| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: How many direct clients (not through an agency) do you have? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many direct clients (not through an agency) do you have?".
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My direct clients amount to a little over 25%. I work with a mix of direct clients and translation agencies. Direct clients pay a higher rate, but they generate far less work as in my experience they tend to be less regular than translation agencies, though projects from two of my direct clients – big international organizations – are generally big and keep me busy for one or two months…
| | | | Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 13:24
Member (2009)
English to German
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Presently about 60 - 65% of my customers are direct client.
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Absolutely all my clients are direct. I work exclusively with universities here in Spain, which suits me well. Sometimes the payment systems can be a little convoluted but you know you will always be paid and usually promptly. I have never had to advertise, all has been word of mouth. That said, I have the advantage of teaching English to a a few groups of lecturers and researchers, which, apart from getting me out the house, has also been excellent for networking.
[Edited at 2022-01-25 0... See more Absolutely all my clients are direct. I work exclusively with universities here in Spain, which suits me well. Sometimes the payment systems can be a little convoluted but you know you will always be paid and usually promptly. I have never had to advertise, all has been word of mouth. That said, I have the advantage of teaching English to a a few groups of lecturers and researchers, which, apart from getting me out the house, has also been excellent for networking.
[Edited at 2022-01-25 09:45 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| Other - < 25 % but > 0 | Jan 25, 2022 |
I mostly work for agencies, but if a direct client finds me and we can agree on terms etc. then I take on the job. I have one right now, and a couple of regulars who send small jobs.
At a guess, less than 10 % of my work comes from direct clients, but certainly more than none at all.
[Edited at 2022-01-26 00:04 GMT]
| | | | | How does one get direct client? | Jan 25, 2022 |
How did you get your direct clients in the first place?
| | | | | In the past year, roughly... | Jan 25, 2022 |
85% of revenue from direct clients
75% of words from direct clients
64% of clients are direct clients
7 out of 11 clients are direct clients
11 out of 11 clients have been with me more than five years
9 out of 11 clients have been with me more than a decade
4 out of 11 clients have been with me more than 20 years
2 out of 11 clients (both agencies) have been with me the whole 28 years
Long-term clients rock.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 13:24
Spanish to English
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In my case, it's 100% nowadays, although I still do occasionally take on the odd job for one or two agencies. The last time one of them approached me it was just before Christmas and I was too busy, so I recommended a colleague to them, and now they send most of the stuff they used to ask me to do to her instead. So it's win-win, as I haven't really needed the agency work for a few years now and have been sort of "doing them a favour" by providing my services.
I should also add that... See more In my case, it's 100% nowadays, although I still do occasionally take on the odd job for one or two agencies. The last time one of them approached me it was just before Christmas and I was too busy, so I recommended a colleague to them, and now they send most of the stuff they used to ask me to do to her instead. So it's win-win, as I haven't really needed the agency work for a few years now and have been sort of "doing them a favour" by providing my services.
I should also add that I have no advice on how to attract direct clients, other than to do the best you can every time, even on jobs you find boring or unattractive. All my current clients came to me by word-of-mouth recommendation from other colleagues or satisfied customers. ▲ Collapse
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neilmac wrote:
I should also add that I have no advice on how to attract direct clients, other than to do the best you can every time, even on jobs you find boring or unattractive. All my current clients came to me by word-of-mouth recommendation from other colleagues or satisfied customers.
Ditto, snap, samesies, agree 100% 👍
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I do do some occasional work for agencies, but international organizations and word-of-mouth individual clients keep me busy most of the time. I'm usually busier than I want to be.
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Gerard Barry wrote:
How did you get your direct clients in the first place?
In my case, luck (contact of a contact) then word of mouth. I’ve never tried wooing them.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 14:24
Member
English to Turkish
neilmac wrote:
I should also add that I have no advice on how to attract direct clients, other than to do the best you can every time, even on jobs you find boring or unattractive.
So, does this mean all those self-styled translation 'gurus', 'influencers', 'LinkedIn celebrities' doing webinars, dishing out valuable pieces of advice on "how to get direct clients" for $99.99 are all con artists and charlatans? Have I been ripped off forking out all that cash on early bird specials? I could've saved all that money and bought myself MemoQ!
[Edited at 2022-01-26 07:41 GMT]
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Baran Keki wrote: neilmac wrote:
I should also add that I have no advice on how to attract direct clients, other than to do the best you can every time, even on jobs you find boring or unattractive. So, does this mean all those self-styled translation 'gurus', 'influencers', 'LinkedIn celebrities' doing webinars, dishing out valuable pieces of advice on "how to get direct clients" for $99.99 are all con artists and charlatans? Have I been ripped off forking out all that cash on early bird specials?
Lol, I think so. Their advice is generally just common sense anyway.
I don’t see how they can be true experts anyway. To be an expert they would have to have attracted loads of direct clients, right?
But they cannot possibly then service that many direct clients, so they clearly don’t have a lasting relationship with them.
So if there is no repeat business, either they are rubbish translators or the clients they win are rubbish. Probably both.
| | | | AnnaSCHTR
United States
Local time: 06:24
English to Czech
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| On the other hand... | Jan 26, 2022 |
Ice Scream wrote:
Lol, I think so. Their advice is generally just common sense anyway.
I don’t see how they can be true experts anyway. To be an expert they would have to have attracted loads of direct clients, right?
But they cannot possibly then service that many direct clients, so they clearly don’t have a lasting relationship with them.
So if there is no repeat business, either they are rubbish translators or the clients they win are rubbish. Probably both.
Unfortunately, any "business advice" is a merchandise just like anything else. If there is demand (as Gerard's post indicates) there WILL be supply. Just like with any kind of advice, it is mostly just common sense, and one size definitely does not fit all. As someone who works in one of the small languages I find most "translation business advice" geared towards main language groups rather useless.
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Or less.
My latest invoice to a direct client is from 2014.
I suspect agencies can find me much more easily than direct clients. The latter category has never accounted for more than an insignificant part of my sales.
Philippe
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