No matter how meticulous you are about a) your translations and b) your business practices, you can’t work as a freelancer without dealing with disgruntled clients from time to time. First, let’s say this: unless you love interpersonal conflict, dealing with unhappy clients is awful. Running your own business means caring very deeply about your work and putting your reputation behind every translation that you do, and it can be a truly horrible experience to have a client question your competence, integrity, whatever. But since this situation is bound to occur, let’s look at what you can/should do after you receive that angry phone call or e-mail from a client.
For the purposes of this post, let’s assume that the client’s complaint has at least some basis in fact. Maybe you don’t see the problem as being as serious as the client does, but you agree that there’s some shred of an issue to be dealt with. Baseless client complaints are another issue altogether, and one that I’ll save for another post (or better yet, another translation blogger can take that one on!). I think that resolving legitimate disputes boils down to three basic steps:
- Admit to the mistake;
- Apologize;
- Try to make it better.
Admittedly, I’m a pretty conflict-averse person, and I’m also very committed to maintaining a good reputation in the translation industry. Therefore, I probably go a little further with these steps than some translators do. For example, if I make a legitimate error, I nearly always offer the client some sort of compensation: I once e-mailed a client the wrong file for a (thankfully) very small project the night before I was leaving for a vacation. When I returned from vacation and realized what had happened, I told the client that of course I didn’t expect to be paid for that project, but that I also wanted to do a small job for them for free in the future. I think that this type of gesture shows the client that I get it: that freelancing can be a “one strike and you’re out” type of business, and that I am very committed to client satisfaction.
A few other dispute resolution tips that I’ve gleaned over the years:
- When you receive an angry e-mail from a client, first, do nothing. Don’t respond when you are angry too. Wait until you’ve cooled off a bit, then compose your response. Or compose your response and let it sit for an hour, then read it over before you send it.
- Always ask for specific examples of quality issues. It’s really hard to know how to make it better with a client who says “The tone isn’t what we wanted,” “The terminology wasn’t right for our audience,” etc. Always ask for an edited version of your translation, or for a few specific examples of the kind of issues the client is talking about.
- Resist the urge to write a lengthy explanation in response to a client complaint. When you respond, be concise, be kind and admit what happened. “I really apologize for neglecting to fully comply with your style sheet; I agree with the changes that you made to the document and I want to assure you that I will be more meticulous about this in the future” is enough. Save the venting and ranting for your trusted circle of friends and colleagues!
- Don’t complain about the client’s requirements after the fact. If the client sends you a 12 page style guide for a 1,500 word project, or expects you to go through an arduous QA process with no increase in your rate, the time to lodge your objection is before the project starts.
- Don’t take it personally. Clearly, this is easy to say and very, very hard to do. But when you’re dealing with a business issue, try to keep it businesslike. Stay calm, stay polite and try to see things from the client’s point of view.
- After the complaint is resolved, decide whether this client is a good fit for you. Sometimes the client’s complaint reflects the fact that their work style and yours are not a good fit. And really, that’s OK. There is enough other work out there for you, and there are enough other translators out there for them.
Thanks for the advice Corinne. I also think that giving a phone call to the client is very handy to sort out problems or clear misunderstandings. It’s so easy to snap in an email, whereas we tend to “mellow” when we are talking directly over the phone.
Louise
Thanks Louise! I agree completely: e-mail can rapidly spiral out of control, while most people are much more reasonable over the phone. Great point!
How to deal with angry clients, whether they are wrong or right, is always a very hot topic. I agree with Louise. Me too, I prefer picking up the phone and offering my availability to reach a compromise. I also think that admitting your mistakes is synonym of intelligence and professionalism. Unfortunately, clients do not always appreciate it. You can also find people who continue fighting. Anyway, that’s not the rule.
Thanks for your comment; I agree about using the phone. Many people will say things in an e-mail that they would never say in person or over the phone, and when you’re on the phone I think that the client can get a better sense of your sincerity. But you’re absolutely right, some clients will take advantage of your honesty and generosity…better to focus on the ones who won’t!
This topic was covered at the 2011 ITI conference during a workshop,where I was amazed how many freelancers objected to the basic idea of ‘apologise humbly and give a discount’. Lots were very defensive.
I follow a similar method to your system. I had a justified quality complaint earlier this year. The refresher was a good reminder, after not having handled a customer complaint for quite a while. 🙂
Thanks Karen! That’s interesting about the ITI conference; I do think that a lot of translators get into “the client is clearly an idiot” mode, which doesn’t serve anyone well. And I agree, the occasional client complaint is a good reminder to keep our skills sharp.
I agree with both of you. Many translators feel that the sun rises and sets on their translation and immediately get defensive if a client comes back with suggestions or asks for their input on changes, while I learned in grad school that every translation (no matter how good) can benefit from a bit of polishing. I think this is why most translators object to the idea of “apologize and offer a discount.” I don’t view customer complaints as a negative either. They generally are more familiar with their products/subject matter than an outsider can ever be. If the complaint/suggestion is justified I will be the first to admit it. That said, if some newbie checked the text and suggests it not be called “a glass of water” and wants to change it to beaker of water because it is served in a cardboard cone (true story) I will indeed get defensive and maybe a little hostile. It’s all relative I guess.
