Your best experiences with outsourcers?
Thread poster: Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:18
German to English
Dec 21, 2017

I mean outsourcers of any kind: mega-agencies, boutique agencies, regularly outsourcing colleagues, colleagues who need help with a single project, etc.

There are a lot of people here who repeatedly say positive things about their relationships with some outsourcers, but it seems like it would be nice to have a big list in one place about all the things that outsourcers have done and should do to make their freelancers happier or improve the quality of the services they provide.


 
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 20:18
English to German
In memoriam
Automatic payers Dec 21, 2017

I like those outsourcers best who spare me as much red tape as possible. Two or three of my agencies have platforms where the jobs I did every month are listed with word counts and my earned compensation, so I can see what I earned this month anytime, and at the end of the month the total is saved in an automatically created invoice and paid four or six weeks later. I don't have to lift a finger for that. Since the word price of these agencies is fine as well, working for these agencies is reall... See more
I like those outsourcers best who spare me as much red tape as possible. Two or three of my agencies have platforms where the jobs I did every month are listed with word counts and my earned compensation, so I can see what I earned this month anytime, and at the end of the month the total is saved in an automatically created invoice and paid four or six weeks later. I don't have to lift a finger for that. Since the word price of these agencies is fine as well, working for these agencies is really enjoyable and whenever they approach me with urgent jobs, I try to make room in my schedule for them.Collapse


 
Daniel Frisano
Daniel Frisano  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 20:18
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Reverse deadlines Dec 21, 2017

E.g., "don't send me this before February".

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:18
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Immediate payment + no deadline... Dec 21, 2017

I have one very dear long-standing customer (a Belgian translation agency) who for over 20 years has been paying like clockwork the day after receiving my invoice. There is another one (a direct client) whose deadline is usually very flexible (“whenever you can”)…

 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
If Carlsberg did translation outsourcing... Dec 21, 2017

I like agencies where it goes like this:

[beginning of year]
Yes, your new prices are still a bargain (ideally accompanied by profuse and gratuitous praise)

[shortly afterwards, by email]
When can you do the attached? (no file management system, CAT or invoicing system required)

[as soon as you reply]
Fantastic, go ahead.

[as soon as you deliver]
Thanks, you're a star. Money will be with you tomorrow.

[a whi
... See more
I like agencies where it goes like this:

[beginning of year]
Yes, your new prices are still a bargain (ideally accompanied by profuse and gratuitous praise)

[shortly afterwards, by email]
When can you do the attached? (no file management system, CAT or invoicing system required)

[as soon as you reply]
Fantastic, go ahead.

[as soon as you deliver]
Thanks, you're a star. Money will be with you tomorrow.

[a while later]
The client loved it (ideally accompanied by more profuse and gratuitous praise)

*************

Why aren't they all like this? What have they got to lose?
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Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:18
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Good clients are a boon Dec 21, 2017

Michael Wetzel wrote:
it would be nice to have a big list in one place about all the things that outsourcers have done and should do to make their freelancers happier or improve the quality of the services they provide.

I don't have any one client that has all the characteristics noted in Chris' post above, but I have many who tick one or more boxes on that list.

Several of my Japanese agency clients automatically list my projects for the month, submit them to me for inspection, then (provided that I agree) pay the agreed amount without my needing to even submit an invoice.

I have a European client who will pay me weekly if I wish. I actually did this for a couple of months, then creating weekly invoices got boring, so I switched to a monthly cycle. They still usually pay within days of the end of the month invoiced, which I like.

One agency makes a point of passing on any praise from the end client, which is always nice. Happened this morning - nice way to wind down into the Christmas holiday.

Basically all my clients are polite and professional, many are quite chatty and friendly also. I find that a pleasant aspect of freelance work. I like to know that there is a person on the other end of the line.

Dan


 
Laura Kingdon
Laura Kingdon  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:18
Member (2015)
French to English
+ ...
Negotiation Dec 21, 2017

Teresa Borges wrote:

I have one very dear long-standing customer (a Belgian translation agency) who for over 20 years has been paying like clockwork the day after receiving my invoice. There is another one (a direct client) whose deadline is usually very flexible (“whenever you can”)…


That's really living the dream...

