Linda Wertheimer talked to Mayo Clinic President Dr. Denis Cortese about the Mayo Clinic’s model of providing high-quality care at a manageable cost, largely by putting its physicians on salary. As compared to the fee-for-service model that exists elsewhere, the Mayo Clinic believes that physicians are/should be paid to keep patients healthy, rather than just for treating them when they’re sick. Whether or not we agree with this model, its basis appears valid: in the normal system, if I go to the doctor for my sore shoulder and she decides I need rotator cuff repair surgery, she makes a lot of money; if she tells me to stretch and take ibuprofen, she makes only what I pay for the office visit. Under the Mayo model, the doctor earns the same amount no matter what treatment she prescribes.

So, what about this is applicable to translation? It seems to me (and feel free to disagree) that I am inclined to work more carefully when I get paid by the hour. I know that if I spend two hours reading reference documents that will result in a better translation, I get paid for that time. If it takes an inordinately long time to find just the right word, that’s OK. Whereas when I’m getting paid by the word, the actions mentioned above are essentially off the clock.

I’ve partially solved this problem by raising my per-word rates to the point where I can afford to do off the clock work and still make a healthy hourly rate. However, the problem in our industry (which Dr. Cortese addressed as it relates to medicine) seems to be that many clients want to pay a lower hourly rate than what they effectively pay when the translator charges by the word. Let’s say that I produce about 500 finished words per hour on average, and that my clients pay 15-20 cents per word. Right now, I would say that although my clients are effectively paying $75-$100 an hour, they would balk at that number if I listed it as my hourly rate. In the NPR interview, when Linda Wertheimer asked Dr. Cortese how Mayo retains physicians when they are paid a fixed salary, his answer was that Mayo’s salaries are competitive with what physicians make in the fee-for-service model, and that its physician turnover rate is less than 2% per year. So, it seems that the missing link in our industry is that competitive hourly rate, which leaves most of us charging by the word. Thoughts?

Lately I’ve realized that I use scripts a lot with my clients too. I find that if I think ahead of time about how to answer some frequently asked questions that have the potential to be contentious, I’m much less anxious about negotiating. Here are some ways that I use scripts, and please feel free to add your own ideas.

When a client is pushing the deadline on a project. My goal: to show the client that I’m not being lazy, I’m just asking for what I need in order to do my job well.
Client: We have 20,000 words and we need it translated in 6 working days.
Me: In order to do the kind of job I want to do for you, I would need 10 working days. Or In order to produce quality work, I really try to limit myself to 2,000 words per day.

When a client is pushing for a discount. My goal: to bow out while allowing the client to save face. If the client is offering a ridiculously low rate, I’m not concerned with allowing them to save face and I might respond, “To be honest, I don’t know any professional translators who work for that rate.”
Client: Your rate is not in our budget, can you give a discount?
Me: Because I am very busy at my standard rates, unfortunately I can’t give a discount at this time. If you have a project with a larger budget in the future, please keep me in mind.

When I am bidding on a project that I really want, and I would be willing to offer a discount. My goal: to win the project at the highest rate possible.
Client: What would you charge to translate this?
Me: At my standard rate, I would charge X. If that is not within your budget, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. I feel that with this type of response, I’m not undermining my bid by outright offering a discount, I’m just offering to “do something” which could take the form of offering a lower rate with a longer deadline, offering to have the document edited at my expense, etc.

When a client client brings up vague quality issues with a translation. My goal: to calm the client’s anxiety and get some more specific feedback.
Client: The end client wasn’t happy with the translation. It wasn’t what they wanted, can you fix it?
Me: I’m really sorry to hear that, because happy clients are always my ultimate goal. At the same time, it’s hard to know what to change unless I can see some specific comments and preferably an edited version of the translation with the changes tracked. If they can send that over, I’ll make time to look at it right away. If necessary, I sometimes find it helpful to offer the client an analogy, such as “For example, you wouldn’t call your mechanic and say ‘My car isn’t running right, what’s wrong with it?’ In the same way, I really need some specific feedback about the translation in order to make it fit the client’s specifications.”

In talking to beginning and experienced translators alike, I’ve noticed that many translators are very intimidated by the idea of working with direct clients. While I think that there are valid reasons to continue working with agencies, I also think that adding some direct client work to your freelance pie is a great way to increase your income and your job satisfaction. If you’re interested in dipping at least one toe in the direct client pool, here are a few tips.

