Poll: In general, how many times do you communicate with a PM or client over the same job? Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, how many times do you communicate with a PM or client over the same job?".
View the poll results »
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"Yes I can"
"Here it comes"
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Normally, like Chris S, I communicate with the PM only twice, to accept the order and to deliver the translation and the invoice.
Rarely, I may have to contact him/her more often if difficulties occur or I need to ask questions and, with a very long job, I may send a progress report, or send the translation in batches, when requested.
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In general, twice: when I receive the job and when I deliver it. Very occasionally a question regarding the text might come up…
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neilmac
España
Local time: 06:45
español al inglés
+ ...
It depends. Quite often it is just when receiving and delivering the job, but sometimes I may have to ask for clarification about something, such as undefined acronyms (that happened yesterday)... or ambiguities in the text, or whatever. And despite frequent reminders, most of my academic clients tend to forget to mention which journal they are submitting their papers to. Things like that may require a bit of e-mail ping-pong...
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Sometimes they have extra references that come in and they send them along. Currently I'm co-translating a project with two other translators and we're updating the terminology list daily through the PM.
I usually save my questions for the end because I've learned that subsequent context often clarifies my doubts. However, I have one client who prefers that I submit my questions as I go along so that everything is solved by the time I finish the job.
| | | | | As many times as it takes | Jan 30, 2019 |
Sometimes I have a whole string of mails about a job, negotiating the deadline or something else.
I may have to clarify a sentence in the text, or check terminology.
I may find a discrepancy - how is someone's name spelled, which figure is correct, whatever.
They may send me special instructions, so I reply that I have noted them, possibly with comments.
On other occasions there is nothing to discuss, so I confirm that I can take the job, then deliver it in due co... See more Sometimes I have a whole string of mails about a job, negotiating the deadline or something else.
I may have to clarify a sentence in the text, or check terminology.
I may find a discrepancy - how is someone's name spelled, which figure is correct, whatever.
They may send me special instructions, so I reply that I have noted them, possibly with comments.
On other occasions there is nothing to discuss, so I confirm that I can take the job, then deliver it in due course.
I prefer clients and PMs who can discuss the work, pass the time of day and generally show they are human. We're not robots! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ricki Farn
Alemania
Local time: 06:45
inglés al alemán
| Anywhere between once and dozens of times | Jan 30, 2019 |
It depends on the client.
I have an agency client (one of the rare agencies that are a pleasure to work with) who sends me the project request, I reply "yes I can", and I just deliver via Plunet, which isn't really communication. I very, very rarely attempt a joke ("how much pizza did [end client] need to write all this?"), and it's almost a surprise when I get a reply that shows there's a human behind the keyboard.
And I have a direct client who doesn't know the targe... See more It depends on the client.
I have an agency client (one of the rare agencies that are a pleasure to work with) who sends me the project request, I reply "yes I can", and I just deliver via Plunet, which isn't really communication. I very, very rarely attempt a joke ("how much pizza did [end client] need to write all this?"), and it's almost a surprise when I get a reply that shows there's a human behind the keyboard.
And I have a direct client who doesn't know the target language, replies diligently to any and all queries, and then starts asking questions herself. Initially I thought I would throw her through the closed window within half an hour, but she's won me over by being both charming and a language lover. Some days it's like having a permanent chat window open.
And everything in between. I'm actually surprised that my people skills stretch this far (on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog). ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas 
Brasil
Local time: 02:45
Miembro 2014
inglés al portugués
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| Usually twice | Jan 30, 2019 |
Once when I receive the first e-mail, I reply it, confirm my availability, and attach a quot.
Twice when I deliver the job and the invoice.
Exceptions are when there are issues in the translation, like Chinglish terms, and when the client wants to change twelve for a dozen just to say your job wasn't 100% perfect.
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Twice. Thrice on rare occasions.
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One client wants a specific confirmation email in addition to the initial statement that I can take the job.
Some clients live in cultures where polite conversation must preceed business. So there is chatting involved in the project.
One client has an in-house proofreader, but I must approve the changes.
And then there are problems with the texts or vocabulary, and discussions about how the client wants errors to the original marked (or not), etc.
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1) Job received
2) Job sent, please confirm.
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Kay Denney
Francia
Local time: 06:45
francés al inglés
Of course there are clients where there's just "sure" and "here", but my USP is transcreation, and there's a lot of subjectivity in a lot of what I translate. The text has to be beautiful, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So for my direct clients, mostly PR firms working in fields like fashion and cosmetics, but also record labels and a cookery school, I explain why I'm expensive. Part of that is that I am willing to rework stuff if they don't like it.
So I translated a PP... See more Of course there are clients where there's just "sure" and "here", but my USP is transcreation, and there's a lot of subjectivity in a lot of what I translate. The text has to be beautiful, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So for my direct clients, mostly PR firms working in fields like fashion and cosmetics, but also record labels and a cookery school, I explain why I'm expensive. Part of that is that I am willing to rework stuff if they don't like it.
So I translated a PPT presentation of one of my PR clients' clients, and then the client comes back after a few days with a question. In fact I hadn't translated the actual name of the association. I had given an explanation of what they do, extrapolating from their name. So they suggested a translation, I explained why I hadn't translated it and pointed out problems with their suggestion. Since I also asked a question to clarify whether one of my points actually was a problem, I'm now waiting for them to come back with an answer before I suggest my own translation. We've probably exchanged about 15 emails and we've had a couple of phone calls too. It's a new client, once people have learned to trust me that I've translated everything, there aren't always that much to-ing and fro-ing ▲ Collapse
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