Why You Need the Very Best Translation Services
** You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the by-line is included. Notification of publication would be appreciated. Please send notification to mgalindo@translationsandmore.com ** Recently I attended a translation services industry event at which a businessman in the audience asked a speaker how to know whether a translation is correct or not when you don't know the target language. I almost jumped up and answered the question myself. I wanted to ask how the businessman knows whether his accountant is any good when accounting is not your specialty. I wanted to ask how you know when you buy any service in which you are not an expert yourself. You do your homework. You check credentials and references, read testimonials, maybe even get some feedback from your target audience. But is the highest level of competence necessary? Why not use that salesman in Brazil who volunteered to translate? Why? The same reason you don't use a kid studying accounting or law. You don't want to put your company's reputation at risk. You don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish and risk having your message misinterpreted. The cost of failure is too high to risk taking a chance. Let’s assume your existing customer base is permeated with individuals for whom your assembly instructions are incomprehensible, your safety advisories useless, and your operating instructions inoperable. If they eat it, drink it, or build it, if they use it in hazardous conditions or if there is a hazard inherent in it, if you want to sell them more than one and you want them to be satisfied - you need customer service translation services. Is your product or service useful only to speakers of English? Probably not. In which case you undoubtedly develop your marketing and advertising strategies in all the languages of your major potential markets. And they reflect not only the language, but also the culture of the foreign language market. Right? That's why you need culturally sensitive translation services. Did you know, for example, that some US companies have avoided using the number 41 on equipment to be sold in Mexico because of the cultural connotation to such number? Every large market can be broken down into smaller categories whose unique characteristics enable you to develop features or advertising that appeals strongly to their needs. It is important to approach these categories on their own terms, to speak their special language within a language. Advertising for skateboarders is not the same as advertising for grandmothers, whether they are in Uruguay or Utah. To reach market niches you need translation services that can effectively reflect those niches. Also, very often the key to opening foreign markets is working effectively with foreign governments and their regulatory bureaucracies. The maze of regulations, procedures and practices of any bureaucracy, even those with which you are familiar, is a daunting task. To do it in a foreign language could be cruel and unusual punishment. You need translations services familiar with and capable of working within such an environment. You need a reliable service with a network of translators who hold expertise in patent translations, legal contracts, norms and more.Global marketing and international manufacturing are no longer the exclusive province of very large companies. Today the world is essentially available to any company with the imagination to go out and engage it. Technology has made it possible to collaborate and communicate with employees and business associates regardless of their location. The key to unlocking the potential of the world is translation that reflects local customs, niche preferences, business practices and end user needs. See research below... If you can not read it, you can not buy it.
Beginning to get the picture? Whether you are talking to employees, customers, or bureaucrats you need the best translation services you can buy.
See you soon!
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 ***********************************************************************