Poll: When you increase your rates, how do you handle existing clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When you increase your rates, how do you handle existing clients?".
This poll was originally submitted by Ramona Ali. View the poll results »
| | | I find new clients or negotiate | Feb 2, 2018 |
Clients come and go, but if they come back after a long pause, I may renegotiate rates with them. I have also raised my rate with regular, long-term clients, but I have lost one or two in the effort. In many cases, however, I have simply found clients who paid better (or they have found me), and I have told the ones who pay less that I do not have time for them. I make more effort to negotiate deadlines or fit clients in if they pay well. Most of the jobs I do are... See more Clients come and go, but if they come back after a long pause, I may renegotiate rates with them. I have also raised my rate with regular, long-term clients, but I have lost one or two in the effort. In many cases, however, I have simply found clients who paid better (or they have found me), and I have told the ones who pay less that I do not have time for them. I make more effort to negotiate deadlines or fit clients in if they pay well. Most of the jobs I do are small, so if someone offers me a 500-word letter at a low rate, I may prefer to get some fresh air and exercise instead of negotiating! But if it is a good client, I will try and squeeze it in. I am offered more work than I can take on, so of course, I choose the most interesting and the best paid. ▲ Collapse | | |
I don't raise my rates all at the same time. I do it client-by-client as the circumstances arise. Most of my existing clients have pre-set rates. I may ask for an increase when I see that they are behind the general trend, but that doesn't always work. In fact, some of them have asked me to drop my rates. | | |
For starters, I don't charge the same across the board. That’s one of the reasons why when I raise my rates I do it client-by-client. With some of them I’m bound by contract and I’ll have to wait until it ends to try to negotiate a new rate...
[Edited at 2018-02-02 19:03 GMT] | |
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Edwige Thomas France Local time: 13:25 Member (2014) English to French + ...
I'd love/need to increase my rates, but how could I? When I see that almost all my clients want me to decrease my rates... | | |
I believe we cannot discuss the same approaches for pricing under conditions such as economic crisis, inflation, etc. | | | Diana Obermeyer United Kingdom Local time: 12:25 Member (2013) German to English + ... Other factors | Feb 2, 2018 |
I don't raise rates in the order of the rates currently agreed with existing clients, but in the order I can afford to lose them. New clients and clients returning after a long break (more than a year) first, then slow payers and clients that try to haggle repeatedly, then disorganised clients and client that always seem to have very tight deadlines. I may go through 2 or 3 increases with all of the above before even mentioning rates to my favourite clients. Thes... See more I don't raise rates in the order of the rates currently agreed with existing clients, but in the order I can afford to lose them. New clients and clients returning after a long break (more than a year) first, then slow payers and clients that try to haggle repeatedly, then disorganised clients and client that always seem to have very tight deadlines. I may go through 2 or 3 increases with all of the above before even mentioning rates to my favourite clients. These favourites typically contribute something else - e.g. they save me time through organised project assignment and good project preparation, effective TM management, continuous flow of projects and/or projects consistently of a similar nature or for the same end client, constructive feedback and support, or they offer reliable fast payment. Thus, I'm not that worried if other clients' rates overtake theirs. When the difference becomes more noticeable, I renegotiate, rather than dictate rates to them. ▲ Collapse | | | Mario Freitas Brazil Local time: 08:25 Member (2014) English to Portuguese + ...
I haven't raised my rates in USD and EUR in a long time. The local rates in BRL should be renegotiated on a yearly basis, but it's really hard to do with existing clients. I've actually lost some clients because of that. For some reason, agencies all over the world believe inflation is a virus they are immune against. And there is no plausible convicing argument against that belief. | |
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Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 12:25 Member (2007) English + ... It's a sequential process | Feb 3, 2018 |
1. Set a higher rate for new clients. 2. As work starts coming in from new, higher paying clients, raise rates for poor payers etc. Lose some; keep a few. 3. Finally, when lots of work is coming in at good rates, raise the rate for your least-best good client, and repeat for others as time goes on. | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: When you increase your rates, how do you handle existing clients? Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
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