Reverse engineering the agency / RFP match system

[boston85719]

@georgecollier

I also can’t think of a way to exploit it, which is a shame for me, but good for the system

@georgecollier

If your RFP’s budget is greater than the agency’s minimum budget, this value is a 1. Else, it scores 0.

Set a low budget, get more matches, but downside is get matched to rfp requests that might not be as valuable as actually looking for

@georgecollier

Developer preference

If this agency’s type (freelance / agency) is the same as your request, it scores 1. Else, it scores 0.

Two Agency accounts, one for the Agency and the second for the Freelancer, this way the agency will show up for either, and since freelancer is only a single person, it is just another $80/month (or whatever the agency account is these days).

@georgecollier

Language

If this agency has the language you specify in your RFP, it scores 1. Else, it scores 0.

Select every language…use any AI to translate communications

@georgecollier

Project size

If this agency accepts projects of your size. Now, I was unable to work out how this is calculated. My RFP was only ever classified as ‘small’, no matter what timeline or budget I set. It seems that this value is redundant and all RFPs on portal are classified as small.

There are some agencies that have selected to not take small projects. If my hypothesis above is true, then they’re not receiving any RFPs.

Accept all project sizes, but downside is you get RFP that are not really of the size the agency might actually be looking for.

@georgecollier

Project type

Either new build or ongoing app development. If the agency has opted to receive the type you’re looking for, this is scores as 1. Else it is scored as zero.

Select both, most agency account holders likely already are

@georgecollier

Services offered

You can select multiple services you want your agency to offer. This score can range from 0 to 1. It is calculated as:

number of services offered by agency that you request / number of services you requested.

In other words, what percentage of your requested services (e.g product design, mobile app development) can be fulfilled by the agency.

Offer them all, as most agency account holders likely are already, and when you get matched and receive an RFP for some service the agency is not capable of offering, either do not reply, or make the sale and sell the project to a freelancer. I believe a lot of agencies out there utilize freelancer very often, and get an opportunity to sound large and as an international agency by describing the different countries they work in. To me, that makes for some not so good apps being put out by agencies using freelancers. I can think of only a few that do it right and only use in-house developers.

Also, gaming the system for becoming a Gold Tier agency (ie: larger agency) is advantageous, as Bubble mentioned at least one Gold Tier Agencies is almost always shown.

@grace.hong

We always try to include one Gold agency partner in the top three matches (assuming they meet the users’ criteria). This is why you might see a Gold agency in your match results even if you selected freelancer for your developer preference.

I think to do that, one approach is to just pay for more developer accounts and take the certification exam for each you add. At $80/month for each, it might be an economically advantageous thing to do if it means getting more RFPs that could be for some larger budget app builds.

@bubble62

Kinda sad that it would somewhat come down to your luck no matter how good you play your cards.

Success is just being prepared, having worked hard (ie: play your cards well) to strike when you have your lucky moment. I used to play Texas Hold’em quasi professionally (it is how I paid for university tuition and living expenses), and one of the most important lessons I can take from playing and winning poker tournaments, is patience is key, being better than others is necessary, but luck is essential and the only thing that will make or break your success.