“la parole exportée”

Networking means a lot more than building relationships within your own community of professionals, and I have accepted to contribute one blog post monthly to the Passion Project Blog that Katherine Reschke has started putting together, with the help of the lively community that she is building online.

Lately, unfortunately I haven’t been able to participate as fully as I’d like, but I am looking forward to offering posts. I am also eager to read other members’ posts. As I don’t have much time to go round their individual websites and blogs, this will offer a way to keep updated and learn at the same time.

Katherine’s own website is here. She will be introducing the Community blog shortly.

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On Monday, I have an appointment to lunch with the associate who keeps my interpreting schedule. She is one of the team of three who run this rather specific business, but I am equally in touch with the other two, one of whom kept my schedule for a few years.

We call them a “secretariat” but it only dawned on me recently that they are really our Virtual Assistants, but only for interpreting, and only for calendar planning (no billing, etc.), and we pay them quarterly fees for it.

photo credit: Miss Gong & The Flickers

Why do we have this specialized system in place? As interpreters cannot be there physically at all times to pick up their home phone to take offers, a specialized service was developed around the 70s. Remember that there were no cell phones at the time, and only a handful had answering machines to enable them to pick up messages. Add to this the fact that some meetings took place in far away places, and someone other than your kids’ babysitter had to take business calls.

The system is not automatic as it would be if you were automatically transferring all your phone calls to them. It’s technically possible of course, but I don’t think that they would operate along those lines, since their nature is more of a contact point for clients and prospects who call to check with them if you are free on a particular date, or to ask who else is free, or to simply look for interpreters.

It sounds easy enough seen from a distance, but their team has very busy times, most notably ‘in season’, when conferences and meetings seem to blossom in Paris, the highest point being UNESCO’s General Assembly. They have a few hundreds of interpreters on their lists, for all language combinations, and that is enough to keep them very busy.

All communication is done by phone, or by e-mail. They have to know exactly when you are available to work, the days for which you have a contract, or simply an “option”, the days when you want to be off the grid (you don’t have to specify a reason), the clients whose offers they can accept immediately on your behalf, those whose offers they need to check with you first…

They have tens of thousands of calls every year, and it’s good, from time to time, to simply touch base and meet over a coffee or a meal, to discuss developments and get back to a more ‘human’ level of communication.

photo credit: stu_spivack

I have one client who qualifies for ‘Best Client,’ for these qualities:

1. planning ahead: They call as soon as they decide to hold a meeting, in order to make sure that their preferred interpreter will be free on that date. They called me yesterday for an end-of-May meeting. Purchase order is sent by return of e-mail.
2. planning professionally: They know exactly what interpreters need in order to perform, and they make plans accordingly. For preparation, they provide a full set of documents before the meeting. If equipment is needed, they retain one of the best equipment suppliers in Paris, best for hardware, and best for quality of service. The supplier they use hasn’t been recommended by me, yet I have used his services on many occasions. He has been in this market for many years, and he is very reliable.
3. looking for best value, not lowest cost: It is important for them to make sure that their participants feel at ease with the speaker, either listening to him or her directly, without interpretation, or with interpretation, and asking questions. So although they won’t splash on interpreting, they do not wrangle over money either. Because the negotiations are not a never-ending struggle, the rest of the assignment is very fluid.
4. understanding that human relations count, and suppliers have to eat: They send the check on the exact day when they receive the invoice, even though I allow for a 30-day period. I cannot stress enough that feeling responsible for your suppliers, whether you are a big company, or a small business, is part of your duty as a buyer. I have another client that has a self-imposed commitment to pay within 30 days. The money is always in my account after 29 days. That means less hassle, no frustrated phone calls, and better business relationships.
5. shall I add that their PA is wonderful to work with: efficient, trustworthy, with a good sense of humor? Yet her manager is always very busy. That could be the surest sign that she is happy working for them.

And no, this is not a myth, that client does exist. I’m happy to work for them, and I told them so yesterday. It’s so easy to take their money as a due and never say Thank you in exchange. These clients are not easy to find, but they are greatly appreciated. Can you think of one such client (or several, that’s even better), that you would like to show your appreciation to?

photo credit: mlinksva

When I started as a freelance translator many years ago, the only way you could approach the business world, and thus prospective clients, was by sending off masses of unsolicited mail that ended up in waste paper baskets if you were unlucky, or got a polite reply if you were lucky. I sent off hundreds of such letters, and I remember sticking hundreds of stamps on hundreds of envelopes. Alas, I didn’t receive hundreds of replies.

Fortunately, things change. They are changing fast, and part of the new business game has to do with making connections online.

To me –is it age? is it cultural?– this is not entirely satisfactory, because I like to meet people offline too. So it happens that after meeting a Facebook friend in person last month, and I had a genuine interest in meeting him, since I help him with the English version of his blog, I met an American LinkedIn connection today, and a connection of hers who is now a connection too.

To make it absolutely crystal-clear, I’m not expecting these friends to shower me with translations; this is networking, not client-chasing, but I believe that mixing with people from different horizons is one of the greatest things that has happened to me thanks to my professional choices. Being used to meeting new faces virtually throughout my working life, and working with different people all the time, I have no difficulty interacting. I have worked for clients from all levels of society and I am therefore quite open to social interaction.

photo credit: garybembridge

So we had our first International LinkedIn Paris Meeting, with a drink at Hotel Lutetia. Unfortunately a French LinkedIn connection could not attend. It was a real business meeting: we described our experiences (these ladies are in the travel industry), we exchanged business cards, we discussed the respective merits of websites, blogging platforms and social networks. We exchanged networking tips and sources of information…

Have you had a similar experience? If you have, would you like to share it with us?