How would you charge for other services than translating? Thread poster: Claudia Iglesias
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Hello
I've been recently contacted by people who have just some e-mails to translate but who are willing to import products from my country. I'd like to offer another kind of services, for which a person in the country, speaking the language is much more useful that e-mails or long distance phone calls with language problems. I'm thinking of phone calls, representation, or whatever they might need. I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to char... See more Hello
I've been recently contacted by people who have just some e-mails to translate but who are willing to import products from my country. I'd like to offer another kind of services, for which a person in the country, speaking the language is much more useful that e-mails or long distance phone calls with language problems. I'm thinking of phone calls, representation, or whatever they might need. I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to charge for such services.
Any idea? Thanks
Claudia ▲ Collapse
| | | | | from the top of my head | Nov 14, 2003 |
Hola Claudia,
What I would do is calculate how much an hour of my time is worth, based on how much I can translate. Maybe it is not as easy as it looks but it would give ME and idea of how much to charge
Good luck.
Pamela
| | | | sylver 
Local time: 07:06
English to French
| Delicate but interesting | Nov 14, 2003 |
Claudia Iglesias wrote:
Hello
I've been recently contacted by people who have just some e-mails to translate but who are willing to import products from my country. I'd like to offer another kind of services, for which a person in the country, speaking the language is much more useful that e-mails or long distance phone calls with language problems. I'm thinking of phone calls, representation, or whatever they might need. I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to charge for such services.
Any idea? Thanks
Claudia
I guess you have specific customers in mind already. Maybe the best would be to contact them, explain them your idea and ask them if they would be interested and if so, at which prices.
Pricewise, there are 2 approaches I can think of:
1. Commission. X% of the total amount involved
2. Hourly/daily rate
In both cases, expenses should be charged separately (car, phone calls,...).
If they are interested and that their price expectations are acceptable, go for it.
But be aware that you are talking about a completely new job altoghether (Broker), and that you will have to figure out how it's done.
Translation is not only a matter of knowing 2 languages, and being a broker is probably not just a matter of being there either. That said, it could be an interesting income source and job.
| | | | mishima (X)
Local time: 08:06
Italian to Japanese
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| Get a commision on invoices | Nov 14, 2003 |
Claudia Iglesias wrote:
I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to charge for such services.
Any idea? Thanks
Claudia
I would suggest, if you see that this business is real and possibily longlasting, that you request a commission on each invoice your customer issues. The good point of this approach would be that - provided you sign a suitable contract - you are involved in the business as a kind of Agent, and this could be the starting point for becoming an Agent for other similar businesses in future. The bad point is that you may end up working several or many months by keeping phone bills and other "public relation" type expences at your charge without getting the agreed money should the business not go well.
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Wayne Sutton (X)
Local time: 01:06
French to English
| hourly rate or retainer plus hourly rate | Nov 14, 2003 |
I'm thinking of phone calls, representation, or whatever they might need. I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to charge for such services.
Hi Claudia,
I provide similar services from time to time and generally charge by the hour. The rate needs to be higher than whatever your translation rate is because there can be phone charges etc. Depending on the type of representation work you are doing, there can also a lot of backgro... See more I'm thinking of phone calls, representation, or whatever they might need. I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to charge for such services.
Hi Claudia,
I provide similar services from time to time and generally charge by the hour. The rate needs to be higher than whatever your translation rate is because there can be phone charges etc. Depending on the type of representation work you are doing, there can also a lot of background work that needs to be done which you can't charge directly for so that needs to be taken into account in the higher rate. Another thing you may care to consider if your customer wants you to be available on a regular basis is asking him for a retainer which would cover a minimum number of hours per month which is charged whether he uses it or not. The justification is that if you keep time available for him, you may have to refuse other work.
HTH
Wayne ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Sales is from Venus, Marketing is from Mars | Nov 14, 2003 |
I think you need a more proactive (aggressive) approach:
I proposed similar services several times to translation clients, but they were never interested.
So I think if you want to engage in some kind of sales representation you should search your own suppliers and make propositions which they cannot reasonably decline.
This way you would have much more control over what is going to happen.
[Edited at 2003... See more I think you need a more proactive (aggressive) approach:
I proposed similar services several times to translation clients, but they were never interested.
So I think if you want to engage in some kind of sales representation you should search your own suppliers and make propositions which they cannot reasonably decline.
This way you would have much more control over what is going to happen.
[Edited at 2003-11-14 13:11] ▲ Collapse
| | | | 00000000 (X)
English to French
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| Offer a comparison | Nov 14, 2003 |
[quote]Claudia Iglesias wrote:
...I'm thinking of phone calls, representation, or whatever they might need. I have no idea about how to deal with this and the next question would be how to charge for such services.
Hi Claudia --
A good starting point would be what it costs them to translate the emails. Initially, your offer could be presented as roughly equivalent financially but more advantageous for them. The amount they pay you already know. Set an hourly rate in accordance to that (independently of everything else). Normally, it should pay better from your point of view (it takes less times to hold a useful conversation than to translate in writing). Eventually, as the relationship develops, you'll just charge them in reference to that initial hourly rate, no matter what time you actually spend. I would expect it would be a lot of occurrences of minimum hourly charge rather than a several hour long time period every now and then. From their point of view, they'll just tell you, with all the details, in less time than it would take to put it down in writing and have it translated along with the reply.
Best of luck!
Esther
| | | | Claudia Iglesias
Chile
Local time: 19:06
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Thank you very much | Nov 30, 2003 |
All the pieces of advice are very valuable.
With my first client we agreed on charging per quarters of hour. For instance if I have to make a call and it takes me 5 minutes, I'll charge 15 minutes. This should compensate for the time it takes and the time to make a report of it. I stated that for local calls or visits there will be no extra charge than time. We'll see how it works. Thanks again.
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