Trust and Transparency in Translation in this Virtual Age
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We’re all global now, today, already! Anyone with internet access has access to translations (good or bad) Customer expectations are set, and raised, through exposure to all types of transactions! The translation industry has tools available, today! Unfortunately many of translation tools are not transparent and cannot be trusted. What if we were just as transparent? What if we were to allow clients to: See the names of their translators? Interact with the translators directly? See every change made to every translation unit? Download their translation memory on demand? See project completion status in real time? There are many things that the customer wants to know, to understand, or which they would find incredibly useful if they had access to it. And then they wouldn’t need to pester you about project status, delivery time, and more.
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Trust and Transparency in Translation in this Virtual Age
- 1. Tomorrow is Already Here Contact us –
- 3. TOMORROW IS NOT VIRTUAL: IT’S HERE, NOW!
- 4. BAD NEWS Contact us –
- 5. MORE BAD NEWS Contact us –
- 6. OTHER INDUSTRIES HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS
- 19. Isn’t it time for the Translation Industry to do the same?
- 20. Instead, we hide… Contact us –
- 22. TRANSPARENCY +
- 23. TRUST +
- 24. WHY DOES TRUST MATTER SO MUCH?
- 25. Isn’t the customer always right? Contact us –
- 26. Q U A L I T Y THE TRUST GAP Contact us –
- 27. S P E E D THE TRUST GAP
- 28. V E N D O R THE TRUST GAP Contact us –
- 29. P R I C I N G THE TRUST GAP Contact us –
- 31. WHAT’S HOLDING US BACK? Contact us –
- 37. TRUST +
- 42. OBSCURITY
- 46. THE OLD WAY THE NEW WAY GENERAL Obscurity Transparency PRICING Clients receive no clear breakdown of project costs Each element of pricing is visible and clear to customer, including TM leverage VENDORS Clients do not know which translators are working on their projects Clients interact with translators directly and help select them WORKFLOW Clients have no visibility into the translation workflow Clients can see which steps are complete for each translation unit STATUS UPDATES Clients have to request status updates from the LSP Clients can see exactly what percentage of the project is complete, anytime TRANSLATION MEMORY Clients have to request them from the LSP Clients can download them anytime they want
- 47. WE’RE MOVING INTO A NEW, MORE TRANSPARENT AGE OF TRANSLATION TECHNOLOGY
- 49. Q U E S T I O N S ? Contact us –
Notes de l'éditeur
- Trust and Transparency in Translation in this Virtual Age
- We’re all global now, today, already! Anyone with internet access has access to translations (good or bad) Customer expectations are set, and raised, through exposure to all types of transactions The translation industry has tools available, today (That’s the good news!) Expectations raised through other transactions cause expectations for every type of business transaction to be raised. We can’t live in a bubble just because it’s the way we have always done it. Technology can offer greater transparency Transparency leads to trust Trust leads to better relationships Better relationships lead to more business
- Maybe this should be, “translation technology and the way it is used do not have…” because a) technology doesn’t always provide the transparency and b) even if it does, it’s not always shared with the customer Or in the script?
- Maybe this should be, “translation technology and the way it is used do not have…” because a) technology doesn’t always provide the transparency and b) even if it does, it’s not always shared with the customer Or in the script?
- Maybe this should be, “translation technology and the way it is used do not have…” because a) technology doesn’t always provide the transparency and b) even if it does, it’s not always shared with the customer Or in the script?
- I was recently in Istanbul. (Who else was there? Find out how many of audience were at GALA) Back story: went to GALA conference in Istanbul, loved the food, ordered this beautiful book, then had to go and order the same authors’ book about Lebanese and Syrian food
- I fell in love with Turkish food. The cheeses, the meze, the desserts. So I needed a recipe book. Preferably a recipe book with lots of photos, and some information about the country, where the ingrediants come from, and so on. So I went to Amazon.com to find one.
- Example: ordering a book through Amazon. I know what I’ve ordered, how quickly it will be delivered, how much it’s costing me.
- I can see progress at a glance. I know where my order is, and, if there’s a problem, I can see it. I can ask for text updates. The book arrived, it was so beautiful, that I went back to Amazon and ordered another from the same author, “Saha” about Lebanese and Syrian food.
