Poll: Have you had luck with cold calling/emailing potential clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you had luck with cold calling/emailing potential clients?".
View the poll results »
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In 2000 when I started conquering the world: 40 printed letters sent by post (differentiation) to European agencies, 2 returning customers, now lost.
In 2009 because I liked the work of a translation agency (sniper-type targeting) who happened to work with an event agency my wife knew: one e-mail, one customer, still active.
Times were easier then. My success rate in cold offers might have been higher than my current attempts to job offers here, even when prospects contact me ... See more In 2000 when I started conquering the world: 40 printed letters sent by post (differentiation) to European agencies, 2 returning customers, now lost.
In 2009 because I liked the work of a translation agency (sniper-type targeting) who happened to work with an event agency my wife knew: one e-mail, one customer, still active.
Times were easier then. My success rate in cold offers might have been higher than my current attempts to job offers here, even when prospects contact me specifically for a real project!
Perhaps I am also more demanding because of experience and old age.
Philippe
[Edited at 2022-10-28 08:44 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I did send a lot of letters when I started out in 1985 in Brussels, one year before Portugal’s accession to the EC, and luck was on my side as I got immediately a huge contract with a Belgian agency (there weren’t many Portuguese translators in Brussels by then). With a few ups and downs to keep me on my toes it all started there…
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 08:09
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
Most cold emails (I certainly will not take anyone hostage by cold-calling them on the phone) will simply go unanswered, but then again, I also ignore most of the cold emails I get through ProZ for various reasons. If I'm not completely mistaken, I should have exactly one regular customer that I won by a cold email, but that's good enough for me for the time being.
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Hayley Wakenshaw 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:09
Member (2018)
Dutch to English
| Yes, but only by tailoring cold emails to each client | Oct 28, 2022 |
I've recently had a surprising number of responses to cold emails. Some potential clients have even said that my cold email was the best they've ever had. Based on their feedback about the email here's what might help:
1. Make sure you make the message about the client and how you can help them specifically. Research them to find out how they work, what the tone of their website is, and anything else that you feel you can genuinely identify with. Reflect this back in your message. <... See more I've recently had a surprising number of responses to cold emails. Some potential clients have even said that my cold email was the best they've ever had. Based on their feedback about the email here's what might help:
1. Make sure you make the message about the client and how you can help them specifically. Research them to find out how they work, what the tone of their website is, and anything else that you feel you can genuinely identify with. Reflect this back in your message.
2. Specifically, the first line and paragraph should be very clearly only about them.
3. Try to make what you say about yourself include a clear benefit to the client. Such as: I have a proofreading qualification, so the texts I deliver will need little editing. I have done X and Y for clients like A, B, and C, and I can do this for you. They want to know you will save them time and hassle and deliver texts that their clients will love. How can you do that for them? (Do a quick google search for features versus benefits in copywriting if you're stuck on how to turn your features into benefits.)
4. Make it easy to read. Use bolding, headings, short paragraphs (2 sentences if possible), and anything else that breaks the text up and makes it easy to navigate. I also include an at-a-glance section so they can easily see everything they might need to know, such as rates, contact, software, specialisms and so on.
5. Have a good website. By far the most common positive feedback I have had has been about my website.
6. What you write should be friendly, polite, enthusiastic, and above all, absolutely free of any errors.
7. Use the marketing trick of having a clear call to action. Let them know what you want them to do. Visit your website or profile? Check out your portfolio? Set up a call? Email you back?
Corinne McKay's book "Finding and Marketing to Translation Agencies" is very helpful for this. It's a quick read and gives you a straightforward guideline for the cold lead marketing process. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Well, sort of | Oct 28, 2022 |
Twenty-six years ago, I tried looking for some new clients in the area where I lived (sending files generally meant putting them on a floppy disk and going by bicycle to their offices) so I called up scores of potential clients and got a name and fax number for each one and sent off my message. I also sent faxes to others I hadn't called.
Selling wasn't my strong suit at the time and I pretty well failed in my attempt. Or, at least, that's what I thought... After many months (not da... See more Twenty-six years ago, I tried looking for some new clients in the area where I lived (sending files generally meant putting them on a floppy disk and going by bicycle to their offices) so I called up scores of potential clients and got a name and fax number for each one and sent off my message. I also sent faxes to others I hadn't called.
Selling wasn't my strong suit at the time and I pretty well failed in my attempt. Or, at least, that's what I thought... After many months (not days, as I was hoping), I did indeed get a call offering me a job - a good company and very promising but I'd been out at the time and only heard the message a few days later. That was that - I was too late and never worked with them. About two years later, I got a call from Italy's number one advertising agency but I had too much work on my desk at the time, so I had to turn down the job. That was that, out of over a hundred faxes. An awful amount of wasted time, but quite a useful lesson.
