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Poll: What percentage of your work comes from repeat clients?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Apr 22

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What percentage of your work comes from repeat clients?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:10
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Most Apr 22

I'd even risk saying 99,9% as I have been working with the same client base for some time, one of them for over 20 years. I haven't closed the door to new clients, these are always welcome, but lately have been scarce

Alexandra Speirs
Elaine Ruby
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 08:10
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
100% Apr 22

My latest "new" customer dates back to 2023.
 
Simon Turner
Simon Turner
From 0% to 100% Apr 22

An interesting question. I went and had a look: the first time I had 0% repeats was in 1977 (2 new clients but then I went off and did other things) and the last time prior to this year was in 1994, when I had 3 new clients - 0% repeats. The number of repeats went up from 0% to 59% in 1999, when I found 23 new clients, and in 2007 I found 33 new clients. Since then, I've had fewer and fewer new clients and the number is down to zero this year, so I'm up to 100% repeats for the first time since I... See more
An interesting question. I went and had a look: the first time I had 0% repeats was in 1977 (2 new clients but then I went off and did other things) and the last time prior to this year was in 1994, when I had 3 new clients - 0% repeats. The number of repeats went up from 0% to 59% in 1999, when I found 23 new clients, and in 2007 I found 33 new clients. Since then, I've had fewer and fewer new clients and the number is down to zero this year, so I'm up to 100% repeats for the first time since I started translating.

Is that a good thing? It certainly comes as no surprise, as I've worked with few clients so far in 2026 and I'm down to about 10% of my normal turnover. The market has come to an end, as far as I'm concerned.

Earlier this week, I tried a little experiment: I lowered my absolute minimum rate for one of my old clients from 10.4 eurocents per word to 8.3 - back to where I was 20 or 21 years ago. Not something I like doing but I'll be interested to see if they take me up on the offer. I somehow doubt it. ▲ Collapse
 


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Poll: What percentage of your work comes from repeat clients?






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