| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Direct client retainer Thread poster: madleen
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madleen
United States
Local time: 11:04
Arabic to English
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Hello all,
I need your advice . I have been contacted by a direct client for on- call translation and interpretation
While they don’t exactly know the translation volume they will have, they may offer a retainer (in addition to the actual translation cost, of course ). How much should this retainer be in your opinion?
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 11:04
Dutch to English
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| More information | Jun 3, 2022 |
madleen wrote:
Hello all,
I need your advice . I have been contacted by a direct client for on- call translation and interpretation
While they don’t exactly know the translation volume they will have, they may offer a retainer (in addition to the actual translation cost, of course ). How much should this retainer be in your opinion?
You need to have a better idea of how much of your time it will take, so you need to pin them down a bit more: What kind of company is it? Will they need you once a week or more, once a month or more? Will it be documents, for example letters, or live conversation? One on one or meetings?
You will find more information here (always search online):
https://millo.co/what-is-a-retainer-fee
| | | | madleen
United States
Local time: 11:04
Arabic to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Calculation method | Jun 4, 2022 |
Tina Vonhof wrote: You need to have a better idea of how much of your time it will take, so you need to pin them down a bit more: What kind of company is it? Will they need you once a week or more, once a month or more? Will it be documents, for example letters, or live conversation? One on one or meetings? You will find more information here (always search online): https://millo.co/what-is-a-retainer-fee
Thank you Tina!
I am trying to get more specifics, but the reply so far is: we don’t know, the volume can be relatively high at the beginning.
The point of the retainer, I think, is to guarantee my availability. But I think I should be available ONLY up to a certain level. I may receive interesting freelance jobs from my other clients that would pay higher at a certain point that I shouldn’t turn down. I am not sure how to integrate that into our agreement. I shouldn’t be refusing all other jobs.
If we agree, they will pay for translation and interpretation separately, and offer a retainer. I am trying to find a way to calculate this retainer.
[Edited at 2022-06-04 14:35 GMT]
| | | | Michael Newton 
United States
Local time: 13:04
Japanese to English
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| client retainer | Jun 4, 2022 |
"They don't know how much translation there will be" and "they may offer a retainer". Yes, and pigs may fly. Conditions like these are set up for the gullible. I would ignore them and get on with my life.
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Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:04
Serbian to English
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| Pigs CAN fly ... | Jun 7, 2022 |
Michael Newton wrote:
"They don't know how much translation there will be" and "they may offer a retainer". Yes, and pigs may fly. Conditions like these are set up for the gullible. I would ignore them and get on with my life.
In actual fact, pigs *can* fly ... if you put them in an airplane.
I can't see any a priori reason for scepticism.
I don't know how much Arabic / Farsi linguists are in demand, but if these people want to be sure to have someone always available at short notice, it would make perfect business sense for them to have someone on retainer.
As always, the devil is in the details. Agreements need to negotiated in as many details as reasonably feasible. Also it's even more important how do you feel about these people? Do they sound as being open to solving any future problems in a sensible way or are they likely to start nit-picking and being shifty when it comes to paying?
You also need to reasonable - if you accept a retainer you must be always available, which means not accepting anything else than you can't drop and finish whenever later. So you have to make a realistic estimate of what would be in average the cost of these "missed other opportunities".
[Edited at 2022-06-07 02:49 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 19:04
French to English
I have never been paid a retainer.
In my experience, volumes pretty much always turn out to be less than this kind of client thinks (they are overwhelmed with work and this tends to make any new task seem enormous because they can't fit it in).
The source text never turns up when they say it will.
If they say it's "not that technical" you won't be able to understand a word despite ten years' experience in the field.
So I think you need to just get on with your life, an... See more I have never been paid a retainer.
In my experience, volumes pretty much always turn out to be less than this kind of client thinks (they are overwhelmed with work and this tends to make any new task seem enormous because they can't fit it in).
The source text never turns up when they say it will.
If they say it's "not that technical" you won't be able to understand a word despite ten years' experience in the field.
So I think you need to just get on with your life, and tell them they will get priority if you can be paid an emergency rate (I charge a third of my usual rate extra, then round the sum up to make a flat rate, because clients like flat rates when they're in a hurry).
