Poll: My client-negotiating skills are: Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "My client-negotiating skills are:".
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Depends on what is meant by client-negotiation skills. I’ve always managed to negotiate a new deadline. The fact that over the years I have delivered before the deadline quite often gives me a good grounding in the few occasions I happen to need to negotiate a new deadline. I can’t say the same about rates as sometimes the difference is so large that in all likelihood there is no room for negotiation and my client-negotiation skills are useless! | | | Angus Stewart United Kingdom Local time: 21:04 French to English + ...
As part of my legal education I received training in negotiation and it is a transferable skill. | | | Debora d'Amato (X) Italy Local time: 22:04 English to Italian + ...
When you're a student, it's hard to negotiate. Normally, they think you're less professional than other translators (as a student you have less experience, of course) so it's very hard negotiating with someone who "miraculously" offers you a job. It's like they're doing you a favour, you want to negotiate too? They could get annoyed! | |
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Somewhere between adequate and stroppy bitch... | Jul 2, 2018 |
I try to regard clients as business partners and bear in mind that they need my services! Favours definitely go both ways with the good clients. I learned early on that an impossible deadline is not a reason to turn down the job, unless the client says up front it is not negotiable. They may be surprised when I tell them sorry, I can't drop everything else and deliver immediately, but what about Xxxday? Many of them agree to it when asked, however. Rates too - I mentio... See more I try to regard clients as business partners and bear in mind that they need my services! Favours definitely go both ways with the good clients. I learned early on that an impossible deadline is not a reason to turn down the job, unless the client says up front it is not negotiable. They may be surprised when I tell them sorry, I can't drop everything else and deliver immediately, but what about Xxxday? Many of them agree to it when asked, however. Rates too - I mention sometimes how many hours a job will take me. (A guesstimate, but not too wild.) Clients with a 'tight budget' won't give in, so they have to find another translator, but I have also succeeded in negotiating higher rates than the client's initial proposal. I recently managed to get a client to change indemnity and auditing clauses in their terms and conditions. As a student, don't feel less professional than other translators, and try not to be less professional! If the job you deliver is fit for purpose, it has the same value as a job done by a more experienced translator, and otherwise it is worthless. Don't tell clients you are inexperienced, tell them what you are good at! OK, you do gather experience over time, but as a freelancer there is no promotion. You are the boss, chief cook and bottle-washer in the firm from the start. ▲ Collapse | | | Always possible to improve them | Jul 2, 2018 |
Markets change. To keep up with those changes you need to adjust your negotiating skills accordingly. I am getting better at this as time goes on. I thought I had understood this early on, but I was wrong. I was selling myself short a lot of the time. The customer is not always right, but the supplier is not always wrong either. The client is paying us to know our business and I understand that much better now. | | |
I don't waste a lot of time with negotiations, mostly my standard prices are 'take it or leave it'. | | | Like it or lump it | Jul 2, 2018 |
Yetta J Bogarde wrote: I don't waste a lot of time with negotiations, mostly my standard prices are 'take it or leave it'. I don't negotiate full stop. Take it or leave it end of. Compromise, like lunch, is for wimps.
[Edited at 2018-07-02 13:11 GMT] | |
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Ricki Farn Germany Local time: 22:04 English to German I have no idea | Jul 2, 2018 |
... and I have lost trust in business coaches of all hues who might want to tell me. Chris S, if I weren't scared of all means of transportation across the Channel, I'd try to take you out to lunch | | | neilmac Spain Local time: 22:04 Spanish to English + ...
Probably pretty rubbish. There are so many assumptions behind the question that I don't really know how to respond. Negotiating what? Rates? I think mine are cheap in terms of quality-price ratio, so it's a case of take-it-or-leave-it. Deadlines? I prefer them as long as possible. If asked to give one, I make them as long, flexible and open as I can. | | | DZiW (X) Ukraine English to Russian + ...
I don't work with middlemen (agencies), so all my direct clients are capable to verbalize the idea and define the problem, let alone the project management. Rather often I still get "best offers" as an ultimatum demanding some USD0.02/w or insane repetition discounts, forgetting they are no market makers for me and like | | |
I read this with a wider interpretation than just prices. Also, negotiation is not only downwards, but upwards. The "urgent" thing is often negotiable too. It can mean yesterday in one client's mind and next week in that of another. As already said, you can often clinch a deal saying I can't do it by Tuesday, but by Thursday morning, I can. | |
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Mario Freitas Brazil Local time: 17:04 Member (2014) English to Portuguese + ...
I'm not modest in this aspect. I'm pretty good in negotiations and dealing with the clients in general. | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: My client-negotiating skills are: Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
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