Vom Thema belegte Seiten: < [1 2] | Getting feedback from clients and agencies Initiator des Themas: laure claesen
| Further explanations to your comment | Nov 14, 2009 |
laure claesen wrote:
This is exactly what I would like.
....
By the way, I would be interested to know what made your Italian agency feel that this would be a useful thing to do...
Laure, on their website the say the following:
Higher quality = More work!
The graphs below help you to understand how we view your performance:
then there comes the diagram with 2 lines for professionalism (contains good understanding of the task, punctual delivery, asking questions if anything is not clear) and quality (errors etc.) and a pie chart with "your errors" (spell, grammar, readability, terminology, consistency etc.pp.). You can see, where you strong points are and where you should really improve..... | | | Lingua 5B Bosnien und Herzegowina Local time: 18:36 Mitglied (2009) Englisch > Kroatisch + ... Complaints and Praises | Nov 14, 2009 |
John Fossey wrote:
There's a rule of thumb in the marketing industry that there's a 10:1 ratio of complaints to praise. People tend to complain 10 times more than praise. Its just something about human nature, that we tend to keep praise to ourselves, while we tend let people know just what we think when we have something to complain about. So from this point of view, 1 positive feedback is worth 10 negative feedbacks.
Of course, if you can get a positive comment without any negative comments, then you're even further ahead.
There's nothing wrong about complaints as long as they are grounded and constructive. It's also about how they are being presented. If they are being skipped just in order not to hurt someone's feelings/ ego = wrong. If they are presented as nitpicking by detecting minor or non-existing errors presenting them as critical red alters that ruined the integrity of the document= wrong again. Both the former and the latter will be done by inexperienced, amateur, unqualified proofreaders without training. It's simply because their lack of training is reflected in the inability to distinguish minor, major and critical errors and act accordingly. For example, I've seen proofreaders detecting a lack or an extra space after a full stop/ a comma as a full error, without labeling it minor. Now, looking at the large picture of a 60, 000- word document, how will one extra space after a full stop be critical? While at the same time they will skip some errors that might be major. In other words, they can't see the wood for the trees. It's also funny observing them how they are getting tangled up in their own amateurism.
Another fact about the human nature is that people often degrade their skills/work quality when they are ( extensively) praised. In such cases, narcissism often gets in the way of the progress.
[Edited at 2009-11-14 20:28 GMT] | | | "No news, good news" | Nov 14, 2009 |
That is my experience. We work via agencies for many different types of industrial and technical clients who really don't have the time to comment on the translations. Several times every year we get a short email from an agency customer reporting that the end customer of this or that translation was very happy and that their representatives in Spain liked the result of our work.
To me, more business from a customer means that they were happy and that the translations helped them ac... See more That is my experience. We work via agencies for many different types of industrial and technical clients who really don't have the time to comment on the translations. Several times every year we get a short email from an agency customer reporting that the end customer of this or that translation was very happy and that their representatives in Spain liked the result of our work.
To me, more business from a customer means that they were happy and that the translations helped them achieve their goals. Receiving a constant flow of jobs is a great compliment already, given the fierce competition in our industry and the very good professionals out there. ▲ Collapse | | | John Fossey Kanada Local time: 12:36 Mitglied (2008) Französisch > Englisch + ...
Lingua 5B wrote:
If they are presented as nitpicking
One of my best clients never fails to give me a list of microscopic errors that he has picked on after every job, including what he considers a better way to put things. Not simply that "it could be put this way", but "it must be put this way, and you were wrong to put it that way". At first I was quite put off and thought I woudn't hear much more from him. But as time has gone on and he keeps sending more and more work my way, I gradually realized it was more a personality thing, and learned to live with it. Then later I discovered from another of his employees that he depends mostly on me for my language pair, but I don't think it would ever be his policy to let me know. I think he adheres to the opinion that praise degrades quality!
So in this case the positive feedback is the continuing work...
[Edited at 2009-11-14 23:09 GMT] | |
|
|
Some ways I get feedback... | Nov 14, 2009 |
Indeed my experience has been that clients who are content are more silent than I would sometimes like. I've come to realize this is pretty standard in the industry and that agencies and end clients, whether due to time constraints, cultural/professional norms, or to other reasons, are not always so vocal about their positive feedback. Certainly, it is important to me to hear their perception of how I am doing and at times I have requested such feedback. What I've gotten is, "Oh yes, we're quite... See more Indeed my experience has been that clients who are content are more silent than I would sometimes like. I've come to realize this is pretty standard in the industry and that agencies and end clients, whether due to time constraints, cultural/professional norms, or to other reasons, are not always so vocal about their positive feedback. Certainly, it is important to me to hear their perception of how I am doing and at times I have requested such feedback. What I've gotten is, "Oh yes, we're quite satisfied with your work." And...? Yep, that's about the extent of it.
