Comments on: Tips for clients – top 10 ways to keep your translator happy

By: Textklick

Textklick — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:54:43 +0000

I love this particular musing! Were it mine, I’d make it sticky and park it at the top as the eternal intro.

I’ve posted your blog to my ‘Ersatz-Blogroll’ on FBook. I’ll send you a PDF if you mail me.

BTW – Happy Birthday!

xx Chris

By: jillsommer

jillsommer — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:16:20 +0000

Hi Matthew, that isn’t a discount. That is pricing policy. Of course I have different prices for different clients. I certainly don’t consider it giving my best, regular, long-term clients a discount. I think of it as “I enjoy working with them so I haven’t raised my rate.”

By: matthewbennettes

matthewbennettes — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:44:25 +0000

I think I must blog more about this. Discount is not a nasty word. It’s the perception of the word that makes it nasty from the point of view of a translator and agreeable from the client’s point of view.

Prices (and discounts) are all about psychology, communication and behaviour: for business to work well (win-win and all that), both the client’s point of view and the translator’s must be properly taken into account.

Ignore, for a moment, the fact that I’m clearly not a mathematician…

What if, for example, you didn’t think of it as a discount but instead decided on an increased rate (compared to your current rate) for clients who didn’t behave in the way you wanted them to?

If you currently charge, for example, €0,10 per word, increase your one-off project price to 0,11€ and keep the €0,10 price for your best, regular, long-term clients who send you lots of work.

This way, you actually get to charge more than you currently do for many jobs (you’ve just given yourself a 10% pay rise!) and your regular clients feel like they’re getting a discount (-9.1%) compared to what you charge everyone else.

There are many variations on this basic idea, of course, and you are free to decide where you can offer your clients more value and for which aspects of your work.

By: jillsommer

jillsommer — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:06:38 +0000

Kyla, do yourself a favor and don’t offer discounts without the client asking. It makes more business sense to work for full price whenever you can. My favorite clients are the ones who don’t use Trados and don’t demand discounts. I only have one or two clients who ask for them. Also, if you do offer a Trados discount be sure it is 30/60/100 instead of some crazy 5 or 6 tier scale. Trados is your investment in your business and ensures your consistency. It was never conceived to be a discount maker for agencies who do not shell out the money for us to have it but expect to benefit from our having it.

By: Kyla Juett

Kyla Juett — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:44:28 +0000

I think Matthew has a good point on clients liking to feel special (by being offered some sort of discount), and hadn’t realised that I actually do that, too–though not for volume discounts. I do use a TEnT and discount the repetitions even for agency clients who don’t use the TEnT. I’m just getting started as a freelancer, so I’m quickly learning to appreciate the value of maintaining a good client (vs. not having work), and I think it makes good business sense. Of course, if the same clients were to ask for volume (or other) discounts in addition to what I’m already offering, we may have issues!

By: fix your relationship

fix your relationship — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:59:39 +0000

Excellent article. Tips are very good. Thank you very much.

By: jillsommer

jillsommer — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:04:24 +0000

I like all the suggestions so far, but I think I like Ellen’s the best. It just happened to me in fact, but it was more like three weeks instead of three months.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:16:03 +0000

Here’s another one for your top 20: Don’t make us believe that a translation is a rush job, and then three months later send us client feedback that needs to be implemented urgently…

By: Bob Kerns

Bob Kerns — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:26:40 +0000

Nice post, as usual, Jill. I’ve already posted a link to this on Facebook.

Purely by coincidence, another of my pet hates cropped up again today: An outsourcer who expects me to take on a proofreading job for a fixed price, even though the file isn’t available yet and neither the outsourcer nor I have any idea of how good or bad the translation will be, i.e. how much time I’ll need for the proofreading.

If this was the first time they had asked, I would have politely explained the facts of life (as a proofreader) to them, but they know my policy on this and conveniently decided to “forget” it (again).

Just felt like getting that off my chest in case you ever decide to expand your top 10 to a top 20

By: matthewbennettes

matthewbennettes — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:35:55 +0000

Great post Jill!

The only point I still have to resolve in my own mind is number 3 – discounts for volume.

Assuming we’re talking about freelance translators, we walk a fine line between ‘worker’ and ‘business of one’. It’s not like most of us work for minimum wage and, taking away the insultingly low offers from those who don’t know better, I’ve found that my clients appreciate the gesture, although I’ve yet to offer it as standard.

A slight discount is a way of saying thanks for their loyalty (no obligation on their part) and also of saving me the sales, marketing & admin hassle of looking for new clients every time, which would be totally boring and actually costs more according to most studies, as long as you don’t go overboard with your discount rate.

I think there are rates and ways at which a balance can be struck between the psychological desire of the client to receive a ‘reward’ and feel extremely well treated and the desire of the translator to feel very well paid for his work.

Blog on.