Presents

1. Presents How to acquire, retain and grow with a premium client

2. Discussion Schedule and Tone • Two modules will be covered in the duration of approximately 45 minutes • There will be Q/A sessions after the presentation • E-book link and short essays on this theme and related ones at the end of the session under the heading Further Reading • The general tone of the presentation will be anecdotal and semi-formal

3. Premium Client A Premium Client is ( definition by negatives) • NOT a Low-Cost Factory • NOT a fly-by operator • NOT an agency of last resort • Does NOT handle projects that seem ultra-urgent and non-realistic • Does NOT consider a translator an assembly line worker or translation as symbol-changing • NOT having the sole and fanatic strategy of cutting cost • NOT a freedom-killing entity • NOT a con-artist by design and inception

4. What is a PREMIUM client then... A Premium Client is • A value-added convenience store ( more on this later in details) • Having the knowledge of 2 fundamental and immutable laws of nature • The Law of Segment – One man’s food is another’s poison • The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility  Commoditization • Aware of the power of partnership instead of maximizing self-benefit - valued by the metric of money alone • One foot always in future • Not a prisoner of accounting, process and technology • Understands the subtle and profound space of language, meaning , symbols and the alchemists , i.e. translators

5. Premium Client – Focus and Myopic vision • A plain-vanilla worker generally suffers from myopic vision about his/her work : To much focus on the immediate (project) • Ask • Ask / research about the • Source (immediate client) • Next up-stream • Final Use-point/points • Re-usability • Opportunity of Machine Translation • Future needs – None/ customized/repeat /re-work /new

6. Types of Agencies • Large Corporations • Low Cost Factory • Post Office Box • Value Added Convenience • Fly-by operator • Super –speciality domain / languages • Scam by design / inception • Life-Style statement for someone Signpost : There are mixtures of these as well !

7. First Principle Method : 3 Basic Questions • Why do some freelancers earn more, have more premium clients, have a sustained growth compared to others ? [ - a fact ] • Why some companies are able and do pay more than others for the same kind and type of work ? [ - inquiry ] • How can I make those ‘premium’ clients dominant in my portfolio ? [ - aspiration]

8. Answer : Understanding Value Premium • Value is additive - a 1000 word translation is brought at 60 USD, proofed at $ 20, DTP-ed at $ 25 – the end client purchases the ready PDF brochure at $ 500 (from the ad-budget) • This addition can be linear or non-linear - A brand name evaluation may have $ 20 for translation but $ 100 for evaluation • Value is concentrated at the interface where highest risk is involved. - An Insurance Policy seller gets almost 60% of the first premium as commission.

9. Value Premium : Examples • Value Chain is not static, it is changing and we are also an agent of change (as a customer / supplier / user) - Nokia and Apple : What Nokia didn’t know about mobile phones that Apple did with I-phone ? • Highest Value lies in situation where outcome is not clear – decisions are more intuitive, unconventional (and hence highest risk) -- Amazon’s idea of challenging the value chain of book business • Back and forth integration – doing more things, better way - Google’s many more offerings built around the core competence – search

10. Value Chain : Translation Business The most basic Value chain in Translation Business can be made like this $ A $ B $ C $ D Final Price = $ A + $ B + $ C + $ D Your share of the total value = $ B / $ Final Price Content Translation and Proofing Packaging (DTP etc) Deployment (Digital / Print)

11. Observation • You can either push yourself to be in the position to decide the final price. • You can find out projects where final price is high • You can try to do more things to add up linearly ($ A + $ B + $C ..) to have more share of the final price • You can find projects where $ B is largest component of the final price ( Translation and Proofing Part)

12. 3rd Question : How can I...? • Understanding of value chain can give an idea as why some freelancers / companies demand and get better rates and better growth. • Premium clients and high growth cannot be achieved unless repositioning happens in value chain (not possible simply by operational efficiency alone) • This re-positioning for a Freelancer is a high-level strategic exercise and is NOT simple operational changes /more optimization • A Freelancer can make small changes either singularly or in combination to reposition him/her in the value chain

13. Current Situation of Industry • In a situation of economic downturn, Final Prices are generally revised or pushed downward. Revised  Same Price but additional services packed in. Pushed Downward  Price Only • Stress increases in the system – Sales Force (who decides the Final Price) overrules operation more frequently • Project Managers become more stressful [ pack more value in the same price / Lower Price ] • Some verticals / previously safe areas become unsafe or extinct. • New Areas or new verticals rise up – sometimes overnight !

