Poll: What is the proportion of final users of translation / interpreting services among your customers?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jul 22, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What is the proportion of final users of translation / interpreting services among your customers?".

This poll was originally submitted by Caroline Riera-Darsalia. View the poll results »



 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:05
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
15-30% Jul 22, 2018

I would say that approximately 30% of my jobs come from direct clients, with very large monthly variations. My projects from direct clients are usually pretty big but far between. By contrast, my projects from translation agencies are usually smaller (with some exceptions) but very regular (every month).

 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:05
Member (2004)
English to Italian
I have no idea Jul 22, 2018

what the question means...

Angie Garbarino
neilmac
 
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
A convoluted way to say 'direct clients' Jul 22, 2018

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:

what the question means...


Imo it's just a very convoluted way to say 'direct clients'.


Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Michele Fauble
 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:05
French to English
It might have been better to write as follows: Jul 22, 2018

What percentage of your clients are NOT agencies?

Anja Hajek
Michele Fauble
Angus Stewart
JPMedicalTrans
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:05
Spanish to English
+ ...
Don't know Jul 23, 2018

As it stands, I don't think I understand the question.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:05
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
About 90%, depending on the definition of 'final user' Jul 23, 2018

I work mostly for the translation services of international organizations. It's true that the requests come from their internal units, so it might be argued that they are not the "final users." I contract directly with the organizations. Some of them also farm out work to agencies, but not surprisingly, the agencies pay less and I don't work for them.

I also edit original-English meeting documents for one of these organizations; in those cases I work directly with the authors, even
... See more
I work mostly for the translation services of international organizations. It's true that the requests come from their internal units, so it might be argued that they are not the "final users." I contract directly with the organizations. Some of them also farm out work to agencies, but not surprisingly, the agencies pay less and I don't work for them.

I also edit original-English meeting documents for one of these organizations; in those cases I work directly with the authors, even though I am paid by the organization.
Collapse


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:05
French to English
About 60% Jul 23, 2018

I had no idea before seeing this question, but I just counted up the number of clients, then the number of direct clients and it looks like it's about 60%.
However, if I looked at turnover, agencies would probably account for more, since they send work regularly, whereas with direct clients I might get one huge job lasting a couple of months then not hear from them till next year.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:05
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Close to 0 Jul 24, 2018

I'd love to have more direct clients, but they are pretty rare to me. However, agencies are constant clients and direct clients are usually one-time or few-times clients, or else they appear sporadically. So I actually think agencies are quite an advantade, despite the lower rates. Thanks to the agencies, my schedule is pretty busy, with very little time off.

 


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Poll: What is the proportion of final users of translation / interpreting services among your customers?






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