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Poll: Have you ever offered a discount to keep a regular client? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever offered a discount to keep a regular client?".
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:25
Spanish to English
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Sort of. I recently managed to raise my rate for one long-standing client to the same basic rate as my other cheapest clients. I actually tried to get it up to my current standard rate for new clients, but it's a small and rather impecunious company and they protested and wheedled, so I made do with just this slight increase.
At the end of the day, it makes them more beholden to me, as they know I'm doing them a favour. I sometimes give random discounts to clients where I think it's... See more Sort of. I recently managed to raise my rate for one long-standing client to the same basic rate as my other cheapest clients. I actually tried to get it up to my current standard rate for new clients, but it's a small and rather impecunious company and they protested and wheedled, so I made do with just this slight increase.
At the end of the day, it makes them more beholden to me, as they know I'm doing them a favour. I sometimes give random discounts to clients where I think it's deserved, just to keep them sweet. ▲ Collapse
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I offer a variable discount at my discretion to only one client as a way of recognizing all the work that my longest-standing customer has been sending since 1990. Quite recently another client asked me if I could reduce the rate applied to one account (the client manages several accounts all related to the EU), after some negotiation I agreed but curiously enough the work they have been sending since has decreased dramatically. No worries though as I have plenty of work. Like Neil I give occasi... See more I offer a variable discount at my discretion to only one client as a way of recognizing all the work that my longest-standing customer has been sending since 1990. Quite recently another client asked me if I could reduce the rate applied to one account (the client manages several accounts all related to the EU), after some negotiation I agreed but curiously enough the work they have been sending since has decreased dramatically. No worries though as I have plenty of work. Like Neil I give occasional discounts to clients where I think it's deserved. ▲ Collapse
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Muriel Vasconcellos (X) 
United States
Local time: 12:25
Spanish to English
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My longest and most important client approached me several years ago with a request to drop my rate by USD 0.04 a word for a large project. I refused.
The only way to keep rates from falling is to stand firm.
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Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 04:25
Member
Chinese to English
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I've accepted a 1c/word discount with a client for a certain project. This is my third year on the same project and I've had 100k words from that project each year. My rates on other projects for the same client remain unchanged.
[Edited at 2019-06-19 09:47 GMT]
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 21:25
French to English
My very first client, who pays my lowest rate, has several times tried to get me to accept a lower rate "just for this job" or "just for this end client". One end client being a very upmarket lingerie manufacturer, and in their press release they were boasting about better profits further to delocalisation, so I saw no reason whatsoever to lower my rate for them.
The client sulked for a bit and is now sending me loads of work again.
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Steen Johnsen (X)
Denmark
Local time: 21:25
English to Danish
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| It's a slippery slope | Jun 19, 2019 |
No, because lowering the rate is a slippery slope and harms all of us.
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| Once I did ... | Jun 19, 2019 |
... and soon the PM (one of the usual twenty-something kids with no translation experience at all) answered in such a patronising and cheeky way, that I immediately regretted my attempt. Of course it wasn´t followed by a resume of the usual job flow I had before with them (before I first raised my general word price and the associated subsequent decline of work after a couple of weeks).
[Bearbeitet am 2019-06-20 10:08 GMT]
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 15:25
German to English
| Dual rate structure | Jun 19, 2019 |
Many years ago I had a client who was a consultant to the auto industry who dealt with the Detroit-area office of the company headquartered in Germany. He provided me with regular, well-paid work which included translating e-mail. At some juncture someone at HQ decided to put him on a general distribution list which increased his e-mail volume from 2-3/week to dozens. Since this was before Google Translate, he needed some relief from the increased expense, especially since most of the incoming ... See more Many years ago I had a client who was a consultant to the auto industry who dealt with the Detroit-area office of the company headquartered in Germany. He provided me with regular, well-paid work which included translating e-mail. At some juncture someone at HQ decided to put him on a general distribution list which increased his e-mail volume from 2-3/week to dozens. Since this was before Google Translate, he needed some relief from the increased expense, especially since most of the incoming mail was utterly irrelevant (company outings, changes in plant restaurant hours, etc.). I offered him a low flat rate per e-mail, providing a 2-3 word summary. If he needed a full translation, then he paid full price. ▲ Collapse
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DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| Not that needy | Jun 20, 2019 |
Why should I? While occasionally I can also make small sweeteners and drawbacks within reasonable limits, I see no point in going under just to hold a person temporally: soon he will demand another concession.
Something must be wrong, if we have been cooperating for awhile and suddenly he wants to leave me, not to mention a cheap deal is no good for me.
It's similar to such fallacies as Business is risks.
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Translator is adventurer.
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Blindly signing contracts is doing good business properly.
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I haven't offered, but I have agreed to a discount when asked by a good client, when a large number of words was involved.
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Rita Utt
France
Local time: 21:25
English to German
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I don't think we should accept.
If you do, prices will usually go spiralling downwards.
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 21:25
Member (2009)
English to German
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When I started out as a translator I had once agreed to lower my rate by 1 cent/word. I think it was less than 2 or 3 months later when the client asked for another cent - it's only one cent. Of course I refused because I had a feeling that by the end of the year I might end up paying him to give me work, especially since my rate wasn't very high at that time. For some reason this wasn't exactly my idea of earning money as a translator. ... See more When I started out as a translator I had once agreed to lower my rate by 1 cent/word. I think it was less than 2 or 3 months later when the client asked for another cent - it's only one cent. Of course I refused because I had a feeling that by the end of the year I might end up paying him to give me work, especially since my rate wasn't very high at that time. For some reason this wasn't exactly my idea of earning money as a translator. ▲ Collapse
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| I've given a discount, but not for that reason | Jun 21, 2019 |
On occasion I've encountered a client who was really in bad circumstances,and in that case I gave a discount. The idea of offering a discount in order to "keep" a client sounds like an ongoing thing from then on. Why would one want to do that?
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Axelle H.
France
Local time: 21:25
Member (2017)
English to French
But it happens sometimes when my (best) customers need a tiny translation, I translate in my email and I don't invoice. (Well, it happens 1/2 times a year so..)
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