It's all about empathy

The concept of empathy has long been discussed in the psychology field. But what is empathy, and what does it have to do with business? According to the Oxford dictionary, empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another”. While it is clear how that can help personal relationships, it is not always so obvious how that can help businesses, which tend to be focused on bottom lines and other financial metrics.

However, aren’t businesses all about relationships too? We would be nothing without our customers, and nurturing a good relationship with them is just as important as providing a quality service. One thing cannot survive without the other.

Think about it this way: we’re all customers at some point, whether you’re making a big purchase like a new computer or deciding to go for a drink to your local establishment. When you buy products or services from anyone else, how do you like to be treated? Does the quality of the service influence where you make your purchases? Most people would say yes.

Empathy helps establish great relationships with your customers, improve their satisfaction and build trust, which in turn makes them return and therefore improves your business results.

But you may ask, how do we use the principles of empathy with our current/potential customers?

• Understand that we’re all human and may have other commitments or issues in our lives. If a customer takes a while in replying to your message, there is probably a good reason. Give them some time and, if you haven’t heard back in a few hours or a day (depending on the type of communication), send a polite reminder.

• Educating the client is all very well, but consider the situation from their perspective. If you need to take your computer to be repaired, are you interested in hearing all the little technical details or do you just want it fixed? Language services customers are likely to simply want the job done, without having to worry about any particular details, so if you need to raise awareness about a linguistic issue, by all means do so, but keep it polite, informative and as brief as possible. And try to find a solution before contacting the client with a problem. Be helpful, not pedantic.

• When it comes to marketing, consider how much you like receiving cold calls/e-mails. The person you’re trying to contact probably dislikes them as much as you, so unless you’re encouraged by their website to send a speculative CV or information about your business, try to establish hot leads.

• Take into account how busy people are these days, so keep unnecessary contacts to a minimum, and keep the message short and to the point. That said, there is nothing wrong with the occasional contact to an existing client to remind them of your presence.

• Go out of your way to offer excellent service and try help your clients when they’re in a tight spot. By empathising with their situation and giving them a hand, they’re bound to appreciate you even more.

• Lastly, empathy also applies to larger companies that hire services on an ad-hoc basis, translation companies being the prime example. When hiring freelance translators, the key to establishing a good, successful relationship is to treat them with respect. Don’t expect to get quality work at very low rates, don’t send generic e-mails to hundreds of translators and give the job to the one who replies first, etc.

To sum it up, when in business always remember to see things from the other person’s perspective, and treat them how you would like to be treated if you were in their situation. Empathy goes a long way.

What is culturalisation and why should I care about it?

“Culturalization is going a step further beyond localization as it takes a deeper look into a game’s fundamental assumptions and content choices, and then gauges the viability in both the broad, multicultural marketplace as well as in specific geographic locales. Localization helps gamers simply comprehend the game’s content (primarily through translation), but culturalization helps gamers to potentially engage with the game’s content at a much deeper, more meaningful level.”

(Chandler, Heather Maxwell & O'Malley Deming, Stephanie. The Game Localization Handbook, 2nd ed.)


In short, we could say that, whereas localisation takes into account all the different cultural aspects, it mainly involves text, from the more basic tasks of inclusion of different alphabets and number formats, to adapting cultural references, jokes, idioms, etc. Culturalisation, then, would take this cultural adaptation one step further, to include the product's artwork and design.

It has to be pointed out that, although the quote above refers to games, culturalisation exists in other translation disciplines, such as website localisation.

Why culturalise a product?

The answer is very simple. Culturalising a game, or any other product, will make its audience engage with it much more deeply; therefore, the reaching potential in foreign markets increases dramatically. Fail to culturalise, and you risk your product not selling in a market in which it could have been extremely successful. Or even worse, you could potentially insult or offend your audience.

A good example of this is this campaign poster for the Spanish version of the TV programme The Voice, which features presenter Jesús Vázquez:

Whilst this poster works well in the Spanish market, the gesture would be considered rude in the UK, where the programme also exists, akin to showing your middle finger to the audience.

A famous example of a culturalisation fail happened in 2003, when Microsoft was forced to pull the game Kakuto Chojin off store shelves because it contained Qu'ran verses in the background of the theme song for a character. The issue became headlines news in Saudi Arabia, whose government demanded an apology, forcing the company to withdraw the game worlwide (it had been released in North America despite this).

Changing the content of a product can be quite time-consuming and expensive, of course, and that is why it's so important to consider culturalisation from the very beginning. The earlier you think about cultural aspects, the less likely you are to get a "surprise" at the end. And considering how much of a positive impact it can have on sales, it's definitely worthwhile.

