I really enjoyed reading The Freelancery’s recent post on whether or not to publish your freelance rates on your website. Since my website redesign a few years ago, I’ve struggled with this same dilemma: I grow weary of preparing quotes for clients whose budget turns out to be 1/3 of what I charge, so I post my rates on my website. Then I feel like having posted rates is too restrictive and doesn’t steer the conversation toward value for money, so I take my rates down. Here’s my current line of reasoning, which is, of course, subject to change!
No question about it, handling inquiries from prospective clients who have little to no budget can be draining. Sometimes the slim to nonexistent funding isn’t mentioned until 25 minutes into the phone conversation (this happened to me recently), and sometimes it’s brought up with a tone of righteous indignation on the prospective client’s part (“If you can’t do it for $25 an hour, our marketing manager’s son who studied abroad in Belgium will be happy to do it for $15”). It’s just a bummer to spend so much time talking to prospective clients who expect so much for so little. However, I agree with The Freelancery’s suggestion that these interactions are also opportunities: maybe an opportunity to refer work to a beginning translator who charges less, maybe an opportunity to mention that professional translators don’t generally work for what the client’s budget is, etc. In the end, I do think that we perform a service on behalf of the profession when we have these types of conversations.
In terms of posted rates, I feel that I’ve found somewhat of a happy medium that works for me.
- I removed my general “Rates” page from my website and I ask prospective clients to call or e-mail for a quote. However, I don’t prepare a detailed quote until they confirm that my rates are at least somewhat within their budget. This avoids the time-suck of preparing a full quote only to find out that the client’s budget is less than half of what I charge.
- I left my rates for “fixed-price” items on my website. For example for certified translations of official documents, I always charge $50 per page for the translation and $15 for a notarized certification, and most of these clients are first-time, one-time clients. The Freelancery’s post hits this one on the head (and they mention translation in their examples!); clients who want their birth certificate translated into English don’t want to call for a quote, they just want it done fast and for a not exorbitant amount of money. My rate to translate official documents might be more expensive than some other freelancers, but I know it’s much cheaper than most agencies’ minimum charges, so I feel fine about posting it.
In closing, although I think of myself as a kind and understanding person and as someone who tries to be helpful whenever it’s possible, two aspects of rates and quoting really raise my blood pressure. I’ll admit them publicly in order to get them off my chest:
- Why do so many prospective clients seem to lose the ability to do math when it comes to translation quotes? If I give the example that at 25 cents per word, a full page of single-spaced text would cost approximately $125 to translate, why is it then a surprise that a 10-page document costs $1,250 to translate?
- Why do so many prospective clients feel that it should take a couple of hours to translate something that took months or even years to write? I get this a lot from authors: “But the book is so short! It will really take you 10 hours to translate it?” I can’t decide whether it would be helpful or nasty to ask if it really took them more than 10 hours to write the book, but I try to just answer the question objectively since I enjoy doing literary translation and working with authors.
Feel free to add your own observations on rates and quotes too (or associated issues that you need to get off your chest!). Thanks for listening, I feel so much better.
Victor Alonso Lion says
I absolutely agree with the fact that time should be spent on quotes and proposals when the client and vendor are on the same page. From there, negotiations can start if necessary.
Do I publish my rates? I find it very difficult to have a fixed rate. Projects are all very different. Even if we stick to just trans
Victor Alonso Lion says
Even if we stick to just translation work, the effort necessary can vary so much that I find it very difficult to have a stable rate. Experience in similar projects is what guides the rate for a new specific project.
waltkania says
Corinne:
Glad to hear the Freelancery piece was helpful. It sounds like you have figured out a workable approach for your situation — or at least an idea to experiment with, for now.
There seems to be a huge difference between working with clients who don’t routinely use translators (and have no clue about rates), and those, such as multinational corporations, media organizations, or government groups that may call on translators all the time. Two different animals.
Anyway, I’d love to know how your new strategy works out.
Smart Translate says
What I find delicate in the negotiation is knowing the right moment to introduce money into the conversation – too soon and you can sound money-grasping, too late and as you say, you may end up having wasted (precious) time.
waltkania says
Smart:
How about this.
Wait five minutes. If they don’t bring up money, say any of the following.
“Would it help to have me work up a budget for this?”
“Will you be needing a detailed budget for this? Or perhaps an outline of the rate structure?”
“By any chance, did you have a budget worked out for this? Would it help to get some idea of what’s involved here?”
This way, you’re providing a service, offering to help in their decision-making, maybe bringing up something they were too timid to ask.
It’s more like “Would this help you?” rather than, “Um, before we get too far here, I’m going to want money for this.”
Smart Translate says
Thanks Walt, there’s definitely food for though there.
Catharine
Simone says
I’ve stopped putting up rates, too. I don’t translate “fixed-price” items anyway, and when I used to have minimum rates up (clearly indicated as such), I would get all these requests along the lines of “I see that your rate is xxx; could you please translate this technical text for this rate…” Apparently, not everybody working in the language industry is actually able to read properly.
GB Translation says
Not so sure if you’d all agree, but… I think sometimes we translators can be a bit arrogant about these things, too. I mean, how can we reasonably expect that people, even professionals, who have never paid for a translation before, know how much work translation can be and what a fair price is. That’s why I think orientative rates should be published in any case, with a remark of course that these rates vary depending on the type of text etc.
Translating Culture (@IvorTNT) says
“If you can’t do it for $25 an hour, our marketing manager’s son who studied abroad in Belgium will be happy to do it for $15″
The result of that is finding a menu serving calluses instead of tripe … true experience!
“Why do so many prospective clients feel that it should take a couple of hours to translate something that took months or even years to write?”
