34

TIPS & TRICKS

FOR
IMPROVING
TRANSLATION
EFFICIENCY

WHEN
YOURE
SELECTING
A TRANSLATION
PARTNER

Choose a translation
provider with subject
matter expertise.
Has the translation provider ever worked on
projects of this type? Ask for details of industry
specialization (software, manufacturing, healthcare,
for example) as well as experience working on the
project type (website, documents, mobile app, and
so on).

Select translation
providers with languagespecific expertise.
Translators typically work into their native
language and not the other way around.
Also, if your content is destined for a specific
country, make sure that the translators
assigned to your project are actually from that
country native speakers are a must.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 3

Pick a provider thats the

right size for your business.
Large companies usually pick large translation
agencies, while medium-sized and small businesses
often work with smaller translation agencies and
freelancers. If your needs are very small or you only
translate into a couple of languages, you will not be
deemed an important client with sizeable revenue
for larger agencies. So, pick a provider for which the
amount of business youll send them is meaningful
to ensure that you receive the best possible customer
service.

Choose a provider with a project

manager in your time zone.
If youre dealing with an agency, make sure they have
a project manager who is available in your time zone.
Its critical that you can reach someone during your
business hours in case your needs change or an
urgent project arises.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 4

Ask to see sample translations

but dont ask for free samples.
Some providers will offer a very limited free
sample translation of your text, but be careful
not to ask for more than this, because most
professional translators and agencies will
refuse to do this, as it generally is a bad sign of an
uncommitted customer. Offer to do a paid translation if
you really need a sample it generally wont be very costly,
but you can get samples from multiple agencies to compare their
speed, quality, and customer service.

Dont choose your translation

providers based on price.
You will usually get what you pay for. Just like writers charge
different rates, so do translators. Instead, determine what
the normal rates are for the languages you wish to translate
into, knowing that some files might be more complex and
some text is more difficult to translate due to subject matter
knowledge requirements.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 5

Dont focus just on the

price per word.
Many translators and translation providers use a price per
word model, but this model is not by any means universal
or required. Remember that the price per word will not include all
possible additional fees that you may want associated with the project,
such as professional editing, project management, graphic design, desktop
publishing, and other services. If youll have an ongoing stream of work,
you might want to consider having your translation provider on retainer to
provide them with a set number of guaranteed hours or words per month
in exchange for a guarantee of their availability to turn around your projects
within a certain window. This model is often preferable, because it allows
everyone to spend less time managing small projects and focusing on
delivering high-quality results instead.

Talk about your needs beyond

just a single project.
If youre representing a business, chances are that if youre
translating once, you will need to translate again. Talk with
the translation provider not just about one project, but about
your recurring and ongoing needs. How many projects do
you think youll need to translate per month, per quarter, per
year? Moving the discussion further into the future makes
you more attractive as a client, because youre offering more
than a single project.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 6

Dont do an RFP.
Do not make the mistake of so many companies
who have gone before you by trying to find a good
translation provider using a request for proposals
(RFP). This will bring many companies out of the
woodwork, but some of the most qualified providers
may elect not to participate. RFPs are often issued
by companies that are inexperienced with translation.
Others have a corporate requirement to do one,
but in those cases, they often do it only to meet the
requirement, not because they really want to switch
providers. Because many translation providers know this,
they steer clear of RFPs.

Ask for references.

If you really want to see what a translation
provider is made of, ask for customer references,
testimonials, or case studies. If they are quality
providers, they can point you to various satisfied
customers who will be glad to speak with you or
who have already gone on record to tell the world
how great this provider is.