For more information on the cultural aspects in videogames, please read this earlier post: http://medialoc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-cultural-dimension-in-games.html 

Why cheaper isn't better part 2 - An illustration

How many times have we bought something cheap that has turned out to be a massive mistake? Like the girl in this picture, for example. Maybe if she'd bought better quality trousers that were sewn properly she would have avoided making an arse of herself (excuse the bad joke!).

I think we all understand that cheap products can turn out to be very expensive indeed. However, for some reason, people in search of translation services still think that the cheaper they can get them for, the better. Or free even (stand up Google Translate and co.). It doesn't quite register in their minds that this is a professional service provided by trained and knowledgeable experts and that, if it's surprisingly cheap, there is a reason for it (as explained in this entry http://medialoc.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/why-cheaper-isnt-better.html).

But let me illustrate my point.

This is a menu from an actual restaurant in Spain, whose name I won't publish to save them the embarrassment, taken from a blog called La Cueva del Oso.

Mmm, "Salad of pretty", sounds delicious, doesn't it? At least certainly most filling than the "Fried big holes".

What do you think this tells their customers? Well, something along the lines of "We want your money, but we're cheapskates so can't be bothered to spend a bit of ours on you". Or "If we care this much about our menu, wait until you see our food".

Here is another example:

I think I'll have the "Skewers of fruits with sauce of yogourt of fragmentation hand grenade"; I always fancy something explosive after dinner...

Of course mistakes like this are not limited to restaurants. They are everywhere, as these signs perfectly illustrate:

Very reassuring to know thieves don't have to pay to steal our luggage at the airport, isn't it?

No words for this; are we in the groceries section, or the X-rated movies aisle?

All these mistakes have no doubt been produced by using machine translation, that is, Google Translate or a similar programme. However, using somebody who's not a professional translator can be just as damaging. Just because you know someone who spent 6 months living in France, doesn't mean they can speak French properly, and much less translate it. That's not only insulting to professionals who spend years training and work very hard at keeping up and improving their skills constantly, but it can be hugely detrimental to your business.

And it is not only essential to use a translator with an excellent command of their native language, but also one that perfectly understands the source language, including idioms, slang, cultural references and jokes. I was once correcting a translation and couldn't help but laugh when I saw the translator had rendered the English expression "horses for courses" as "courses for horses", interpreted literally instead of using a Spanish expression that worked in the context. The image that came to my mind was very much like this:

So, hopefully, it becomes clear from these images that commissioning a translation is not a matter of looking for the cheapest quote and hoping for the best. It should be taken seriously. Just like you wouldn't go to a back-street doctor if you had a serious ailment, you shouldn't risk commissioning your translations to any other than a professional. After all, this is an investment, and the better the quality of the work, the more customers you will attract, which "translates" into more sales and more money for you.

The cultural dimension in games localisation

As translators and interpreters know, it is very important to bridge the gap between cultures. In certain disciplines, the meaning and the effect that the text has on the reader is far more important than the words. This is especially true of localisation, which has been defined as the “adaptation of a product, application or document content to meet the language, cultural and other requirements of a specific target market” (Ishida & Miller: 2005).

In the specific field of games localisation, this adaptation goes well beyond the words. As we all know, different cultures perceive things in different ways so, if a product is to be successful, it’s important to make sure that it adapts to the target markets, as the picture below amusingly shows. In fact, at least 50% of the revenue in games comes from localised versions (Chandler: 2006), which shows why localisation efforts should not be underestimated.

A while ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing a very interesting presentation by Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Founder and CEO of MiniMonos, a company which provides a virtual world for children in which they can create a monkey avatar, socialise with other monkeys and play minigames. She spoke of how sometimes they release minigames adapted to their local markets. One interesting example was a minigame which involved monkey poo, as can be seen in the following pictures.

                         

This type of minigame would have never worked in the Australian or New Zealand markets, for instance, where children are not as obsessed with their digestive system as they are in the UK. Despite speaking the same language, the cultures in these countries are different and being able to adapt to British “tastes” (if we can call it that in this case!) proved an extremely effective strategy, making this one of the most successful minigames for the company in the UK.

Another company in the world of online gaming, Zynga, famously decided to enter the Chinese market a couple of years ago. They rebuilt the game Farmville and, although the Chinese version is quite similar to the original Farmville, there are some changes that reflect the preferences of this target market. For instance, some changes were made to the colour palette and the plots of farmland are larger than in the original version.  And some new crops were also introduced, as can be seen in the picture below:

                                    

These crops, like the ginseng or the Caterpillar fungus, reflect the kind of crops that would grow in the region.

