| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Email etiquette and availability Thread poster: Sanja Gjurova
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Sanja Gjurova
Australia
Local time: 06:06
English to Macedonian
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Hello,
I am relatively new in freelancing (a year or so) and I was wondering what is the most proper way to deal with certain availability issues.
For instance, when you're not available, do you usually leave an automated email response, or do you have some other way to let your clients know when is the time you would be available (such as an online calendar or else), particularly in cases when you're out, and have no internet access, so you're unable to reply.
<... See more Hello,
I am relatively new in freelancing (a year or so) and I was wondering what is the most proper way to deal with certain availability issues.
For instance, when you're not available, do you usually leave an automated email response, or do you have some other way to let your clients know when is the time you would be available (such as an online calendar or else), particularly in cases when you're out, and have no internet access, so you're unable to reply.
Also, if you tell a client that you're not available, and can not meet a deadline, could that have a negative impact to your future collaboration with that client?
Thanks,
Sanja ▲ Collapse
| | | | ATIL KAYHAN 
Türkiye
Local time: 23:06
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
| ProZ Availability Calender | Nov 13, 2012 |
ProZ has a very nice feature called Availability Calender. You can access it through your profile page. This is the most convenient way to deal with availability issues.
I do not leave an automated e-mail message when I am not available. Perhaps some freelancers do. A client usually sends you an e-mail message asking for your availability. You then reply with a proper response.
I do not think telling a client that you are not available should have a negative impact... See more ProZ has a very nice feature called Availability Calender. You can access it through your profile page. This is the most convenient way to deal with availability issues.
I do not leave an automated e-mail message when I am not available. Perhaps some freelancers do. A client usually sends you an e-mail message asking for your availability. You then reply with a proper response.
I do not think telling a client that you are not available should have a negative impact. Then again, this is just a guess. After all, if you are not available, what else can you say? If it will be, it will be. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 23:06
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Depends on length of absence | Nov 13, 2012 |
When I plan a holiday I usually inform my regular customers a week or so beforehand. But when I go to the gym, lunch, cinema etc. during the day I do not bother. My phone alarms me of incoming mail, but I answer only few of them. Those customers who expect swift response to their mails have dropped off and I do not miss them.
The proz-availability icon is nice, but I often forget to update and it cannot be used for part of the day. If I set it to 50 % for a specific date what does that tel... See more When I plan a holiday I usually inform my regular customers a week or so beforehand. But when I go to the gym, lunch, cinema etc. during the day I do not bother. My phone alarms me of incoming mail, but I answer only few of them. Those customers who expect swift response to their mails have dropped off and I do not miss them.
The proz-availability icon is nice, but I often forget to update and it cannot be used for part of the day. If I set it to 50 % for a specific date what does that tell the customer? That I'm busy 50 % or not available afternoon? That I have one hand free for additional jobs? But I type with both hands every time. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:06
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Email message | Nov 13, 2012 |
If I ever have to be unavailable or away, I simply use an automatic message in my email, explaining when I'll be back. I usually tell my "key" clients as far in advance as possible so they can try to plan things around my absence (I know it's a lot to ask).
However, in my opinion the best policy for a freelancer is to try to be as available as possible at all times, so that any valued clients don't need to look elsewhere...
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| Tell them when you'll be "available" again | Nov 13, 2012 |
Of course you can't be "available" 24 hours a day every day, for all kinds of reasons. When you have to decline a job due to other work or commitments, it's always best to tell the client when you expect to be "available" again and ask them to contact you when something suitable comes in after that - at least that's what I do and, as far as I know, no client has abandoned me for that reason.
Best wishes,
Jenny
| | | | Pascale Pluton
Netherlands
Local time: 22:06
Member (2005)
English to French
+ ...
| specific solution depending on the situation and kind of client | Nov 13, 2012 |
Hello Sanja,
I cannot keep track of all those potential clients so, what I usually do is the following:
1 - inform translation agencies of my holidays. Some, however, have no system to keep track of it and may contact me when I am not there.
