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Poll: What percentage of your work comes from repeat clients?
Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
PERSONAL DEL SITIO
Apr 22

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What percentage of your work comes from repeat clients?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:24
Miembro 2007
inglés al portugués
+ ...
Most Apr 22

I'd even risk saying 99,9% as I have been working with the same client base for some time, one of them for over 20 years. I haven't closed the door to new clients, these are always welcome, but lately have been scarce

Alexandra Speirs
Elaine Ruby
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Bélgica
Local time: 17:24
Miembro 2020
francés al neerlandés
+ ...
100% Apr 22

My latest "new" customer dates back to 2023.
 
Simon Turner
Simon Turner
From 0% to 100% Apr 22

An interesting question. I went and had a look: the first time I had 0% repeats was in 1977 (2 new clients but then I went off and did other things) and the last time prior to this year was in 1994, when I had 3 new clients - 0% repeats. The number of repeats went up from 0% to 59% in 1999, when I found 23 new clients, and in 2007 I found 33 new clients. Since then, I've had fewer and fewer new clients and the number is down to zero this year, so I'm up to 100% repeats for the first time since I... See more
An interesting question. I went and had a look: the first time I had 0% repeats was in 1977 (2 new clients but then I went off and did other things) and the last time prior to this year was in 1994, when I had 3 new clients - 0% repeats. The number of repeats went up from 0% to 59% in 1999, when I found 23 new clients, and in 2007 I found 33 new clients. Since then, I've had fewer and fewer new clients and the number is down to zero this year, so I'm up to 100% repeats for the first time since I started translating.

Is that a good thing? It certainly comes as no surprise, as I've worked with few clients so far in 2026 and I'm down to about 10% of my normal turnover. The market has come to an end, as far as I'm concerned.

Earlier this week, I tried a little experiment: I lowered my absolute minimum rate for one of my old clients from 10.4 eurocents per word to 8.3 - back to where I was 20 or 21 years ago. Not something I like doing but I'll be interested to see if they take me up on the offer. I somehow doubt it. ▲ Collapse
 


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Poll: What percentage of your work comes from repeat clients?






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