All this has huge implications for the games localiser, who must not only be a master of the written word, but also become a language consultant, and provide advice to clients when they come across something that could cause a potential issue in the target market.

Some time ago, I was working on a Japanese game for a portable device. The title included a minigame in which the characters had to compete to finish a big bowl filled with some type of alcoholic drink. The first one to finish it won the game, and the characters were depicted quite obviously drunk, and then complaining about having a headache the morning after. I had been told that the age rating of the game was 3+, so I immediately identified a problem and warned the client that a drinking minigame was going to be problematic in the target market, especially for such a young audience. All the translators discussed the problem as a team and we developed an idea to turn the drink into some sort of sugary potion and change the text so that the characters got a sugar rush instead, as children often get when having too many sweets. That saved the client a lot of time and money by not having to edit the game, and they were very grateful.

Other times, this cultural dimension can appear in the form of cultural references within the games themselves. For instance, in World of Warcraft there is a trinket called the Six Demon Bag, and its description text reads “Blasts enemies with the power of wind, fire, that kind of thing!”. This is a reference to the movie Big Trouble in Little China, in which Egg Shen’s describes the contents of his Six Demon Bag using the same words. In these cases, it’s important for the localiser firstly to identify the reference, and secondly, to look for the equivalent, that is, the official version of the movie in the target market (whether it’s dubbed or subtitled), and use the same wording in order to achieve the same effect that the original version of the game aims for.

Another important cultural aspect is related to characterisation. Many games contain fantasy characters such as orcs, wizards, fairies, but also pirates, gangsters and similar. The localiser will need to be familiarised with the way those creatures or characters speak in the target language and follow the conventions. It could be possible that an equivalent accent might need to be found in the target language to portray certain stereotypes or, lacking that, the use of certain interjections, expressions or pet phrases. Rude language and swearing can be particularly tricky because, whilst the effect on the player has to be maintained, cultural sensibilities also have to be taken into account. Some languages and cultures are more accepting of this type of language than others.

Of course, all this doesn’t mean that the content always has to be adapted. Sometimes aspects of the source culture have to be kept in order to maintain a certain local flavour. It wouldn’t make much sense for a game clearly based in New York, where the city is central to the story, to have characters speaking with a very marked regional French accent, for instance. However, both localisers and developers need to be aware of these issues and use their skills and expertise to ensure that the localised product meets all the requirements and needs of the target market if the product is to be successful. After all, this is a business, and the better the quality of the localisation, the higher the potential for revenue.

Translator-client relationships. Part 2: the client.

Following part 1, in which I focused on what translators can do to improve their relationships with their clients, now I would like to explore what those clients can do to make their translator’s life easier and achieve the best possible results.

1.  Information is key

The more information you provide about your project, the easier it will be for the translator to get a feel for it and achieve a product that maintains the spirit of the original. It’s important to clarify the purpose of the text, how and where it will be used and provide some context. In the localisation industry, it’s quite common to work without having seen the product at all, which can cause all sorts of problems, from sentences that can mean different things depending on the context to even gender issues (for instance, is it a male or female character speaking?). So provide as much information as you can and make your translator’s life much easier; in turn, they won’t have to get in touch with you to ask a lot of questions.

2. Communicate, communicate and communicate

Throughout the translation process, it’s important to keep communicating with your translator. Inform them as soon as possible of any changes and pass on any additional information you may have. Similarly, do not ignore any questions that the translator might send you, it’s important to get clarification on those issues in order to achieve the most suitable translation. After all, you are both working together to make this project a success in the target market.

3. Translators are not machines, so don’t treat them as such

If it takes you two months to write a piece, why would you assume it can be translated in two days? Translators are not machines, they don’t have a switch you can press and the text comes out automatically in another language. In fact, translation involves more thinking than it does writing. You have to read carefully the original and assess the purpose of the text (to inform, to sell, to make the reader laugh, etc.) and how the writer has used all the different nuances of the language to achieve that effect. You might have to adapt cultural references, like changing the name of celebrities to names of famous people in the target market, finding an equivalent accent in the target language which carries the same sort of stereotypes (or another strategy that will achieve the desired result), adapt jokes, etc. And sometimes do all this whilst sticking to ridiculous length restrictions! Translation is indeed an art, and as such it takes time.

Also, good translators tend to be quite busy most of the time, so you can’t assume they will drop any other projects they are working on so they can take care of yours immediately. It helps to give a bit of warning if you are close to finishing a project that will need translating.