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34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 7

11

Make sure you know

whos really doing the
translation.
If you work with an agency, ask which translators will be
assigned to your projects. Obviously, if you work with an
agency, youre doing so because of volume and scale -but you still have the right to know who is working on your
projects. Its important that agencies trust you enough and
feel confident enough that they are willing to tell you who is
working on your projects and what their qualifications are.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 8

BEFORE YOU
HAND OFF A
PROJECT FOR
TRANSLATION

12

Provide translators
with context.
Give the translation provider as much background
information as you can about the content they are
translating. This includes any diagrams, glossaries,
definitions, manuals, web pages, or any other
information that will help them. Also, consider
providing them with a visual translation interface,
so they can see exactly what they are translating in
real time, and how their changes affect the layout, format, and
spacing of the end product.

Develop and share

a style guide.
What is your company style? What does your brand
voice sound like? If you have any guidelines for writing
or marketing, make sure to share these with your
translators. Do you prefer a formal or informal tone? Is
humor acceptable or not? Who is the target reader? All
of these details will help the translator improve quality
from the start, making the project more efficient.

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34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 10

14

Ensure source
text quality.
Translators are all too familiar with the expression
garbage in, garbage out, but too often they are
expected to turn garbage into works of art. If the
source text is poorly written, your expectations for
translation should change. The translator may need
more time to work on the text than normal, because
vague and ambiguous writing takes more time to
verify. Ask your translators to take a look at the source
text before translation begins to give you a sense of
whether the text will be difficult to translate.

Provide the source file formats

to the translation provider.
While this may seem obvious, many companies
fail to provide the source files to the translator.
Instead, they provide a PDF version or a published
webpage, expecting the translator to manually
recreate everything. This is not only extremely timeconsuming, but will cost you more money. And,
this isnt the best use of a translators time either.
Provide the actual source text to the translators.

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16

Be clear about naming

conventions.
Discuss the naming conventions with your providers
to prevent confusion when your translated files are
delivered back to you. What folder do you want them
in, and how should the folder be named? What are
the file naming conventions that work best for you to
ensure consistency with your internal conventions?
Communicate these details to your provider.

Communicate your quality

expectations clearly.
Perhaps quality isnt critical to you but for most
companies, it is. Most translators will assume
you want the best possible quality, but perhaps
you actually need a translation completed by the
deadline in order to avoid missing your global
product launch or release date, even if quality
deteriorates in the process. Whatever your
situation is, clearly communicate it, or else your
provider will be left in the dark.

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18

Dont rush it.

Try your very best to hand off the files when you say
you will, and dont try to compress the translation into
a shorter timeline than what was originally agreed.
Sometimes, business realities take precedence,
but make sure that you clearly tell others at your
company about translation dependencies, so that they
understand the importance of a timely hand-off and the
link to a timely delivery by your provider. Also, expect
to pay more for rush projects people will literally be
working nights and weekends to meet your deadlines.

Create the follow-up plan.

Explain to your translation providers how youll
measure their overall performance beyond just
linguistic quality. Consider using a carrot-and-stick
approach. Do they have to provide a discount if quality
is poor? Can they earn more if the quality passes
with flying colors? Set up the criteria in advance
of launching your project. Think of the test-driven
development method. Write the test before you code.

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34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 13

WHEN YOURE
WORKING WITH
TRANSLATION
VENDORS

20

Consider your translators an

extension of your in-house team.
Its easy to think of translators as the nameless, faceless
individuals on the other end of the computer screen. Your
translators are truly an extension of your content creation
team, so make sure that you treat them this way. Involve
them in discussions about upcoming projects so they know
what is coming. Keep them in the loop on what to expect
next as you develop a relationship with them over time.

Provide ongoing training to your

translation partners.
Bring your translators to your company and show
them your products, services, and business. Help
them understand the details. If you go to this length,
quality will improve significantly, and so will efficiency.
Instead of having to ask clarification questions,
translators will understand more about your business,
improving communication all around.

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22

Provide an easy way to give

translators feedback.
If you dont already have a translation software
platform, choose one that offers you the ability
to easily send comments back and forth to
translators from others in your company, and
make sure that the comments are stored, so
that they can access the information for future
projects.