Personally, I hate haggling over prices, especially once I've already agreed on a price per word with an agency which then goes on to beg for discounts for every job. I have had a couple of agencies hear my rates and then decide they were willing to pay me more, which is wonderful! But honestly, I am typically quite willing to work with any agency that accepts my rates without difficulty and pays without being reminded, while I tend to stop replying to those that ask for discounts all the time.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:18
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Mutual trust and respect Dec 21, 2017

Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote:
I like those outsourcers best who spare me as much red tape as possible.

My current agency clients all have very streamlined processes that minimise my overhead operations: emails, file handling, book-keeping, invoicing, payment chasing. For a start, I don't have to do any payment chasing at all! But I like to cut the email side of things right down to a minimum too, as I've done with many a good client. I'm fortunate in only having good ones now, be they translation agencies, other intermediaries (e-commerce portals, communications agencies, etc) or direct clients. But I have had my share of "high-maintenance" and downright bad ones in the past, I can assure you.

I once spent a couple of years working for one of the very biggest translation agencies. I had just one contact for each project; instructions were 100% clear; jobs took just seconds to accept, file handling too; their own "invoice" was quick to check and always correct; and they paid monthly within 10 days - regular as clockwork. I even got paid here in the EU by free (to me, anyway) wire transfer - from the USA! Unfortunately, the rates were abysmal , but the pleasant interfaces and the fascinating projects meant that I continued far longer than I should have.

What else do I appreciate?
- Fast payment, of course. One property sales client who sadly rarely needs my services nowadays holds the record: 7 minutes between sending the invoice and receiving notification from PayPal! Another one makes a special effort to pay early before I go off on holiday, just in case I need it. That's so thoughtful!
- Accepting responsibility. Some clients try to blame their suppliers for everything; others admit to their own failings and accept that their suppliers are human too. I have one client who sends numerous small jobs and it's pretty inevitable that occasionally one will get overlooked. Fortunately it happens to us both about equally (not that I'm keeping tabs on it ).
- Support in the face of end-client complaints. It's easy for an agency to side with their clients every single time they complain, but some do support their suppliers when it's a question of language (I mean, who's the expert here? If you - the client - are, why the heck are you paying?) or if the end-client is being unreasonable. I'm sure all my into-English peers have experienced the former .
- Trust and respect. That's really what it all boils down to, and it has to be mutual. Two human beings (even if the one on their side changes with each job) can do business in a perfectly civilised way if each has respect for the other and is willing to trust them (within the bounds of a business relationship). I mean, I've heard translators report that clients say "Oh yeah?" when they ask for a deadline extension due to sickness. I'd hate that. My clients know (I hope!) that I'll go the extra mile whenever possible, but if I can't, I can't.

What I don't need is the "ego-stroking" that some clients gush out nowadays. IMO, a couple of words of sincere thanks go a lot further than a whole load of gush. Oh, and I won't get into the "You give me a top rating, and I'll give you one too" thing right from the first job. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, or just plain old .


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 20:18
French to English
speed of payment Dec 21, 2017

I did a job for a client working with EU funding and apparently they had to prove that all bills were paid within 15 days to qualify for the funding. Wow! OK I see Sheila mentioning 7 minutes, so that's nothing.

How about the client who asked a thousand questions, along the lines of "why did you keep the word "chateau" instead of translating it" and finally told the PM that they had to only have me translate their stuff as from then, because I obviously did tons of research and ha
... See more
I did a job for a client working with EU funding and apparently they had to prove that all bills were paid within 15 days to qualify for the funding. Wow! OK I see Sheila mentioning 7 minutes, so that's nothing.

How about the client who asked a thousand questions, along the lines of "why did you keep the word "chateau" instead of translating it" and finally told the PM that they had to only have me translate their stuff as from then, because I obviously did tons of research and had a much richer vocabulary that the other translators.

(I stopped working with that agency this year and wonder what happened to that client)

[Edited at 2017-12-21 20:58 GMT]
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John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 15:18
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
Raise your price Dec 21, 2017

I have one client who told me, after I quoted what I thought was already a high-end price for straightforward jobs, "You're not charging enough, raise it another 10%." And I have continued to do work for them, at the higher price, for several years now. On top of that, they pay within a week, have long deadlines and never complain.

[Edited at 2017-12-21 23:03 GMT]


 


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