With the advent of the internet came the best possible conditions for “ghosting”: the act of simply disappearing, no goodbye, no explanation, no responsibilities. For remote workers, when a good client stops sending work it can be frustrating at best, and financially devastating at the worst. What happened? How you can you prevent this? Here are some tips from the Managing Director of Meridian Linguistics, who in her career has been both the abandoned translator, the frustrated project manager, and the ghosting client.
1) First of all: don’t take it personally. Sometimes the client just doesn’t have any work for you. Trust me, they probably wish they did!
2) …unless you should take it personally. Is it possible you might have:
- Accepted a job you were not qualified to translate, or a deadline you weren’t sure you could make?
- Failed to do your proper research and double checked all terms and proper names?
- Failed to proofread your work (I have NEVER not caught at least one mistake in a last proofreading of my own work, no matter how carefully I thought I was translating!)
- Failed to read the instructions in the assignment e-mail?
- Been impolite or combative in your e-mails?
- Started to get complacent after getting pretty regular work from a client, and hearing no complaints, started to make minor mistakes or rush your work because you think you’re not replaceable?
But – they never told me I did anything wrong!
Unfortunately, they rarely will. It is important to know that just because you don’t hear their complaints, just because they don’t point out your errors, doesn’t mean they aren’t keeping tabs on each issue in their database.
So why do clients ghost instead of telling you what you did wrong?
Because to be honest, many freelancers don’t respond well to criticism, even when mistakes are clearly documented (and timestamped!) I once had a translator disappear on me on a rush deadline, not answering her phone or my dozens of frantic e-mails. I finally had to advise her, both in voicemails and by e-mail, that I had placed the translation somewhere else. She reappeared the following day and sent a delivery e-mail—with no translation, but with an invoice. Her response was that even if it was late, she had spent five hours on the translation. She gave no explanation for why she hadn’t responded to my messages or warned me about a late delivery, and she didn’t even send the file in the end!
When I reminded her politely (because trust me, it is never worth it to be less than polite) that I had placed the work with another freelancer and that she hadn’t honored our written agreement or even sent the translation at all, and therefore we couldn’t pay her, she wrote me some nasty e-mails and then left us a bad review online. And this was a case in which her mistakes were clearly documented by timestamped e-mail traffic! Imagine what it is like when the problems are more subjective…
I know, YOU would never act this way! But translators rightfully take a lot of pride in their work. They have studied and trained long and hard, and (hopefully) choose every term with care and after thoughtful research. Hearing that they have made a mistake never goes down easy, even for the most professional among us. So while as LSPs we must be empathetic, we must also preserve our livelihoods, and sometimes that means we have to lean towards self-preservation. I personally really hate this, because it does nothing to help individual translators grow and improve, and because yes, everyone makes mistakes. Yet over time, it has proven to be the safest strategy when dealing with our newer linguists. That said, for the translators who I know I can rely on to be consummate professionals—I do give them a heads up when we spot an issue.
In our industry, our online presence is everything, and bad reviews can be devastating (that goes for LSPs as well as freelance translators). Luckily Meridian has built a strong reputation and we pride ourselves on being a place where translators like to work (because I once was a freelance translator myself and could not EVEN with one more invoicing portal, am I right?) But you’ll understand why sometimes it is safer for a project manager to simply stop contacting a translator rather than point out problems with their work, which can often lead to defensiveness, accusations, and even destructive behavior. The internet, and its feelings of false anonymity, can bring out the worst in people.
So what can I do to keep my clients?
1) Be honest and accept criticism, whenever it is deserved (and sometimes, even when it isn’t. A lot of clients and project managers don’t understand translation, and never will).
My favorite thing to hear from a translator who has messed up is “I’m sorry, I take pride in my work and agree that this mistake was unacceptable. It absolutely will not happen again. Please accept a 3% discount on this job, and I can assure you that in the future I will pay closer attention.”
When the mistake is really bad? Offer to do the next translation (say, up to 500 words) for free. This way, they’ll feel like they still came out ahead, and you won’t lose a client.
2) Write very clear delivery e-mails. Sometimes I make translation choices that come after lots of consideration and research, and I know an editor might not take the same time. In these cases, I point out these choices in the delivery e-mail and suggest to the LSP or client that should the editor dispute these choices, to please consider x, y, and z. This avoids a situation in which the editor simply flags it as an error and logs it in my file without even letting me know.
And ALWAYS ask for confirmation of receipt! Have you ever accidentally replied only to yourself, or forgot an attachment, only to wake up the next day to a hundred angry emails from a client in another timezone?
3) Don’t get complacent. When you’re juggling multiple clients with varying deadlines and priorities, this can be tough. But once again, always remember that just because they’re not pointing out your mistakes doesn’t mean they’re not noticing them.
4) Write e-mails that you’d be fine seeing plastered all over the internet. Be professional, polite, and clear.
5) Follow up. If it has been awhile, write a non-imposing e-mail saying, “I just wanted to check in any make sure that you know I am available and looking forward to working with you again. Please be in touch if you have any feedback about my past work or feel my rates are no longer competitive.” By indicating a willingness to receive criticism, a project manager might just reach out with constructive feedback.
The key point to remember is that LSPs never want to blacklist a translator. My stomach sinks every time I have to click “do not use” in our database. Not only does it mean the end to a relationship, it means putting more time and money into recruitment, working with people we don’t know and trust, and wishing that we could have done more to help that translator grow and learn.
So keep up the good work, translators! Accept criticism gracefully, always be polite, and deliver work you’re proud of. Hope to work with you soon!