But all in all, this client is screaming incompetence. Maybe they have no idea how to assess the number of words, maybe their employees and other outsourcers are all handing work in late or handing in shoddy work that needs to be redone. But they should have some idea of how big it is, and they do have a deadline for the whole project, even if they don't know how long various bits will take. If it's something that happens every year, like an annual report, they could take a look at the report from last year and tell you how long that was. Unless their work has changed drastically since then, this will be a good indication of what it'll be this year.
So, a client moving ahead in the dark is rather a red flag for me. I'd probably tell them that yes, I'll translate their document, then if it turned out that I couldn't because of other commitments, I'd recommend a colleague to do the job for me. I might actually recommend an agency, because the one thing they can offer that freelancers can't, is putting in the work to find a translator at a short notice.
I might just tell them that if they want me to turn down other work to keep my schedule free for them, they'd have to pay what I'd have earned during that time, i.e. my hourly rate. They'll soon realise it's better to take a deep breath and spend half an hour assessing the work to be able to give you a realistic idea of what they might need from you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Could you try working with them without a retainer as a first step? | Jun 7, 2022 |
I personally never accept retainers because, as you mentioned, this can mean missing out on more interesting projects from other customers, but also because it can mean that you have to accept work before even knowing what it is about, and I only accept each specific project after making sure that the content, volume and deadline are something that I can commit to. This seems all the more important with a new customer who seems rather inexperienced and might have unrealistic expectations. I woul... See more I personally never accept retainers because, as you mentioned, this can mean missing out on more interesting projects from other customers, but also because it can mean that you have to accept work before even knowing what it is about, and I only accept each specific project after making sure that the content, volume and deadline are something that I can commit to. This seems all the more important with a new customer who seems rather inexperienced and might have unrealistic expectations. I would suggest trying to convince the customer to work with you without a retainer as a first step, so that you can both see if the relationship works out. It may turn out that the frequency of work matches your availability and that no retainer is needed after all. Or it may turn out that the work is very interesting and frequent, and you will be in a better position to make an informed decision about what the retainer fee should be. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I've done it a few times | Jun 7, 2022 |
If they want you to be available to them all week, they need to pay you for the whole week. Simple as that.
I've had the odd month on a full-time retainer in the annual report season and spent most of that time working for other customers. Ker-ching!
Don't feel guilty about charging "too much": 1. You're a consultant and they don't come cheap. 2. If they can't decide how much they need translating, they probably can't count anyway.
Just think of all that mo... See more If they want you to be available to them all week, they need to pay you for the whole week. Simple as that.
I've had the odd month on a full-time retainer in the annual report season and spent most of that time working for other customers. Ker-ching!
Don't feel guilty about charging "too much": 1. You're a consultant and they don't come cheap. 2. If they can't decide how much they need translating, they probably can't count anyway.
Just think of all that money for nothing (and you get your chicks for free). ▲ Collapse
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madleen
United States
Local time: 11:04
Arabic to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Ice Scream wrote:
If they want you to be available to them all week, they need to pay you for the whole week. Simple as that.
I've had the odd month on a full-time retainer in the annual report season and spent most of that time working for other customers. Ker-ching!
Don't feel guilty about charging "too much": 1. You're a consultant and they don't come cheap. 2. If they can't decide how much they need translating, they probably can't count anyway.
Just think of all that money for nothing (and you get your chicks for free).
Thank you. Can you share amounts, if you are comfortable with that?
Mind you, they want me to do both translation and interpretation when needed.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 19:04
French to English
Ice Scream wrote:
I've had the odd month on a full-time retainer in the annual report season and spent most of that time working for other customers. Ker-ching!
But what happens if you're already on a tight deadline and suddenly Mr Retainer sends his stuff? He's paying you a retainer to remain available, so he expects you to jump to it and get his job done pronto. Do you simply pretend it'll take longer, to be able to finish your other job first? Or do you simply work later into the evening to get both done pronto?
(Since you don't use your real name here, I presume you can give an honest answer to this question !)
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:04
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| On stand-by for the whole week? | Jun 8, 2022 |
That’s like a full-time employee, so ask them to add some benefits as well.
I don’t get the interpretation part, how is it structured? Are you on a 24/7 stand-by so you can receive any interpretation call at any time? As far as I know this on-call interpretation is paid terribly low.
Ask for a one-week trial period, then see how feasible it is for you. The retainer sounds like they want your availability at a very low cost, while in reality a full hourly rate should... See more That’s like a full-time employee, so ask them to add some benefits as well.
