| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Besides translation companies in Proz, have you ever contacted clients directly? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Besides translation companies in Proz, have you ever contacted clients directly?".
This poll was originally submitted by Puritad Thongpreecha. View the poll results »
| | | | | Yes (what a question!) | Aug 4, 2025 |
Of course I have. I’m pretty sure I wouldn't still be here if I only depended on Proz, although I must say that Proz helped me a lot some years ago, as I found several good clients (agencies and direct clients) thanks to it, but these days it seems clearly more interested in AI rather than in its members…
| | | | | Request additional comments on this poll. | Aug 5, 2025 |
Hello everyone, I'm the person who started this poll. First of all, I apologize if my English writing skill is not good enough, but I'll try my best.
I read the poll results and was quite surprised to see that most linguists contact direct clients directly. I previously thought it would only be a small minority. I may have been misled by some clients from the beginning, thinking that contacting direct clients could be a conflict of interest, business ethics, or something like that. ... See more Hello everyone, I'm the person who started this poll. First of all, I apologize if my English writing skill is not good enough, but I'll try my best.
I read the poll results and was quite surprised to see that most linguists contact direct clients directly. I previously thought it would only be a small minority. I may have been misled by some clients from the beginning, thinking that contacting direct clients could be a conflict of interest, business ethics, or something like that. That's why I've never contacted clients directly.
I probably wouldn't have started this poll if there is no pressure I've been under. I founded Proz in 2011 and have consistently had good clients (translation agencies). Before that, I translated pocketbooks and IT articles published by some publishers, for which I received very little compensation compared to the work I received from clients at Proz. Everything went smoothly, and in 2019, none of my invoices issued with the rate lower than USD 0.08 for translation.
But then, COVID-19 and MT made things worse. Even through, I've continued to receive new clients from Proz. Until this year, there seem to be almost no new clients.
It looks like I'm being forced to decide whether to continue with the old policy or use new strategy by adding direct client contact as well. If I choose the latter, I have some concerns I'd like to consult the linguists who have direct experience about this matter:
- Are your clients from Proz aware that you contact direct client?
- Do you feel like you're losing some of them when you contact direct client?
- Do you offer the same rates for both types of clients? If they are different, how different are they? For example, I am currently offering 0.06 USD to my existing clients, what rate should I offer to new direct clients?
- I'd like further advice if I want to contact clients directly.
I apologize again for my poor English writing. Thanks in advance for all your comments. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
Belgium
Local time: 04:46
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
| What do you mean? | Aug 5, 2025 |
Do you mean direct clients in general (random businesses) or are you talking about your clients' (translation agencies) clients? Reading your last post it seems the latter and that might be risky business. Most NDAs and general terms and conditions will forbid this as long as you work with said translation agencies, and even a while after.
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Luca Tutino
Italy
Member (2002)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Some answers and a few fundamental concepts | Aug 5, 2025 |
- Are your clients from Proz aware that you contact direct clients?
No, or not important. As far as you contact NONE of your agency clients. You should never try to steal the final client discovered through an agency, even if you never worked for that agency.
- Do you feel like you're losing some of them when you contact direct clients?
No.
- Do you offer the same rates for both types of clients? If they are different, how different are they? For example, I am currently offering 0.06 USD to my existing clients, what rate should I offer to new direct clients?
0.12: About 0.09-0.18 depending on the type of project, type of clients, lead time, and many other factors. However, try to keep these numbers for yourself (see below).
- I'd like further advice if I want to contact clients directly.
* Do not offer a rate initially.
* Focus on understanding what the client needs and the results they will get from you.
* Avoid linking prices to the mere word count. Quote on projects instead.
* Keep in mind that a direct client usually needs more service than an agency. If a client asks for a per-word rate, first clarify what exactly they should expect to receive from you.
* If a direct client approaches you asking for an agency rate, then they must be prepared to work as an agency.
* Winning a real direct client is not just a matter of quoting. You should become an expert in advertising and marketing, be a salesperson, a translator, a reviewer, a QA manager, and more. Much more work than getting an agency job.
* Keep in mind that with direct clients, it is common to work with phased payments, including a substantial advance, possibly a mid-stage, and a final stage, at least for first and/or large projects.
| | | | | I agree with you. | Aug 5, 2025 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Do you mean direct clients in general (random businesses) or are you talking about your clients' (translation agencies) clients? Reading your last post it seems the latter and that might be risky business. Most NDAs and general terms and conditions will forbid this as long as you work with said translation agencies, and even a while after.
