Poll: Do automated communications from potential clients affect your decision to work with them?
Người gửi thông tin lên tuyến đoạn: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
NHÂN VIÊN TRANG WEB
Jan 24, 2023

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do automated communications from potential clients affect your decision to work with them?".

View the poll results »



Ken Subedi
 
neilmac
neilmac
Tây Ban Nha
Local time: 07:17
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Jan 24, 2023

it would, because I prefer the personal touch. However, it's not really applicable to my situation, as I currently have more clients than I could shake a stick at and it would be irresponsible of me to take on any more without a very good reason.

Michael Newton
Ken Subedi
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Bồ Đào Nha
Local time: 06:17
Thành viên kể từ 2007
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Jan 24, 2023

I don’t like automated communications, even when they are “tailored”, and they make me rather wary of how things will work going forward. I have two types of clients: 1. SMEs and boutique agencies and 2. large public organizations. So far none of my regulars uses automated communications.

Muriel Vasconcellos
 
No Jan 24, 2023

Never had one.

 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Hà Lan
Local time: 07:17
Thành viên kể từ 2006
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
The only Jan 24, 2023

The only thing that matters is how difficult the automated system is to use. I have a few clients whose automated systems are so bad that I regularly just ignore all requests except for ones that look highly profitable. In one client's system, clicking the link to accept the job simply doesn't work, but copying the link and then pasting it into a new blank tab does. Much of the automated communication is in the form of notifications, which can be useful (e.g. when a file becomes available).<... See more
The only thing that matters is how difficult the automated system is to use. I have a few clients whose automated systems are so bad that I regularly just ignore all requests except for ones that look highly profitable. In one client's system, clicking the link to accept the job simply doesn't work, but copying the link and then pasting it into a new blank tab does. Much of the automated communication is in the form of notifications, which can be useful (e.g. when a file becomes available).

Oh, and I want the ability to communicate with a human, when necessary.
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Lingua 5B
Robert Rietvelt
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
Bỉ
Local time: 07:17
Thành viên kể từ 2020
French to Dutch
+ ...
Depends on what you mean Jan 24, 2023

I receive sometimes (but never only) automated messages from the system of some of my clients, but from potential clients ? Or do you mean bulk e-mails from agencies looking for translators for their immense projects ? In that case, yes, I don't want to work for them. I don't even reply to them because I'm always suspicious about agencies that apparently aren't able to form a pool with more or less regular translators. Pretty sure they are low-cost agencies fishing for cheap translators.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Liena Vijupe
 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia và Herzegovina
Local time: 07:17
Thành viên kể từ 2009
English to Croatian
+ ...
Yes Jan 24, 2023

Samuel Murray wrote:

The only thing that matters is how difficult the automated system is to use. I have a few clients whose automated systems are so bad that I regularly just ignore all requests except for ones that look highly profitable. In one client's system, clicking the link to accept the job simply doesn't work, but copying the link and then pasting it into a new blank tab does. Much of the automated communication is in the form of notifications, which can be useful (e.g. when a file becomes available).

Oh, and I want the ability to communicate with a human, when necessary.


I have one whose systems sends 20+ emails for a tiny job. Eg. “We just sent you files” is one email, “You just received files” is a separate email, and so on. It quickly clogs my inbox and all I can see in it is their numerous unnecessary emails. I also ignore them unless it’s a big project (which is rare).


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
Pháp
Local time: 07:17
French to English
. Jan 24, 2023

Nothing as bad as what Lingua 5B has experienced, just emails that all follow the same format. I often make little remarks to see if I get a human reaction, and I have done, so there are human beings overseeing the process even if they didn't type out "Hello, can you translate this file?" especially for me.
If I didn't get the impression a human being was involved in sending me the work, I'd be worried about hiccups in the process, if I have questions to the point that I simply can't finis
... See more
Nothing as bad as what Lingua 5B has experienced, just emails that all follow the same format. I often make little remarks to see if I get a human reaction, and I have done, so there are human beings overseeing the process even if they didn't type out "Hello, can you translate this file?" especially for me.
If I didn't get the impression a human being was involved in sending me the work, I'd be worried about hiccups in the process, if I have questions to the point that I simply can't finish the job without client input especially.
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Tom in London
Tom in London
Vương Quốc Anh
Local time: 06:17
Thành viên kể từ 2008
Italian to English
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE Jan 24, 2023

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do automated communications from potential clients affect your decision to work with them?".

View the poll results »



NO


Kay Denney
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
Pháp
Local time: 07:17
French to English
. Jan 24, 2023

Tom in London wrote:

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do automated communications from potential clients affect your decision to work with them?".

View the poll results »



NO

Yeah, as we were saying yesterday, we can totally tell when messages are automated haha


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
Hoa Kỳ
Local time: 01:17
Japanese to English
+ ...
automated communications Jan 24, 2023

Unless the communication mentions my name specifically, I ignore it.

Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Josephine Cassar
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Hy Lạp
Local time: 08:17
Greek to English
Nothing Jan 25, 2023

Automated communications from potential clients affect nothing except the size of my "Deleted mails" folder.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Muriel Vasconcellos
Rita Translator
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
Vương Quốc Anh
Local time: 06:17
Thành viên kể từ 2014
Japanese to English
Cogs in a machine Jan 25, 2023

If a client sends off a bulk message, it means that they see no difference between myself and others on that mailing list.

If I have been unable to differentiate myself, it means that I have failed to add value.

If I cannot add value, it means that clients will not pay good rates for my work.

That's why I don't work for those who don't communicate with me on a one-to-one basis.

Regards,
Dan


Josephine Cassar
 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:17
Thành viên kể từ 2006
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Depends Jan 25, 2023

Samuel Murray wrote:

The only thing that matters is how difficult the automated system is to use. I have a few clients whose automated systems are so bad that I regularly just ignore all requests except for ones that look highly profitable.


Sometimes (see above), but in general, no. I do prefer personal contact by far, but a job is a job. I got bills to pay!

[Edited at 2023-01-25 16:37 GMT]


 


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Poll: Do automated communications from potential clients affect your decision to work with them?






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