Poll: Have any regular clients lost contact with you this year without telling you why?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Oct 30, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have any regular clients lost contact with you this year without telling you why?".

View the poll results »



Rebecca Cockburn
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 23:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Oct 30, 2019

I was expecting to hear from one market research client about this time last year, but haven't heard anything from him. I've been meaning to get in touch to see if he's okay, but life and work get in the way. He is a friend and colleague of another market research client, and over the past couple of years they haven't been sending as much work as they used to either. There is a lot of competition in their field, so they're probably getting less orders as well, and I know that they sometimes do t... See more
I was expecting to hear from one market research client about this time last year, but haven't heard anything from him. I've been meaning to get in touch to see if he's okay, but life and work get in the way. He is a friend and colleague of another market research client, and over the past couple of years they haven't been sending as much work as they used to either. There is a lot of competition in their field, so they're probably getting less orders as well, and I know that they sometimes do their own translations into Spanish instead of asking me to outsource that for them, in addition to translating into English.Collapse


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Couldn't know Oct 30, 2019

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

"Have any regular clients lost contact with you this year without telling you why?"


How could I know? I have quite a few "regular" clients who only contact me occasionally. I wouldn't know whether or not they had "lost contact" with me (whatever that means).

They contact me when they need me. Sometimes months, and even years, go by between contacts.


Nina Khmielnitzky
Anna Herbst
Muriel Vasconcellos
Philip Lees
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:38
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Oct 30, 2019

My regulars (a group of 5 translation agencies and 2 direct clients) have been so for a long time and I will continue doing my best to keep them satisfied. I worked regularly for 3 years with a British translation agency but the end client decided recently to handle their work in-house. The PM informed me beforehand about what was going on.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 23:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
Speak of the devil Oct 30, 2019

neilmac wrote:

I was expecting to hear from one market research client about this time last year, ... He is a friend and colleague of another market research client, and over the past couple of years they haven't been sending as much work as they used to either....



Well well. An hour after posting and the 2nd client I mentioned has just informed me they'll be sending me loads of translations between tomorrow and the end of the year... which is nice


Dan Lucas
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Alexandra Hirsch (X)
Alexandra Hirsch (X)  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 23:38
English to German
+ ...
Maybe Oct 30, 2019

I don't know if they have broken off contact on purpose because they have decided to try out the enticingly simple and cheap G***** Translator or whether they are just busy as usual. Some actually turn up after ages, telling me they will have some work for me soon. (Okay...)

Anyway, I much prefer not hearing from them than receiving those irksome 'Hi' or 'hi' or 'Hi!' messages that open a communication channel but are never followed up with anything. (Time wasters, the lot of them.
... See more
I don't know if they have broken off contact on purpose because they have decided to try out the enticingly simple and cheap G***** Translator or whether they are just busy as usual. Some actually turn up after ages, telling me they will have some work for me soon. (Okay...)

Anyway, I much prefer not hearing from them than receiving those irksome 'Hi' or 'hi' or 'Hi!' messages that open a communication channel but are never followed up with anything. (Time wasters, the lot of them. … I'm in a bad mood, sorry.)
Collapse


 
Katalin Szilárd
Katalin Szilárd  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 23:38
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Lost? No. But.. Oct 30, 2019

recently I asked a regular client whether I should write the invoice or wait for further jobs.
They wrote me they didn't have Hungarian jobs currently. It is very odd.
For years they had Hungarian jobs at least 2 jobs every week, bigger and smaller.
Then since September less and less jobs.
And now nothing. This is very weird.


writeaway
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:38
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I never really know Oct 30, 2019

As others have said, some clients go for months or years without connecting. A couple of them have told me my rates were too high, but that trend started a few years ago. My mainstays are still with me.

 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 23:38
French to English
. Oct 31, 2019

There are a couple who haven't sent anything for a while, but they never sent very much anyway. They may have found someone cheaper, or decided it's too expensive to translate their stuff nowadays, I don't know. They'll still get a Christmas card.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 19:38
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes, it happens Oct 31, 2019

This happens regularly, luckily enough not as often as new clients appear. However, many of those who disappear show up again a long time later. I've noticed that some agencies also engage different translators regularly just to get more qualifications in the Blue Board. I've had some of these, so now I'm waiting for the second job to make my entries in the Blue Board.

 
Rebecca Cockburn
Rebecca Cockburn  Identity Verified
Trinidad and Tobago
Local time: 18:38
Member (2012)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes, I have had the same experience Nov 4, 2019

Such a relevant question. I have found that at least 3 of the clients (agencies) for whom I have done regular work over the years have been sending little to no work my way. Two of them were bought over by other companies and I believe the PMs may have been assigned new roles or different markets/ subject areas.


ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have any regular clients lost contact with you this year without telling you why?".

View the poll results »



[Edited at 2019-11-04 00:50 GMT]


 


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Poll: Have any regular clients lost contact with you this year without telling you why?






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