| Pagine: [1 2] > | Poll: In general, does your work follow the 20/80 rule: 20% of your clients give you 80% of your work? Iniziatore argomento: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, does your work follow the 20/80 rule: 20% of your clients give you 80% of your work?".
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| | | | neilmac
Spagna
Local time: 04:43
Da Spagnolo a Inglese
+ ...
Probably not.
My client profile in order of importance (volume, loyalty, etc) would be:
- regulars (I have 3 or 4 main regular direct non-agency clients who provide the bulk of my work/income)
- academic (Universities and research groups, foundations etc)
- agencies (Am working increasingly less with agencies, as I usually find them too picky and hasty - this year I have done 2 or 3 translations and perhaps a revision or two. In this case, less is more.)
- Others ... See more Probably not.
My client profile in order of importance (volume, loyalty, etc) would be:
- regulars (I have 3 or 4 main regular direct non-agency clients who provide the bulk of my work/income)
- academic (Universities and research groups, foundations etc)
- agencies (Am working increasingly less with agencies, as I usually find them too picky and hasty - this year I have done 2 or 3 translations and perhaps a revision or two. In this case, less is more.)
- Others (Mainly friends, colleagues or acquaintances...) ▲ Collapse
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It is certainly the case that a small number of clients give me most of my work. I'm not sure what percentage this is, however. I'm also not sure who to class as "my clients" in this case - which time period are we talking about? Do one-off jobs count?
| | | | Sitiens (X)
Svezia
Local time: 04:43
Da Inglese a Svedese
+ ...
| I'm not the only one? | Dec 14, 2012 |
Yes, this is true for me. I thought this was highly unusual, but I'm somewhat relieved to hear that it's a common phenomenon. The percentage is not exact for me either, but pretty accurate.
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In general, no, but it has been the case this year.
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And what a relief it is!
Let's hope it stays this way - though being a freelancer of course there are no guarantees.......
| | | | DianeGM 
Local time: 05:43
Membro (2006)
Da Olandese a Inglese
+ ...
It varies but to generalise I would say this year 50% - 60% of my work from 20% of my clients.
This year has been very unusual for me in that I have worked with several (8!) new clients and most of them multiple times, usually I pick up maximum one or two new regular clients a year, so this is new ground for me.
| | | | John Cutler
Spagna
Local time: 04:43
Da Spagnolo a Inglese
+ ...
| Not sure but... | Dec 14, 2012 |
I'm not sure of the real percentages, but I know I have a few clients who give me the majority of my work and then there are a few others who pop in from time to time.
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This year: 80% of the work from 27% of the clients. I can work this out in about a minute with the way I have my spreadsheet set up.
[Edited at 2012-12-14 12:33 GMT]
| | | | Nikki Graham
Regno Unito
Local time: 03:43
Da Spagnolo a Inglese
| More or less | Dec 14, 2012 |
Haven't got the time or inclination to work it out exactly, but my situation is as John described.
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John Cutler wrote:
I'm not sure of the real percentages, but I know I have a few clients who give me the majority of my work and then there are a few others who pop in from time to time.
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John Cutler wrote:
I'm not sure of the real percentages, but I know I have a few clients who give me the majority of my work and then there are a few others who pop in from time to time.
Although the great majority of my direct clients are agencies, so the rule does not apply to end clients.
I do have regulars among the end clients too, at least in periods. Possibly about half the work I do is for end clients I know more or less from previous jobs, but I don't keep statistics about it.
Where the repetition comes is in subject areas - sometimes one bunch of medical records looks very much like another, although you can never be sure!
Things like property leases or employment contracts often follow standard templates, even though they are for different clients.
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Allison Wright (X)
Portogallo
Local time: 03:43
There are no rules.
I cannot really be more specific than to say my main clients give me most of my work.
Does a small outsourcer get the same weighting as a large corporate agency? Too complex for what can be quite simple. What is important is to me is for those same clients to keep coming back.
| | | | Robert Forstag
Stati Uniti
Local time: 22:43
Da Spagnolo a Inglese
+ ...
| The downside of such an arrangement | Dec 14, 2012 |
The ideal would (at least to my mind) be having just a total of 6-8 clients providing close to 100% of one's work for the year--year after year after year.
I don't see how 20% giving me 80% is particularly advantageous, given that:
1.
That 20% might be divided among some 20 or more clients, each of whom might have provided one or two piddly jobs over the course of a year.
2.
In practice (well, at least in my experience) clients tend to come and ... See more The ideal would (at least to my mind) be having just a total of 6-8 clients providing close to 100% of one's work for the year--year after year after year.
I don't see how 20% giving me 80% is particularly advantageous, given that:
1.
That 20% might be divided among some 20 or more clients, each of whom might have provided one or two piddly jobs over the course of a year.
2.
In practice (well, at least in my experience) clients tend to come and go, and one can find oneself in a world of hurt if a previously reliable client suddenly offers considerably less work--or none at all. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 22:43
Da Inglese a Spagnolo
+ ...
| What 20/80 rule? | Dec 14, 2012 |
First, what rule is that?
Second, who came up with that rule?
Third, even if that rule were real, how would that help me? Isn't meeting this so-called rule a waste of time anyways?
This reminds me of baseball fanatics who measure every score with 4 decimals and such. Crazy.
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