Today while cleaning out my old emails I came across a quote request from a prospective client. It made me think about value and what that means to people. Here is a story that many of us selling a superior product run into. This client is a leader in their industry. They were looking for help with translations of training manuals. After due diligence and learning they have a customer service issue we formulated a plan to help in several ways.
1. Improve translation content
2. Improve customer service
3. Improved training information
4. Decrease cost of translation in the future
5. Decrease training costs
5. Decrease customer service calls
Where I hadn't done my due diligence was on what this company valued. I has several phone conversations with the quote-seeker and he was impressed with our in-depth analysis and believed they wanted to upgrade and blend their translations of website, training and online help. He hoped to work with us to help him produce a better product - great, right? Hold on there lassie....we did not get the work. How can that be? I did my due diligence, researched, met the key decision makers, created a plan that would increase customer satisfaction, decrease training costs and create a consistent message while reducing costs in the future. How can this be that we didn't get the work?
Cheap translations - I didn't think this would be an issue. I did not take into account the key decision makers only wanted the lowest cost. Their concern was not improving training, customer service or blending the message across platforms. Staying status quo and under budget was the only value this client was looking for. Obviously, we were not the service for this company. But it has helped me realize we cannot be a fit for every company.
Another client had a process of creating images, transferring them to a cumbersome platform and then trying to work within it to change and edit images for translation. For us to work within that software would have been more costly to the client in the long run. We proposed a solution of taking these images and creating them in a software that would enable easier translation and add all languages to one image. This would have an upfront cost but save the money and time for future work. This client thanked us for seeing this solution and authorized the work. Our value was realized by this client and verified our due diligence and efforts.
People focusing on a low cost "cheap" resource for translations will never value meeting future needs and goals. Translations is not a commodity nor is it easily discounted. What is valued is a unique and personal differentiator. Be unique and maintain your value and differentiator clients are looking for a resource that can solve their problems now and in the future.
There is not one alive that is Youer than You ~ Dr. Seuss. Your process has value - stay the path.
Linda Richardson
Come explore the world of non-profits with me.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
CyberSecurity: What Does This Have to do with Translations?
Thought Leader - Eugene Kaspersky "In this industry, to be pessimistic is not professional"
Every now and again I am fortunate to come in contact with industry thought leaders.Last week I attended the 1st Inaugural Kaspersky Labs CyberSecurity Forum in Washington D.C. This forum was designed to help professionals in government and industry better understand the challenges we are encountering every day with cyber criminals.
Some of the thought leaders - speakers were:
Steve Orenberg and Eugune Kaspersky of Kaspersky Labs.
General Michael Hayden, Former Director of the CIA
Larry Zelvin Director National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center
Ronald Noble - Secretary General INTERPOL
Steve Winterfeld - Cyber Tech Director, TASC
My take away:
Kaspersky Labs is a tremendous resource for industry and government. Eugene Kaspersky is engaged and dynamic in his passion to help protect our IT resources. He made it possible to have a dialogue with industry experts to educate leaders of companies, government and education on this huge threat.
Cyberspace is the fifth domain of warfare! Do you know how much information is hacked on a minute by minute basis! Last February there was a global effort to hack into 42,000 records across 27 countries. 45 Million USD was stolen in ONE DAY.
There are 15,000 cyber hacker attacks per minute against American Banks.
When there is a campaign by a gang, the attacks have gone as high as 3 million per minute.
Largest Cyber Gang has 80,000 members!
Iran, Russia and China are where many of these attacks originate.
Now you may say, what does this have to do with translations? I help companies expand their markets into new developing regions. This requires a transfer of data, multilingual resources and information and trust. Trust that the information we protect is truly protected. Trust in vendors, employees, clients. To maintain the integrity of my clients information I will continue to learn more about this threat and how to best secure their assets we are entrusted with.
Also, I believe translating training manuals for customer service reps and online help guides needs to be accurate and add value to the material. The emphasis needs to be on increasing comprehension and understanding across platforms and languages. Companies purchasing localization and translation services should not be price driven but value driven. This will enable better training and understanding reducing training costs and customer misunderstanding.
I will update you on this blog with helpful information from what I learn. Together, we can continue to build a global marketplace and grow.
Wishing you much security in the cyberworld!
Linda Richardson
President
Some of the thought leaders - speakers were:
Steve Orenberg and Eugune Kaspersky of Kaspersky Labs.
General Michael Hayden, Former Director of the CIA
Larry Zelvin Director National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center
Ronald Noble - Secretary General INTERPOL
Steve Winterfeld - Cyber Tech Director, TASC
My take away:
Kaspersky Labs is a tremendous resource for industry and government. Eugene Kaspersky is engaged and dynamic in his passion to help protect our IT resources. He made it possible to have a dialogue with industry experts to educate leaders of companies, government and education on this huge threat.
Cyberspace is the fifth domain of warfare! Do you know how much information is hacked on a minute by minute basis! Last February there was a global effort to hack into 42,000 records across 27 countries. 45 Million USD was stolen in ONE DAY.
There are 15,000 cyber hacker attacks per minute against American Banks.
When there is a campaign by a gang, the attacks have gone as high as 3 million per minute.
Largest Cyber Gang has 80,000 members!
Iran, Russia and China are where many of these attacks originate.
Now you may say, what does this have to do with translations? I help companies expand their markets into new developing regions. This requires a transfer of data, multilingual resources and information and trust. Trust that the information we protect is truly protected. Trust in vendors, employees, clients. To maintain the integrity of my clients information I will continue to learn more about this threat and how to best secure their assets we are entrusted with.
Also, I believe translating training manuals for customer service reps and online help guides needs to be accurate and add value to the material. The emphasis needs to be on increasing comprehension and understanding across platforms and languages. Companies purchasing localization and translation services should not be price driven but value driven. This will enable better training and understanding reducing training costs and customer misunderstanding.
I will update you on this blog with helpful information from what I learn. Together, we can continue to build a global marketplace and grow.
Wishing you much security in the cyberworld!
Linda Richardson
President
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