Only yesterday was I contacted enquiring about the possibility of translating 49,000 words of a technical document in four days. I agree with GB Translation that people outside the profession can’t really gauge what the translator’s work entails, but at least some common sense, please!!! 🙂
I have only just discovered this blog as this post was tweeted in cyberspace. Certainly food for thought.
John Bunch says
Very good post. Most restaurants post their menus and prices outside for everyone to see, so that they don’t have dumb****s coming in asking, “Can I get a filet mignon for $ 3.99 ?”. We should do the same.
christinedurban says
@John
Then again, restaurants and other eateries/drinkeries have subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle signals they send out before the clueless buyer gets anywhere near bumbling in. Think exterior design, lighting, neighborhood, maĂ®tre d’ (or not), deep-fry odor cloud (or not), formica or oak, etc.
Plus their clients are *there*, in the flesh, taking all this in before getting the conversation going and the order placed.
I figure the situation is very different for people selling intellectual services. It’s hard enough for freelance writers who can run up against the notion that any old body can do this (“so why are you so expensive, anyway?”)
In translation, you’ve got the lack of physical context to send out the right vibes to clients entering your emporium *plus* the fact that the client often simply cannot judge what he or she is getting—since it is into a foreign language.
Or, worse, may judge the quality of your translation on the basis of poorly understood/half-forgotten memories of learning language X as a child or teen.
And all this is ten (a hundred?) times worse if the transaction is being initiated over the phone or through emails, and I really appreciate reading the different takes on this.
I don’t like to rush into discussing money, since the hook (or harpoon, depending) I rely on is establishing total confidence on their part that I know their field, “get” their angle, have already done work for people they know and trust, and all that jazz.
That said, once we get over into the realm of commerce there can be some sticker-shock moments, which I tend to get through using a free trial offer approach. Prerequisite: this has to be a potentially interesting direct client (have I mentioned that I believe translators should track their specialist markets and *know* who is interesting for them, and actually be stalking them? (nicely, of course)).
Example: a contact in a company on my “good client” radar screen phoned me with a request to “reread” various texts prepared by two dozen international people in English. I looked through the files and quoted €3500. Non-native Eng speaking lady was floored; however could it be so expensive? I offered to show her (for free) and reworked one of their texts in “track change”: 1.5 hours + lots of red. It was a terrific investment since it brought home to her exactly how much work had to be done, and gave her two physical texts she could pass around to other people on her team. Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
My point is that her reaction was understandable (she simply didn’t know how poor her texts were) and the work was far less price-sensitive once they’d seen the translator’s input on one of their own pieces.
That to say that for me, where I am right now, listing prices would be a poor strategy, but I can see that it might be good for clients who are, say, individuals (and not businesses).
lukegos says
‘Then again, restaurants and other eateries/drinkeries have subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle signals they send out before the clueless buyer gets anywhere near bumbling in. Think exterior design, lighting, neighborhood, maĂ®tre d’ (or not), deep-fry odor cloud (or not), formica or oak, etc.’ >> Website design can do that. After looking at several thousand sample projects in quality designers’ portfolios, tracking some industry-specific contests and so on, one can get an idea of what sort of message is conveyed by colours, textures, fonts and typography. Most translators’ websites cast a low-budget look even if a sleek business design could be bought in the low hundreds or even below $100 (how many people are going to notice that someone else out there uses the same WordPress theme?).
lukegos says
Photos, business cards, stationery etc. also make at least some difference.
kevinhendzel says
I posted on this @ The Freelancery, but I believe there are points worth emphasizing that are particularly applicable to the translation industry.
1. The emphasis on per-word rates in translation is a killer when communicating with potential new clients. It’s like pricing a new car in dollars per gram. A figure quoted in cents-per-anything — or even single-digit-dollars-per-anything — sounds inexpensive, so in defense of those new clients, it does tend to get the discussion off on the wrong foot altogether.
2. It’s more efficient, honest and straightforward to quote a high estimated total cost, or to post high estimated total costs on your website. This applies to individual freelancers or major translation companies. When the numbers are big enough, the clients have often been shopping around anyway, and are used to the idea that it’s a five-figure proposition to localize a website professionally in several languages, and a six-figure proposition to maintain it on several continents simultaneously.
I trained our project managers at ASET to “Use the Big Number” during initial client cost inquiries. We used to have entire conversations in shorthand built around the idea of The Big Number.
3. Not quoting prices at all has its own steep cost in your time, patience and willingness to spend long hours in client education with people who honestly are just waiting for you to stop talking so they can hang up the phone and hire their neighbor’s stepdaughter’s multilingual guinea pig from Belgium.
Anemos Translations says
At Anemos Translations, we found an on-the-fence solution that we implemented just yesterday: We state 3-5 quotes that we recently offered. For example:
– English-Spanish, birth certificate, pdf…………………………………. 45€/page
– German-Greek, commercial e-mails, docx, rush project………… 0.10€/word
This way, (we expect) the clients will have a rough estimation of how much we charge, and those expecting ridiculous rates won’t waste their and our time.
Will will have to wait for the results…
Jesse says
Great post Corinne. I like your strategy of posting set rates for standard-type translations that involve the same kind of work and leaving off rates in general for translations. Each person has their rate that is generally what they charge or get paid from a certain client. Personally, for the majority of jobs that I do, I find that I need to see the document(s) before formally settling on a price.
Gaelle says
Hello 🙂 Just to let you know the first link is broken, it should be http://thefreelancery.com/should-you-post-your-fees-publish-your-pricing-hit-yourself-with-a-stick/ without the date. Thanks for all your articles, you’re a huge source of inspiration and motivation!
Corinne McKay says
Thanks for the correction!