I don't want contact my agency's client, whether they come with the NDA or not. I agree with you that that's stealing. If I did that, my clients would know pretty quickly. I mean, I will open new direct clients by sending my resume to their HR department in advance, in case they have translation project in the future. Thanks.
[Edited at 2025-08-05 06:33 GMT]
| | | | | Thanks for your sharing. | Aug 5, 2025 |
Luca Tutino wrote:
- Are your clients from Proz aware that you contact direct clients?
No, or not important. As far as you contact NONE of your agency clients. You should never try to steal the final client discovered through an agency, even if you never worked for that agency.
- Do you feel like you're losing some of them when you contact direct clients?
No.
- Do you offer the same rates for both types of clients? If they are different, how different are they? For example, I am currently offering 0.06 USD to my existing clients, what rate should I offer to new direct clients?
0.12: About 0.09-0.18 depending on the type of project, type of clients, lead time, and many other factors. However, try to keep these numbers for yourself (see below).
- I'd like further advice if I want to contact clients directly.
* Do not offer a rate initially.
* Focus on understanding what the client needs and the results they will get from you.
* Avoid linking prices to the mere word count. Quote on projects instead.
* Keep in mind that a direct client usually needs more service than an agency. If a client asks for a per-word rate, first clarify what exactly they should expect to receive from you.
* If a direct client approaches you asking for an agency rate, then they must be prepared to work as an agency.
* Winning a real direct client is not just a matter of quoting. You should become an expert in advertising and marketing, be a salesperson, a translator, a reviewer, a QA manager, and more. Much more work than getting an agency job.
* Keep in mind that with direct clients, it is common to work with phased payments, including a substantial advance, possibly a mid-stage, and a final stage, at least for first and/or large projects.
Your answers and advices are very helpful. The advantage of working for the agency is that I rarely have to do anything other than translate and edit. That may be the main reason behind why I have been working only with agencies since I met Proz in 2011.
| | | | | You're a service provider, not an employee | Aug 5, 2025 |
Puritad Thongpreecha wrote:
I will open new direct clients by sending my resume to their HR department in advance, in case they have translation project in the future. Thanks.
In addition to the very useful advice given by Luca, above: you should not contact direct clients as if they were your (future) employers. You provide a service to them and invoice them for that. Their marketing or regulatory affairs departments are the ones looking for these services, not their HR department. LinkedIn is a great source to find companies and contact persons.
Direct clients do not expect any CV or resume either; they want to hear what added value you can provide, e.g. breaking into the Thai market, increasing their sales or ensuring they operate according to Thai laws.
As for the rates: they are different per language combination, but I would say: charge at least double your agency rate. Good agencies put in a lot of work, and you'll have to do this yourself when dealing with direct clients.
[Edited at 2025-08-05 09:34 GMT]
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| To clarify my answer | Aug 5, 2025 |
As I said before, I have some direct clients, but contacting a client of a translation agency directly, even when the agency is late in paying or "forgets" to pay, it’s a no-no for me.
| | | | | I just realized that I should use the term "direct clients" | Aug 5, 2025 |
You may not believe it, but I just noticed a daily poll in the Proz homepage's far right column a few months ago. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm confident that I've explored various functions and sections of Proz since becoming a member in 2011. I never knew before that there have been daily polls for years. It seems they've been running the poll feature since 2005, and there are now over 6,260 polls. Oh my god!!!
I'm not sure whether I didn't see it myself, or I saw it but jus... See more You may not believe it, but I just noticed a daily poll in the Proz homepage's far right column a few months ago. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm confident that I've explored various functions and sections of Proz since becoming a member in 2011. I never knew before that there have been daily polls for years. It seems they've been running the poll feature since 2005, and there are now over 6,260 polls. Oh my god!!!
I'm not sure whether I didn't see it myself, or I saw it but just wasn't interested in checking it out/participating, or Proz just blocked me from seeing it/from Thailand IP address. But that's not a big deal and it's not relevant to this poll. I just need to find the answer from someone I know when I have a change. Nevertheless, this statement probably reflects how isolated I am as a freelance translator in my country. The good thing is, there aren't many freelancers like me competing against me.
