New customer quote
Thread poster: dblanguages
dblanguages
dblanguages
United Kingdom
Spanish to English
+ ...
Sep 24, 2021

Hi community!

I have a potential new customer ask me for a quote for the following

French Translation – Two Emails a Month – Approximately 300 words
French & Spanish Translations - Product Packaging Translations – To run in line with collection sign offs (November & February Peak)
French & Spanish Translations - Brochure Translations – Approximately 5 a Year


How would you go about this? Any advice would be appreciated
... See more
Hi community!

I have a potential new customer ask me for a quote for the following

French Translation – Two Emails a Month – Approximately 300 words
French & Spanish Translations - Product Packaging Translations – To run in line with collection sign offs (November & February Peak)
French & Spanish Translations - Brochure Translations – Approximately 5 a Year


How would you go about this? Any advice would be appreciated

Thank you!
Collapse


 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 13:18
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
dblanguages, I think I am missing something... Sep 24, 2021

I have checked your profile, but I can't see French as one of your working languages.
In your Bio, you only mention you can speak French and Catalan.


Barbara Carrara
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
dblanguages
dblanguages
United Kingdom
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Quote Sep 24, 2021

I haven't fully sussed out the bio settings on here yet, I need to update it.

I do translate from French, Spanish and Catalan to English. I also do English to Spanish, French (occasionally) and Catalan (occasionally).

The company asking me to do this is an old company I used to work for as a sales admin. I did the translating for them then, but now I'm a self employed translator so I need to give them a quote.

...
See more
I haven't fully sussed out the bio settings on here yet, I need to update it.

I do translate from French, Spanish and Catalan to English. I also do English to Spanish, French (occasionally) and Catalan (occasionally).

The company asking me to do this is an old company I used to work for as a sales admin. I did the translating for them then, but now I'm a self employed translator so I need to give them a quote.

Collapse


expressisverbis
 
Barbara Carrara
Barbara Carrara  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 14:18
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Quote based on a mutually agreed fee Sep 24, 2021

How can you quote for jobs you know so little about?

Wouldn't you rather tell your potential client what your per-source-word fee is, have them agree to it before you start working with them, and then wait until each assignment comes in to quote them separately based on the fee you and your client will have agreed on?


expressisverbis
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Philip Lees
Kay Denney
ahartje
Rui Domingues
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Too slim for commitment imho Sep 24, 2021

I'd charge significant minimums and would not commit to anything for such a client.

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Philip Lees
Barbara Carrara
expressisverbis
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 15:18
Greek to English
Word rate Sep 25, 2021

Assuming there's nothing apparently fishy about the client or the deal, I would do as Barbara suggests: inform them of my standard word rate.

I would also specify my payment terms at the same time.

Vague promises of semi-regular work don't entitle a potential client to any special consideration.


Barbara Carrara
Kay Denney
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
ahartje
expressisverbis
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Agnes Fatrai
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 06:18
Dutch to English
+ ...
Invoicing Sep 25, 2021

Philip Lees wrote:

Assuming there's nothing apparently fishy about the client or the deal, I would do as Barbara suggests: inform them of my standard word rate.

I would also specify my payment terms at the same time.

Vague promises of semi-regular work don't entitle a potential client to any special consideration.


This would be your first step. Once you actually receive work, I would start an invoice and record the word count and cost. The word counts are probably fairly small, so you may add them all up and send the invoice at the end of the month. You could let the client know the cost of each translation, but not be paid for each individually. The client would have to agree with this of course.


expressisverbis
Philip Lees
 
dblanguages
dblanguages
United Kingdom
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Good idea Sep 25, 2021

This is a good idea, I might do that.

The client isn't dodgy as I do know them personally. The volume does seem to be very low though...

Tina Vonhof wrote:

Philip Lees wrote:

Assuming there's nothing apparently fishy about the client or the deal, I would do as Barbara suggests: inform them of my standard word rate.

I would also specify my payment terms at the same time.

Vague promises of semi-regular work don't entitle a potential client to any special consideration.


This would be your first step. Once you actually receive work, I would start an invoice and record the word count and cost. The word counts are probably fairly small, so you may add them all up and send the invoice at the end of the month. You could let the client know the cost of each translation, but not be paid for each individually. The client would have to agree with this of course.


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

New customer quote







Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »