| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | What to do if a direct customer approaches you behind your agency's back ... Thread poster: Sarah Downing
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Sarah Downing 
Local time: 20:46
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | No, Viktoria, the agency didn't get a cut | Jun 24, 2006 |
Hello Viktoria,
Just to correct you. Of course. I didn't give the agency a cut - they asked for one, but as I said in my previous postings, far be it for me to dictate to the client who they want too work with.
All I did was inform the agency that their end customer had contacted me and it stopped there. I then asked the end customer to contact the agency, as they had obviously got my contact details from them and it stopped there.
Therefore, I did not tak... See more Hello Viktoria,
Just to correct you. Of course. I didn't give the agency a cut - they asked for one, but as I said in my previous postings, far be it for me to dictate to the client who they want too work with.
All I did was inform the agency that their end customer had contacted me and it stopped there. I then asked the end customer to contact the agency, as they had obviously got my contact details from them and it stopped there.
Therefore, I did not take on the job, but don't know whether the end customer contacted the agency (probably not, otherwise they would have done so in the first place). I am not too enamoured by the agency's attitude, but as I am pretty swamped at the moment, neither am I crying buckets about not taking on the job. I suppose I am lucky to be able to say that.
My 2 cents about the agency situation. Yes, many if not all of them are in it to make money, but some actually deserve the cut they take and those are the ones I personally prefer to work with.
It is important to me that I feel like I am working with someone rather than for someone - I am after all an independent businesswoman rather than an employee. I appreciate the exchange between colleagues and that we can both help each other out as colleagues if the need arises, e.g. I can call them up with a software problem and ask for their advice, or they can call me up with a similar problem and ask for mine.
Of course, this is not the case with all agencies, but I am lucky to work with some very good colleagues.
The agencies who deserve the cut, in my opinion, are those who actually give a shit about quality assurance. They will proofread your translation, offer assistance if you have any terminology questions and basically just be a good partner. They will also understand that you have to have a life sometimes and would therefore like to charge extra for weekend and evening working, if the work comes in so late that you are forced to work unsociable hours.
Agencies that I don't like working with are those who think it is enough to take a huge cut just for answering a phone call and a few mails. I have come across agencies who don't proofread their translations, either because the personnel don't have the competence to do so, or they don't even have dictionaries in the office. Here, I should note that the people I find it easiest to work with have always been those who actually have personal experience of what goes into a translation and the amount of time it often takes.
When I started out, I ended up working for quite a few such agencies, but now I am in the lucky position where I can be a bit more choosy and I am. I prefer to work with agencies to whom quality is important - I have learned a lot from such people and I know that I am offering the best possible product to the end customer.
Many people feel that the natural transition as a translator is to go on from agencies to end customers, but I don't necessarily agree. The agencies I currently work for pay a hell of a lot more than the agencies I worked for at the start of my career, they have a wide variety of very interesting texts in my subject areas (enabling me faster turnaround as I am familiar with the work I am doing) and, moreover, extremely regular work.
I remember at the start how difficult it was to say no to work. I wasn't very confident about my abilities, but now I know what I can do and what I should steer clear of. I also generally know which agencies to steer clear of and I do. Therefore, I would advise anyone who works with agencies to make their choice wisely, if indeed they are in the position to do so (and I realise that not everyone can be choosy - I certainly couldn't be at the start).
Ultimately, it is up to the individual whether they prefer to work with agencies or direct customers - this is merely my opinion based on my personal experience and I wouldn't dream of telling people what to do.
I just wanted to point out that there is a huge mix of agencies out there. There are indeed some bad apples who pay crappy rates, don't give a fig about quality assurance and take their cut just for answering the phone. However, there are also some very efficient and fair business people out there, too.
To give you an example, one of my journalism agencies I regularly work for has trusted us to work directly with the end client for our most recent project. When I came up with an article off my own bat beyond the work the agency had commissioned me to do, he also offered for me to invoice the direct client for this rather than for the agency to take a cut.
