Poll: Does the process of starting to work with a new client take longer now than it did a few years ago? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Does the process of starting to work with a new client take longer now than it did a few years ago?".
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| | | | | I literally don't know what that means | Feb 8, 2019 |
Process? A client contacts you about a translation. You examine the text, ask necessary questions, quote your fee and how long it will take, do the translation as such things are usually done, deliver & get paid. It make take a bit longer than with a client that you've worked with before who knows your procedure. But that has always been the case.
I don't understand that question.
| | | | | Other (yes, it does with some clients but I don't work with them) | Feb 8, 2019 |
When I started working some 40 years ago with my long-standing customers the only thing needed was a “Yes, go ahead!”: no free tests, no CVs, no NDAs, no agreements, no online database; nowadays, with some potential clients (mostly agencies) one has to navigate through an overwhelming bureaucracy. An example: For me, the winner of the “Agency Red Tape Award” was a well-known translation agency which after asking for a test, a photo, a signed NDA and a long list of other requirements sent... See more When I started working some 40 years ago with my long-standing customers the only thing needed was a “Yes, go ahead!”: no free tests, no CVs, no NDAs, no agreements, no online database; nowadays, with some potential clients (mostly agencies) one has to navigate through an overwhelming bureaucracy. An example: For me, the winner of the “Agency Red Tape Award” was a well-known translation agency which after asking for a test, a photo, a signed NDA and a long list of other requirements sent me a so-called welcome pack having 34 pages for me to read, fill, sign and return… My answer was: thank you, but no thanks! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | No difference | Feb 8, 2019 |
I suppose the question relates to agency contracting process, ie the various hoops one has to jump through in order to become part of an agency's pool of translators and be contacted every single time for specific brands/clients/topics of theirs. Or never. NDAs, free tests, job platform registration, invoicing platform registration, cloud CAT registration (15 characters, one special one, 2 numbers, 3 non-adjoining capitals, half the password length in italics), form filling-in, 50-page legal rub... See more I suppose the question relates to agency contracting process, ie the various hoops one has to jump through in order to become part of an agency's pool of translators and be contacted every single time for specific brands/clients/topics of theirs. Or never. NDAs, free tests, job platform registration, invoicing platform registration, cloud CAT registration (15 characters, one special one, 2 numbers, 3 non-adjoining capitals, half the password length in italics), form filling-in, 50-page legal rubbish to sign, face scan...
I get new clients so rarely that I forget the onboarding process from one time to the next.
Anyway, if it takes longer than I feel I can bear that day, I just drop the "opportunity".
Philippe ▲ Collapse
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DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| Choosers are no beggars | Feb 8, 2019 |
Some ten years ago it took me a few hours or even a couple of days to bring prospects in line, reasoning out of their fears--that it's worth it for (1) I'm competent enough to (2) do the job properly and (3) timely.
As a benefit of working as an interpreter too, now I get new real clients from my own contacts--or on the recommendations of my local direct clients only. So, it's pre-negotiated and the clarification takes me some ten minutes, no fuss. They just know my rates an... See more Some ten years ago it took me a few hours or even a couple of days to bring prospects in line, reasoning out of their fears--that it's worth it for (1) I'm competent enough to (2) do the job properly and (3) timely.
As a benefit of working as an interpreter too, now I get new real clients from my own contacts--or on the recommendations of my local direct clients only. So, it's pre-negotiated and the clarification takes me some ten minutes, no fuss. They just know my rates and working hours, thus the very first email often has documents enclosed)
Sometimes I still do get unsolicited cold contacts from pariah-oriented misers and rogue spammers, but they enjoy their good time going far far away automatically. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:36
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Haven't really noticed | Feb 8, 2019 |
I'm not really looking for new clients at the moment. Unless they come by recommendation from previous or current clients, I'd probably tend to turn them down, unless their proposal was very interesting or lucrative, without affecting my current workload.
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because I avoid the time-consuming ones
| | | | Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 22:36
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
When I started freelancing, I checked everything, read dozens of pages, signed them and then...waited until forever to, in most cases, never hear from them again. It was easier with direct clients.
Today I read an NDA and add my terms. If they're not accepted, then it's a polite, thank you, but no thank you. The same applies to rates, demanded discounts and the like. And enlarging data bases is a no-go. If the email is send to "Dear translator", I don't even reply. Not because I mig... See more When I started freelancing, I checked everything, read dozens of pages, signed them and then...waited until forever to, in most cases, never hear from them again. It was easier with direct clients.
Today I read an NDA and add my terms. If they're not accepted, then it's a polite, thank you, but no thank you. The same applies to rates, demanded discounts and the like. And enlarging data bases is a no-go. If the email is send to "Dear translator", I don't even reply. Not because I might be "rude" (I'm not, especially because it's nothing personal), but mainly because they probably don't even know to how many translators they've sent that mass email and won't, therefore, not even notice when someone doesn't reply.
[Edited at 2019-02-08 18:09 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 18:36
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| About the same | Feb 8, 2019 |
I don't think so. It might actually be a little faster now, since I have standard answers to most questions they make, and I had to think more about the answers before.
Also, most clients (at least the most experienced ones) no longer ask a bunch of questions, ask for references, certificates, diplomas, etc. Most of them realized that the best and perhaps the only way to recruit and select a good translator is to submit them to a sample translation test.
[Edited at 2019-02-08 22:27... See more I don't think so. It might actually be a little faster now, since I have standard answers to most questions they make, and I had to think more about the answers before.
Also, most clients (at least the most experienced ones) no longer ask a bunch of questions, ask for references, certificates, diplomas, etc. Most of them realized that the best and perhaps the only way to recruit and select a good translator is to submit them to a sample translation test.
[Edited at 2019-02-08 22:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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