Poll: Have any of your current clients initiated contact with you by phone call? Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have any of your current clients initiated contact with you by phone call?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | Yes, but not in a long time | Mar 14, 2019 |
Of my current clients, the only one I can remember contacting me by phone is my longest-standing customer: when he first contacted me e-mail hadn’t been invented yet…
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ucrania
inglés al ruso
+ ...
| 99% working with people | Mar 14, 2019 |
As far as I work with local direct clients, we often communicate directly and phone each other (even when abroad!), using email as a document container or a reminder only.
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I currently have one client who calls me by phone to tell me when she's sending me documents. She has such a heavy accent that I can't understand her and I tell her I will confirm when I get her email. I don't like to confirm anything on the phone. I want to make sure there were no misunderstandings.
[Edited at 2019-03-14 09:51 GMT]
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I tend not to answer, because I will inevitably end up asking them to send me the details in an email. I can't accept a project unless I have seen the text to be translated.
I was also put off answering the phone a couple of years ago by a caller claiming to have some work for me. After chatting amicably for a few minutes, he started making obscene remarks. Needless to say, I informed the police.
| | | | Julio Madrid 
México
Local time: 23:06
Miembro 2018
inglés al español
+ ...
They have never initiated contact by phone. Only 2 clients have ever called me, but all first contact has been initiated by email or through the Contact Form on my website.
| | | | | One client phones frequently | Mar 14, 2019 |
When I think about it, clients do ring me now and then.
One client phones frequently to confirm that I am available or discuss details of a job.
He always sends the files first, so we know what we are talking about, but often he needs to know at once whether I can take it on, because he is still negotiating with the end client.
He never sends group mails, so if one translator cannot take the job, he needs to go quickly to the next, before his client gets tired of waiting... See more When I think about it, clients do ring me now and then.
One client phones frequently to confirm that I am available or discuss details of a job.
He always sends the files first, so we know what we are talking about, but often he needs to know at once whether I can take it on, because he is still negotiating with the end client.
He never sends group mails, so if one translator cannot take the job, he needs to go quickly to the next, before his client gets tired of waiting or looks for someone cheaper!
Others phone occasionally, if there is something we need to discuss in detail. I have a lovely Norwegian client - and like Muriel, I never promise her anything on the phone, because I have trouble understanding her accent! She is no happier with my Danish, but by the time we have agreed to speak English, it is often easier to send mails after all!
There was one large London agency that employed PMs with dreadful accents, who tried to talk me into taking rushed jobs... I gave up on that agency! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ricki Farn
Alemania
Local time: 07:06
inglés al alemán
I seem to remember that kind of situation, but I always tell people to just move the conversation to email, and get them off the phone as fast as possible.
I have my phone numbers on my website to prove that I exist (my landline is listed in the physical and online phone book), not to invite acoustic communication! What is this, the middle ages?
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Yes, and I appreciated it.
[Edited at 2019-03-14 14:21 GMT]
| | | | neilmac
España
Local time: 07:06
español al inglés
+ ...
I prefer not to deal with clients by phone, as e-mails give me time to compose my responses and messages. However, sometimes they do try to get in touch by phone - someone did so last week. However, I'm unlikely to remember all the details of a job from a phone conversation, and prefer to have things written down.
I am also getting a lot of cold calls lately, and I find it difficult to remain civil when interrupted, so I've been leaving my phone switched off for the past couple of w... See more I prefer not to deal with clients by phone, as e-mails give me time to compose my responses and messages. However, sometimes they do try to get in touch by phone - someone did so last week. However, I'm unlikely to remember all the details of a job from a phone conversation, and prefer to have things written down.
I am also getting a lot of cold calls lately, and I find it difficult to remain civil when interrupted, so I've been leaving my phone switched off for the past couple of weeks. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It happens quite frequently | Mar 14, 2019 |
especially with end clients contacting me for the first time. One regular agency client phones me when there is something they think can't wait, or where they want to discuss details. It makes perfect sense to me.
| | | | Jan Truper
Alemania
Local time: 07:06
inglés al alemán
...and no client should, because my phone number is strictly for private use and I don't answer phone calls in a professional manner.
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Mario Freitas
Brasil
Local time: 03:06
Miembro 2014
inglés al portugués
+ ...
The first contact is always by e-mail. Sometimes the client calls me to clarify a few things, but it's pretty rare, and I'm very thankful. Commercially speaking, if you have email, why use a phone?
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