3 Attributes of An Ideal Translation Client

Customers of translation companies have reasons why they prefer to to do business with one company or another. It may be the skill level of the translators, the quick turnaround schedule, favorable pricing, or numerous other things. Whatever the reasons are, conscious or not, they have them and their preferences affect their buying decisions.

In the same way translation companies have client preferences, those customers they decide to target in their promotional campaigns and in plans for growth. The following are among the client attributes we value most:

1) Good communication skills:

Clear communication from clients can help set up successful translation projects. For example it might be helpful to know something about the target audience for the translation. Are there specific source language words that should be left untranslated? In general more information is better than less information. Translators can effectively sort out what information is useful and what is not.

2) Basic understanding of translation processes:

Part of our company’s job is to educate translation clients on the services we provide. There are basic things clients should know about such as quality assurance measures related to second translator editing/proofreading. We specify these services in our quotes and in the way we describe our services.

Clients also benefit by knowing that there are often multiple approaches to a particular translation project, and that our translators might not translate to match a given third party’s personal word choice preferences, unless we have those preferences in advance.

3) A non-commodity mindset:

As a reminder, commodities are essentially those goods and services which are differentiated mainly, if not solely, by their price. So wheat, potatoes, “widgets” (whatever those are) are generally considered commodities. Our ideal clients are those who look for something more than just the lowest price. There are numerous ways that our company differentiates its services. The clients who value those differentiators are our most compatible customers.