Tip #1 for Global Communications

Tip #1 for Global Communications:

The Hidden Costs of “Free” Translations

You’re going global, or you’re already there. You’re ready to translate your brochures, web site, software, or user manuals for your new customer base. The obvious solution? Let your in-country employees or distributors handle it. After all, they speak the local language and know the market.

Plus, it’s free. Right?

Actually, going that route could be one of the costliest decisions you’ll ever make – in terms of time, sales productivity, effective use of your money, and the value of your brand.

Missed deadlines
When it comes to translations, a major mistake businesses make is underestimating the time required to get the job done. The result? Missed project deadlines, which can throw off a product rollout or cause your customers to doubt your ability to deliver a localized product.

Keep in mind that a typical 70,000-word translation job will take one translator about 425 hours, or 60 business days to translate. Does your distributor have the resources to handle this volume?

Lost sales opportunities
Tapping distributors to do translations pulls them away from job one: selling your products or services. Many translation projects require dedicated attention for weeks or months. Can you afford to have your distributors off the streets or distracted for that long?

Ineffective project management
When you turn your translations over to your people in China, Europe or South America, how cost-effectively can they do the job? Most likely, they’re not taking advantage of the technology tools used by translation companies that minimize project time and expense, and maximize translation quality.

These translation technology tools can range from specialized software that allows reuse of key verbiage to workflow systems that efficiently manage huge numbers of files and document versions. Without the benefit of industry best practices like these, you’ll run the risk of no version control and expensive future translations.

Unpredictable quality – and results
Is your overseas distributor a trained, experienced linguist? If not, you can’t be sure their translation of your brand and marketing messages, much less your technical material, will put your best foot forward with proper grammar and punctuation and an appropriate writing style. If their work isn’t linguistically accurate, they could be communicating wrong information or changing your marketing messages, and you might not even know it.

A Safe and Predictable Solution
Avoid the hidden costs of “free” translations on your next project.
Call Prisma International at 612-338-1500
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