• Start small and don’t fail out of overambition. In my admittedly unscientific research, I think that many translators aim too high when they enter the direct client market. Don’t think Fortune 500, think of other one-person businesses or businesses with very small projects. As you succeed at these projects, trade up!
• Start with projects you can translate in your sleep. If you have a targeted specialization, you know what I’m talking about (for me, it’s real estate leases and articles of incorporation). Eventually, you can aim for direct client work that demands creativity and thoughtful turns of phrase. At the outset, look for clients who will have the types of documents you’ve translated hundreds of times. This will raise your confidence level and increase the odds that the clients will be thrilled with your work.
• Look locally. Especially with direct clients, it’s great to have a contact or introduction. If this isn’t an option, I think that a friendly “I’m a translator in the area and I’d like to offer you my freelance services…” is a good substitute. In addition, I think that despite the globalization of the professional services market, many small businesses still feel more comfortable working with someone local.
• Track your clients’ preferences. In my experience, direct clients don’t often have style guides and sometimes haven’t really thought about style at all. Do yourself and your clients a big favor by creating a style preferences file for each client. Whenever the client sends you a comment, i.e. “We always refer to our CEO as Chief Executive Officer,” “We use European format for dates even when they’re in English,” etc., record it in the client’s style file.
• Don’t undersell yourself. One of the obvious draws of working with direct clients is money. My average direct client pays almost double what my average agency client pays, and my direct clients are usually very low-maintenance; it’s a great situation. When you send a quote to a direct client, remember that if the client is a good fit for you, you’re offering them more personal service than they would get from an agency, one point of contact instead of many layers between the client and the translator (if the client can even communicate directly with an agency’s translator) and more consistency than they’re likely to get from an agency. For this, you need to charge real money or you will appear unprofessional.
• Ask for feedback on every translation. “Let me know if you have any specific questions or comments or if there is anything I can do to better meet your needs…” is one of my standard lines. You could even create a simple online survey that your clients could fill out anonymously. Also, you should ask every satisfied client whether you can use their name in your marketing materials and whether they would be willing to provide a testimonial about your work for them.

It’s interesting that both of this year’s winners are translation teams; all of them were honored at a ceremony in New York last night and they received a $10,000 cash prize.

Earlier this year Corinne posted some thoughts on whether LinkedIn is useful for translators. The post raised lively discussion and several people who are actively using LinkedIn gave their experience and described the value they see in it. Corinne was interested in my use of “Groups” as a means of marketing to direct clients, so here are my thoughts on that.

I have used the LinkedIn features “Groups” and “Discussions” to raise my profile and make new contacts with a view to expanding my business. My strategy was to join groups in my specialized subject areas, so I was targeting certain industries and professions. We all have specialties. Mine happen to be deep and narrow as I became a translator after a previous career, but the concept applies to all of us, and also to agencies who are
specialized. If you are not a highly specialized translator I suggest you pick an area you wish you had more work in and target that. The unknown in
joining groups is that you can’t really tell until you’ve joined whether a given group is active and full of interesting discussion, or whether it is quiet or recruitment focused. I have joined a number of groups that I later left. Note from Corinne: if you’re looking for some new LinkedIn Groups to join, click “Groups” then “Groups Directory,” then you will see a search box where you can type in keywords.

If you’re not sure where to start, search based upon keyword or region, and see where that leads you. I joined a group today, as it happens. My “Updates”
told me that one of my contacts had joined a technical group and it was a natural fit for me. Looking at the updates on your LinkedIn home page is a good way to see new things that might be of interest to you. Note from Corinne: to see your Updates, go to your LinkedIn home page and scroll down past your Inbox.

So you’ve joined the group, and you know no-one. What next? Read the discussions and news articles there and see what kind of people are members. Would you like them as clients? Are they likely to have business for you? When they look promising, I try to ask an intelligent question or post a news article to start discussion, or I comment on something that is already there. One question I saw on a chemical industry forum was “How is globalization affecting your business?” My answer was entirely different than those already there, and it sparked some lively discussion. Another time I was planning for a large conference I had not previously attended,
and I asked the group for tips: what to see and avoid. There were lots of responses, and I arranged to meet several people as result of that discussion alone. I was even asked to speak at a subsequent conference.

Then a second point: it’s not all about connections. For me some of these discussions lead to connecting, but the majority do not. Sometimes I do invite
people to connect when I think it would be in my interest for them to see my ‘updates’ (therefore to be reminded of me). Another point is that as soon as
you become visible there are open networkers who will ask to connect. I’m not a fan of expanding my network for the sake of it, so I usually refuse
those (“archive”) unless they are of obvious interest to me as a future client, but that method works for some people.

To conclude, here are examples of actual LinkedIn emails I have received: “I got to your profile from one of the discussions you participated in. I
wanted to understand if you can provide a one day turn around for translating an Italian claim set to English? You are in which time zone?”
The answer was no because I don’t do Italian, but it was a set of chemical patent claims so it confirmed that my efforts were clearly getting me seen
by people who might need my skills. Another with an invitation to connect: “I handle IP at my company, and we need translators every once in a while. I
would like to give your contact info if something comes up.”

So LinkedIn comes down to a common premise: you get out what you put in. If all you’ve done is create a static profile, I would be surprised if it ever
brings you business. You have to start conversations that may lead nowhere, then be pleasantly surprised when you receive an email weeks later.

Enjoy networking!

Thanks, Karen for this informative look into LinkedIn’s more advanced features. Readers, any insights into how you’ve used these techniques?

Every year, the Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs/International Federation of Translators selects a theme for International Translation Day. This year’s is “Terminology: Words Matter.” As the FIT proclamation points out, “Affairs of state, public security, pandemics and natural disasters are examples of situations where clear communication, whether in a single language or in many languages, is essential. None of this would be possible without standardized terminology, which allows us to speak with one voice.”

I think that all of us who have found that “perfect word” with the help of a terminological resource can agree with FIT’s praise for terminologists. If a translator’s work is often unseen, a terminologist’s is even less glamorous but arguably more necessary. So, however you celebrate it, have a wonderful day and thank a terminologist!

This competition is an incredible initiative that simultaneously encourages high school students to pursue careers in translation and highlights the work of the European Commission’s staff translators, who judge the entries that are submitted. The winners receive a trip to Brussels where they participate in an awards ceremony and meet some of the EU’s staff translators.