Business had picked up immensely and I was full of work at the time. I've never been without since, though none of it from cold calls. It's not a system I'd suggest - not unless you follow every word of Hayley Wakenshaw's excellent advice above. Having said that, all my current clients have come from other clients or through colleagues. That seems to be the way it works, for me at least. ▲ Collapse
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One cold call: one client gained (OK, admitted, it was a very targeted cold call, to the translation department of my alma mater). Otherwise, no phone calls because I truly hate them (except for when I'm at the receiving end and it's an interesting potential client, but that's not the subject of this poll).
Cold emails, loads of them: yes. Just a small percentage of them was successful, but that's what's to be expected - even with targeted messages to targeted potential clients - an... See more One cold call: one client gained (OK, admitted, it was a very targeted cold call, to the translation department of my alma mater). Otherwise, no phone calls because I truly hate them (except for when I'm at the receiving end and it's an interesting potential client, but that's not the subject of this poll).
Cold emails, loads of them: yes. Just a small percentage of them was successful, but that's what's to be expected - even with targeted messages to targeted potential clients - and I'm earning thousands of euros each year with those clients. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sinan Güldal
Türkiye
Local time: 09:09
English to Turkish
+ ...
| works just fine | Oct 30, 2022 |
almost all of my regular clients are through cold emailing. either they sent the email or i did. i continuously send emails to agencies around the world.
down side is that you may end up in someone's spam folder. but other than that it doesn't hurt.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 08:09
French to English
Edith van der Have wrote:
a very targeted cold call, to the translation department of my alma mater
I wouldn't call that a cold call, because you were already a known entity to them. Even if they didn't know you by name, the mere fact that you used to study there is a huge recommendation. Not hot, but warm enough not to need a jacket.
| | | | Sadek_A
Local time: 10:09
English to Arabic
+ ...
| Doesn't/can't/wouldn't reflect good on you! | Oct 30, 2022 |
Let's be realistic, you call/email someone who didn't ask for the service nor know you, how much of a leverage can you have in terms of rate, let alone of other specifics of cooperation?
They don't always have to know you, but they have to have advertised asking for the specific service you provide!
| | | | Gabriela Raț
Romania
Local time: 09:09
Member (2020)
German to Romanian
+ ...
| Depends what you understand by cold calling/emailing | Oct 30, 2022 |
It is my impression that some of the people answering the poll only had direct clients in mind, not agencies. Personally, I never cold emailed (nor called) a direct client by now, only agencies, and it has worked fine so far. I actually get a pretty good response rate with agencies (though not all accept my rates).
What I am really curious about is how do the people who answered that they never wrote a cold email in their entire career (the majority of answerers) get/got their clien... See more It is my impression that some of the people answering the poll only had direct clients in mind, not agencies. Personally, I never cold emailed (nor called) a direct client by now, only agencies, and it has worked fine so far. I actually get a pretty good response rate with agencies (though not all accept my rates).
What I am really curious about is how do the people who answered that they never wrote a cold email in their entire career (the majority of answerers) get/got their clients. Anyone in that situation, feel free to chime in ▲ Collapse
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Gabriela Raț wrote: It is my impression that some of the people answering the poll only had direct clients in mind, not agencies. Personally, I never cold emailed (nor called) a direct client by now, only agencies, and it has worked fine so far. I actually get a pretty good response rate with agencies (though not all accept my rates). What I am really curious about is how do the people who answered that they never wrote a cold email in their entire career (the majority of answerers) get/got their clients. Anyone in that situation, feel free to chime in
Let’s start by saying that when I started out e-mail was science fiction and everything depended on the postal service or on fax for communication. So, I did send a lot of letters to a few potential clients (European Commission, European Parliament, Council, embassies, OTAN, international organizations, large companies trading with Portugal) located in Brussels where I lived then. As I said before, I was lucky enough to get a 2 years contract from a Belgian agency: 200 pages per month, every month but August. Then, word-of-mouth started working really well and I was building my base…
[Edited at 2022-10-31 09:11 GMT]
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 08:09
French to English
Gabriela Raț wrote: What I am really curious about is how do the people who answered that they never wrote a cold email in their entire career (the majority of answerers) get/got their clients. Anyone in that situation, feel free to chime in
When I started freelancing, I had (too many) years' experience working in-house at an agency. I acquired not only experience but lots of contacts: I kept in contact on LinkedIn with all former colleagues, who then went on to work at other agencies. Some had started their own agency. Most of them were happy to send me work once they knew I was freelancing. I also reached out to clients who specifically asked for me to handle their translations at the agency (the non-compete clause in my contract being null and void).
I don't consider any of those contacts cold in that these people knew me and I knew they needed translators.
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