Several years ago, I spoke on the phone with two Thai translators. I got their number from their profile and I was the one who called them first. One was a very kind freelancer who treated me like a friend and offered open and sincere advice. The other, on the other hand, an in-house translator, spoke impolitely to me. She told me not to charge clients less than $0.10 because it made her team and her company uncomfortable. She seemed to misunderstand that I was trying to steal clients from her. I felt terrible, and that's probably why I chose to remain isolated. And there is not enough information and ask questions that make me look like a donkey.
I've been looking at old polls all day today. It's very informative, and it's made me realize that I should use the term "direct client" all the time when referring to non-translation agency clients.
I've learned that the term "direct client" has many dimensions to consider. For legal translation, it might mean translating legal documents using a word processor like MS Word. But for me, who primarily translates IT, a direct client might mean tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Dell, Intel, Apple, Oracle, HP, AMD, etc. where their translation work tends to be in the form of localization projects, often involving multiple language pairs, always has a complex file structure, usually uses CAT tools and term bases / legacy translation memory (TM), and accordingly often relies on PM for project management.
So if I contact these tech giants directly, they might forward my resume to translation agencies that they deal with. That's why I have to think carefully, and it's why I asked, "Do you feel like you're losing some of them (agencies) when you contact direct client?" ▲ Collapse
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 04:46
English to German
+ ...
| big fishes are not your meal | Aug 5, 2025 |
Puritad Thongpreecha wrote:
So if I contact these tech giants directly
Forget contacting big companies anyway - they don't work with individual translators as they can't manage the volume of translations these companies require. Midsized and small businesses are your target.
[Bearbeitet am 2025-08-05 11:11 GMT]
| | | | | Friends of friends | Aug 5, 2025 |
Puritad Thongpreecha wrote:
- Are your clients from Proz aware that you contact direct client?
I've never had a direct client or agency from Proz, but all my clients (direct and agencies) have always known that I work with others. Unless you're thinking of stealing end clients from agencies, that's the way it should be.
- Do you feel like you're losing some of them when you contact direct client?
I'm not sure if "some [clients]" means agencies or direct so it's hard to answer the question but, in any case, they all know I work with others - otherwise how could I: a) gain experience, and b) survive?
- Do you offer the same rates for both types of clients? If they are different, how different are they?
I used to have a general rule that I should charge just a little more than the agencies were charging. Think of it from the point of view of the end client: an agency has some advantages over us:
1) they are (almost) always available to do the job, however big
2) they are a one-stop shop - they'll do all the language combinations and send only one invoice for all of them
3) if their normal translator isn't available, they'll find someone else
As Zea Mays says, "big fishes are not your meal". They're for the agencies.
We, however, have a huge advantage over agencies:
1) we get to know the client and their texts. We interact directly with them. We ask them questions. If we decide never to subcontract, our quality will always be the same (or hopefully better, as we improve over time)
2) I can't think of another advantage but there may be one. We're just fun people to do business with?
This means that, if the client can afford to have another supplier and wait a bit for us to do the job (i.e. if the client doesn't need great amounts of translations), we should be more expensive since, in theory, we offer higher guaranteed quality.
For example, I am currently offering 0.06 USD to my existing clients, what rate should I offer to new direct clients?
Very hard to say - it depends how competitive your market is. Here in Italy, there are some agencies that charge their clients as little as €0.08 per word, so if you go for double that, you'll probably be out of their particular market.
Talking with a friend who works at one of the world's top small auto manufacturers, I hear that their agency charges €0.40 per word for everything they do (from advertising to business letters and press releases - everything).
In the first case, you could maybe add 50% to your current rate in order to remain competitive, in the latter you probably couldn't compete anyway, at any price, because you wouldn't be able to cover all their work.
Edith van der Have suggests doubling your agency rate, and I imagine she's right for her market. In Italy (as I say, standard agency rates can go from about 8 eurocents to 40), that would be too high at the bottom rate, far too low at the top. You need to examine your market.
- I'd like further advice if I want to contact clients directly.
I'm sure you would! Unfortunately, we all have different stories: I translated pro bono for a charity - after about a year, they passed my name to a potential client and one month later I had my first three direct clients in the art world. I still work with one of them. It's all word of mouth - or, at least, it has been for me. Others have started with Proz or with friends or with friends of friends... Something generally appears out of the blue.
All the best
Simon
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Puritad Thongpreecha wrote:
- Are your clients from Proz aware that you contact direct client?
