| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Availability Thread poster: András Illyés
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András Illyés 
Local time: 13:14
Member (2020)
English to Hungarian
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Hi there!
I have an issue, which is... I would like to take on another job and clients, but I am uncertain about my future availability...
Many opportunuties I could take, but if my regular clients are coming I will have no time. And I will not be available.
How do you manage this issue?
Because if I have free time, I can on the job and I can do it.
But if not, I will have to turn it down, which I don't like...
Thanks ... See more Hi there!
I have an issue, which is... I would like to take on another job and clients, but I am uncertain about my future availability...
Many opportunuties I could take, but if my regular clients are coming I will have no time. And I will not be available.
How do you manage this issue?
Because if I have free time, I can on the job and I can do it.
But if not, I will have to turn it down, which I don't like...
Thanks for all the answers,
András ▲ Collapse
| | | | | 'daily capacity' + teams | Jul 1, 2021 |
A good rule of thumb is to tell all new clients we have a daily capacity around 2k-3k words/day (I say 2.5k).
In fact, we can do double or triple that amount, or much more depending on fuzzy reps but if we tell clients that we can handle an actual amount of 5-6k words/day, we might encounter situations like you state and be forced to say we're unavailable. Telling a client or agency that you're unavailable is like a death sentence. They'll be forced to find someone else and w... See more A good rule of thumb is to tell all new clients we have a daily capacity around 2k-3k words/day (I say 2.5k).
In fact, we can do double or triple that amount, or much more depending on fuzzy reps but if we tell clients that we can handle an actual amount of 5-6k words/day, we might encounter situations like you state and be forced to say we're unavailable. Telling a client or agency that you're unavailable is like a death sentence. They'll be forced to find someone else and will never contact you ever again...
For work continuity, it's best to accept everything you can. If you find yourself with too much to handle, get permission from the client to subcontract all or part of the work. Build a team who you trust and can rely on to handle any 'spill-over' work. In this way you and your team members can build a strong foundation together and all pitch in when getting work from new clients, no matter the size of the job.
Good luck!
DJH ▲ Collapse
| | | | William Tierney
United States
Local time: 07:14
Member (2002)
Arabic to English
If you are on a preset schedule with regular clients, that is one thing, but if you have clients who come to you whenever they have a need, then I would go by the maxim that you only have the job when you get a PO. Somebody asking you to be available next week does not cut it. If you turn down work because of this possibility, it is also possible that the future job does not come to pass.
| | | | | Massive exaggeration | Jul 1, 2021 |
Dylan Jan Hartmann wrote:
Telling a client or agency that you're unavailable is like a death sentence. They'll be forced to find someone else and will never contact you ever again...
Only if they are a low-rent client and you are a low-rent translator.
A client worth having will instead get a reminder of how good you are and give you longer deadlines in future.
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 14:14
Member
English to Turkish
If "telling a client or agency that you're unavailable is like a death sentence", then not being able to reply to a query for 6 or 8 hours due to time difference must be equally bad for business.
I often wondered what it would be like to be a German or French to English translator based in Australia or NZ and working with European agencies...
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The trick is to ask slightly higher rates to new clients, so that, If the collaboration materializes, you will feel less reluctant to turn down a lower paying job (and may consider bumping your rates for existing customers as well).
Another solution would be to ensure you have ample deadlines, so that you can squeeze in some assignment you don't want to miss from one of your regulars.
To feel less bad about saying no, just think who you can turn to if suddenly your clie... See more The trick is to ask slightly higher rates to new clients, so that, If the collaboration materializes, you will feel less reluctant to turn down a lower paying job (and may consider bumping your rates for existing customers as well).
Another solution would be to ensure you have ample deadlines, so that you can squeeze in some assignment you don't want to miss from one of your regulars.
To feel less bad about saying no, just think who you can turn to if suddenly your client stops sending work your way.
That's right, you are independent after all... For good and for bad.
If they want an exclusive relationship, they should hire you! But you wouldn't like that, would you?
