Poll: Do you tend to give a lower rate than you'd like to new clients and get "locked in" to that rate? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you tend to give a lower rate than you'd like to new clients and get "locked in" to that rate?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Nikolay Novitskiy 
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:57
Member (2018)
English to Russian
| One should never do this | Aug 15, 2023 |
One should never offer a lower rate from the beginning! It will be hard to negotiate better conditions later - clients are very reluctant to do it.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you tend to give a lower rate than you'd like to new clients and get "locked in" to that rate?". View the poll results »
No. I get "locked in" by producing a high-quality translation, on time, that requires no changes or corrections. For my standard rate.
[Edited at 2023-08-15 09:13 GMT]
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 19:57
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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| Claustrophobic | Aug 15, 2023 |
I'm claustrophobic in every way, I don't like being "locked in" and I don't do that with new clients, in particular with whom I don't yet have a relationship of trust established.
There are times when we can negotiate our rates, but this should always be done fairly and respecting ourselves and our work.
Offering a low rate to a new customer is like telling them I suck. So, definitely no.
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ferreirac
Brazil
Local time: 15:57
Member (2013)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| A Way to Work Around That Situation | Aug 15, 2023 |
One way to work around a situation in which we need to offer a lower rate, without being stuck with that rate permanently, is to provide a special discount for that occasion, explaining to the client what our regular rate is and what the specific discount for that job will be.
| | | | Nicholas Boline
United States
Local time: 13:57
Member (2023)
Spanish to English
| New Translators | Aug 15, 2023 |
I find that agencies will not even respond to me unless I offer the absolute lowest rate that I would be willing to work for, and even then many don't respond. I am a newer translator trying to get steady work to get established and I find that if I try to negotiate rates at all, I end up with no work... I see a lot of well-established translators talk about the importance of valuing your work, but I'd love to hear some discussion about how new professional translators (not amateurs, not hobbyis... See more I find that agencies will not even respond to me unless I offer the absolute lowest rate that I would be willing to work for, and even then many don't respond. I am a newer translator trying to get steady work to get established and I find that if I try to negotiate rates at all, I end up with no work... I see a lot of well-established translators talk about the importance of valuing your work, but I'd love to hear some discussion about how new professional translators (not amateurs, not hobbyists, not people going into non-native languages) can set rates so as to be able to make a living in this profession without already having 5+ years of experience... ▲ Collapse
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New clients are always welcome but I’m not actively looking for them and I would certainly not attract them by lowering my rates. If you start with a low rate, it will be harder afterwards to come out of it. It makes very little business sense to do so. It's a bit like shooting yourself in the foot. Will that client follow when you'll raise your rates? Probably not! Most of my clients have come to me via word of mouth and in general they already have a rough idea of my rates.
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I ALWAYS stick to my own standard rates.
Take it or leave it. No negotiation, no discounts.
That's how I have always run my business of 12 years, and I believe it saves me a lot of hassle.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 20:57
French to English
Nicholas Boline wrote:
I find that agencies will not even respond to me unless I offer the absolute lowest rate that I would be willing to work for, and even then many don't respond. I am a newer translator trying to get steady work to get established and I find that if I try to negotiate rates at all, I end up with no work... I see a lot of well-established translators talk about the importance of valuing your work, but I'd love to hear some discussion about how new professional translators (not amateurs, not hobbyists, not people going into non-native languages) can set rates so as to be able to make a living in this profession without already having 5+ years of experience...
If you don't have very much experience or some niche knowledge then it can be difficult. And it's hard to raise your rate once you've established it. You can start by saying things like "this deadline is tough, I'll have to work out of office hours to meet it, so I'll need to charge my emergency rate" or "this content will require a lot of research because it's specialised, so I'll need to charge more for this job". Once the client has accepted this a few times, you might be able to raise the rate by promising no more surcharges. (Make sure the new rate makes it worth your while without surcharges of course).
Now that my business is pretty well established, my strategy (first advised here by Ice Scream) is to quote higher prices to new clients. I give priority to these new clients, and only work for those who pay less when the new clients don't need me. As a result I'm working less and earning more.
| | | | Nicholas Boline
United States
Local time: 13:57
Member (2023)
Spanish to English
| New transators | Aug 15, 2023 |
Kay Denney wrote: Nicholas Boline wrote:
I find that agencies will not even respond to me unless I offer the absolute lowest rate that I would be willing to work for, and even then many don't respond. I am a newer translator trying to get steady work to get established and I find that if I try to negotiate rates at all, I end up with no work... I see a lot of well-established translators talk about the importance of valuing your work, but I'd love to hear some discussion about how new professional translators (not amateurs, not hobbyists, not people going into non-native languages) can set rates so as to be able to make a living in this profession without already having 5+ years of experience... If you don't have very much experience or some niche knowledge then it can be difficult. And it's hard to raise your rate once you've established it. You can start by saying things like "this deadline is tough, I'll have to work out of office hours to meet it, so I'll need to charge my emergency rate" or "this content will require a lot of research because it's specialised, so I'll need to charge more for this job". Once the client has accepted this a few times, you might be able to raise the rate by promising no more surcharges. (Make sure the new rate makes it worth your while without surcharges of course). Now that my business is pretty well established, my strategy (first advised here by Ice Scream) is to quote higher prices to new clients. I give priority to these new clients, and only work for those who pay less when the new clients don't need me. As a result I'm working less and earning more.
Thank you for the advice! I think this is the equivalent of switching jobs every few years in the corporate world in order to get raises.
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I know well the price of my work, but there are adverse outside (outside of me) circumstances that think it other way
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