Give translators access to

the source authors.
If you really want to improve quality, let your
translators contact the source authors directly, so
that they can clarify issues with them. Initially, this
may mean a significant time investment with the
translator and author to answer a lot of questions,
but over time, the translators become more familiar
with your company, which actually makes future
processes more efficient.

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24

Ask for your translation

memory files.
Whenever a translation provider works on
your projects, they generate databases of
saved translations known as translation
memory. Ask providers to give you full
access to your translation memory files,
so that you always have the most current
translations within reach, and so that you can
ensure they are used on future projects to
ensure consistency and accuracy.

WHEN YOURE
WORKING WITH
REVIEWERS

25

Dont ask bilingual

staff to translate.
It might seem like a good idea at the time, but
just like every person who speaks English isnt
necessarily a great writer, not every person
who speaks a foreign language will be a good
translator. Bilingual employees are generally not
good candidates for translation providers, unless
they also happen to be professional translators
who have the necessary credentials.

If you have employees

review translations, give
them clear instructions.
If you ask bilingual staff to participate in your translation
quality review, make sure they know what types of
things to look for. Also, tell them not to make any
happy-to-glad changes. Otherwise, they will do so,
just to make sure it looks like they are doing their job.
After all, imagine if they sent back a note that said, no
changes. It might look like they didnt actually do the
review at all. This process can motivate bad behaviors,
so be mindful when asking employees to review it
can turn into a major time sink.

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27

Dont get stuck in the

middle of a linguistic
tug-of-war.
If you do use bilingual reviewers, avoid the
never-ending back-and-forth associated with
which turn of phrase or term is the perfect one
in a given language. You cant possibly broker
this discussion if you dont speak the language,
and its not a good use of your time. Instead, opt
for a translation software platform that brokers
this process for you and allows translators and
reviewers to connect directly.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 20

AFTER EACH
TRANSLATION
PROJECT

28

Do a quick
post-mortem.
Once the project is complete, have a quick
meeting with your provider to discuss what went
well this time as well as any areas of improvement.
It only has to take 15 minutes of your time, but its
important to document the lessons learned for the
future. As time goes on, youll be communicating
better and better about your translation work.

Provide feedback on
translation quality.
When feedback comes in about translation
quality, provide it to your translation partners.
In fact, you can even solicit feedback from
employees and customers. Just make sure that
if you do so, you are clear about what kind of
feedback you are looking for.

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30

Document feedback in a
central location.
If you do obtain feedback on translations, make
sure that it gets rolled into your glossary and
style guide so that next time similar issues arise,
the translation will be better from the very start.

34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 23

AND IN
GENERAL

31

Treat translation as an
investment, not a cost.
Cost is just one tiny piece of the translation
equation. Dont think of it as an added cost, but
rather, an investment your business is making
in order to reach new markets and to grow. If
translation providers are viewed as a cost, your
companys inclination will be to try to cut costs
over time. Meanwhile, your competitors may be sourcing the best possible, highquality translation teams around the globe, producing better content for global
customers and thereby winning business that you could win instead. View your
translation team as a competitive advantage in business not as merely the cost
of doing business.

Make sure people know

how much revenue is
linked to translation.
If theres one way to help people understand the
value of translation, its by showing them how much
revenue comes from people who speak that language
and purchase your companys products and services.
Set up your metrics early, ideally before you start
translating, to show how important this is.

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33

Consider other ways to

show translation ROI.
You may be able to translate more content more
quickly if you treat it as an investment, and if
you find ways to measure the actual return
increased customer retention, increased user
base, increased market share, increased global
sales, increased upsells, increased traffic,
increased conversions look at these items to
start to view translation in this more positive and more realistic light and make
sure to track it.

Never, ever use spreadsheets

and email to manage your
translation projects.
One of the biggest efficiency-killers for translation
projects is management of those projects in
spreadsheets and email. Translation software
platforms exist to remove inefficiencies of manually
managing translation processes, tools, and
vendors, so that you can have everything in a
centralized location while freeing up your time.

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34 TIPS & TRICKS FOR IMPROVING TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY 26

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