As the direct client only knew me through the agency, I felt that this was reasonable and fair. The agency is also great to work with in general as they give extensive feedback and are always there if you have questions or need advice. If only all agencies were like that ...
I am sorry, Viktoria, that you have obviously had some bad luck. I, too, have come across many a crappy agency, but courage - there are people out there who are actually worth working with and who will respect your talent. Of course, some people do indeed prefer to work with direct customers as they generally pay more, but every choice has its ups and downs. I get work everyday from some of my agencies and I'm not sure whether a direct customer would be a in a position to provide me with this. As I said, it is ultimately the decision of each individual, but I just wanted to point out that there are two sides to the agency question. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Agencies and agencies | Jun 24, 2006 |
Hi Sarah,
Like I said myself, there ARE some very professional agencies, and I work with the good ones I know. But I still feel that this kind of agency is becoming a rarity. As the number of freelancers across the world is rapidly growing, we will eventually be all fighting for work from these agencies - or from direct clients. Now, because many people get into translation just because, without experience or studies, many translators do a bad job. This reflects on rates because, if... See more Hi Sarah,
Like I said myself, there ARE some very professional agencies, and I work with the good ones I know. But I still feel that this kind of agency is becoming a rarity. As the number of freelancers across the world is rapidly growing, we will eventually be all fighting for work from these agencies - or from direct clients. Now, because many people get into translation just because, without experience or studies, many translators do a bad job. This reflects on rates because, if a client is to get a mediocre quality translation, they might as well not pay the full price. You probably know just as well as I do that good translators are also getting increasingly hard to find. Basically, there is a lot of crap on the market on both sides. But also, many of the freelancers see that there is a buck to be made with outsourcing, they start outsourcing, many of them telling themselves "I'm better at PM than at translation anyways". And that's where many agencies come from. People who simply want to take a cut on other people's work. Not ALL of them come from there, but an increasing number, yes. And they try lower rates, see if anybody bites - and the uneducated translators, mostly those who are new in the business, eventually bite, and sometimes even hard! These agencies take much larger cuts than the ones you and I prefer to work for. Will they eventually take a little less when they come across translators who do an excellent job? I don't think so...
I have been disappointed many times at the way certain agencies handle their business, their clients, their translators and their projects. I recently looked at some LISA statistics and was speechless in front of the data. Most agencies don't proof work, and even most of those who do only spot check. These two categories amount to over 2/3 of the agencies who responded to the survey. And I know from experience that, when a client gets a not so good job from an agency, often, the agency, not willing to acknowledge that they gave no means to the translator to do a better job, pretend it's all the translator's fault. Once, an agency convinced me to translate a PowerPoint document, which I was reluctant to do, as I had a hard time understanding the document at all. They said, don't worry about it, just translate it, that's all. They never paid me, saying the client didn't like the work (the document contained only partial phrases without any context). So, often, the translator is the one who is deemed to not have done a good job, and the agency swallows the money, apologizing to the client about the bad translator and swearing never to work with that translator again. So, I have decided a long time ago that, if an agency fails to appreciate my work and tries to squeeze more and more out of me, I will not show any appreciation to them. And in the case of such agencies, if I don't have a contract stating that I am not allowed to work directly with a client of theirs, I will not mind taking jobs from that client and will not even feel dishonest.
In fact, I think that this whole question is a question of loyalty. To me, loyalty goes both ways, and when someone is not loyal to me, they lose my loyalty for them. I also think that, by making your contact info available to their client, the agency acted in a very unloyal manner. In fact, in some jurisdictions, it is considered illegal to do this. So, if I can't count on an agency to keep my confidential data to themselves, they shouldn't count on me to look out for their interests.
I appreciate the time you took to explain all this in detail. For once, I am not the only one who wrote a full page! ▲ Collapse
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