Poll: Approximately how often do you raise your standard rates for your existing clients?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Sep 1, 2015

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Approximately how often do you raise your standard rates for your existing clients?".

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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:28
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Sep 1, 2015

When I consider it covenient/justified/doable.

 
raptisi
raptisi  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 22:28
English to Greek
+ ...
Inflation plays a part Sep 1, 2015

With current inflation (at least in the European area and the USA) rates, practically 0) it is hard to justify rate increases. On the contrary the pressure is downwards...

 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 21:28
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Reassessment Sep 1, 2015

and adjustment at the beginning of every calendar year.

I might raise prices about every second year


 
Bora Taşdemir
Bora Taşdemir  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:28
Member (2012)
English to Turkish
+ ...
They don't accept... Sep 1, 2015

They generally don't accept a raise, anyway...

 
Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 05:28
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Other N/A Sep 1, 2015

Whenever I can

Wish there was an "Every other day" option


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Every other year Sep 1, 2015

I started out cheap to get a foot in the door and then raised my rates by about 10-20% a year for a fair few years, gradually shedding cheapie customers and then all domestic customers and eventually also most Scandi agencies.

I can't really continue to raise my prices in nominal terms now as I don't want to lose the customers I've got, so I just put them up roughly in line with inflation every couple of years.

As for agencies who don't "accept" or "approve" rate increa
... See more
I started out cheap to get a foot in the door and then raised my rates by about 10-20% a year for a fair few years, gradually shedding cheapie customers and then all domestic customers and eventually also most Scandi agencies.

I can't really continue to raise my prices in nominal terms now as I don't want to lose the customers I've got, so I just put them up roughly in line with inflation every couple of years.

As for agencies who don't "accept" or "approve" rate increases, you don't want to work with people like that, your rates are your affair, tell them where to get off. Trust me, you'll feel so much better.
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Enrico Antonio Mion
Enrico Antonio Mion  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 21:28
English to Italian
+ ...
New client Sep 1, 2015

Bora Tasdemir wrote:

They generally don't accept a raise, anyway...


In this case I suggest you to look for another client willing to pay the rate you offer, and if you find it you start working less for the old one until you eventually stop the collaboration. You have nothing to lose, really.


 
Eszter Bokor
Eszter Bokor
Austria
Local time: 21:28
English to German
+ ...
Prices seem to be going down steadily Sep 1, 2015

I find it extremely difficult to raise rates, my experience is that prices have dropped dramatically in the last few years.

 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:28
English to Spanish
+ ...
Raising rates & feeling much better Sep 1, 2015

Chris S wrote:

I started out cheap to get a foot in the door and then raised my rates by about 10-20% a year for a fair few years, gradually shedding cheapie customers and then all domestic customers and eventually also most Scandi agencies.

I can't really continue to raise my prices in nominal terms now as I don't want to lose the customers I've got, so I just put them up roughly in line with inflation every couple of years.

As for agencies who don't "accept" or "approve" rate increases, you don't want to work with people like that, your rates are your affair, tell them where to get off. Trust me, you'll feel so much better.


I think I'll practice your advice in front of a mirror before telling those agencies to get off


 
Georgia Morg (X)
Georgia Morg (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:28
Portuguese to English
Exchange rate Sep 1, 2015

My problem is that, because of the loss of value of the Brazilian real, my Brazilian clients would have to pay twice as much as a mere 18 months ago for me to receive the same money, worked out in sterling (or euros). Some do, but most can't afford this and have moved on.

[Edited at 2015-09-01 15:30 GMT]


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:28
English to Spanish
+ ...
Clients that move on Sep 1, 2015

Georgia Morgan wrote:

My problem is that, because of the loss of value of the Brazilian real, my Brazilian clients would have to pay twice as much as a mere 18 months ago for me to receive the same money, worked out in sterling (or euros). Some do, but most can't afford this and have moved on.

[Edited at 2015-09-01 15:30 GMT]


That's one of the downsides of a global economy.

Only those with a vested interest will tell us about the wonders of a global economy. I'm not anticapitalism, but there are so many variables and inequalities across countries and continents, never mind natural misunderstandings and misaprehensions across peoples that a global economy is unlikely to succeed for everyone involved.

Just look at Greece.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 17:28
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Same here, Georgia, Sep 1, 2015

Georgia Morgan wrote:

My problem is that, because of the loss of value of the Brazilian real, my Brazilian clients would have to pay twice as much as a mere 18 months ago for me to receive the same money, worked out in sterling (or euros). Some do, but most can't afford this and have moved on.

[Edited at 2015-09-01 15:30 GMT]


I can count on my fingers how many times I was able to negotiate a readjustment with a positive result. I lost many clients that did not accept it (actually I consider they lost me). The very few that agreed to readjust the prices were outside Brazil.

My current (very few) Brazilian clients pay me half of what I earn from clients abroad, for the exact reasons mentioned by Georgia above. The problem is, in Brazil people raise their sale prices regularly, but no one accepts to raise the price they pay to their service providers, for some unexplainable reason.

I'm waiting till the end of the year to TRY to negotiate my rates with two Brazilian clients that send me a lot of work, but pay me 50% of what I earn from agencies in the US or Europe for the same volume of work. I intend to propose a new price as of the 1st of January, 2016, which will still correspond to about 75% of what I earn abroad. And, although I've been working for them for two years without any readjustment, I'm almost sure they will not accept it, and I'll have to say goodbye to them. The exact thing has happened with three clients (agencies) last year.

My plan is to have 100% of my clients in Europe and North America ASAP.


 
Erzsébet Czopyk
Erzsébet Czopyk  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 21:28
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Wish you were here :-) Sep 2, 2015

Julian Holmes wrote:

Whenever I can

Wish there was an "Every other day" option


haha. Seriously: for certification - every third calendar year.
For translation? In my country the translatiopn rates are going just lower and lower...


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:28
German to English
like Chris Sep 2, 2015

I answered "every year", because I only started six years ago and am still going through the initial phase that Chris described. My rates started in the middle (about 0.16 EUR per word for German direct clients), dipped down to the low-middle range (0.13/0.14 EUR per word for German direct clients plus an agency for 0.09 EUR per word), and have since gone up substantially to 0.20 EUR per word for new clients and with existing clients' rates raised more or less yearly to keep them at at least 90%... See more
I answered "every year", because I only started six years ago and am still going through the initial phase that Chris described. My rates started in the middle (about 0.16 EUR per word for German direct clients), dipped down to the low-middle range (0.13/0.14 EUR per word for German direct clients plus an agency for 0.09 EUR per word), and have since gone up substantially to 0.20 EUR per word for new clients and with existing clients' rates raised more or less yearly to keep them at at least 90% of my new-client rate (no longer possible to work with agencies).

In Germany there may not be much more room to grow except among clients where translations are important but not a significant post in terms of a client's overall costs (= high quality sensitivity + low price sensitivity). However, because of the weak euro and strong Swiss franc and because of the situation in Switzerland generally, I certainly think that I could continue to raise my rates by shifting towards Swiss clients, but I never get around to marketing.
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Poll: Approximately how often do you raise your standard rates for your existing clients?






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