Poll: For how long have you been working with your longest-standing customer? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "For how long have you been working with your longest-standing customer?".
This poll was originally submitted by Teresa Borges. View the poll results »
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:05
Spanish to English
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I have three "legacy" customers that I have been working with for over twenty years - a market research company mainly working in agriculture and related areas, a professional journal working in the same scope, that used to share a building with the market research firm, and one software provider, with whom I started out as an EFL trainer. The rest are more recent collaborators.
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Over the years, I have suggested several polls, but in general it takes so long to be posted that I can’t even remember when I sent this one.
Anyway, I have been working with my longest-standing customer (an agency) since 1989 (it wasn’t my first client but close). My second longest-standing customer (a direct client) has been with me since the early 1990s. I appreciate all my clients but these two are very close to my heart…
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Teresa Borges wrote:
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it wasn’t my first client but close
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Same here!
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New customers are a PITA. 99% of what I do is for customers of at least 15 years' standing.
I'd change career if I had to scrabble around for one-off scraps. It doesn't appeal at all. I want a long-term relationship with mutual trust and respect.
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Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 12:05
German to English
And several over 10 years. Others have fallen by the wayside over time, due to business failure or inability to meet market prices. I've not had many one-off jobs.
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Although only sporadic, this small agency still sends me significant projects (10k+) now and again, but can disappear for a year or two. Not sure if that counts. It was one of my first clients as well.
My currently largest customer (agency) has been with me for the past 11 years, which may be because I've yet to increase my rates with them!
And I may have recently lost a returning agency that had been fairly active for the past 15 years...
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 18:05
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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Remarkable story. My longest-standing customer is the agency I worked for during the first years of my translation career. After 5 years my boss didn't take it so well that during a meeting I said out loud that we weren't lemons he could keep on squeezing. Long story short: I got fired, but immediately after that applauded for making the choice to start as a freelancer. Result: during my first year as a freelancer I was provided with a (rather low but just acceptable) steady income from one sing... See more Remarkable story. My longest-standing customer is the agency I worked for during the first years of my translation career. After 5 years my boss didn't take it so well that during a meeting I said out loud that we weren't lemons he could keep on squeezing. Long story short: I got fired, but immediately after that applauded for making the choice to start as a freelancer. Result: during my first year as a freelancer I was provided with a (rather low but just acceptable) steady income from one single client. By the time job offers started to decrease I had found a few other clients, and so forth.
I also have a few more recent (i.e. less than 5 years old) clients that provide me with decent work, but the majority of my best clients has been around for at least 10 years.
In the end having long-standing customers that keep coming back with lots of work is the most valuable feedback a translator can get. ▲ Collapse
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Niina Lahokoski
Finland
Local time: 19:05
Member (2008)
English to Finnish
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There doesnt seem to be an option for 15 to 20 years, we'll I'm right there. A couple of my oldest clients are still with me (thanks if you're reading this!) from when I started 17 years ago.
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In fact, 30+, and some others 25+.
Lieven Malaise wrote:
In the end having long-standing customers that keep coming back with lots of work is the most valuable feedback a translator can get.
Quite right. And not only that. Several of my "new" current clients were referred to me personally by older clients, in some cases now several steps removed. That's pretty good feedback, too.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 18:05
French to English
OK I can't beat Muriel, having only 25 years' experience.
And I've only been freelancing for 5 years, but one of my clients was already a client of the agency when I started working there in 1998. He came looking for me after I left the agency, when he noticed a dip in their quality, it felt just like old times to be working for him again, we have a very comfortable working relationship.
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A Swedish company who contacted me here in 2003
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