Over time, various agencies and translators have come up with different translation agencies registered in different names and claiming to offer quality translation services. However, this is not the case with each and every registered translation agency. There are those distinctive factors that will be considered to render any agency a good translations agency.
These factors are always determined by clients, translators themselves, experienced translation agencies and more involved parties. This article will highlight some of those factors.
Factors that determine a good translations agency
Level of Confidentiality and safety of clients’ information
A good translation agency should take much care about the clients’ documents and information to keep it safe and confidential for official use only. They should also sign an agreement with the clients for the safety of the information and hold themselves accountable in case of its loss or leakage
How you handle the issue of Deadlines
Good translations agency should always respect the issue of deadlines for the clients’ translation projects. In some circumstances, urgent deadlines require translators or translation agencies to work outside normal office hours so as to meet the tight deadlines. While many freelance translators tend to work irregular hours and may well be quite happy to adjust their schedule to accommodate urgent assignments, out-of hours or weekend work should not be taken for granted. A good agency is a freelancer’s ally, and should be prepared to negotiate appropriate surcharges with the end-client where appropriate.
Use of well trained, skilled and professional translators
This is a very important factor and largely determines the success of the translation agency. It is a good practice for translation agencies seeking new translators to spend some time researching individual translators’ backgrounds, skills qualifications and abilities – e.g. from their respective websites and then send out personalized invitations that are relevant to the circumstances. The translation agencies should also fully assess and interview the translators before recruiting them so as to determine their strengths and weaknesses.
Regular Free test translations
This also can help to determine a good translations agency from the bad ones. The issue of free test translations has been discussed at some length in various forums over the years. This is important because it will convince the clients that his project will be professionally handled by the agency and as well promotes his trust in it. However, some test translations that require a lot of time and energy can be done at a particular small cost.
Offering Discounts to clients
A good translations agency should also be able to understand its clients and offer some discounts where necessary and applicable. Some clients always ask for discounts in some instances for example when the project is too big or when the costs are too high for them to handle.
Offer of the necessary Feedback in time
A good translations agency should always communicate to the clients and offer the right feedback when necessary. Feedback on completed translation assignments is important and should be encouraged. It should however be only for the completed projects but also the work in progress; the clients should know how the translation job is going from the start till the assignment is finished. The translation agency should also respond to clients’ queries in time for their satisfaction.
With the above factors therefore, a client or an organization should be able to tell a good translations agency with professional translators to trust their translations projects with.