The Trouble With Paying our Translators so Quickly!
Translators, like everyone else in the world, wish to be paid for their work in a timely manner. I understand this and, as such, our company has made the decision to pay our translators twice a month. We pay for all jobs from the 1-15th and then the 16th-31st. Same thing every month. I personally like to know when I am getting paid, I think that is fair and reasonable.
Two translation companies we are quite friendly with have different policies. One pays their translators every 8 weeks. They process pay every 2 months! Another company holds the first check from each one of their contractors, translators and interpreters, in a pool. Contractors are paid only their second check and every check after. They only receive their first check AFTER 6 months of work. These are just some of the ways translation companies combat the wait between when a customer is billed and when a customer pays: they pass the pain on to the translators.
G2Local has resolved not to work like the others but, most recently, our short pay turn around has landed us into trouble.
Just a few weeks ago we completed the translation of a large customer manual into Swedish. All was well, we sent the completed document back to the client and received a “thank you.” We paid the translator within the next pay period, which was, in this case, about 6 days.
Three days after paying the translation team, customer bounces back an email with about 11 questions regarding the translation. Customer was not questioning the quality of the translation; he simply wanted clarification on a few points. Apparently they had shown the manual to someone within the company who speaks Swedish, and they had a few questions. This back and forth happens often, it is to be expected in translation. Customers are often new to translation and they don’t understand what being a professional is. We patiently answer their questions and clarify until the customer is satisfied.
Translator flat out refused to answer the questions. He had already been paid, so why should he spend any more time on this project? He emailed us back and told us to tell the customer he was a professional and they wouldn’t question their attorney so why would they question him?
The next example that comes to mind was a marketing project we did a month and a half ago for a client. Our customer had some packaging they wanted translated into Chinese; the project was fairly straightforward and we completed it, paid for it, all was well. The project was medium volume, it was not the biggest project we have ever done but it also was not small.
About a month later the same client called us and asked if we would simply switch the mission statement that was stated on the bottom of the package translation to a more updated version of their mission statement. We are talking about switching one sentence for another, not a huge use of time. Had it been another language, we may have been able to do it in-house but, in this instance, we opted to send it back to the original translator.
Now, in this situation, we were indeed sending the translator a new translation, and we understand that no one works for free. Nevertheless, we were not pleased when the translator refused to make any discount to his minimum price. As a business, we simply switched the sentence out free of charge as a customer service bonus for our client. The translator was under no obligation to do the same but it made us think twice before we used that particular linguist’s services again. We do not feel that we as a company would or should continue to make updates endlessly for clients but how much could we realistically have charged our client for this request? Was it $50 worth of work for the translator to switch a sentence?
I feel that customers should have 7-10 days after a translation is completed to ask questions or make changes. This is fair and reasonable. I am not suggesting translators make changes to long completed documents. I also feel pretty good about our twice a month pay period, I think it is fair and reasonable. It is very difficult for a language services company to bill and pay each translation on a different schedule. We have to choose some kind of parameters, we choose twice a month.
Translators, just because you have been paid, please do not forget your customer service! We don’t want to “bother” you either but we do have customers on the other end that sometimes ask us questions about completed documents. They are usually short simple queries too, at least in my experience. Standoffs occur out of ego not out of principle at times.
Any feedback from translators or agencies out there? What pay practices bother you and what suggestions do you have for my company in regard to customer service?
-GB
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I think that part of customer care and being a professional is to be a bit flexible when these things happen. I usually provide translations of one (easy) sentence for free for a customer that I have a long standing work relationship with, especially if it is an addition to a larger project. To clarify easy, if the sentence require research I usually try to get paid the minimum fee.
If a client has questions on the translations I am also happy to answer them as long as answering them takes less than an hour of my time. The goal is to create clear, precise translations and happy customers, and we can always learn something during the process.
I forgot to add that I think it is honorable of you to pay early. You are the kind of clients we translators want.
As a freelance translator working directly with clients as well as via translation companies, I completely agree with Tess: it is honorable of you to pay early. There are so many translation companies who pay late, even when the due date is 60 days after the translation has been delivered!
As you ask for practices, I have signed agreements with translation agencies that commit me to making further little changes in a translation up to 3 months after the first delivery.
As regards to the behavior, I treat the agencies I work with just as my direct clients: with respect, within a business collaboration framework meant to be profitable to both of us.
Recently, a direct client for whom I’m translating all documentation concerning a new product line, asked me how I would translate the name of a (surgical) instrument. It took me about half an hour to understand exactly the purpose of the instrument and propose a matching translation. It never occurred to me that I should have to charge for this service. I consider it part of our relationship. My rates are not cheap, they reflect my expertise and the skills of my proofreader. I consider a “commercial plus” to be able to offer that kind of free service from time to time.
When my customer is an agency that considers me a valuable partner and not a replaceable asset (for example explaining to the final client that it is in their interest to wait a few weeks when I am not instantly available because the consistency of their communication is at stake), I don’t charge the switching of a single sentence, even – or maybe all the more – when I’ve already been paid for the work less than 15 days after the delivery!
That being said, don’t be surprised to receive a collaboration offer from me within the next few weeks
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I feel it is simply good business practice to agree to reasonable requests of the type described.
We also pay our contactors twice per month (unless they ask us to build up to a specific amount before payment….bank transfer fees you know!). We have been lucky so far, none have refused to make corrections after they had been paid, but your article above has now put us on guard in case this ever happens. Thanks!
Hi!
I think it’s great that you pay on a two-week basis (even a monthly payment seems fine to me).
I don’t think, though, the relationship between paying so soon and not getting any feedback from translators is so clear, I’d say it’s rather a problem with the marketing skills of the chosen translators, not with your payment schedule. Do you think changing your policy would make them have a better understanding of the global process of business?
By the way, just like the previous comments mention, I might be sending an offer for you myself…
Most of the companies I deal with have a policy of paying only after they get paid. And that’s fine with me, but of course I like G2L’s policy. Just don’t let it cause you cash-flow problems because the client isn’t as consider as you are.
As for answering questions after getting paid, I couldn’t believe the decidedly UNprofessional attitude of the translator mentioned. I personally like to get questions or requests for clarification. I have done a lot of technical translations and I find that technical jargon varies not only from sector to sector, but also at times from company to company. What one company calls a widget another insists is a thingamajig.
So getting the questions back is helpful, in my opinion.
On the other side of the coin, I often wish we had more opportunity to ask the client questions during the translations. Often it is just not clear from the context what the source writer was trying to say. I often have found that the writer simply misused the word (compliment for complement, for example.) Sometimes it’s obvious, but often it is not. A quick answer from the client would be helpful.