- I receive a text update when the package has been shipped, when it’s out for delivery, and after it’s been left on my doorstep
- Amazon.com wins my trust I know the status of my purchase I can see exactly where my package is I’m notified if I need to take action It’s easy to communicate with the vendor Any problems are fixed quickly, happily, and very, very easily! Action might be picking up the package from the front doorstep! Communication and activity for returns are very very easy So that’s the food dealt with… but I also fell in love with the Turkish lamps
- And I also fell in love with Turkish lamps. Somehow managed to resist paying $3,000 for my favourite to be bought and shipped back to the USA… but what do they cost from outside Turkey?
- I found one on eBay similar to the one that I resisted paying $3,000 for in the Grand Bazaar. The one on eBay isn’t quite as grand, but it might be nice in the house.
- Checked the “buy it now” and shipping prices… seemed like a reasonable price. But how confident can I be in the seller and the process? Trust was a big deal when iBay and other online services began. eBay addressed it by making the process, and the people involved, as transparent as possible.
- Contact the seller directly with questions or issues See what else they have for sale Read what other customers have said about their experience See if they have been selling with a different ID But I wanted to know who I was dealing with. Would they be a good partner? Would they take care of my purchase? Can I talk with them directly if I have any questions?
- I checked the negative feedback more than the positive (don’t we all do that?) There was very little negative feedback. Gave me more confidence—and trust—in the seller. And there’s a way to communicate with the person who is selling the item. It’s not a communication with eBay, who is hosting the auction, but with the person in Turkey who is selling this particular lamp. eBay doesn’t get “in the way” of that communication. (I didn’t buy a lamp yet. I think I’m looking for an excuse to go back to Turkey and fetch one!)
- Amazon and eBay are just two examples of how transparency helps develop customers’ trust, and grow business,
- But instead… We hide the identities of translators from the customer who has requested the translation We often encourage customers to view translation as a “black box” We argue about ownership of translation memories*
- What if we were just as transparent? What if we were to allow clients to: See the names of their translators? Interact with the translators directly? See every change made to every translation unit? Download their translation memory on demand? See project completion status in real time? There are many things that the customer wants to know, to understand, or which they would find incredibly useful if they had access to it. And then they wouldn’t need to pester you about project status, delivery time, and more.
- And if the translation industry does not become more transparent? Your customers may not fully trust you. Why should they, with no transparency? As a customer of translation services, I always wondered “why?” when I came across examples of “black boxes”. Why won’t your translators work in “our” tools? Why can’t I talk with the translator? I have a story of a SLV who told me that they worked on translations for HP, but their customers were MLVs, not HP directly. One week, an HP project they were working on was cancelled. The next week, a different MLV brought them the exact same project that they had been working on, and cancelled on, the week before. Was it because of a quality issue? Who knows… yet the customer who was buying the translation had no idea who, at the end of the chain, was actually translating their project. I bet it would have made a difference if they had been able to “see”.
- Changing expectations in the digital age The internet makes many industries like a small town Thanks to social media, anyone can see what’s happening User reviews, independent blogs, online memes Increased transparency = quick and easy access to information Question to audience: Who buys online? Those who do, how many of you read online reviews before purchasing? How many of you write reviews or otherwise provide feedback on products, services, restaurants? Do you expect to see how your order from Amazon is progressing? Do you track your shipments online? Why should it be different for translations?
- LSPs don’t always think so. Sometimes customers (i.e, the ones who are buying translations, not the ones who are reading/understanding/using the translations) don’t know everything—that’s why they come to the experts, after all. But sometimes, buying translations is like buying a used car
- Buyer: “How will I know if the translations are good?” LSP: “Trust me!” These customers are in-expert in linguistics and translation, that’s why they come to the LSP. But they are not naïve. They want to understand what’s happening, and they want to know why, and how, they are receiving a quality deliverable. They want to know that they are receiving value for their investment.
- Buyer: “How will I know they’ll get done in time?” LSP: “Trust me!” They will keep pestering the LSP to make sure the project will be back on time.
- Buyer: “How do I know you are using the best people?” LSP: “Trust me!” Per my earlier example: there are often so many layers of outsourcing and project management, that the buying customer may fear that their translation job is being handed off to Fred’s great-aunt to do in her spare time. And that she is not being properly rewarded for her time.
- Buyer: “How do I know I am getting a fair price?” LSP: “Trust me!”
- Today’s customers expect transparency! It’s no longer an option for successful business. Expectations have been raised. As an industry—both as technology suppliers, and as language services suppliers—we need to meet current expectations and continue to raise them.
