Can They Take Your Words to the Bank?
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Let's suppose you are a marketing executive trying to increase sales or to introduce your products or services in foreign language markets. Now even if you are multilingual yourself you probably do not speak all the languages of all the markets you would like to reach. At some point you will need the help of a translation services provider. The question is - Which one? How do you go about determining the important criteria for permitting someone to take your words and translate them into a language you do not nderstand? With most suppliers the criteria are relatively straightforward - Do they have the capacity to do the work I need done? Can I afford them? Are they reliable? Are they easy to work with? Can they deliver on budget and on time? If the criteria are met you can have reasonable confidence that the job will be done according to your expectations. If not, you can always find another supplier.
But with a translation services provider the criteria are more critically important than those for purchasing most other services or products. The potential for harm to your company's reputation is significant when you allow someone else to say what you mean in the context of a language you don't understand. And double-checking with someone in your company who happens to speak the language into which you are translating a message isn't sufficient to protect your company's good name or your own reputation. If the buck stops at your desk you need a level of confidence that goes beyond amateur talent.
The same need applies if you are the head of Human Resources and responsible for recruiting or processing new employees in foreign languages. Or if you are designing training or safety programs for sales representatives or manufacturing positions. In each case someone is going to be acting on the words you provide and you, yourself, do not understand those words. The significance of that responsibility and that risk cannot be overstated.
Selling in a foreign language market, whether domestic or offshore, requires a professional approach and a native speaker's sensitivity to cultural nuance and current idiom. The list of failed foreign language marketing strategies is long and often humorous. Of course the examples are not funny at all to those who lost revenue, reputation and credibility in the language-flawed attempts.
One of the tools that have increased the efficiency of translation is software that automatically turns one language into another. But, while useful for those aspects of translation that cannot be misinterpreted, software is not a subtle tool and is notoriously incapable of accurately capturing important grammar, vocabulary, and idiosyncrasies of culture or usage. And it is there, in those details, the crucial difference between success and failure lies. The credibility of any message depends on the credibility of the messenger. It follows that only your care in the selection of a translation services provider - based on reputation, client endorsements, range of experience, native speaker involvement, and personal management oversight - can help ensure that your words will make it to the bank - in any language.
Martha. ********************************************************************** About the Author, if using, please include: Martha E. Galindo, President and CEO of Galindo Publicidad, Inc. A multilingual translations agency, selected twice as a Florida 100 company by the University of Florida. Author of “How Do You Say…?” an eNewsletter designed to help you improve your business communications in other languages, Subscribe http://www.translationsandmore.com/subscription.html GPI, Inc. Request a free project quote- http://www.translationsandmore.com/contact.html ***********************************************************************