[Edited at 2021-07-01 12:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Availability notice | Jul 1, 2021 |
When my schedule is completely booked, I send an advance notice to my main agency clients telling them when I'll be available again. This is basic courteousness. The good thing with working with agencies is that they have other freelancers as backups. They're aware that we're human and that they can't rely on a single 365/24/7 freelancer in a given language/specialty combination.
To ensure they come back when you're available again, the challenge is to reach the status of "default go-to tr... See more When my schedule is completely booked, I send an advance notice to my main agency clients telling them when I'll be available again. This is basic courteousness. The good thing with working with agencies is that they have other freelancers as backups. They're aware that we're human and that they can't rely on a single 365/24/7 freelancer in a given language/specialty combination.
To ensure they come back when you're available again, the challenge is to reach the status of "default go-to translator" and always remain at the top of the list. You can feel that when they send you (paid) translation tests for their potential new clients.
Having trusted colleagues to handle the overspill is an option, but it may mean taking a cut for bearing responsibility for the outcome (revision time), and therefore lower the colleague's commitment to spend the right amount of time on the job.
Recommendation of colleagues as good as you rids you from this issue, but with the added risk of them replacing you in the list.
Anyway, get as many clients as you can at your conditions, keep the best ones, seize any opportunity to broaden your client base again, and repeat the process until you're safe (which never happens).
Dealing with end clients who effectively rely on you alone is another matter altogether.
Philippe
I forgot: deadline negotiation can work wonders too.
[Edited at 2021-07-01 12:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Honesty and clarity | Jul 1, 2021 |
In the long run, and, in my experience, in the short and medium-term too, there is a lot to be gained by being honest and clear with clients and potential clients.
Whenever I get an enquiry about a job, I always ask two things to start with:
- send me the source text
- tell me how urgent it is.
The first one is an absolute necessity. How can you judge whether factors like volume, layout and so on without seeing the document first? Not to mention the actual ... See more In the long run, and, in my experience, in the short and medium-term too, there is a lot to be gained by being honest and clear with clients and potential clients.
Whenever I get an enquiry about a job, I always ask two things to start with:
- send me the source text
- tell me how urgent it is.
The first one is an absolute necessity. How can you judge whether factors like volume, layout and so on without seeing the document first? Not to mention the actual content.
As for the second element, urgent for one person will be 1 page of around 300 words for next week. For another person, it will be ten densely packed pages of 800 words in small print for yesterday! Urgency is highly subjective.
If my schedule is full for a week or two, which happens, I might take on one or two-page jobs to take a break from the large job.
Only once I have seen the document am I able to see what is possible. If I cannot meet the "tomorrow" deadline, then I do reply with an indication of when I could do it. I prefer to reply indicating that I am interested in doing the job, that it is within my scope of expertise and knowledge and although I cannot do it by tomorrow, I could complete it by [whenever] but that I would need to know within 24 hours, for example. It is quite surprising how moveable "urgent" can be. If I cannot meet their deadline, then I would suggest a colleague in whom I trust (in terms of expertise and knowledge). ▲ Collapse
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 07:14
Spanish to English
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| The importance of setting the most comfortable deadlines possible | Jul 2, 2021 |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
In the long run, and, in my experience, in the short and medium-term too, there is a lot to be gained by being honest and clear with clients and potential clients.
...
If my schedule is full for a week or two, which happens, I might take on one or two-page jobs to take a break from the large job.
Only once I have seen the document am I able to see what is possible. If I cannot meet the "tomorrow" deadline, then I do reply with an indication of when I could do it. I prefer to reply indicating that I am interested in doing the job, that it is within my scope of expertise and knowledge and although I cannot do it by tomorrow, I could complete it by [whenever] but that I would need to know within 24 hours, for example. It is quite surprising how moveable "urgent" can be. If I cannot meet their deadline, then I would suggest a colleague in whom I trust (in terms of expertise and knowledge).
This is why it always makes sense to negotiate as comfortable a deadline as possible for any and all jobs. This will give you, the freelancer, the flexibility to accommodate other work (that might have a more urgent deadline, and therefore that might be better paid [though no guarantees of that these days]).
And, of course, comfortable deadlines also allow for tending to other matters that unexpectedly come up (including illness).
