The second stage tactics

During the second stage, when workers are in the midst of completing a task, their power to resist a customer's demand or complaint is reduced.

Tactics at this stage include

• offering a discount for a high rating,
• spreading a single project over multiple contracts so they can receive multiple high ratings from one customer they know,
• ending work prematurely if a worker suspects interaction is not going well.

In a traditional setting, you could talk to a manager if you had a bad customer. But when platforms outsource the middle-manager role, workers are more sensitive in the middle stage.