Most companies understand they are just a click away from any corner of the globe. Properly, actually two if you include the Google! search a prospective customer does to access your cart. What most companies, unfortunately, do not understand although, is the fact that their cart is struggling to make it to the checkout counter. Bill Dunlap, handling director of Global Reach, Inc. notes that “for every $2 million a web site is doing in household product sales, they’re leaving another $1 thousand on the table in international product sales if they’re not making them selves easily accessible.”
To paraphrase the above, let me pull on a quote from Willy Brandt. The former Western German chancellor is noted to get once said: “If I’m marketing for you, I speak your language. If I’m purchasing, dann muessen Sie Deutsch sprechen (then you certainly must speak German).”
In business economics this is referred to as chance price – the expense of something when it comes to an opportunity foregone. The chance expense of not talking “German” is really a whopping 50%! This straightforward truth is supported by statistics.
Donald A. DePalma reported in a research carried out for Forrester Study that “Visitors linger twice as long as they do at English-only Web addresses; company buyers are three times more prone to purchase if addressed in their own vocabulary; and customer service costs decrease when instructions are exhibited inside the user’s vocabulary.” (Donald A. DePalma, Strategies for Worldwide Websites, 1998).
Another Forrester Research document, offered within an post called “Factors behind Achievement in International E-Commerce” (webpronews.com) provides statistics that suggest “over 55% of the online world accesses the Internet from countries in which English will not be the local vocabulary.”
The content is loud and crystal clear: Usually do not believe that there is not any reason to convert Cross Border Ecommerce or that English can be used in other countries! To make sure, English is definitely the lingua franca around the world, and several people do are able to read through English. But, confronted with an alternative, can you pull out your wallet for a company that serves your requirements within your low-local vocabulary, or perhaps your native vocabulary?
If interpretation and localization is not part of your international e-business strategy, then you may be departing funds on the desk!
And, if you see the facts in this information, there is a couple of options readily available: you can develop an in-house translation capability, or commission a specialist interpretation company to convert your marketing materials. Building an in-house translation capability is prohibitively costly, not forgetting that it is a long term effort. The right example to demonstrate this time that of an IT division.
So, except if you have strong pockets, purchasing interpretation is the way to go.
Purchasing interpretation, nevertheless, can be frustrating with all the current technical terminology, and frustrating with all the endless marketing buzz and “mission claims” that are thrown to you. Fact is, the basic principles of buying translation mjacfc easy. Keep reading. Your place to start should be the clarification of your interpretation project specifications. Consider:
Whether your marketing materials are for internal consumption (including companions) or exterior usage?
Whether price is more valuable or high quality is more important?
What is the time frame for your task?
What exactly are your ongoing (long-term) professional translation services needs?
By clarifying task specifications, you happen to be setting up the structure to answer the 2 most essential concerns that will determine the success of your translation task. Specifically, exactly what is the right kind of translation, and exactly what is the correct expert interpretation services for the translation task?