2 - If I am gone for a few days or if I only work for translation agencies : I set an automatic answer by e-mail stating that I am 'out of office', that I can be contacted at xx phone number for urgent matters and that... See more Hello Sanja,
I cannot keep track of all those potential clients so, what I usually do is the following:
1 - inform translation agencies of my holidays. Some, however, have no system to keep track of it and may contact me when I am not there.
2 - If I am gone for a few days or if I only work for translation agencies : I set an automatic answer by e-mail stating that I am 'out of office', that I can be contacted at xx phone number for urgent matters and that I am unable to take work before x date.
3 - If I am gone for, lets say 2 or 3 weeks and if I work for clients others than translation agencies, I delegate my activities to a trustworthy colleague so that business can go on as usual.
solution nr. 2 is handy, but beware that it wil also react to all kind of junk, actually sending a message to spammer that your e-mail is alive.
I do not use the proz planner. I can not oblige a translation agency to go and look at it, I regularly forget to update it, and my availability changes all the time.
Some agency tend to contact you by phone first. It might then be handy to transfer your calls on your mobile or that of the colleague to whom you did delegate your business.
You may also want to record in your phone that you are not there, but this might be an invitation for burglars to come and visit you... The same applies to communicating your holiday data on public platforms such as LinkedIn.
If you say no every now and then, this should not have a big impact on your relationship with an reasonable agency. If I can not meet a deadline, I always suggest one I can meet and sometimes it is OK. My experience is that if you say no too often, then they may look for someone else whith more availability.
So the most important thing is to plan your activities in a way that you always have a bit of spare time to do an unexpected translation.
Besides, if your profile is interesting, you will be contacted by new clients, so you may lose one, but you will certainly win one. That is the way it goes... Just stay confident 
Pascale ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 22:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Some answers | Nov 13, 2012 |
Sanja Gjurova wrote:
For instance, when you're not available, do you usually leave an automated email response, or do you have some other way to let your clients know when is the time you would be available (such as an online calendar or else), particularly in cases when you're out, and have no internet access, so you're unable to reply.
I think having an out-of-office reply (or a few, for specific cases) can be a good thing for a beginner translator. Most of my clients already know what my working hours are, so I don't put up an out-of-office reply overnight. However, if I'm going to be unavailable during my normal working hours, then I do put up an out-of-office reply.
I also use the out-of-office reply to warn regular clients about a coming holiday. A week or two before I go on holiday, I put up an out-of-office reply that details my availability for the duration of the holiday, even though I'm not "out of office" yet.
I never consult online calendars -- does anyone use them at all? I fill in my ProZ.com calendar to maintain profile completeness but I don't think anyone actually reads it. What do the others say?
Also, if you tell a client that you're not available, and can not meet a deadline, could that have a negative impact to your future collaboration with that client?
If you can't make a deadline that you had already agreed on, the best thing is to tell the client as soon as possible, so that the client can make preparations for it. Do not wait until the last hour or so before telling the client about it. Some deadlines are hard, but some are soft. Any time you miss a deadline (whether you tell the client beforehand or not) will impact negatively on the relationship.
A common mistake of beginner translators is to think that a client will never return if you tell him once that you're not available for a specific job. Well, it is called a "mistake" but I don't know if it is true or not. I certainly try to be extra available for new clients, because they are much less likely to contact me again if I don't help them out, but generally I find that agency clients won't take you off their list once you get onto it, unless you consistently decline jobs from them.
Jenny Forbes wrote:
When you have to decline a job due to other work or commitments, it's always best to tell the client when you expect to be "available" again and ask them to contact you when something suitable comes in after that...
I agree. What I do is I tell the client when I can start on his job and when I can finish it, even if I know that that would be too late and that he would decline it. I suspect it creates a favourable impression about you, i.e. that you're a busy translator and not just a lazy translator.
