Poll: Have you ever lost a project by not following the client's instructions?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jul 1, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever lost a project by not following the client's instructions?".

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Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:40
Member (2016)
English to German
other Jul 1, 2018

I have occasionally refused projects after reading the client's instructions.

Mario Freitas
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 08:40
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Jul 1, 2018

If I accept a project I follow all instructions received in the email or the PO (it would be unprofessional of me not to) and when I have no specific instructions I ask…

 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:40
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
I don#t know Jul 1, 2018

Two customers who had previously been regular suddenly stopped sending me work and would not reply to emails. So I don't know whether they thought I had not been following their instructions, I had been following them as far as I know. But that's only two over more than fifty years.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 09:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
No Jul 1, 2018

If I accept a job, I usually accept the instructions that come along with it.

 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:40
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
I don't know, but I don't think so Jul 1, 2018

I advocate for transparency in my work. I operate under the assumption that if my clients had a webcam to watch me doing their assignment, and if they could pick my brain to follow through my decision-making processes, they'd be proud of their choice.

If the client's proposed m.o. can - IMHO - be improved, I'll tell them my ideas right away. If they don't like these, I'll do it exactly as they asked. If next time they don't call me because they want someone who would blindly do it t
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I advocate for transparency in my work. I operate under the assumption that if my clients had a webcam to watch me doing their assignment, and if they could pick my brain to follow through my decision-making processes, they'd be proud of their choice.

If the client's proposed m.o. can - IMHO - be improved, I'll tell them my ideas right away. If they don't like these, I'll do it exactly as they asked. If next time they don't call me because they want someone who would blindly do it their way without thinking outside their box, I'll never know.
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Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 09:40
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
No Jul 1, 2018

The client would just send it back to me, asking me to re-do it according to their instructions.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:40
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
No Jul 2, 2018

I think it's very important to understand the instructions up front.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:40
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Lost is not the word Jul 3, 2018

I've refused projects for not agreeing with client instructions, yes.
But not "lost" one for that reason. If you accept the project, that means you have agreed with the instructions, unless instructions are given after the project is started, which is quite undue.


 


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Poll: Have you ever lost a project by not following the client's instructions?






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