Freelancers earn service delivery points when they use the Elance Online Work System, complete jobs successfully, receive feedback and get paid through Elance.

 To earn Service Delivery points:

• Use the Elance Online Work System - workrooms and status reports provide visibility and serve as an important reference for job progression. Learn More about the Elance Work System.
• Send a "Complete" status report when a job is finished, this prompts your clients leave feedback.
• Get paid through Elance - earnings growth shows your ability to deliver (and allow us to collect our service fee). Send invoices to your clients through the Elance platform.
• Avoid job cancellations - carefully consider the jobs you are pursuing to make sure you can meet or exceed client expectations.
• Avoid policy violations. 

Freelancers earn points by building strong client relationships, which are a measure of the quality of services delivered.

• Meet or exceed expectations by delivering quality work on time and on budget, and by providing excellent customer service - Clients that are satisfied with their experience will indicate their willingness to recommend you to others when they submit their final feedback.
• Develop strong relationships with your clients - repeat and long-term clients are good for you and for everyone on Elance. Keeping your clients on Elance improves your earnings per client. Learn More.
• Develop new client relationships - build a portfolio of active clients on Elance.  

Freelancers who market themselves effectively help bring high quality work to Elance by creating strong profiles, submitting quality proposals for jobs relevant to their specific expertise, pricing their services within budget ranges and ensuring that the work is awarded on Elance.

• Submit high quality proposals - proposals that reflect a clear understanding of the requirements and set realistic expectations. Learn More. 
• Set your price within the budget range indicated by the client - proposals below budget are penalized by the system.  Proposals without an amount are not considered as proposals below budget.  
• Create a strong profile - add tested skills when available and verify your credentials. Learn More. 
• Respond promptly to invites from prospective clients and keep your Invite Response Rate above 50%.
• Either an “Accept” or a “Decline” is counted as a response. 

Why do I lose points for bidding below budget?  It may be necessary from time to time.
The system is designed to encourage proposals within budget and differentiation based on quality. In general low-ball bidding leads to price erosion.

Why not disclose the points algorithm?
While the key drivers of points are transparent, the exact algorithm is not disclosed in order to prevent manipulation of the system.

Why are you tracking job cancellations?  Many jobs cancel for legitimate reasons.
Points are reduced only for job cancellations due to poor performance from the freelancer. Other cancellations will have no impact on points. 

Why do my earnings per client matter?
Earnings per client are a measure of the strength of the relationship and of the value exchanged between the client and freelancer over time on Elance. Freelancers with high earnings per client are able to build solid relationships and typically deliver higher levels of client satisfaction.  By keeping clients on Elance these freelancers also benefit the rest of the community.

Why give points for Tested Skills and Verified Credentials?
We have seen statistically that profiles with tested skills and verified credentials win more business on Elance. It is beneficial to promote these profiles since they do a better job converting prospective clients into long-term Elance employers.

What is the “Client Recommendation” metric?
When clients leave feedback, they are asked whether they would recommend the freelancer to a friend or a colleague.  The Client Recommendation metric displays the percentage of clients that would recommend the freelancer.

Will my team members be able to see their earnings on their My Stats page?
By default, the earnings will not be displayed.  If you chose to display their earnings, you can adjust the privacy settings on the account by going to Settings >> Privacy Settings.