ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Agencies vs. Direct Clients

Mario Freitas — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:54:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Mario Freitas
Post title: Agencies vs. Direct Clients

It's very common to hear colleagues saying direct clients are the best.
Ok, the rates are better. Period.
Agencies pay less, but unlike direct clients, they keep sending you jobs forever. Direct clients are mostly one-time clients or once-or-twice-a-year clients. Sorry, but you can't live with that. And even if you can, you'll have to negotiate terms and prices every single time and hope the client is a good and honest client every single time.
As to public agencies, in my country they are among the worst choices, for several reasons better not discussed here, although the rates may be the best.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Public administration

Muriel Vasconcellos (X) — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 02:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Muriel Vasconcellos (X)
Post title: Public administration

International organizations, government institutions, and NGOs are the best, IMHO. They are working for the public good, and usually this means that their texts are interesting and progressive.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | People who treat me well

Rebecca Garber — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 22:49:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Rebecca Garber
Post title: People who treat me well

I don't care if you are a PM at an agency or a direct client. If you treat me with respect, and pay on time, I will happily work for you over and over again.

If you treat every project as a bargaining session to get my "best rate ever"; if you condescend to speak to the "staff"; if you can't be bothered to pay on time; then I won't work for you ever again.

I've tried out three new agencies this year. Two have failed.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Agencies

Yetta Jensen Bogarde — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 18:58:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Post title: Agencies

Of course not all of them, you'll have to screen them until you find the ones you like to work with.
My favorites are large agencies with very professional, friendly and competent PMs.
And like others have mentioned, they know the industry and know what they can expect from both end clients and translators.
Usually, they also have a dtp dept. to assist, if needed.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Too much ado about direct clients

Mario Chavez (X) — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 17:44:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Mario Chavez (X)
Post title: Too much ado about direct clients

Here in America, the mantra among colleagues (at least by reading the Chronicle, a publication) has long been to work for direct clients because they pay better, pay more, are easier to work with and (drumroll) they are the holy grail of the so-called “premium” market.

As if the premium market were the HBO equivalent in our profession…

If a fruitful relationship happens between a client and myself, borne out of mutual respect, trust, appreciation, and other common goals, does it really matter if the client is a translation agency (big or small), a government ministry, a small company or a mafia don (provided I don't know this last part)? Professional respect (which goes both ways, by the way) and payment are client agnostic. The $500 I receive for a job I've done for an agency is no worse than if I'd received it from a much-vaulted direct client.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Private clients?

Carl Carter — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 13:57:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Carl Carter
Post title: Private clients?

I guess you mean customers who are not translation agencies, do you? There's a big difference between these remaining clients, the main one being their size and the frequency of the assignments you get. Personally, I don't do much work for private individuals, especially if they only have one page a year to translate, but I do do a lot of work for universities with a high volume of work, for example. So I would be clearer here in defining types of customers.

Regards

Carl

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Agencies

Vera Schoen — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 13:14:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Vera Schoen
Post title: Agencies

There are tasks I find tedious, like formatting or chasing end clients for answers.
I happily "pay" agencies to take care of those tasks.
The agencies I work with are all very professional and respond immediately should I have any questions. They also take care of all unnecessary discussions with the end client like: "Why is our company name suddenly ending with an s?"

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | No preference

Gianluca Marras — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 12:52:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Gianluca Marras
Post title: No preference

I have no preference.
in the past preference was for private clients, now I work with both direct clients an agencies.
The agencies I work for are reliable and deal with all the "strange requests".
At the end of the day my preference goes for those who:

1) pay my rates
2) pay may rates on time
3) establish good work-relationships

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Private clients, but...

EvaVer (X) — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 12:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: EvaVer (X)
Post title: Private clients, but...

enlightened ones, mostly my stable ones.
[quote]neilmac wrote:

Why anyone would "prefer" to work with agencies rather than direct clients is a mystery to me. [/quote]
Because they know (er... are supposed to know) what translation is about. Have you never had nonsense demands from direct clients?

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | OTHER: Clients who trust me

José Henrique Lamensdorf — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 11:31:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: OTHER: Clients who trust me

If I were to point out ONE common feature among the good clients - the ones I prefer to work for - it would be TRUST. They trust my work and my integrity as a professional, considering it to be what will help them meet their goals.

Some translation agencies actually believe that we have an objective in common: serving the end-client in the best and most economical way. They accept my rates and terms, and trust that I'll always be doing my best to give them the most bang for their buck. No matter what, I'll never let them down, they are my business partners.

Of course, on the other end, there are agencies that just want to get that darn job done, so they can make as much profit as they can from it. They impose their rates and terms, and sugarcoat these with pleasantries, hoping that I'll let them dump that "problem" - the job that stands between them and their profit - on my lap. In the rare cases when the sugarcoating works, it will usually be a one-night-stand.

What kind of private clients? Companies or individuals? Small or large companies?

It doesn't matter. Again, if they TRUST that I'll provide them with a cost-effective solution to their needs, we'll enjoy working together for as long as it lasts, be it a one-off translation, the only one they'll ever need, or a work relationship that will last decades.

Last week I did the sworn translation of a foreigner's driver's license, as he will be traveling here very often in the next few years. He was about as enthusiastic about my service as the founder of a company where I was the preferred translator for 20+ years.

Fellow translators are a special case. When they hire me (or when I hire them), it's because whoever is hiring TRUSTS the other to do something at least to the same standards as s/he would do it. Of course, I'll never let them down.

So I prefer working for people who trust me. I enjoy the chance to prove that I'd never betray anyone's trust, and will always do my very best for them.

One client of mine, who only has occasional demand for translation, and hence comes back only every couple of yours or so - either for his company or for private purposes - illustrated it very well when I asked him, [i]"Which way would you prefer me to do it, A or B?"[/i] His reply was: [i]"I am an expert in MY line of business. Part of my expertise involves finding expert providers for every ancillary service we need. You are my expert in translation. Do whatever you consider the best option, and send me the bill!"[/i]

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | I have no preference

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 10:41:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: I have no preference

Putting it in other words, my preference goes to the ones that give me interesting texts to translate, take their freelancers seriously, pay well and on time and are easy to work with. Some are agencies, some are end clients.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for? | Private clients

neilmac — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 10:28:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: neilmac
Post title: Private clients

Why anyone would "prefer" to work with agencies rather than direct clients is a mystery to me.
As for officialdom, I used to work for the regional government here occasionally, but most departments now use a compulsory e-billing system which is a bit of a hassle, so I don't mind not workng with them any more either.

Poll: Who do you prefer working for?

ProZ.com Staff — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 08:10:01 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Who do you prefer working for?
Poster: ProZ.com Staff

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Who do you prefer working for?".

This poll was originally submitted by Patricia García. View the poll results »