On Being There
I cannot count how many contracts I have gotten and how many relations with my customers have started well simply because… I was there. I tend to answer email messages very quickly, out of principle. It turns out, quite logically, that this brings me work. Logically: translation is very often the last step of a very long process and when my customers get to that step, they just want it done. Quickly and well, and not by them. I can well understand that someone who replies to emails within minutes seems more “on the ball” and seems more likely to work quickly and diligently (and this is no false advertisement on my part). They win, I win. And I love it when I can exclaim “everybody happy!”.
