) to weed out under-performers
• How to assess past work performance and determine a freelancer’s credibility
• How to avoid being Scammed

Part II of How to use customer feedback/ratings (find it here) covers:

• How to analyse customer comments, what they mean, and reading between the lines
• How to do a background check on your potential outsourcer

So, On With Part 1. Customer Feedback, Past History = Future Performance?

The only way to verify someone’s past performance and identity online is by reviewing their customer feedback and interaction within outsourcing websites. All freelance/online outsource sites have customer feedback because it’s extremely useful for filtering out the trash (scammers, fly-by-nighters, psychos etc.). When using feedback and ratings it’s essential to remember that it isn’t perfect. As any investor will sorely tell you, past history is no guarantee of future performance! Add to this the fact that feedback histories can be gamed/manipulated, you’re left with an information source which is only useful if it’s used with care.

How to analyse customer feedback:

All feedback is not created equal, some reviews should be given more weight then others, and there are hidden stories in the data. Here are a few things to look for to keep you safe.

How many stars is enough?

First up, ratings are important. Higher rated freelancer’s win more work, and get better prices. This means they have a vested interest in preserving that rating! So, they’ll work harder to keep you happy, and generally be very motivated to get your work finished.

But that said, no one can be perfect… projects do fail all the time and I would be suspicious of anyone claiming a 100% average over a reasonable period of time/jobs. Even if they are very good, sooner or later they’ll get an @ss of a customer who will dent their rating

So aim for an average rating of 85 - 95%, or the equivalent of at least 4.5 stars depending on the site’s rating system. I generally don’t go lower then that, because you shouldn’t need to. You may pay slightly more, but consider it an insurance premium.

Also, I would not touch a provider with less then 80% rating for any reason. Consider it this way, with an 80% rating 1 in 5 of their customer’s have had a major failure, compared to just 1 in 10 for a 90% average or a 1 in 20 for a 95% average. Notice how the odds of success ramp up? You want those in your favour

If the provider is doing their job well, there’s no reason for them not to hit the 85 - 95% zone. And we don’t want ‘em if they’re not outstanding.

Length of Service

How long is this provider’s record? We don’t care that they claim to have been around for 30 years, if they’ve only been registered on this site for 30 days. We’re shopping online, so we need to stay focussed on the online track record. Here is what I use:

• 30 days or less – Not Interested. They’re just trying to ‘get started’. Somebody else can take that risk. My time and money is too valuable, and I am not a bleeding heart!

• 90 days or less – Unless there is a high frequency of reviews for the entire period, I am not interested! Still just a hobby operation, they don’t have a particularly big investment in their online reputation, which means they are less likely to be very motivated to protect it! If their feedback is outstanding, I would consider them for a simple low cost task as a trial.

• 180 days or more - this is the ‘sweet spot’ in my opinion for small to medium sized projects. These providers have been around for a while, they’ll have smoothed out a lot of their processes, and have gotten their head around writing decent bids (this is important… discussed in a future post!). But they’re still new enough that they need to stay sharp and preserve their reputation. They’re likely to be starting to feel the urge or the opportunity to grow, and will be playing with the idea of expansion.

• 365 days or more – seasoned pro’s. They should have completed a lot of projects (always check job volume!). They will have had a lot of good projects, and quite a few that went pear shaped. I’d focus on these kinds of outsourcers for larger projects. They’re often going to be companies, so you can potentially hire larger teams, or groups of professionals which makes things easier for bigger jobs. They only downside here is that if they have had a high volume of jobs over an extended period, your review/feedback becomes a drop in the bucket. If your project (or you ) becomes too difficult, they may just cut you loose and move on. So you don’t have as much leverage as you do with a smaller track record.

How Many Reviews Does a Freelancer Need For Credibility?

As a general rule, I require any freelancer to have at least 15 reviews; I prefer 30+. But for simple, low risk work, I’ll accept a freelancer with fewer reviews if those reviews are outstanding, their bid is good (and cheap) and everything else about their feedback and history checks out ok. I would not consider fewer then 30 reviews for jobs over about $1500 USD.

Now some out there may cry about how it’s not fair. ‘If you only work with experienced people, how do inexperienced guys get started?!’. Having lost a lot of money on failed outsourced work, my answer to that is they can get started on someone else’s time and money. The world isn’t fair, just try to protect your piece of it

Project Frequency and Project Size

Check out the average frequency of reviews and jobs undertaken. If a provider is claiming to be a big company, but is only averaging 1 – 3 small jobs a week, then you have to assume that they’re either not as big as they claim or are getting the majority of their work elsewhere. This isn’t great for us, because we want someone who has a big interest in succeeding on our project (and we don’t want to work with someone who is BS’ing us). Alternatively, if its 1-3 bigger jobs (at least a few $K each), and they’re doing it consistently, then that may be alright if that’s similar to your job. Apply the same test to individual freelancers, try and get a feel for their income and workload. Does it seem like they’re making a majority of their living from the site?

Many sites also quote total earnings. This is an excellent indication of how big and established a provider is. Money matters!

Frequency Over Time

This one really depends on how far back a site’s history goes, but most of them save history for a few years which is heaps for us. Look at how constant the reviews are. If the provider has been registered for 12 months but has very few jobs, this is a red flag. Also, if they’ve been around for a long time, but have been dormant recently, I’d also consider that a flag.

Project size is important

Check the project size as well. It should be quoted on the review, and tell you just how much the outsourcer/freelancer was paid for that job. You want to find a provider that has taken on jobs similar in size to yours. Resourcing, planning, skills, are all things impacted by the size of the project. If you give a huge project to someone used to doing $200 websites, they may choke on it. That’s a risk someone else can take in my view.

Scammers and Job Size

An old strategy used by scammers on eBay was to make many low cost transactions to build up a large positive feedback history. Then, once this was established they would sell (or buy) a very expensive item, relying on their history to convince their target to trust them. Once they got their greedy mitts on the prize, they disappear. Scam complete! This still goes on, so be wary. Many sites provide escrow facilities to limit this risk, but issues can still occur (particularly with bigger projects, where payment for part-performance or milestones are required). Another thing to be aware of is that this also happens in the reverse. Customers can and do rip off freelancers in this way, so if you’re new to a site you may find providers sceptical of your credibility.

As a rule of thumb, if you have a $10K job but the last 20 reviews were by customer’s paying the guy $100 or less, be concerned. This is not a guarantee you’ll get ripped off, but it should tell you that you are taking on additional risk(s).

Stay tuned to for Part II of this article.