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Poll: My average response time for a work-related email is:
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jan 18, 2013

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "My average response time for a work-related email is:".

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Nicole Schnell
Nicole Schnell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 02:26
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Other Jan 18, 2013

Between 30 seconds and 30 hours. ALL emails to this email address are work-related. I will assign priority levels at my own discretion. Smart and management-savvy clients will respect the translator's agenda at all times because next time it could be their very own project and deadline that might be compromised if the eager beaver disrupts his work each and every time the mailbox goes "Ping!".

 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:26
Member
English to French
15-30 minutes Jan 18, 2013

...typically for incumbent customers.
Prospective customers or enquiries from unknown sources usually come later.

My email client is set to retrieving e-mails every 15 minutes, so that by default, I am not disturbed more than 4 times/hour by email coming in.
I also manually check my email client whenever I feel like it. My mobile dumbphone (provided that I know where it is) retrieves e-mail only when I instruct it to do so.

Philippe


 
Mary Worby
Mary Worby  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:26
German to English
+ ...
1-15 minutes Jan 18, 2013

An e-mail comes in, I answer it!

Unless I'm out and about, in which case I'll normally answer important e-mails within half an hour if I can (unless I'm driving or something) and deal with unimportant ones when I get home.


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 10:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
ASAP Jan 18, 2013

As soon as I become aware of it. Unless (this doesn't happen often) I'm really not interested in replying, in which case I might just leave it until I can think of how I want to deal with it, or not bother at all.

 
Milena Taylor
Milena Taylor  Identity Verified
Serbia
English to Serbian
+ ...
1-15 minutes Jan 18, 2013

Mary Worby wrote:

An e-mail comes in, I answer it!

Unless I'm out and about, in which case I'll normally answer important e-mails within half an hour if I can (unless I'm driving or something) and deal with unimportant ones when I get home.


I agree with Mary's comment. I reply to work related e-mails as soon as I can.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 09:26
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Ditto! Jan 18, 2013

Mary Worby wrote:

An e-mail comes in, I answer it!

Unless I'm out and about, in which case I'll normally answer important e-mails within half an hour if I can (unless I'm driving or something) and deal with unimportant ones when I get home.


 
DianeGM
DianeGM  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:26
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
ASAIC Jan 18, 2013

Like others as soon as I can, usually that's quickly 1-15 mins.

 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:26
Member (2006)
German to English
Other Jan 18, 2013

depends ....

 
Hipyan Nopri
Hipyan Nopri  Identity Verified
Indonesia
Local time: 16:26
Member (2005)
English to Indonesian
+ ...
Within Seconds for Certain Emails Jan 18, 2013

Because I am a full-time freelance translator staying in front of my computer from 5 am to 9 pm, certain work-related emails are replied in a matter of seconds.

Other emails, particularly those asking for "your best rate", rank the second priority.:)


 
Catherine Winzer
Catherine Winzer  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:26
German to English
+ ...
Other Jan 18, 2013

Michael Harris wrote:

depends ....


I agree with Michael and Nicole. It depends on the situation, the urgency of the email and whether I happen to be at my desk or not.


 
Tatty
Tatty  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Interesting question Jan 18, 2013

When I first started translating about 8 years ago now I used to receive my emails within 1 minute of the client/agency sending them, which meant that I could respond very quickly.

But now it can take up to 30 minutes to receive an email, and I don't understand why. Soon I will change over to a fibre optic internet connection to see if I can receive emails quicker. I really don't like the idea of messenger or skype for work.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:26
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Depends if I'm expecting it Jan 18, 2013

If I know a client will be getting in touch soon, I'm careful to be available to reply at once. If I'm not expecting anything, it's not so clear-cut. I don't let emails interrupt me every few seconds - there is a little pop-up that appears in the corner of the screen, but if I'm concentrating on work I sometimes ignore it until I come to the end of a paragraph/section/job...

I nearly typed "I'm afraid" in the sentence above, but why should we apologise for not breaking our concentra
... See more
If I know a client will be getting in touch soon, I'm careful to be available to reply at once. If I'm not expecting anything, it's not so clear-cut. I don't let emails interrupt me every few seconds - there is a little pop-up that appears in the corner of the screen, but if I'm concentrating on work I sometimes ignore it until I come to the end of a paragraph/section/job...

I nearly typed "I'm afraid" in the sentence above, but why should we apologise for not breaking our concentration to read the tens to hundreds of emails that we get every day? I don't know how people managed in the "old days" even though I was there at the time (we didn't get a phone until I was about 10, and then it rarely rang, nor was I encouraged to phone friends). But I think our "instant response" society is sad, and totally inappropriate for a sole service provider.
Collapse


 
telefpro
telefpro
Local time: 14:56
Portuguese to English
+ ...
very quick Jan 18, 2013

generally, I am very quick in responding

 
Nicole Schnell
Nicole Schnell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 02:26
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Exactly so. Jan 18, 2013

Sheila Wilson wrote:

If I know a client will be getting in touch soon, I'm careful to be available to reply at once. If I'm not expecting anything, it's not so clear-cut. I don't let emails interrupt me every few seconds - there is a little pop-up that appears in the corner of the screen, but if I'm concentrating on work I sometimes ignore it until I come to the end of a paragraph/section/job...

I nearly typed "I'm afraid" in the sentence above, but why should we apologise for not breaking our concentration to read the tens to hundreds of emails that we get every day? I don't know how people managed in the "old days" even though I was there at the time (we didn't get a phone until I was about 10, and then it rarely rang, nor was I encouraged to phone friends). But I think our "instant response" society is sad, and totally inappropriate for a sole service provider.



If it's urgent, they will call you on the phone.

Other than that, immediate and elaborate replies indicate that a translator is not very busy. Hmmmm... that translator doesn't seem to be much in demand. Maybe he/she isn't very good?

If a message sounds intriguing, I will send a brief note, such as: "Dear (person), I will be happy to review your attached files first thing tomorrow morning. Please have a wonderful afternoon!"


 
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Poll: My average response time for a work-related email is:






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