Based on an idea by Piet Peters, a French, English, Italian, Spanish and German into Dutch translator based in Belgium.
Friday, December 16, 2011
16 How a translator saved a whole company (or not)
Based on an idea by Piet Peters, a French, English, Italian, Spanish and German into Dutch translator based in Belgium.
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Oh man... I'm doing this right now!
ReplyDeleteMy approach is generally to charge between 25% & 50% extra- or my normal rate for a more reasonable delivery date. Frequently it transpires that it wasn't so urgent after all...
ReplyDeleteOh, those evil Pams :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, once I had to find a translator for a rush job -- seriously, they wanted it on Monday morning, we got it on a Friday, it was technical. We (and therefore the end client) had to pay the translator a hefty surcharge (and I still felt really bad for her having to work all weekend), but we managed to get it delivered to our client by Monday. Literally two MONTHS later, the client called and said they couldn't open the file, and could we resend it please. What the HELL were they thinking?
ReplyDeleteIt is NEVER that urgent. Accept jobs like these and you'll be losing more than your weekend, but a great opportunity to stop this kind of behaviour.
ReplyDeleteSimple: most clients need the FILES for their ISO-yadayadayada audits. The contents, however...
ReplyDeleteAnd the files pop out of the blue on Friday? Right...
ReplyDeleteSo true, so true...I couldn't agree more. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteAs a computer programmer who also writes technical docs, I can attest that clients often do the exact same thing with documentation.
ReplyDeleteI've known worse : a week after I send the translation, the client (agency)asking why he didn't get it. So i send it again, though I'm quite certain he did get it the first time.
ReplyDeleteRings a bell!
ReplyDeleteTheir going to a therapist is the only urgent thing!
ReplyDeleteIf you need more time for a project do you ask for it?
ReplyDeleteI can certainly relate to this! Also, what about the times when you slept poorly the night before and decided you'd try to sleep in a little the next morning, but then the phone rings or there's something wrong with the job sent the night before... All you wanted was that extra hour of sleep!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, thanks! We think managing expectations and deadlines is a really important part of our business. It certainly is true that clients forget about translation quite frequently and then try to get it done last-minute. Of course, we like to solve problems if and when we can, but it's up to us translators whether or not to accept those project. Managing expectations is important, but we do occasionally accept these projects from important previous clients -- and charge our regular rush rate, of course. We think it's unreasonable to expect to pay the same for a rush job as for a regular job. In general, most rush services come with a premium price -- even at the dry cleaner's, the passport issuing office, one-hour glasses, etc. :)
ReplyDeleteOlá, este é o teu trabalho? está fixe.
ReplyDeleteAugusta Neves