14. Review – Module I • Premium Clients are Value Added Convenience Stores or VAC. • Understand and position yourself in the value chain • Repositioning : Doing other things, Doing same thing with added value • Repositioning will call your CEO and Business Owner role and not project-focused expert professional role (a translator)

15. Module II : How to and Critical Areas • Project Manager • Nature of Project • Client’s Client • The Upstream Chain ( from your immediate client to) • Client Acquisition Process

16. Hints and Tips - I • The human element • Understand the situation the Project Manager is in • Find out what is the ‘value’ perceived by the Project Manager • Give a finished product • Write glossary and Notes when required • Don’t write paragraph – write point-wise • Don’t be an authority figure • Be firm but flexible • Beware of project managers who consider ‘translation’ as an assembly line kind of work !

17. Module II – Example Value lies in the nature of the project. • Don’t work for work’s sake or just because you are not having a job • Build team with specialists • Don’t try to be an one-man army • Complexity and configuration increase value  configuration of expertise  partnerships Example : En > Japanese linguists with Telecommunication Specialization • Million Japanese and English speakers • Couple of Thousands having proficiency in both • Less than hundred specialist in the subject • May be 10 are really fit for the project • Out of this, final competition would be among 5 over the world !

18. Module II – Acquiring a Client Client Acquisition Process • How did you acquire the client ? A question : Will a premium client post every project in the bidding portal ? The Bidding Portal : • In bidding platforms, price discovery process is faster and with everyday interaction and iteration, the price always tends to optimize towards best cost/quality ratio (perceived or real) • Market Outside the prospects also who are not there or not highly active . • A new buyer in the industry is always a premium client

19. Hints – Action Area • TheMagic Hand of Chance : Internet is a great switcher of Value • Internet Presence vis-à-vis Online Contribution • More Value accumulates when you solve another person’s problem • Write a blog • Use your non-work time to market and to invest (non-financial) • Sir Conan Doyle started writing Sherlock Holmes while he waited for his patients What is the value of his medical work vis-a-vis the value of Sherlock Holmes brand ?

20. Case Study : Our OWN • 2005 - Wordsmith Communication specialized in Telecom / IT Localization for pan-Indic languages (Major Corporate Clients due to boom in mobile Telephony) • 2008 - TM refinements, automatization, market slowdown, commoditization of service. • 2008 - Content Provider – started www.pentasect.com as a cultural monthly e-zine (funded by Wordsmith) • 2009 - Pressure on Rate, Further pressure on Rate – Became Digital Publisher and Print on Demand Printer • 2010 – Started a DTP station / Started Training Online and Offline • 2011/12 – More into Cross Cultural Consulting, Blogger’s Bridge (translation), Content and Cross Cultural Detective

21. Case Study – Our Own • Once ‘premium’ segment started becoming low-value, low-paying and highly competitive as well as technological change • Diversification into allied area – doing other things : Content, DTP, Printing – all through team-building • Pan-Indic Languages competencies, Team Building and Marketing remain core competences • Identified Publishing of a niche segment – Freelance Translators in particulars and freelancers in general • Extending a book into more interactive, live and relevant product (training  LIKE THIS ONE ). Here the technological change became an enabler. • Looking forward to gather more competencies and team members.

22. Further Reading Practitioner’s Tips for Email Marketing http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/Articles.asp?ArtID=125 – A short essay on some features of a successful Email Campaign and a text summary of today’s presentation The Wordsmith Book of Business by Pritam Bhattacharyya http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-wordsmith-book-of-business/5585503 - My own chronicle of developing the language business from scratch. Price as Signature: Advice to New Translators and Agencies from India http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/Articles.asp?ArtID=122 – A 500 word essay as why your pricing is key of your identity in a market like Language Market Seth Godin Blog : Arguably the most influential Marketing Thinker of our times. Read his blog here at www.sethgodin.com

23. Post Presentation Discourse • Questions • Experience Sharing • Freewheeling discussion • Talk among CEOs, Business Owners and Life-Designers or Li-Ders

24. Thank You Me and my team members at www.wordsmithuniversity.com www.wordsmithcommunication.com Please send your feedback. Your feedback is crucial to deliver better courses Give your feedback here at wordsmith.bengal@gmail.com Read University Blog at http://wordsmithuniversity.wordpress.com