So you’ve decided to look beyond your country’s borders and take your business to a wider world and larger customer pool. If you’re planning to work with or sell to people in different countries, you’re going to have to think about making your business work in another language.
It’s important that you’re getting your message across and if you’re not multilingual yourself, you’re going to have to hire translators to help.
But where to start? These are some of the things you should be looking for when shopping for a translation agency:
They specialise
Translation isn’t just about translating word for word, it’s about translating the meaning into another language in a way that’s going to retain the original message. You don’t want anything to end up getting lost in translation.
It’s all very well being able to translate alone but if the translators don’t have specialised knowledge in the subject matter it often means there’s something missing from translations.
This is especially true if you need translations of a more technical basis. You need someone who has experience in translating the kind of materials that you have.
You may also find that you need to translate business materials of a sensitive nature. So you should look for an agency that is used to providing that level of service too.
They’re experienced
Brand new agencies might be great but it’s less of a risk for you to pick a company that has been providing translation services for a number of years.
Having a broad range of languages and specialised subjects also means you’re more likely to find what you need with that company. It will show that they have experience in working with companies like yours.
Quality control
Ideally you want your translations to be perfect every time. The best way to ensure this is to have checks in place so that once one person has completed a translation, it is then checked by another for accuracy.
Testimonials
Having reviews from clients on any website is an important step in the decision-making process of a potential customer.
So check websites of agencies you’re considering for client reviews to see what people are saying about them. This will help you make a more informed choice.
Minimal points of contact
This applies to any kind of agency you might use. It’s a lot easier to keep track of correspondence if you’ve only got one person to contact.
You may have to go through admin to set up but ideally you should look for an agency that will minimise the contact you have with different people. This will make it easier to refer back to correspondence wherever necessary.
Price
There will be some agencies out there charging low rates which may be appealing if you’re looking to save money but as the saying goes, you usually get what you pay for.
Picking the cheapest means that you’re unlikely to get the highly specialised service or quality control that other agencies can offer you.
Some people will hire freelance translators to save money. However, you’re losing out on what an agency can collaboratively bring you.
Certification or membership
Another way to ensure that you’re going with a good agency is to see if they have any certification or membership to things like the European Language Industry Association (ELIA). This gives you more peace of mind that your translations are in the best hands.
At AIRV translation agency, we provide quality translations for a number of different topics including business and financial translations.