- The translation industry worries: Concerns about ownership of translation memory. Concerns about customers being able to move work from one supplier to another. Concerns about a customer working directly with freelancers. Concerns about other suppliers stealing work… And yet, we as an industry collectively worry about providing it These are all concerns that can be addressed. The right technology with the right privacy safeguards. The understanding that most customers have no desire to manage hundreds of freelancers, nor to do any of the work that they outsource to their expert language service providers. A strong and global code of ethics. And healthy competition.
- “Working to be more open is not just desirable but is an inevitable business need today.” People are writing about trust and transparency as an essential part of today’s business environment
- “As technology marches on, it will lead to the inevitable revolution of businesses acting in the genuine interest of their customers.”
- “A lack of trust is your biggest expense.” People are writing about trust and transparency as an essential part of today’s business environment
- I hope so! Having been on the “buyer side” for so many years, I hope more buyers will be empowered to make decisions based on facts and measurements. And to be able to show how valuable the relationship with each translator and LSP is, as they together provide the means of reaching more customers. Those true customers who read, understand and use the translations that the experts provide.
- Giving clients visibility fosters true understanding. And therefore, trust. Not teaching, but enabling. Not educating, but helping. Meeting customer expectations
- Client: “I wonder if my project will be completed in time.” Don’t tell them—show them. Let them see, even at 3am, should they so wish. Their project manager might be on the other side of the world.
- It’s a simple and clear UI that shows, at a glance, the status of the job, the status of individual languages, the amount of work in progress. A customer, or a project manager, should be able to see at-a-glance if there is any cause for concern—or be reassured that everything is on track. This is critical from the customer’s viewpoint. Translation is always the final step in the go-to-market process, and the delivery date cannot slip… while upstream, delays have squashed the translation timeline.
- Client: “I wish I knew who was working on my project so I could communicate with them.” Example: someone in the country marketing team is complaining about “translation quaity”, yet they cannot put their finger on what, exactly, is wrong. If they could just talk to the translator, right now, it’s amazing how quickly “poor” becomes “perfect” Customers that are able to put their in-country reviewers or marketing teams into direct contact with the translators working on their jobs see an immediate and long-term improvement in translation quality. This is particularly important for terminology creation/management, and also for style.
- Client: “I wish I knew how they arrived at this translation.”
- An audit trail of every action taken on each translated segment As a buyer of translation services, where there’s a translator (and possibly a transcreator,) and then an in-country review, I want to see and understand what’s being edited and changed, because it might be something that we can fix earlier in the process: do we need different terminology, or a style guide, or training on our Brand? I want a content audit trail. I have a reviewer who says they have to change “everything”: how much, exactly, is “everything”?
- Client: “What’s translation memory?” “What’s a fuzzy match rate?” “Do I own this?” How many times have you explained this? Isn’t it easier when the customer/client sees it in action?
- If it’s their IP, they should have access to it. A customer requesting access to their translation memory is often a red flag to LSPs, who immediately think that the client is moving work away from them. Sometimes they are, whether for quality, pricing, or simply a procurement rule change. But they may also be using their TM to train MT engines. They may be doing manual work in-house to manage translation memories and share them across suppliers for big projects—something that today, no-one should have to do. (At HP we stopped that over ten years ago. I’m horrified when I hear that people are still doing that today—whether on the client or the LSP side.) They might simply want a copy of their IP in case of a catastrophic problem. Commercial translations are work-for-hire. The translated job is the customer’s property, the customer’s IP, and an integral part of the customer’s product or service. Allowing them to access their own translation memory, on demand, should not be an issue for any LSP. Large buyers have, for many years, required the delivery of TM as part of the translation project deliverables. With today’s technology, why should that delivery be manual? Why should LSPs have to spend time preparing and packaging and sending the TM, or customers accepting it and managing it on their side?
- Difference between having to ask for that information (Extra work for LSPs!) Empowering customer, making them efficient!
- About time too! And this may drive other changes in the translation industry: be ready for them. Multi-tiered outsourcing? Freelancers who complain about being paid “peanuts”?
- Customer retention depends on relationships Relationships are built on trust Technology provides transparency that improves trust If you trust the partner, they become part of the team and part of the family. It’s not a small thing: it’s the way forwards.
- It’s a simple and clear UI that shows, at a glance, the status of the job, the status of individual languages, the amount of work in progress. A customer, or a project manager, should be able to see at-a-glance if there is any cause for concern—or be reassured that everything is on track. This is critical from the customer’s viewpoint. Translation is always the final step in the go-to-market process, and the delivery date cannot slip… while upstream, delays have squashed the translation timeline.