Has your localization service provider (LSP) been naughty or nice?

Last month I posted about the five gotchas that will affect your translation turnaround time. That post focused on content quality, but I’d also mentioned how “a good LSP” would handle things. This month, let’s take a step back and look at five things that separate the nice LSPs from the naughty ones.

Santa Claus By Jonathan G Meath (Jonathan G Meath) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Naughty: A naughty LSP will more often than not skip over all of the pesky project details to get to the word count and source file formats so they can turn around a quick quote. They’ll likely respond to your questions with hollow assurances that everything will be fine, and that they’ll follow up with any questions, if they have them, after receiving your files. The false confidence they exhibit usually masks problems until it’s too late in the project to properly correct them.

Nice: When first engaging a client or beginning a new project, a nice LSP will ask you informed, pertinent questions about your content, your content, and the purpose of the project. They will ask about technology, workflow, review, and other aspects of the project. Their goal is to understand all aspects of the project so they can deliver the best translations possible.

2. Advice

Naughty: You might not think it’s naughty behavior, but a naughty LSP will translate your files just as they are, whether it’s an easy or complex process for them. Why is this naughty? If they are encountering issues, they are not alerting you and explaining better ways of doing things, which could mean that you are paying more in project setup or DTP fees than you ideally should be.

Nice: Nice LSPs are open, honest, and helpful. They will point out issues in files, offer solutions, and often offer several options for their clients to choose from in correcting issues or in avoiding potential problems. Nice LSPs understand that helpful advice fosters collaboration and constructively builds long-term partnerships.

3. Workflow

Naughty: A naughty LSP has their own way of doing things, and will often strongly suggest you conform to their preferred workflow (or face possible additional charges). This may be because of their own technology investments (or lack thereof), or because they have no control over how their translators work. Worse, they may mandate that you conform to their workflow if you want to use them at all.

Nice: A nice LSP realizes that their clients may have spent considerable time and money on implementing technologies and training staff to create content in a certain way. They work to integrate into your workflow, or at least work to meet you part of the way so you can realize the ROI from your chosen workflow.

4. Pricing

Naughty: Naughty LSPs can be sneaky about their service pricing. Their terms may be unclear, and what you may save from a low price per word might be lost many times over via pricey DTP, project management, or file prep charges. Always make sure you have a complete pricing breakdown for your project and be aware of inflated pricing or effort estimates.

Nice: Nice LSPs are completely up front with their pricing models and explain every line item in their quotes. They explain how various approaches to a project, and how potential issues, will affect the pricing. Nice LSPs understand the value of transparency in process and in pricing, and they also understand that clear and honest pricing helps establish long-term business partnerships.

5. Translation Memory Ownership

Naughty: A naughty LSP may have no up front policy about translation memory (TM) ownership, or might either avoid or downplay any conversation about TM ownership. Worse, they might claim outright ownership of it or withhold it! In this case, forget the coal in the stocking and call the Krampus!

Nice: A nice LSP acknowledges up front and in writing that you own your TM and are entitled to receive a copy of it whenever you request one. They understand that they are providing you a service involving your intellectual property.