English with Kirsty – episode 304
Client calls – the part that you can’t plann 100% in advance
You can listen to episode 307 here:
Sometimes it takes courage to get yourself out there and approach new potential clients. A lot of it can be done alone with nobody watching. You can research the companies, make a shortlist, and plan what you’re going to write to them. That’s safe enough!
But if you want people to trust you enough to make you part of their teams and their workflows, there’s a reasonable chance that they’ll want to talk with you and find out who’s behind the email or LinkedIn message. Especially now, when people are often outsourcing parts of the lead generation process and initial message writing to AI… Potential clients want to know who you are, what you’re offering, and more importantly – how you will add value to them.
And unlike your previous experience with agencies, who’ll often have someone available who speaks your language, these conversations may need to be in a different one – either because it’s the client’s first language or because you’ll need a bridge language in which you can both communicate.
These calls can be prepared to some extent – but there’s also the spontanaity factor because it’s a conversation between real people. And sometimes trusting yourself enough to go with that is harder than all of the preparation tasks!
If you’re preparing for these calls in English, it’s a topic that comes up in both my one-to-one mentoring programme and my reactivate your spoken English group programme for freelance translators. If it’s in French or German, I can put you in touch with others who offer similar services for those languages.
Here’s where you can find out more about my Reactivate your English – English speaking skills for freelance translators programme. And, if you’re reading this before 28th April 2026, here’s the LinkedIn event that I mentioned.
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