I don’t get the interpretation part, how is it structured? Are you on a 24/7 stand-by so you can receive any interpretation call at any time? As far as I know this on-call interpretation is paid terribly low.
Ask for a one-week trial period, then see how feasible it is for you. The retainer sounds like they want your availability at a very low cost, while in reality a full hourly rate should be charged, eg. $hourly X 40 hrs. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Something similar | Jun 8, 2022 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
Ask for a one-week trial period, then see how feasible it is for you. The retainer sounds like they want your availability at a very low cost, while in reality a full hourly rate should be charged, eg. $hourly X 40 hrs.
Came here to suggest something similar, but for a month instead. A month of taking work from them at your standard rate (i.e. not a retainer) so you can both check the volumes required and see whether a retainer fee makes sense. You can also translate for other clients in this time to get a rough idea of how much income you would be giving up if you had to work exclusively for this client.
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Sadek_A
Local time: 21:04
English to Arabic
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| An attempt to put your mind at ease! | Jun 9, 2022 |
(1) You need to take into consideration that translation and interpretation are two different tasks in almost every sense, including rate.
(2) The way I see it, a retainer represents a 50/50 chance of service-usage coupled with 100% of dedicated-standby. IMO, this qualifies you for no less than half your hourly rate per every respective service of the two.
(3) Calculate accordingly. For instance, your hourly rate for translation is $100/hour, and they need you on standb... See more (1) You need to take into consideration that translation and interpretation are two different tasks in almost every sense, including rate.
(2) The way I see it, a retainer represents a 50/50 chance of service-usage coupled with 100% of dedicated-standby. IMO, this qualifies you for no less than half your hourly rate per every respective service of the two.
(3) Calculate accordingly. For instance, your hourly rate for translation is $100/hour, and they need you on standby 2 days a week 5hrs each, hence $50(half rate) X 2d X 5h = $500/week. Numbers can vary depending on cases.
(4) As was said above by Chris S., don't feel guilty even if retainer amounts to $20K, this is business, they're buying your time and if they don't use it it's their problem not yours.
(5) On the other hand, if you take their retainer you will have to dedicate the agreed time, and upon receiving a project it's totally up to you whether to charge just the other half of your hourly rate or even exceed it depending on the project.
(6) Retain the right to provide, at your sole discretion, a customized quote for every project, that the client may accept and award the project or refuse and drop the project without affecting the agreed retainer.
(7) However, your agreement will need to draw a clear timeframe of business hours, so that client won't be using retainer to harass you with business requests beyond agreed hours/days.
(8) That said, make sure any such agreement is signed into a contract legally binding to the client. Otherwise, it will fail after but a short while.
***Mind you, all of the above:
A. Doesn't take into account any request by that client for your relocation, especially not to a higher-cost country than yours.
B. Assumes you're well-qualified to take all sorts of their projects without a problem. ▲ Collapse
| | | | madleen
United States
Local time: 11:04
Arabic to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I will note that | Jun 9, 2022 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
That’s like a full-time employee, so ask them to add some benefits as well.
I don’t get the interpretation part, how is it structured? Are you on a 24/7 stand-by so you can receive any interpretation call at any time? As far as I know this on-call interpretation is paid terribly low.
Ask for a one-week trial period, then see how feasible it is for you. The retainer sounds like they want your availability at a very low cost, while in reality a full hourly rate should be charged, eg. $hourly X 40 hrs.
Thank you.
No, I don’t think it is 24/7 standby. Even if they need me to be available when they call, there are limits to be established. This should be included in the contract . A retainer doesn’t mean the translator is magically available any time or is supposed to have no other commitments.
Kay has suggested an emergency rate which is also a good idea in this situation.
But how much should the retainer be? What’s the practice/ range ?
[Edited at 2022-06-09 06:26 GMT]
| | | | madleen
United States
Local time: 11:04
Arabic to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
(7) However, your agreement will need to draw a clear timeframe of business hours, so that client won't be using retainer to harass you with business requests beyond agreed hours/days.
All points make sense especially no. 7 . Thank you!
Because interpretation rates are different, the retainer should somehow reflect that.
I am trying to know how much of a retainer should be proposed
[Edited at 2022-06-09 06:53 GMT]
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