With the rising demand for brand localization, the need for professional cloud-based translation management software and language service provider platforms is also increasing. Brands are looking for credible translation management resources to achieve their brand localization and global expansion goals. There are many translation management agencies and LSP solutions available in the market offering professional-level language services to international clients.
However, there are a lot of things you must know before hiring any language service provider platform. Read this article to understand the importance of LSP platforms and how you can hire the right LSP for your localization project.
Language Service Provider Platform – Introduction
A language service provider platform is specialized in providing professional language and localization solutions to international brands. LSP platforms provide services related to language translation, website design modification, and culture-appropriate branding and marketing. The responsibility of an LSP is to adapt your brand to local preferences, to capture the attention of more local customers.
Brands that speak local languages are more likely to gain the trust of customers.
To maximize your market share in a foreign market, you have to localize your brand, instead of representing yourself as an English-only brand. Hiring a language service provider platform means you are shifting your localization processes to a third-party service provider. Professional LSP has advanced tools and experienced translators that help you achieve desirable outcomes from your localization project.
Who Needs a Language Service Provider?
Many international companies go for in-house brand localization management. However, soon or later, as you take your brand to multiple marketplaces, your localization needs would significantly increase. You will notice that the current resources do not fulfill your localization needs. And, you have to put an excessive workload on your employees. This is the right time to get a reliable language service provider on board to share your localization burden.
Or, if you are not doing brand localization at all and only using one version of the brand in all marketplaces, it is the best time to go for localization. In case you don’t have exposure to localization processes, you better hire a professional LSP. Instead of experimenting with your brand.
How To Find the Right Language Service Provider Platform?
Finding the perfect LSP partner could be challenging, especially if you don’t really know what to look for. Everyone claims to provide the best localization management services, so you have to do your research to pick the right service provider. Following are some guidelines that you must follow to find your ideal language service provider platform.
Do Industry Research
First thing first, you have to do in-detail market research to get an idea about different LSPs available out there. We are living in a digital world, where everything is quite transparent, and it isn’t hard to tell if a service provider is credible or not. For instance, you can see their google reviews to get an idea about how other clients think about their service. Moreover, you can also visit their social media handles to explore more about their activities and how good their overall relationship with existing clients is. You can go see the comments of people on their posts, this will tell you a lot about the concerns of their clients. You would know what sort of issues clients are currently facing.
Compare Pricing
Some LSPs target only large scope projects, and others provide language solutions to small businesses too. The pricing model of an LSP is important to consider from the beginning. Because no matter how professional an LSP is, it should not disturb your localization budget. So, you have to find the perfect LSP within your budget; otherwise, it will cause you more harm than good. All LSP have their prices and packages mentioned on their official websites, you can compare the prices of different LSPs. This way, you can choose the one that offers more value for your money. Sometimes, the prices on the website are not transparent, it is also possible that there is some hidden cost. So, you can contact the assistant of LSP to make things clear from your side.
Qualifications of Translators
When selecting an LSP, one thing you better ask them about is the qualification and experience of the translators who will be handling your project. It is obvious that your localization project will be as good as the translation and localization skills of employees. It would be even better if you can have a one-on-one conversation with your localization project team. This way, you can convert your localization requirements, and there will be fewer communication gaps. However, some LSPs would not let you have direct contact with their translators. So, it is important to know which communication approach they are using with localization clients. You can test the credibility of their staff by assigning them a demo task first, instead of handing over the complete localization project.
Collaborations & Response
Gaps in communication are indeed one of the major reasons why LSPs are unable to deliver desirable outcomes, and they have to perform more edits. The collaboration between your LSP and client is the backbone of your localization project, if it is ignored, there will be more chances of delays, edits, and project failures. especially, when a third party is managing your project, good communication is important, so there will be no gaps in the project’s understanding.
For instance, if you are having some concerns about your localization project and you contact the LSPs, how much time they take your response back is important to consider. You can’t keep delaying your business processes because of late responses.
Technical Capabilities
In the end, your localization project is directly affected by the technical capabilities and innovation of an LSP. you must know which cloud-based translation management system, or localization management software they are using to manage the localization operations. It will give you an idea about how agile and effective the localization operations will be. LSPs who get their hands on technological tools and software are more efficient in handling large-scope localization projects.
