Business translation – where to start

There are many reasons why businesses need translation services. Promoting their goods and services to new audiences, satisfying legal requirements in relation to product information, adapting products to overseas markets and forging new connections are all high up on the list. Websites, marketing documents and business letters and emails are all common translation requests. 

Companies who haven’t used translation services before may be forgiven for not knowing where to start. Searching online for ‘professional translation’ throws up a whole host of options. However, many of those companies don’t inspire confidence from the outset, either not giving out prices for their translations, or only being contactable through a contact form or email, rather than by phone. This can certainly be a disheartening start for businesses that are trying to find a decent translation agency, particularly if they’re short on time. 

However, it doesn’t have to be that hard. Personal recommendations are always a fantastic place to start when it comes to using a translation company. A quick email out to colleagues, or a message to professional contacts in LinkedIn should be all it takes to generate a range of recommendations for professional translation agencies. These have the advantage that you can ask the person making the recommendation for a candid review of the service – including details on the price, customer service, quality of translation, turnaround speed and more. 

As ever, getting quotes from two or three companies is best practice, if you have time, so that you can compare their costs, along with their initial response time and courteousness. It’s also a good idea to speak to the translation company about localization services at this stage. Localization is an essential service that is nonetheless often overlooked by businesses who are new to corporate translation. Incorporating it into translation plans at this early stage can save a great deal of time and money (not to mention reputational damage) further down the line. 

Once you’ve selected your preferred company, it’s also a good idea to put plans in place for checking the quality of their translation. Just as you would check the quality of any new supplier of goods or services to ensure they meet your standards, translations should be reviewed to ensure that they are up to scratch. 

Once you’re happy with the standard of the translation agency’s work, it’s time to sit back and relax, confident that your business has found the best translation company to meet its needs and enable you to pursue your corporate goals, whatever languages those might encompass.