Part of operating effectively in this way means initially proposing a deadline that best works for you. If you simply ask the client, the tendency will usually be for them to set an unnecessarily tight deadline - because they will always want the translation(s) sooner rather than later. If there really is an urgent deadline, the client will clearly let you know this. If not, there is no reason to impose one on yourself for no good reason.
[Edited at 2021-07-02 13:43 GMT]
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 08:14
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Is it doable? | Jul 2, 2021 |
Following on from Dylan's comment about daily output, I say the same, 2.5 to 3 kWords a day. For translation.
How would this change for proofreading?
The reason I am asking is that an agency once asked for 7k words of proofreading in less than a day (20 hours, but essentially 12 due to sleep and meals). I said I needed more time but they said that it was urgent and the client could not extend the deadline. They said it was a regular client but always with extremely tight deadlines. I... See more Following on from Dylan's comment about daily output, I say the same, 2.5 to 3 kWords a day. For translation.
How would this change for proofreading?
The reason I am asking is that an agency once asked for 7k words of proofreading in less than a day (20 hours, but essentially 12 due to sleep and meals). I said I needed more time but they said that it was urgent and the client could not extend the deadline. They said it was a regular client but always with extremely tight deadlines. In the end they passed it on to another professional.
My question is: was I right, or did I miss a great opportunity? In your experience, is 7k of proofreading doable in a day? I have noticed that many proofreading assignments ask for tracked changes and/or comments on what has been changed, which increases the time taken.
I need to know as I have seen an increase in proofreading work and I need to gauge what is doable. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Be open with your client | Jul 2, 2021 |
Dear András,
Be open with your client. It will add to your credibility. Tell them that you are facing this kind of issue and you can take up their job 'ONLY' you are free without any regular client's job. So, your new clients will be prepared. So that, you can save their time. If you say to them you would be available 24x7, that is really bad and not a trustworthy thing. So, please be frank with your new clients. So that, you can take their work whenever you are free. Eventually, t... See more Dear András,
Be open with your client. It will add to your credibility. Tell them that you are facing this kind of issue and you can take up their job 'ONLY' you are free without any regular client's job. So, your new clients will be prepared. So that, you can save their time. If you say to them you would be available 24x7, that is really bad and not a trustworthy thing. So, please be frank with your new clients. So that, you can take their work whenever you are free. Eventually, they would become your regular client, so you won't put down their request as well. Who knows? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
| In my experience | Jul 2, 2021 |
20k proofreading is usually doable if you REALLY want to.
On a familiar topic with a normal translator, of course.
If the translation is trash or the topic is new, then yes, 7k.
PS this is with CATs. If they want tracked changes in Word, then it goes down to 5-10k depending on trashiness.
Paul Dixon wrote:
Following on from Dylan's comment about daily output, I say the same, 2.5 to 3 kWords a day. For translation.
How would this change for proofreading?
The reason I am asking is that an agency once asked for 7k words of proofreading in less than a day (20 hours, but essentially 12 due to sleep and meals). I said I needed more time but they said that it was urgent and the client could not extend the deadline. They said it was a regular client but always with extremely tight deadlines. In the end they passed it on to another professional.
My question is: was I right, or did I miss a great opportunity? In your experience, is 7k of proofreading doable in a day? I have noticed that many proofreading assignments ask for tracked changes and/or comments on what has been changed, which increases the time taken.
I need to know as I have seen an increase in proofreading work and I need to gauge what is doable.
[Edited at 2021-07-02 15:15 GMT]
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| Be open with your client! | Jul 2, 2021 |
anitha gomathy wrote:
Dear András,
Be open with your client. It will add to your credibility. Tell them that you are facing this kind of issue and you can take up their job 'ONLY' you are free without any regular client's job. So, your new clients will be prepared. So that, you can save their time. If you say to them you would be available 24x7, that is really bad and not a trustworthy thing. So, please be frank with your new clients. So that, you can take their work whenever you are free. Eventually, they would become your regular client, so you won't put down their request as well. Who knows?
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 14:14
Member
English to Turkish
Paul Dixon wrote:
I need to know as I have seen an increase in proofreading work
Do they find your translation rate too high?
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Baran Keki wrote:
Why?
Have you not heard there is a terrible crisis in Brazil?
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