At this point, we all know how important communication is when we are talking to our clients our rates or when we want to inform of price increasings. However, I always find myself wondering why translators insist on having a per word rate. And I always explain the same example here:

Let’s imagine that you need to get your hair cut. You go to the hairdresser and talk to him. He tells you that he is going to charge you £0.02 per hair that he cuts. Reactions?

1. I would personally be suspicious of the fact that he is charging the same rate to me and my mum. Are we getting the same benefits from his services?
2. Well, I just want to get the sides cut, does that mean that you will charge me less?

I will come back to this example later on.

1. Pros and cons – per word pricing.

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Pros

• Organisation: You know how many words you can translate an hour/day, so you can plan the time that you are going to spend on each assignment.
• Translation companies: They are always going to ask for your per word rate, as they have to compare our rates based on the same unit. (Is this really a pro?)
• Trados tells you how many words you have to translate, you just have to multiply it and… The quote is ready!

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Cons

• You are forgetting everything I have been talking about this month! What about the rest of the elements to take into account when pricing our services?
• Our clients won’t be aware of the benefits that we are providing. They will just take into account the number of words of their documents. And the less words they have, they less they will have to pay.
• It’s difficult to price different services. It’s not the same the translation of a website and the translation of the same website plus the localisation of the slogans that are included in it.
• It’s easier to know if you are “cheap” or “expensive”.

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2. Pros and cons – per project pricing.

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Pros

• You set the amount for an specific assignment taking into account the specific needs of an specific client. Every assignment is unique, as it is every client, so that is reflected in your quotes.
• You offer different benefits to different clients. That’s why you have to charge differently depending on the situation.
• What does your client really want? Translation? Translation + localisation? A sworn translation? Proofreading + localisation? You can price each assignment including or omitting the services that your clients are/aren’t interested in. I will talk about it in my newsletter next week, only for those of you that have already subscribed!
• Prices reflects the benefits and the added value that we provide, not only how cheap or expensive we are.

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Cons

• It’s hard to know how much time you need for every type of service and think about the value that you offer to your clients and how to reflect all of that in a quote. (But you get used to it, promise!)
• It’s difficult to compare prices. (Maybe this is a con for agencies?)

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Let’s get back to the previous example:

Now you go to the hairdresser because it’s the wedding of one of your friends and need a proper hair cut. Two things may happen:

1. Your hairdresser tells you that he is going to charge you £0.02 per hair that he cuts. (Mmm… the same that last week? That’s suspicious…)
2. Your hairdresser tells you that he is going to charge £X. Yes, maybe a slightly more than the next week, but you will have a hair cut of quality, and your chances of finding your prince charming in the wedding will increase by 70%.

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind to pay more. And you?

3. My advice

Bear in mind a per word rate. Sooner or later, you are going to be asked for it, so think about it carefully. However, try to price every assignment differently and taking into account the different aspects that we talked about before.

Let your clients know the services that are included in your quote and the benefits that they will gain for each of them. Clients don’t always look for the cheapest translator; they want their needs to be met. And if they do, ask yourself, do you really want to work for them?

What about you? How do you price your services? Have you ever used a per project rate? Did it work?

Reminder: This is NOT the last post of the pricing series. I will publish “Chapter 6.7. How to elaborate quotes that your clients will not reject” next week, but I will do it only through my newsletter. It’s your last time to subscribe to it if you don’t want to miss it out!

Important: I’m planning significant changes regarding this blog. So I need to know what contents do you like the most and what you want me to talk about. I have published a poll on Facebook, so feel free to vote or drop me a line at blog@circalingua.com telling me if you want me to tackle any specific topic!

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