From my experience, the following are some indications that a client is pleased with my work:
A) The client keeps sending me work.
B) The client wants to have an increasingly friendly relationship with me.
C) The client writes a positive WWA for me.
D) The client asks for my advice on an issue
E) And most common of all... I don't get any feedback at all.
Best,
David ▲ Collapse | | | from the other side | Nov 18, 2009 |
Interesting thread this. I always return customer's feedback to translators when I get it. Most of the time, translators are fine about it and are happy to learn the customer's preferences. However, I've had some cases where translators take it very personally or they don't respond at all. :-/ | | | laure claesen Frankreich Local time: 18:36 Englisch > Französisch THEMENSTARTER Feedback should be part of the deal | Nov 18, 2009 |
Orla Ryan wrote:
Interesting thread this. I always return customer's feedback to translators when I get it. Most of the time, translators are fine about it and are happy to learn the customer's preferences. However, I've had some cases where translators take it very personally or they don't respond at all. :-/
I agree with you, I find reading everyone's contribution very interesting and enlightening and I am glad that you are joining us "from the other side".
However, what if feedback was part of the deal, like this: I do this translation for you, you pay me and you let me know any comment/remark -as Orla does ? Maybe not just immediately, to let things "cool down" a bit. But everything worthwhile to know, I would like to know becauce even when my work is being reasonably criticized, I tend to think about it and try to improve myself in the future. That's a win-win strategy.
The other night, just as I was about to turn off my computer, I was asked by one agency for whom I work on a regular basis to do a marketing translation within the next couple of hours. I accepted it, for the challenge. It proved very difficult. It was only three pages but the wording was very idiomatic, it contained unfamiliar industry-specific terminology and I knew that the client was waiting at the other end of the world, expecting it for a meeting. So I did my best effort and delivered approximately in time.
And then I heard nothing at all, after all that effort, even when I asked. Well, that's very frustrating. Besides, I knew that, given the lack of time, there were terms I had not been able to check and had told the agency. It was as if my doubts had gone unnoticed. No one cared and I was not able to know what happened with my translation. I did get more work for this customer. However, my feeling is that they just don't care as long as they get a translation as requested. Neither the client or the agency has any quality standards. I feel like giving them up because I never know where I stand. And indeed, just money and more work is not entirely fulfilling. What I would like is to work as a linguistic partner. I rarely get that position working for agencies. Agencies' feeling very often seems to be: well, we've hired your services, just don't ask for more.
Is it because agencies feel that the customer is theirs and they should not say anything relevant about their customer? This is another problem: getting very little information or none at all about the customer and their need for a translation. Maybe in fact, that's the original problem. No info on the customer means no feedback. And agencies too, they do not ask for comments either. Or do they?
[Modifié le 2009-11-18 21:22 GMT]
[Modifié le 2009-11-18 21:23 GMT]
[Modifié le 2009-11-18 21:24 GMT]
[Modifié le 2009-11-18 21:24 GMT]
[Modifié le 2009-11-18 21:26 GMT] | | | it all depends... :) | Nov 18, 2009 |
Generally, a large corporation will be able to provide specific feedback on a translation, because they have international offices and a wide variety of nationalities working for them. A smaller company won't have the same range of resources at their disposal and they rely on the translator and/or agency to provide accurate translations. They're paying for your expertise, after all.
I can completely understand if a t... See more Generally, a large corporation will be able to provide specific feedback on a translation, because they have international offices and a wide variety of nationalities working for them. A smaller company won't have the same range of resources at their disposal and they rely on the translator and/or agency to provide accurate translations. They're paying for your expertise, after all.
I can completely understand if a translator wants to know if they are meeting client expectations, but some clients are not fully au fait with the translation business and the thought of providing linguistic feedback probably doesn't even cross their minds. It really depends on their business/project requirements. Once the translation is in on time and is fit for purpose, then happy days. I'm being very general here, of course.
But as previously mentioned by other posters, good feedback in the form of repeat business is a compliment in itself
[Edited at 2009-11-18 23:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | | Vom Thema belegte Seiten: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Getting feedback from clients and agencies CafeTran Espresso |
---|
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| 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 » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |