When the time comes for your business to expand and expand into new markets in different countries Make sure that you are communicating with your customers and partners in a language that they can understand, and ideally their native language. Yes, this tip even applies to companies where English is the corporate language!
The reason for this is quite simple. several studies have clearly shown that customers are more likely to purchase products or services from a company who communicates with them in their own language. In some instances, your company might also require legal permission to translate documents like manuals and instructions in local languages.
A reliable translation service will help you steer your company in the proper direction.
Why should you choose a translation company over freelancers
There’s no such thing as an “unique” translation assignment in that being able to speak two languages does not make someone qualified to be a translator any like possessing two hands is enough to be a pianist. Translating between two languages is a task that requires exceptional linguistic ability as well as an intimate knowledge of the country culture, the language and the field that the translation is meant for. In other words, what makes a good translation is accurate terminology, correct use of industry jargon and the ability to write in a fluid, grammatically sound writing style that is tailored to the intended reader, taking into consideration cultural differences , and then transferring the subtleties of one language to one. In the world of translation this laborious process is known as localisation.
If you work with a reputable and reputable translation agency, you can be confident that your translations are given to skilled and experienced translators who have passed an extensive test and selection process.
The choice of an agency over freelancers on your own eliminates any chance of the process becoming a bottleneck for your projects, as translation agencies are experienced in managing large volumes of text that have to be translated into various languages within very short times. Also, you get a rapid time-to-market for your products when you opt to outsource your translation tasks with an agency.
What translation agency should you select?
When you’re searching for the ideal agency for your company it will be easy to see how many to select from. It may be difficult to figure out how they actually differ from each other.
Which agency to pick depends greatly on your requirements as well as your preferences and requirements. If you only need one single translation for internal use, and accuracy and quality aren’t an important factor, then you may be able to only focus on the cost.
However, if your texts are to be read by clients or colleagues, it’s a good idea to choose a company that can provide the quality you’re expecting. In the end, a bad translation could end up having negative consequences for your company’s image and may even compromise the value of your product on the new market. Think of the severe negative consequences that a badly translated guideline could cause, or the consequences when your website – your business card on the internet – makes your business look unprofessional.
How do you select a translation company that can deliver the service and quality you require?
In this respect as well, it’s almost impossible to discern how agencies differ from each other at first. Many of their websites boast the same things: high-quality translations, cheaper prices than their competitors, speedy turnaround and great service.
Here are our nine helpful suggestions to make it easier for you to sort through the jungle of translation service providers to locate the professional translation agency that best suits your needs and preferences. demands.
Keep these nine helpful tips in mind while choosing the right translation company:
1. Inquire about your contacts and request references
The most effective method to locate an established company is usually easy to ask about. There’s a good chance that you may know someone who have a reliable translation agency that they would recommend. If so, it’s recommended to follow up with a couple of questions on whether they’ve found it to be trustworthy and stable and how happy they have been with the quality of their translations.
It is also possible to find cases and other references on the agency’s website or if you’d like to go a step further, contact the agency and ask for some client references to contact directly.
2. You can inquire about their procedures and processes
Professional translation companies have developed efficient processes to handle translation tasks that they receive from their customers and help them keep track of each project and all the different languages the texts of their clients need to be translated into and from. Such processes help the agency accelerate their translation tasks to ensure they’re completed as quickly as is feasible. In many cases, they give clients the opportunity to monitor the progress of their assignments and see every ongoing and completed translation that they’ve assigned to the agency.
3. You can inquire about the language combinations that the agency has available.
Even if you just need documents translated to one of a handful of languages for the first time, it may be worthwhile to inquire if the agency is capable of translating text into any language. If they can in the position, you can rest assured your company won’t ever outgrow the agency, and they’ll contribute to the future expansion of your business . They will always meet your needs.
4. Check out the standards the agency has in relation to its language experts
Professional translation firms rely in freelance translators, as well as language experts and have built a community of regular vendors who allow they to transliterate their clients’ texts into a huge range of languages, while meeting their clients’ tight deadlines.
There could be significant differences in the standards agencies expect their vendors meet. To ensure that you receive the quality you expect an agency must be monitoring their vendors regularly for their work quality as well as their proficiency in their language combinations. They should also set criteria for language experts’ level of education, experience and skills.
Nowadays, there are few translation agencies that still opt to use an in-house group of translation experts. But, there are obvious advantages to working with an in-house team comprised of experienced translators that can guarantee a consistently high standard of quality and understand the ins and outs of the industry.
5. Get an impression of the agency’s level of service
Contact the agency and find out how they respond to your e-mail or call and whether they spend enough time with you, which you deserve as potential (prospective) prospective client.
How long did it take for them to respond? Did they seem interested in your request? Did they ask about your concerns? This will give you an idea of what it is like to work with this agency, and also how they handle their clients.
You could also ask a few questions about the way they work in conjunction with clients. Are you assigned a particular contact? Are you always given the option to call or write them an email? Are they willing to have regular meetings to discuss your partnership?
Of course, everything above depends on what exactly you want and need from a translation agency.
6. For more information, inquire about their pricing and deadlines
As a customer It is usually helpful to know how much you’re likely to spend for a product or service. However, many translation firms only quote a price for an assignment once they’ve had a chance to look over the text that you’d like translated. This is because the difficulty of a project to translate can be wildly different depending on the degree of technicality of the text, the topic(s) that it is dealing with or the type of language used or combination, etc. A review of the text in advance allows the agency to analyse the file and offer discounts for repeats as well as previously translated segments into the cost.
That’s why we advise to choose an agency that does not insist on quoting a price before they’ve had the chance to read the document.
Keep in mind that an agency’s price per word is not just for the translation itself, such as project management costs and proofreading. If you’re given a quote that seems too appealing to be true it could be that the company is taking shortcuts in one or more aspects in the process of translation which can affect the quality of the translations that they offer.
7. Find out if the agency provides other services
The best option is to locate an agency that is able to provide all the language services that you and your colleagues require to ensure that you send all your assignments to the same agency. There’s also a lot of benefit in choosing a partner who both of you and your colleagues are able to build a friendly and close friendship with. The whole process becomes much simpler – and the end product is much more effective after the translator is familiar with your and your business’s requirements and language, tone of voice and more.
It is therefore important to inquire whether the agency offers the services of proofreading, text revision copywriting, DTP and more. Also, if they have any restrictions with regard to file formats or languages.
8. Ask if the agency uses technology and CAT tools
Professional translation agencies employ the computer assisted translation (CAT) tools for translating your texts. CAT tools help improve the quality of the translation, ensuring that the terms are translated with uniformity, for instance and also making sure you get the highest price for the translation task as you pay less or none at all for segments that have been translated before and repetitions.
9. The agency’s financial situation
It’s not a good idea to arrive at work one day only to discover that a reliable company abruptly ceases to provide services or has to shut down, leaving customers hanging. We suggest you check out how long the company has been operating for and the state of its financials.
If you stick to these helpful suggestions when selecting the language service provider you choose then you’re sure to get off to a great start. It is important to select the ideal partner at the beginning to ensure that you avoid having switching between agencies which can waste a lot of time and resources on starting over.
Copyright Reseau Actu.