4. Be aware of language combinations and specialisations

Nobody can know absolutely everything about any subject area in the world. That is why translators tend to specialise in just a few fields (usually 4-5). This allows them to understand that subject area completely and familiarise themselves with the specific terminology and style of writing. As a client, it pays off to be aware of your translators’ specialisations; you will get a much better result quality-wise if you assign the right project to the most suitable translator. Also, the translator will be able to work faster as they won’t have to stop constantly to check for new terminology, so it benefits both parts.

In addition, I know it sounds pretty obvious to say that, if you need a translation say from English into French you should hire a translator that works in that language combination, but many translators are still getting requests for languages they don’t know, so it’s important to pay attention to the languages they do work with. And bear in mind that translators should only work into their native language! That is the only way to ensure that the text will read fluently and naturally and will have the correct style, register and cultural nuances.

5. Treat your translators with respect

As a client, adopt a professional approach towards your translators and value them for what they are: professionals who have studied and trained long and hard to master what they do. Do not treat them as mere accessories to your processes or, worse still, as people who don’t really know what they’re doing but you need to use for whatever reason which you’re unsure of. If you treat them with respect, they will respond in kind. Common courtesy helps establish and maintain a good relationship with your translators: warning them when a project is due to arrive, saying thank you when you receive their files (especially if they’ve gone out of their way to accommodate an urgent request), listening to them when they point out certain issues, etc.

Part of treating your translator with respect also involves queries/doubts and feedback. Quite often, I have had clients complain because we translated X as Y, whereas according to certain online dictionary the translation for that should be Z. Instead of pointing the finger at the translator, check politely with them why that might be. In many cases, there are many different ways of saying the same thing or a word is much more appropriate than another in a certain context. Besides, you shouldn’t trust dictionaries blindly! If the whole translation has received negative feedback, you could have it checked by another translation to establish if there really was a problem with it, or the changes made are simply stylistic and a matter of preference.

6.  A little flexibility goes a long way

This applies to both parts, actually. Translators should be flexible so they can accommodate their clients’ requests, including occasional last minute changes and requests. However, flexibility is also an important quality for the client. For instance, clients should be prepared to listen to their translator and extend the deadline a bit if it’s too tight, or they should also accept suggestions or perhaps even listen to constructive criticism. If a translator points out possible issues with the text or suggests an alternative working method, they’re not trying to undermine the client but quite the opposite; they’re only trying to help in order to achieve improved results which will benefit both parts.

7. That said, don’t make your translator jump through hoops

Yes, flexibility is extremely important for the translator, but at the same time it’s not a good idea to drive them crazy with constant updates and changes to the project, additions, new instructions and the similar. These can be very time-consuming and force the translator to check the whole project again and again in order to apply those changes throughout, increasing the chance of inconsistencies. It is better to plan the project accordingly so no changes are needed in the original once it has been sent for translation. Sometimes this might not be possible, but at least try to keep them to a minimum.

Similarly, even though most translators are quite happy to accommodate the odd urgent request, do not expect them to regularly drop whatever other projects they are doing in order to complete your request immediately.

8. Do not assume cheapest is best (in fact, assume the opposite!)

As I explained at length in this entry here, in translation, as in any other industry, you generally get what you pay for. I understand clients are trying to save some money in this economic climate, but bear in mind that good translators spend a lot of time and money on training, research, technology and improving themselves constantly, so if somebody is promising you to translate your projects at rock-bottom prices you should think about what the reason behind it is. A bad translation is worse than no translation at all, so if you don’t want to risk losing your own customers because they can’t understand the material you have sent them or it’s so bad it’s laughable, make sure you hire the right professional.

9.  Pay on time

This is somewhat related to treating your translators with respect. If you want to have a good relationship with your translator, based on trust and honesty, make sure to pay within the stated payment terms. The translator will feel more appreciated and will be more willing to work with you again. Small delays due to oversights are acceptable every now and again, but don’t use the economic situation or the late payment by your own client as an excuse; when you hire a translator you enter a contractual relationship with them, and them only.

10. Do not assume anybody can translate

I have lost count of the amount of times that, after telling people I am a translator, I have heard “Oh, can you make a living out of that? I speak another language too, maybe I should do the same”. Worse still, I have also heard things like “I’m going to ask my (replace with unidentified friend or family member) to translate my document for me, they did French at college/spent a summer in Spain, etc.” I’ve even had clients doing their own translations into Spanish which I had to fix because they were atrocious! They might have studied Spanish in school, but obviously not long enough to realise they will never sound like a native speaker.

There is a reason why a profession called “translator” exists. You wouldn’t say that anybody can be a doctor or a solicitor, and the same is true of a translator. It requires very specific skills that most people with knowledge of other languages won’t be able to master. It’s not just about writing without spelling and grammar mistakes (which these days seem to be a lot to ask for already!) but also about writing style, creativity, cultural knowledge, technical skills, subject area knowledge... I could go on.