I’ve always believed that being a professional is admitting when you are wrong or have made mistakes. When I was working in-house, the “pass-the-buck” attitude was rampant and it always irked me.
Great point, I do think that’s one of the beauties of the freelance world; the buck begins and ends with you!
Thank you, Corinne for the excellent article. I have found that apologizing for a legitimate mistake and then working with the client to fix the error usually diffuses the situation and it doesn’t mean I won’t ever get work from that client again.
You are absolutely right about the conflict resolution. I have learnt that the hard way. Email makes it even worse as you throw each other words and probably the client refuses to pay you a dime for your services.
Yet, in the world of freelancing, you might still get a client hunting you down even after all the battling. It happened to me, though it took some days if not weeks to cool it off. I never dreamt, neither did it ever cross my mind that I would ever work for the client and was even shocked to see him mail me some greetings.
Well, we forgot about it, but I learnt one thing: Your fist point. If you get angry or the client does, take your time to cool off and don’t give long explanations. It works like magic. Thanks all, guys interested in Hindi translation can check out hindicertifiedtranslationUSCIS
Keep up the good work, as we all ride the freelancing road. Its people like you that we all look up to for that much needed advice. Thumbs up!
Your posting really reflects my constant call to my clients for “teamwork”. By “teamwork” I mean not leaving the translator in the dark about terminology, audience, purpose, background etc. If they don’t tell the translator who the target audience is, then when the register is wrong, they shouldn’t really blame the translator. But as you say, the time for the translator to ask the questions and the client to give the instructions is before the project and not afterwards.
In 21 years I have never been able to get my clients fully to include me in their planning team, though one of them sometimes give me the heads up on a job that will be arriving soon. I have developed an acute sense of register and target audience from the text itself. And if I can’t work it out from the text, I ask.
A further point in defence of the translator! Very often a translated text is reviewed at the end client’s office by someone who does not understand the source language. That person may have objections to the CONTENT of the source text. This is something over which the translator has no control and is a matter for internal decisions and discussions. In such cases I ask them to send me what they believe to be lacking the translation and then point out that this was not in the original version.
I have made a few translation errors in the past (fortunately not many) but if a cient finds one, he’ll start picking holes in everything, including style and terminology.
My solution is to apologise for what is my fault, offer a discount if I think this would be justified, but stick to my guns over the issue that I describe above.
Excellent article, as always! We have written about this on our blog (in French) a few times (once recently) and the single most important thing in my opinion is to let the client vent…just let them rant on (whether by email or phone). Only after they finish ranting can you try to engage them in a civilized discussion of how to fix the problem (and not immediately in some cases – you will have to confirm that you have heard their complaint and will get back to them later/tomorrow/next Tuesday, etc.). It is pointless – no, counterproductive! – to try to even interrupt the client, never mind giving arguments to support your position. Also, sometimes these rants come from a place of insecurity (for high-anxiety clients). Kindness and reassurance (and a commitment to sticking by them until the problem is fixed) are the best way to go. But, as you point out, this is HARD. You have to swallow your pride, let harsh words bounce off you and not take it personally.
Finding satisfying solution for angry and demanding clients can be a headache. Thanks for those tips, I found them useful.
This is so true. I will print this and hang it from my wall. I lost what looked like an interesting client some months ago just doing the oposite you mention here, exactly the opposite. Never more! (I hope) 🙂
I’ve only had one dissatisfied customer in the last year. I edited a text, as is my wont, without using change tracking (which I hate anyway but is particularly useless when, as in this case, I rewrite just about every sentence). The client went ballistic because they thought the comments I’d added to the document, many of which were comments on the science and not the language, were all the work I’d done. Well, I used “Compare documents” to make a version where all the changes were marked (i.e. almost everything was colored in in red) and the feedback a couple of days later was very appreciative. In fact I now have another job from the client.
Evidently someone had just been having a bad day. So my advice is, first go “up to the reservoir to jog a mile or two” © Loudon Wainwright III.
Thank you for this entry. I have a question about complying with client’s vision of the actual final product and TL. If your translation is certified by you as a professional translator and the client is not happy about terminology and offers different terminology, should you accept it to keep the client and decline it because then the translation is not entirely yours anymore and if it doesn’t work for its purpose, you would be blamed for being unprofessional? Thank you.
Thanks Svetlana; with a direct client you can insist that you get final approval of the proof of your translation, but with an agency that may not be possible. Ideally the client should have the translation edited and then send the edits to you to approve or deny, and that’s definitely a good request to make of your agency clients.
Good article. Regarding what one of the comments bring up, I have also noticed that freelance translators have a tendency to be a pretty stingy bunch and it’s sometimes easy to take the clients for granted.
We have all made mistakes and we will make more in the future but the crucial factor is indeed how you deal with them and if/how you learn from them.
After all, it’s the clients who “pay” our bills, and that’s a fact that’s got to get under your skin, whereas “the client” can be a much more abstract thing when you work in-house (which has both upsides and downsides). I consider myself a competent professional, but there are moments when I feel pure gratitude over the fact that there are people and companies out there who are actually willing to pay me for translating their texts.
It looks as though One Hour Translation have plagiarised your post: https://www.onehourtranslation.com/translation/blog/how-handle-dissatisfied-translation-client-part-1
Oh my gosh, I can’t even… I’ve already been through this with One Hour Translations once and now they’ve done it again. Thanks for the alert!