PMs setting budgets, negotiating rates (off their own bat?) Thread poster: Baran Keki
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Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 19:34
Member
English to Turkish
I was contacted by an American agency at the beginning of this year for a small job. The person who contacted me was a PM (based in the UK), not a VM, and she put me through the usual onboarding process (signing an NDA, setting rates etc.). Since this agency had no BB record and had very little info on the net, I took a gamble and set a high per word, which was agreed without haggling, and they held up their end of the bargain.
After that I got another big job from them, through the same ... See more I was contacted by an American agency at the beginning of this year for a small job. The person who contacted me was a PM (based in the UK), not a VM, and she put me through the usual onboarding process (signing an NDA, setting rates etc.). Since this agency had no BB record and had very little info on the net, I took a gamble and set a high per word, which was agreed without haggling, and they held up their end of the bargain.
After that I got another big job from them, through the same PM, on which I'm currently working, but in the meantime I was contacted by another colleague of hers for a 2k word job where he indicated a total price, among other things, that was way lower than my agreed per word rate. I told him about my pw rate, and he said that was "his total budget", and then he began to negotiate. I was contacted by him twice later and the same thing happened. Whereas with the other PM, there are no 'budgets' or 'negotiations', I get jobs based on my previously agreed rate.
This sort of negotiation and budgeting happened with other agencies in the past as well. There is one particular Danish agency, which is currently getting a lot of bad reviews on BB on an 'ad hoc' basis, that was wont to do that, with whom I parted ways long time ago.
What I'm wondering is are they (PMs) allowed to do that? If you've already negotiated/set rates during the onboarding process and they're entered in their systems for all PMs to see before they contact you for jobs, what's the point of agreeing on rates in the first place?
What's the motivation here? Are they expecting to get a pat on the back from their bosses for getting the translation cheaper or are they pocketing the difference for themselves?
Is this a common enough practice with most agencies? I'd have thought PMs would have specific tasks, like finding translators, getting jobs done, communicating with clients etc., setting budgets or negotiating rates would be the domain of Vendor Mangers or agency owners?
[Edited at 2023-03-10 10:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Depends on the agency | Mar 10, 2023 |
My experience: Some agencies separate PM and VM, in others there’s more overlap.
When I interned at an agency, we had no separate VM positions, and everyone was trying to meet price/margin quotas, so there was a huge incentive to haggle, even for translators whose database entry set clear minimum prices. But different PMs dealt with the problem in different ways: some quoted their clients high upfront prices to pay the translators more (and potentially lose clients), others tried... See more My experience: Some agencies separate PM and VM, in others there’s more overlap.
When I interned at an agency, we had no separate VM positions, and everyone was trying to meet price/margin quotas, so there was a huge incentive to haggle, even for translators whose database entry set clear minimum prices. But different PMs dealt with the problem in different ways: some quoted their clients high upfront prices to pay the translators more (and potentially lose clients), others tried to keep translator costs low, others moved budget money from “generous” clients to projects that didn’t attract translators.
Trying to sneak in below a minimum word rate is just regular agency nonsense, as far as I’m concerned. One more reason not to depend too much on agencies, IMO. Many of them tell their clients about large savings through automation and then wind up stiffing translators. ▲ Collapse
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It never happened to me. First of all, I have a clear preference for smallish boutique agencies where most of the times the PM is also the owner. They take their freelancers seriously, pay well and on time and are easy to work with. Then, I have never worked in an agency and so I have no idea how they are managed, but the thought that PMs would be “pocketing the difference for themselves” wouldn’t cross my mind…
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 18:34
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Baran Keki wrote:
What I'm wondering is are they (PMs) allowed to do that? If you've already negotiated/set rates during the onboarding process and they're entered in their systems for all PMs to see before they contact you for jobs, what's the point of agreeing on rates in the first place?
The negotiated rate is not set in stone. Either party can offer/request a different rate at any time when there is a new job. The fact that the first PM doesn't do that simply means that he/she is happy with your rate for his/her particular projects. The second PM has different projects, with tighter budgets, but they prefer to use a translator with whom they've had a positive experience in the past, which is why they contact you.
The point of agreeing on a rate is to save time. If the PM knows that your negotiated rate is X, and they don't want to spend time re-negotiating a rate, then they can just use your negotiated rate, knowing that you would accept the job without trying to haggle.
Also what Peter said about "different PMs dealt with the problem in different ways". It may also be that the second PM works mainly with clients who set their own [low] rates upfront, whereas the first PM works mainly with clients who don't set their own rates and who are happy to let the agency set the rates.
[Edited at 2023-03-10 08:55 GMT]
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 18:34
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
| Some freedom | Mar 10, 2023 |
PMs apparently have some freedom to do what they thinks is best. Most of my clients use the agreed rates and integrate them automatically in every PO. However I have one client who keeps sending me job offers at rates below the ones I stated in my profile (which is really annoying). Then there is the curious case of one of my other clients, in which 1 PM decided to raise my rates on her own initiative and another PM keeps on using the agreed rates. Finally I have also a client who doesn't seem t... See more PMs apparently have some freedom to do what they thinks is best. Most of my clients use the agreed rates and integrate them automatically in every PO. However I have one client who keeps sending me job offers at rates below the ones I stated in my profile (which is really annoying). Then there is the curious case of one of my other clients, in which 1 PM decided to raise my rates on her own initiative and another PM keeps on using the agreed rates. Finally I have also a client who doesn't seem to know what my rates actually are, because sometimes the proposed rates are different. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 19:34
Member
English to Turkish
TOPIC STARTER | A very interesting insight | Mar 10, 2023 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
The point of agreeing on a rate is to save time. If the PM knows that your negotiated rate is X, and they don't want to spend time re-negotiating a rate, then they can just use your negotiated rate, knowing that you would accept the job without trying to haggle.
The majority of your regular clients must be like that of the 'Perfect Translation Agency'. It must be exhausting to negotiate rates all the time.
I have a handful of regular clients, and none of them (the PMs I'm in contact with) negotiates rates.
Only the LSPs, agency owners and the so-called 'London Agencies' staffed by Eastern European or Middle Eastern PMs seem to be 'working on a budget'.
I still don't get how a PM is empowered to deal with monetary matters this way.
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