Like many service businesses, translation companies, agencies and firms often vary widely in terms of the service or standards you can expect from them. Here at Plush Text, we think that one of the most important qualities of a great translator is integrity. We wanted to discuss some of the ways that we think translators and translation companies can demonstrate their integrity when dealing with their clients and partners.
Translators and translation agencies with integrity will:
- Help you choose the right translation package or combination of services for your specific needs. They will not try to “upsell” you or sell you extra services you don’t really need.
- Give you an accurate quote free of charge that does not contain any hidden or undocumented fees. As necessary, they will explain how they prepare quotes and which services are included in the amount they have quoted.
- Be willing and available to answer any questions you may have about the translation process or translation pricing, including any supplementary fees they may charge for proofreading, desktop publishing, supplementary research or other services.
- Be open and transparent about the translation process, including, where applicable, information about who will be translating your document(s). Will the document be translated by the translator you contacted, translated in-house by another staff translator, or translated by an external freelance translator?
- Not misrepresent themselves or the company they work for, e.g. claim that they are certified when in fact they are not, claim they are qualified to translate certain language pairs when they are not, or claim membership in certain provincial, national or international bodies or organizations when they are not in fact members.
- Point out any irregularities in the document before or during the translation phase, e.g. any text that may already be in the target language or in a third language. They should also point out any sections that may appear in the document more than once. Moreover, they will not charge you twice to translate these sections.
- Let you know as early as possible about any problems that could affect the delivery of the translation by the scheduled deadline. They should also suggest appropriate measures to reduce the impact of these delays on the completion of the project.
- Deliver the translation or other product or service by the promised deadline.
Are you a translator or another professional in the service business? How do you demonstrate integrity and honesty in your line of work? What other things do you think we could be doing to build and establish open, honest and transparent relationships with our customers?
Let us know in the comments. We would love to hear what you have to say!
