Misquoted Translation Projects
Sooner or later a translation company is bound to make an error in quoting a project. When a client accepts a misquoted project then there’s potentially a decision to make.
If the project was priced unnecessarily high, it’s a relatively easy oversight to fix. If the accepted project was significantly under bid then should the client be informed (with apologies of course) and re-quoted? Or do you proceed with the quote, take the hit on the current project, and maintain the client relationship for the long term?
In the decision process here are some questions to consider:
- How strong is the relationship with the customer?
Is the client a new client (not a strong relationship established yet) or a long-standing client with a strong relationship that will be more likely to understand and forgive the error.
- What is the potential lifetime value of the client?
Clients with a significant lifetime value are of higher value to the business. It may be preferable to take the hit of a project loss and keep the client pleased in the long term.
- How significant is the loss for an under quoted project?
Unless the under quoted project, and resulting expected loss is significant, there’s less cause to mention it to the client.