I was taught that it is unethical to attempt to poach an agency's end-client (or to poach other translators' clients), but not all translators agree, and some translators are surprised when they hear this opinion. Many agencies' NDAs contain a stipulation that you will not work for their end-clients directly unless you have worked for them already. If you try to poach an agency's end-client, there is always a risk that the end-client will alert the agency.
However, if an agency no longer sends you work from a particular end-client, I can understand the temptation to contact the end-client directly to find out if you can coax them into sending you translation work again.
- Do you offer the same rates for both types of clients? If they are different, how different are they?
I was taught that it is unethical to undercut colleagues. To "undercut" in this sense means to offer a rate that is much lower than that of other translators, with the intention of steal their clients or discouraging clients from using their services. I would like to extend the same courtesy to translation agencies, but the problem is that you never know how much the agency is charging the end-client. This has been discussed numerous times, but I believe it is not uncommon for agencies to charge the end-client twice or even three times as much as they pay the translator... and end-clients are okay with this.
I've never heard anyone give a translator the advice to charge double or triple her agency rate to direct clients, but agencies have slashed their prices so much these days that I think this would actually be good advice these days.
Keep in mind that the agency typically offers other services to the end-client that you may not be able to offer, included in the rate.
- I'd like further advice if I want to contact clients directly.
Well, you'd have to figure out WHO to contact. The agency already has an existing relationship with particular people within the client's organization, but you're going to have to build those relationships from scratch. You will have to overcome barriers and gatekeepers. And you'd have to frame your message in such a way that the client doesn't get the impression that you have insider knowledge of his company.
Luca Tutino wrote:
* Focus on understanding what the client needs and the results they will get from you.
* Avoid linking prices to the mere word count. Quote on projects instead.
* Keep in mind that a direct client usually needs more service than an agency. If a client asks for a per-word rate, first clarify what exactly they should expect to receive from you.
* Winning a real direct client is not just a matter of quoting. You should become an expert in advertising and marketing, be a salesperson, a translator, a reviewer, a QA manager, and more. Much more work than getting an agency job.
* Keep in mind that with direct clients, it is common to work with phased payments, including a substantial advance, possibly a mid-stage, and a final stage, at least for first and/or large projects.
I agree with Luca. The reason why translators tolerate much lower rates from agencies is because agencies do all of this work for us, and we can focus on doing just the translation. If you work for direct clients, then you'd have to do all the things that the agency would normally take care of.
[Edited at 2025-08-06 08:35 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Puritad Thongpreecha wrote:
...it's made me realize that I should use the term "direct client" all the time when referring to non-translation agency clients.
For me ... a direct client might mean tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Dell, Intel, Apple, Oracle, HP, AMD, etc.
I understand "direct client" to mean simply any client that is not a translation agency. There is no fixed term that means "the agency's client", but "direct client" and "end-client" are sometimes used.
The problem is that if you do Microsoft work via the agency, it does not mean that Microsoft is the agency's client. There may be many layers of clients between Microsoft (the company) and the agency. Typically, Microsoft would have a division for a product, and that division would have a department that takes care of translation, and that department will liaise with a large translation agency, and the large translation agency will liaise with a small translation agency, and then there is you. So, contacting Microsoft itself will likely not have any effect, and the relevant department will not want to work with you personally because they prefer to work with agencies.
It depends on the industry, though. In my field (pharmaceuticals), several companies do have a translation department who might be willing to work with freelancers, even though they usually work with agencies. In fact, one of my agency clients recently managed to "poach" such an end-client from me, so now I do the same work but for much less money. (The end-client still sends me work occasionally.) The weird thing is that the agency somehow managed to convince the end-client to afford them much more flexibility in terms of e.g. deadlines than the end-client ever allowed me to have. And I'm sure the agency charges the end-client more than I do.
| | | | | I agree with you. | Aug 8, 2025 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Puritad Thongpreecha wrote:
So if I contact these tech giants directly
Forget contacting big companies anyway - they don't work with individual translators as they can't manage the volume of translations these companies require. Midsized and small businesses are your target.
[Bearbeitet am 2025-08-05 11:11 GMT]
I feel the same way as you, but unless they are a large company, I have no idea where they are operating. I usually only know about them if they have been investing and operating in my country for a while (like 2-3 years) and by seeing them in the media.
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