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Measuring the Quality of a Translation Company
The art and business of translation is highly subjective. One person’s idea of an accurate translation might come across as sloppy or faulty to another. In this sense, a translation company has quite a heavy load on its shoulders. It must attempt to make everybody happy, even when they all speak different languages. So, as a potential customer, how do you go about rating or measuring a translation company? Even the answer to this question may be subjective. Some people are looking for speed of delivery over quality. Others want to make sure the translation reflects the specifics of their branding. Some want search engines to pick up on specific words, but don’t necessarily care about the accuracy of the content. In any case, a good translation company will work closely with a client to solve their unique foreign-language challenges.
Perhaps the most obvious way to measure the quality of a translation company is to look at its client retention rate. The translation industry is one where if you do a good job, clients are going to keep coming back.
Take a company like Translators, Inc. (www.translators.com), for instance. They have a 96% client retention rate. They have built a loyal customer base, proving that they must be doing something right. Their website boasts client testimonials like, “I have worked with Translators, Inc. in the past on multiple large and complex projects. They have translated web-based course content from English into eight foreign languages and our SAP training materials into Spanish and Italian. Their work is of the highest quality and their responsiveness to my requests has exceeded my expectations."- WH. - International Paper. This quote says it all.
Another way to measure a translation company’s level of quality is to look into how diverse and varied their translators are. A key element of good translation is specialization. In other words, if you are looking to have a unique medical document translated into a unique language, a good translation company will have a translator who is specialized in not only medical texts, but in that particular language as well. When looking for the right translation company, ask about the diversity of its employees. The more diverse, the more apt they are to be able to fulfill your foreign-language need.
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