Our business is already set up and we finally reached that first client. However, this client is likely to refuse to buy our services if we do not know how to sell them properly.

• Educate your client

And do it nicely! You have to be aware that most of your clients probably haven’t worked with a translator before. If you explain things without getting out of your nerves and explain the reasons of every question, your clients will trust you and will appreciate the way you work on their documents.

For example, if any of your clients send you a mobile picture with the document that must be translated, explain to him that you need a proper file in which you can see clearly the text so that there will be no mistakes or misunderstandings during the translation process as you don’t want to put in risk the quality of his assignment. You can also say to them that if they send you a word file, you will be able to work faster and send the translation sooner than expected.

If you explain to your clients the benefits of working on your terms, they will be more likely to understand our needs and help us as much as they will be able to.

• The offer

Once you have received the documents that must be translated, you have to be ready to prepare a quote or an estimate. This quote must be addressed to the needs of your clients. For example, if you have been contacted by a student who wants his transcript translated in order to apply for a university in Spain/UK, do not offer him a glossary with all the terms that appear in his document. He simply doesn’t need it and he is not going to pay for it. If you can offer extra services, be sure that your clients need them or may be interested in them.

My advice here is to think about two or three offers. You can vary the prize of the assignment depending on the deadline, on the need of working extra hours, on any extra services that your client may need, etc.

For example, if your client needs a contract to be translated, you can offer your standard rate with a standard deadline. Then you can tell him that if it’s an urgent assignment, you can do it for a surcharge of X%. And in case the first offer it is too expensive for your client, you can also offer him a discount of X% if the deadline is extended, which will allow you to undertake another assignment while working on the translation of the contract.

You have to explain the client why are you charging X, and the value that is being added to his business that anyone, apart from you, can add.

• Negotiation

When we negotiate, we try to reach the best term for us and for our clients. Do not forget it and try to explain this to your client too.

Negotiation is not about saying yes or saying no. It’s about saying “no, but I can’t offer this instead”. Both, you and your clients, have to benefit from this phase.

I will probably talk about negotiations later on in this blog as it is a very dense and interesting topic.

Now I need your opinions. How do you do to sell your services within the purchase phase of your businesses?