Questioning prospective clients

I haven't read anything about prospective client interaction like "the 7 things to do when negotiating with a prospect". The recommendations you read starts and ends up with the standard "try and get as much information and documentation prior to the job". I see a reason to that, that conveniently collides with the latest release of the AIIC newsletter (more on this in another post). Anything that revolves around the practical, specifics of a profession is left alone on purpose, as a habit, almost unconsciously. I won't delve deeper on that here but instead deliver the kind of recommendations I would love to read from colleagues unheard of. A prospective client got in touch with me inquiring about my conditions for a still unfixed job involving interpretation in a very specialized, very technical subject. I jumped to the appropriate Wikipedia article and dropped jaws from the first sentence. Quantum physics might be easier. Anyway, I boldly jumped in and answered back with the following list of questions. Warning : First, there is nothing confidential in that list. That's why I am showing it. It could apply to so many inquiring prospect. Second : usually, I would ask for details in terms of prior availability to any ppt documents and pointers to online resources, but never before had I thrown at the prospect such a detailed questionnaire. So much that standard LOSCS lashed back a few hours after I answered. LOSCS stands for "lack of self-confidence syndrom" and you won't find this acronym in a dictionary. Before showing the list, I want to state that to my surprise - and proving that LOSCS was hypochondriac stuff - the prospect answered me back with detailed comments on each single questions. It may be that I don't get the assignment but I hereby deeply thank that prospect client for showing such level of professionalism. Here we go.

- Approximative dates when you will be giving your seminars.
- Estimate duration of one seminar
- What size of venues : small, medium or large scales venues
- Approximately how many attendees each
- What kind of locations: corporations, rented seminar rooms,
university, research center, else
- What kind of locations within the venues : seminar room, round
table, worshop, laboratory, etc.
- What kind of attendees, academics, engineers, researchers,
students, laboratory staff, etc.
- What rankings in the case where your seminars target corporations :
high ranking like CEOs, directors, or lab researchers, production staff
- What kind of interaction, mostly one way with a Q&A session or more
interactive
- What do the seminars cover? Processes, product or apparatus
demonstration, services, mix of these, else
- What kind of presentation, ppt doc. based, no usage of ppt but
hands-on demonstration showing how things work or are done
- What kind of documents can you provide ahead of time : exact
presentation documents or drafts, others
- Do you have audio or video recordings of the same, similar or
approaching topic seminar
- Will the seminars cover the same redundant story and will you have
multiple seminar contents over the period
- What are the main purposes of the seminars, teach, demonstrate,
convince, sell, test response, generate feedback and/or collaboration,
etc.
- What are you expecting to take away out these seminars? Contracts,
deals, connexions, else

This list reads like this whole blog here. It is not perfect English. But it is working English that generate responses back and at times contracts from prospects that are native speakers of English. Also, I didn't spend much time on the list, typing while thinking and sending it fast. It needs reordering and a trimming. The very fact that the prospect did answer back to each questions came as a surprised. They even answered to that question about availability of audio or video recording of a session or close by content. Incidentally, the answer was yes. The idea to ask that question came out of the blue while typing. In 2009, it is not odd to inquire about audio/video availability of something unless you have never heard about podcast, YouTube and the like. Questioning the prospect in details does make sense. I wonder where the procrastination to do so stem from. Because most interpreters work through agencies and are dependent and sheepishly waiting to be spoon fed as a habit? That's the case here in Japan but not my case. Does it come from the fear to be perceived as brash pedantic? Probably, and it shows where the shrink must focus with the patient's mind. I am not sure I would next time ask so many questions to a prospect coming to Japan peddling organic pasta or screw openers. I might do it, at the risk of loosing the appointment. In the meantime, the practical side of "doing business", selling one's ware, is not surprisingly totally absent of other public sources, including God's realms like the AIIC. Standing for oneself and developing a singular voice is the single thing to do for interpreters who did not got trained in Geneva.