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
Those customers who expect swift response to their mails have dropped off and I do not miss them.
True, and in my case the customers who do expect swift responses will simply mail again after an hour or two, or they will mail another translator. We're all adults here. Some of my customers who expect swift responses have the manners to actually tell me when a job is cancelled, if I don't respond soon enough, but even then I always e-mail them with an apology that I wasn't available.
Heinrich Pesch also wrote:
The proz-availability icon is nice, but I often forget to update and it cannot be used for part of the day. If I set it to 50 % for a specific date what does that tell the customer? That I'm busy 50 % or not available afternoon? That I have one hand free for additional jobs?
I agree that the ProZ.com calendar is less than ideal. I wonder if people who do check it check it to see what the translator's future availability is or what the translator's current availability is. I suspect the latter. I find it less than useful to tell clients that I'm "50%" available -- it would be more useful for me to be able to indicate the actual hours that I'm available or not available.
Pascale Pluton wrote:
Some agencies tend to contact you by phone first. It might then be handy to transfer your calls on your mobile or that of the colleague to whom you did delegate your business.
A similar thing can be said for Skype or other IM clients. If you are on your clients' Skype contact lists, then they can see when you're not available, and they can pounce on your the moment you come online.
[Edited at 2012-11-13 09:45 GMT]
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:06
French to English
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| Out-of-office replies... | Nov 13, 2012 |
...were an appropriate idea in 1995. Nowadays, they're the stupidest idea in the universe.
Unless your absence is to visit the moon or some other pocket of the universe devoid of 3G reception, simply avail yourself of one of the thousands of mobile phones capable of being used to read e-mail and be done with it.
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Steven Smith
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:06
Member (2007)
Japanese to English
| A narrow view | Nov 13, 2012 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
...were an appropriate idea in 1995. Nowadays, they're the stupidest idea in the universe.
Unless your absence is to visit the moon or some other pocket of the universe devoid of 3G reception, simply avail yourself of one of the thousands of mobile phones capable of being used to read e-mail and be done with it.
There are plenty of rural areas in the UK with no 3G reception. There are also lots of good reasons why you might not want to have to deal with work emails for a few days or weeks. The second stupidest idea in the universe is that one should be locked into work mode 24/7.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 22:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Can't always reply sensibly on a smart phone | Nov 13, 2012 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
Unless your absence is to visit the moon or some other pocket of the universe devoid of 3G reception, simply avail yourself of one of the thousands of mobile phones capable of being used to read e-mail and be done with it.
Unless you can write a sensible reply, your ability to read the mail is of little consequence.
Unless your smartphone can read all the source file formats that you normally work with, and is capable of analysing the files, the ability to read a client's request for translation on the road is not helpful. The client wants a response like "Yes, I can do this translation" or "No, I can't do this translation", and you can only give him that response if you're at a computer capable of opening the client's files and/or checking the files against various resources.
Otherwise your reply from your smartphone is nothing more than a personalised out-of-office reply.
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 04:06
Chinese to English
Neil Coffey wrote:
Out-of-office replies...
...were an appropriate idea in 1995. Nowadays, they're the stupidest idea in the universe.
Good point. I have used one when I was going on holiday and didn't plan on even looking at my computer for two weeks. Past that, I can't see the point.
Whatever you do, don't fall into this weird modern thing of thinking that emails need to be replied to within half an hour or you're dead. Nothing is that urgent. If it is, a phone call is needed.
Also, if you tell a client that you're not available, and can not meet a deadline, could that have a negative impact to your future collaboration with that client?
There are two kinds of clients. If your client is an agency, they have a lot of translators they work with, and they will not miss you. Rather they'll be glad that you know how to schedule properly and aren't taking on jobs you can't manage.
But if you're trying to cultivate direct clients, it's a little bit different. Often you're the only translator they're working with, and you generally do need to make yourself available for them if you want to keep their exclusive business. So much more proactive management of the relationship is necessary to make sure you don't miss their work.
