Speaking Your Client’s Language

Guest blog post by David Smith at Constructive Translations

Let’s say you have decided that part of your operational or sales strategy involves doing something abroad. This may not be the right thing for every company, but with the world becoming more and more connected, smaller companies are finding all kinds of opportunities in far flung corners of the world. The first thing of course is to decide what you will say to your foreign partners. If you are bidding on a construction contract, you’ll need to know what documents they will need to see. If you are buying a new product, you’ll need to ensure you can read and understand the service level agreement.

The next step is figuring out “how to say it”. In this regard, I have two pieces of advice. Firstly, don’t wait until you “really need it” to start looking into getting your documents or website translated. There are only so many really good translators in the world, and they get booked fast, so the later you book a translator, the higher the chances you are getting someone you don’t really want. Most agencies will be happy to hear from you with a “potential job”, and will ensure that the best translators are free should those jobs go ahead. I’ve met conference interpreters who are fully booked around 2 years in advance during peak season.

The reason for this is simple. Most translators start with an academic degree in a language. They then get a post-graduate degree in translation theory, and market themselves as translators. Whatever they may claim, these translators are usually unable to read and understand the kinds of technical document that a construction or engineering company may use. As a more technical company, your ideal translator will have an academic background in engineering or construction. The number of translators who have these backgrounds, and who have the relevant language and translation skills is very small. Therefore, it’s important that you shop around and ensure you are using the right people.

The second point I really want to emphasize is that translation is not a commodity. Two agencies will produce two totally different translations. While we don’t like to say “good and bad” when talking about translation, certain factors like recruitment policies, retaining the best translators, quality monitoring, document reviews and revision, CPD, paying translators well, and giving them useful feedback after each job all add up to produce translations which are more appropriate for the needs of the client. There is clear data showing that “better” translations are more effective in winning contracts and converting customers than other translations.

Having said that, “distressed translations” (when you really need it by Friday and it’s already Wednesday) do happen (40 % of the workload of an average translation company). If that’s the case, you really need to ensure that the company will be able to deliver what they say they will. Talk is the easiest thing in the world. If you see “we can meet any deadline” or similar wording, I would leave the company alone. A serious company knows it limitations and abilities, and will communicate them clearly at the outset.

Sometimes you really don’t need to get a full translation of your document. Sometimes all you need is to see if this document is relevant to a particular legal case or to a particular product. This is where you need to develop a good relationship with your translation company. They should be able to give you honest feedback and tell you what will be best and most affordable for you. In many cases, clear English (with international currencies or units of measurement) is sufficient, with just a small abstract written in a foreign language. If you have document content which is changing rapidly, it might be better to wait until you have a fairly stable version before getting it translated fully, and perhaps a summary would be sufficient in the first instance.

Since I’ve been working at various stages in the translation process, I’ve seen many companies successfully grow by exporting. Companies from developed nations like the United States and United Kingdom tend to have very technically advanced products and services; they are often able to fully analyze the needs and demands of their customers and with this intelligence they can compete with local companies in other parts of the word. There has never been a better time to grow by exporting.