An interesting business metric to track might be the number of ‘touches’ required with a client before an order for translation services is placed. The more human touches (interactions) required the higher the costs for the project acquisition. What are touches? We consider a touch to be anything that requires human attention. An email or […]
Sooner or later a translation company is bound to make an error in quoting a project. When a client accepts a misquoted project then there’s potentially a decision to make. If the project was priced unnecessarily high, it’s a relatively easy oversight to fix. If the accepted project was significantly under bid then should the […]
Commercial printers are a main category of client for professional translation services. Printing companies frequently call on translation companies for help with developing printed versions of a materials (e.g., small brochures, product sheets, to larger catalogs and manuals) in languages other than English. In addition to translation services, printers often need document design services since […]
Clients sometimes have questions about delivered translation projects. Chances are they don’t work with translation deliverables every day. So things that translators and agencies take for granted and seem routine, are not routine for clients. So they ask questions. Thoughtful answers to questions can resolve translation client concerns immediately. Poorly formed answers can unnecessarily introduce […]
Some translation clients might wonder: “Is it better to work with a large translation company or a small one?” Our answer: “It depends.” The size of a translation company often has most to do with its business structure, and not so much with the translation processes it follows or the quality of its work. Since […]
If there’s not a single grand, striking, sweeping differentiation strategy for your translation company or other small business, consider numerous smaller differentiators. Whether it’s ten, twenty, or one hundred small points of differentiation, there’s an opportunity to differentiate in almost everything. The collective power in this can be significant. Which category of things matter? Well […]