That's why agencies take their cut - they do a lot to make scheduling easier for us. And because they take that cut, we shouldn't ever feel guilty about missing their jobs.
| | | | inkweaver
Germany
Local time: 22:06
French to German
+ ...
I must be a dinosaur since I don't use any mobile devices that would allow me to read emails, but I suppose they wouldn't be very useful when going for a swim anyway...
When I leave the office during "normal" office hours for, say, 3 hours or longer, I still use the good old autoresponder function in order to let my clients know when they can expect a reply.
However, I have found that they are usually quite patient and, if they really want me to do the job, wait ... See more I must be a dinosaur since I don't use any mobile devices that would allow me to read emails, but I suppose they wouldn't be very useful when going for a swim anyway...
When I leave the office during "normal" office hours for, say, 3 hours or longer, I still use the good old autoresponder function in order to let my clients know when they can expect a reply.
However, I have found that they are usually quite patient and, if they really want me to do the job, wait until they get a reply from me. I am aware of the fact that this might not work for everyone, but I usually work with agencies I have been collaborating with for two or three or even more years and they know that I will respond as soon as I can. Of course I let them know well in advance when I plan to go on holiday etc. ▲ Collapse
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Sanja Gjurova
Australia
Local time: 06:06
English to Macedonian
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TOPIC STARTER | This is a very good point | Nov 13, 2012 |
[quote]Samuel Murray wrote:
Neil Coffey wrote:
Unless your smartphone can read all the source file formats that you normally work with, and is capable of analysing the files, the ability to read a client's request for translation on the road is not helpful. The client wants a response like "Yes, I can do this translation" or "No, I can't do this translation", and you can only give him that response if you're at a computer capable of opening the client's files and/or checking the files against various resources.
Otherwise your reply from your smartphone is nothing more than a personalised out-of-office reply.
I use a smartphone, and at first, I thought - Great, now I won't lose a job, cause I didn't respond soon enough, and the job was taken by another translator.
But actually, now I only use the smartphone only to alert me of an email, and then I have to log on to my computer to see the files sent and whether I can take the job. So, responding from a smartphone, can be useful, but it doesn't always help.
| | | | Pascale Pluton
Netherlands
Local time: 22:06
Member (2005)
English to French
+ ...
| Don't want to turn into a slave | Nov 13, 2012 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
...were an appropriate idea in 1995. Nowadays, they're the stupidest idea in the universe.
Unless your absence is to visit the moon or some other pocket of the universe devoid of 3G reception, simply avail yourself of one of the thousands of mobile phones capable of being used to read e-mail and be done with it.
When I am available for work, I am 100% available for work.
In the same way, when I go on holiday or enjoy other activities, I want to focus 100% on it. The idea of having to keep an eye/ear on my phone would certainly spoil my pleasure.
Call it a stupid idea if you want, but I call it a personal choice in the way you manage your time. .
Pascale
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 22:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| On death and not replying | Nov 13, 2012 |
Phil Hand wrote:
Whatever you do, don't fall into this weird modern thing of thinking that emails need to be replied to within half an hour or you're dead. Nothing is that urgent.
Well, I tend to disagree about the urgency, but there is another reason why you should not answer an e-mail within half an hour unless you're really there:
If the PM is on the ball, he'll answer your mail quickly and expect you to reply to his mail quickly as well. In other words, don't reply to potential job unless you really have a quiet moment, because the one reply might turn into an e-mail conversation, and if you're actually busy with something else, you can't concentrate on the conversation properly (or: the quick replies from the PM will interfere with whatever task you're busy with).
I don't think it is required to send a first reply within X number of minutes, but if you do reply and the PM replies back in relatively short time, then it means that he expects you to continue to reply until the "conversation" is over. Dropping a PM in the middle of such a conversation is rude, IMO.
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