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I recently had the opportunity to meet with Mark Rodgers, the Managing Director of Cipherion Translations and we started to talk about the opportunities that the internet presents to us if we wish to expand our business internationally.
Mark ’s business provides a translation and localisation service and are based in Dublin. Cipherion Translations regularly work with Irish organisations as they take their first steps in developing a global presence.
Mark also heads up the Irish Internet Association’s International Strategy Working Group.
I suggested to Mark that he might like to share some of his advice with the ‘Biz Growth Community’ and posed a few questions for him. This is the first in a series of three articles where Mark addresses the questions I raised with him.
Krishna: Under what circumstances should we consider having our website translated into another language versus relying on an automatic translation.
Mark: What a great question. I think that if your website is used for “customer acquisition” or is meant to help to differentiate your product (e.g. if you are a hotel in Kerry that wishes to attract more German customers than your competitor down the road) then automatic translation is not really going to help.
At best, automatic translation will help the buyer to understand your product offering – but we know from research that purchases are made based on ‘feelings’ – and justified with logic.
A poorly translated website gives the sense that you are not really interested in the customer – but just hoping to make the sale.
For instance, if you are a specialist at manufacturing horse-riding gear and sell it around the world, then a French customer looking for such horse-riding gear will likely be checking 4 or 5 other French sites – in addition to your “translated site”. What will make them purchase from you? Well, the nature of the French translations are going to go a considerable way to convincing them that you are a serious alternative. Obviously, if you are a large Brand like Nokia or Sony, well, you have the budget and will have a properly translated website.
Now, we always come across people out there who say, ‘I have gained 20 customers from my automatically translated website’ – and its probably true. However, to gain real presence in a market and grow your customer base – most professional organisations will look to have a properly translated website.
The secret to international success is to appear to be a ‘local’ brand. In other words, make it easy for your customers in Spain to select you – make sure your Spanish is real Spanish– not something that has come from a free translation tool.
Krishna: Thanks Mark for your insights. I know from living and working in many countries that the approach that worked best for the businesses I was involved with were those who thought globally but acted locally. Being able to deliver a clear and relevant marketing message on your website in the countries you are looking to expand in is definitely something we should consider.
If you have questions for Mark and are looking for guidance on translating your website you can contact him at mrodgers@cipherion.com.
Additional Resources
If you want to discover how to win more business online and expand your reach internationally, you might want to attend the forthcoming workshop being run by the IIA and at which Mark will be speaking.
It is called ‘Winning International Business on the Web’ and takes place on the 18 November 2009. Find out more details online at the IIA website.
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November 14th, 2009 at 12:04 am
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November 14th, 2009 at 3:29 am
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November 14th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Funny coincidence as I have been discussing this issue with 3-4 clients in recent weeks.
I do agree that a properly translated site is important if you are targeting such a market. But will visitors expect that you have staff that can communicate in that language? You’d need to manage that expectation so there isn’t disappointment when they come to communicate with you.
Any ideas on best way to do that – especially for a smaller business that cannot hire multilingual staff?
November 16th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Ann – that is a great question – I will share my thoughts on this in the next article.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
[...] In the first article we explored under what circumstances we should consider translating our website into another language. [...]
November 16th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Ann, Yes, what we’ve seen is that small organisations are taking on French or German Interms for periods of up to 9 months. These marketing graduates are very keen to learn, really focused on helping the organisation and delighted to have the opportunity to interact with people from back home.
If you think about most customer care call centres – they are manned by junior staff- but managed according to expert “scripts” – so in fact, you can equal the professionalism of multi-nationals without initially having to hire senior multi-lingual marketing / customer care staff.
Naturally, as the business grows from these regions, you can take on and hire more experienced staff – however in the beginning, it should be possible to get started quite cost-effectively.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
It is important to entrust the translation to a good translator. Otherwise, leave your website in the source language.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
This is really a very key question, one I’m asked here in STAR translation on a regular basis. How do I start a foreign language site as I can’t answer any queries when they come in?
There are actually a number of strategies you can take to address this. All encompass a balanced combination of technology, people and partnering with a good translation company.
Mark is correct that foreign interns can be a great asset if you don’t have a big team – but they are limited in how far they can go. Combine them with good process and you can equal most Multinational call-centres. (You may even be better as you can offer a more personal service)
Good website design can also help. If your website has open access then you get open forms. You could design your forms with pulldown menus – so the user is lead to complete a specific type of query. Then once a query is received its easy to know what they asked – you just match the response to the English form. If there is an exception you get you translation agency or intern to translate the delta.
Working with a professional translation company you can then produce standard replies to your most common questions. This system delivers about 90% of your answers immediately.
Again when you need something specific – get your professional team to translate it for you. So you should be only translating 1 in 10 of your replies.
Combine this with someone who speaks at least a rudimentary level of the language you can produce excellent results.
There is actually a longer list I could give you offline. I hope this gives you at least a shell of some ideas to move forward with.
Damian Scattergood
Managing Director
STAR Translatoin Services, Dublin
January 28th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Great article Krishna!