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Poll: Do you give your cell phone/home number to clients/agencies? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you give your cell phone/home number to clients/agencies?".
View the poll results »
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Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 10:20
French to English
I find I can sell myself pretty well on the phone, so I like to be able to chat with clients.
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Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 10:20
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I haven't had a landline phone for the past 7-8 years, so I enter my mobile phone number when necessary. That being said, I have received exactly two phone calls and one WhatsApp message over my entire career, so I don't think this is ever going to cause me any serious headaches.
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No, I wait for a carrier pigeon to arrive
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My email signature and my invoices have my land line and my mobile number, but like Alex I haven’t had a phone call from a client for a long time. All exchange is usually done by email and that’s how I like it.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 10:20
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Had some bad experiences | Apr 10 |
Clients can use any method that fits them to contact me, but so far, those clients who enjoyed chatting on the phone were some of the worst clients I have ever met, on so many levels. I am not sure why borderline scammers prefer phone to email, but they certainly do. I also like to keep track of what had been said or agreed (like in an email thread) which is impossible to do on the phone.
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Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 11:20
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
I only have a mobile phone and the number is included in all my invoices and forms wherever required. I have vague memories that some clients used to call occasionally when I just started around 2010-2011 and I even encouraged them to do so if I hadn't responded to an email soon enough. One used to send sms messages to notify of a job request sent to my e-mail.
That being said, I can't remember the last time any client had used my phone number, it must be years ago. Usually they just send ... See more I only have a mobile phone and the number is included in all my invoices and forms wherever required. I have vague memories that some clients used to call occasionally when I just started around 2010-2011 and I even encouraged them to do so if I hadn't responded to an email soon enough. One used to send sms messages to notify of a job request sent to my e-mail.
That being said, I can't remember the last time any client had used my phone number, it must be years ago. Usually they just send an e-mail and if they want to discuss something in detail they set up a Teams meeting or something like that instead of a simple phone call. ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 10:20
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Unfortunately, WhatsApp is connected to my cellphone number, so I can't accept communication via WhatsApp unless the client has my cellphone number. That said, whenever a client contacts me via WhatsApp, I follow up via email (and I usually request that they send me an email anyway). WhatsApp is just a quick way for an agency to see whether the translator is available *right now*.
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 10:20
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Lingua 5B wrote:
I also like to keep track of what had been said or agreed (like in an email thread) which is impossible to do on the phone.
No room for misunderstandings when it's all written down.
In 95% of the cases I simply don't answer my phone. I compensate that by replying to every e-mail within seconds or minutes. I suppose my clients accept and appreciate that, because they've stopped contacting me through the phone a very long time ago (and no, I didn't lose a single one of them because of that).
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I have a dedicated business landline. Absolutely worth the (very affordable) additional subscription.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 10:20
French to English
Samuel Murray wrote:
Unfortunately, WhatsApp is connected to my cellphone number, so I can't accept communication via WhatsApp unless the client has my cellphone number. That said, whenever a client contacts me via WhatsApp, I follow up via email (and I usually request that they send me an email anyway). WhatsApp is just a quick way for an agency to see whether the translator is available *right now*.
As much as I don't mind a client calling to ask if I'm free, I always hated it when PMs used to send quick messages on Skype (that dates doesn't it, I'm talking about back in the day when I worked in-house).
They would just ping "hi are you free?" and I always felt that it might be a trap and I'd end up having to translate some god-awful thing that everyone else had refused. So I would say "It depends, what do you need me to do?" After a while, they'd realise that whatever they said, I wouldn't ever commit myself until I'd seen the text. They had to put everything in writing on the PO anyway, so it was quicker to send an email.
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I am an official translator and interpreter of Costa Rica. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regulates our activity, and this information is included on its website. Most of my clients come from people who visited this database.
By the way, personal information such as ID card number, parent´s name, date of birth, marriages, divorces, children, and registered place to cast votes in national elections is public and appears on the public website of the Supreme Court of Elections.
Most o... See more I am an official translator and interpreter of Costa Rica. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regulates our activity, and this information is included on its website. Most of my clients come from people who visited this database.
By the way, personal information such as ID card number, parent´s name, date of birth, marriages, divorces, children, and registered place to cast votes in national elections is public and appears on the public website of the Supreme Court of Elections.
Most of my clients use WhatsApp to contact me and send their projects. Very few use the landline, but I get about four calls a week.
[Edited at 2024-04-10 15:47 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 11:20
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
Kay Denney wrote:
As much as I don't mind a client calling to ask if I'm free, I always hated it when PMs used to send quick messages on Skype
Same here. I never had a problem giving clients my phone number, but every time somebody asked my Skype or some other username I felt like they expected me to be instantly available any time and refused to give it. If they can message me there they can also send an e-mail, I will probably reply sooner to that.
Now I have WhatsApp which only needs my phone number but nobody has ever used it to contact me about work.
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| Dedicated business cell phone number | Apr 16 |
I have a dual SIM phone and one of them is my business number. I'd say I get an average of one call a month. Occasionally it's a regular client with an unusual request or asking about urgent availability. More often it's a new client who heard about me somewhere and wants to feel me out before sending me a job. I pay €2.99/month for the number, so it's worth it to me.
It also has a different ringtone than my personal number, so I can easily ignore it when I don't want to or can't ... See more I have a dual SIM phone and one of them is my business number. I'd say I get an average of one call a month. Occasionally it's a regular client with an unusual request or asking about urgent availability. More often it's a new client who heard about me somewhere and wants to feel me out before sending me a job. I pay €2.99/month for the number, so it's worth it to me.
It also has a different ringtone than my personal number, so I can easily ignore it when I don't want to or can't work. ▲ Collapse
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Hayley Wakenshaw
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2018)
Dutch to English
| I want my clients to feel they can always contact me when they really need to | Apr 18 |
I’m the queen of the introverts, so I usually hate talking on the phone. However, I work part-time with flexible hours; I want my clients to have the reassurance of being able to contact me when I’m away from my desk. All my clients are very considerate about this, and usually, the only time they will call or text is when they have a job that they’d really like me specifically to do but need a quick answer.
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