As for automatic translation tools, like Google Translate and such... copy a paragraph written in any language and see how they translate it into your language. Would you really send that to your customers? Enough said.

Translator-client relationships. Part 1: the translator.

In this post I would like to explore the issue of translator-client relationships, focusing on what translators can do to improve these relationships and hopefully become one of their client’s favourite providers, to which they will come back again and again.

1.       Be there

The translation industry is a fast-moving one and it’s important that you reply to project enquiries as soon as possible. Of course, clients should not expect you to be at your desk 24/7, or not to be able to pop out for a bit (after all, that’s one of the reasons why you chose to work for yourself), but sometimes a late response can lose you a project, so make sure you can access your e-mail from your phone if you plan to be away from the desk for a while, or even leave an autoreply message saying when you’ll be back. If a client appreciates your services, they will be willing to wait for a few hours provided the project is not too urgent and they know exactly when you’ll return. Also, as obvious as it sounds, please make sure to answer your phone calls, you wouldn’t believe the amount of translators that are unreachable when you try to ring them!

If you plan to go away on holidays for a few days, it’s best to warn your clients in advance, so they don’t get any surprises when they try to contact you for that all-important project.

2.      Be professional

If you want to be taken seriously, you have to portray a professional image at all times. Acknowledge the receipt of files and confirm you agree to the deadline, provide a quote promptly, keep the client informed on your progress if it’s a long project (but don’t bombard them with e-mails!) and, in the unlikely event that something comes up and you won’t be able to deliver on time, inform your client as soon as possible so they can make the necessary adjustments to their schedule and/or inform the end-client. Show that you care about the project and you take your work seriously and your client will be much more willing to work with you.

Professionalism is about behaviour but also about image. It is advisable to choose a logo, lettering or image that represents you and your services and use that across all your material: website, blog, invoices, business cards, etc. After all, freelance translation is a business and should be portrayed as such.

3.      Don’t try to be everything under the sun

It might be tempting to offer many subject areas and language combinations, as the pool of potential clients will undoubtedly be larger. But we all know that it’s simply not possible to know everything about every single subject matter, so a translator will immediately raise suspicions if they are willing to work in every field. Similarly, it’s very hard to keep up your languages to the level required to do translation work. Even if you only translate into your native language (which you should!), languages have to be practiced regularly not to lose fluency, you have to keep up with linguistic changes, cultural changes and even political changes. You need to know what’s going on in the country whose language you are translating from, so you can identify idioms, cultural references, jokes, etc.

So stick to what you know best and are passionate about and you will be able to produce much better-quality work. If you try to translate a piece you are not comfortable with, the quality will suffer, you’ll probably be caught out and could end up losing the client.

4.      Don’t sell yourself cheap

You should be able to attract clients for what you can do, rather than your prices. Emphasise your unique selling point (USP) and your skills and show that you believe in yourself. Whilst you don’t want to price yourself out of the market, avoid the temptation of lowering your rates as bait. First of all, because it doesn’t say anything positive about you. As I explained here, translators who charge very low rates are either new to the industry or not very good at all. And secondly, because by lowering your rates you are damaging the whole industry and yourself in the long-term. If everybody did the same, the average salary of a freelance translator would decrease rather than increase over the years. Not what you want to hear when you’re starting out, right?

5.       Accept criticism

They say that no news is good news, and in the translation world that is certainly true. Most of the time you won’t hear a thing if the client is happy with your work. However, if for whatever reason that is not the case, you will most likely get a complaint. My advice in this scenario would be to approach the situation with care. Analyse what the problem is and, if you don’t agree with the client’s feedback, explain your choices politely. It happens quite often that the changes are just stylistic or, even worse, sometimes the client does not speak your language but grabs a dictionary and notices the translation of X word is Y, and not Z, which is what you wrote.

But if it turns out that there are mistakes in your work, don’t try to blame anybody else or insist you’re right, just own up, apologise and say it won’t happen again (make sure it doesn’t!). Your client will appreciate your honesty and professional approach, and you will learn from your mistakes and hopefully become a better translator. We are all human and as such we can make mistakes, it’s how you react to them that’s important.

6.      Be helpful, proactive and a problem-solver

In translation, you will encounter many unforeseen problems, from software incompatibilities to terminology questions and problematic cultural references. Before you bombard your client with lots of queries, make sure to do some research by yourself on the Internet, ask some of your colleagues, etc. If you do have to send a query, be as clear as you can, always bearing in mind that the client may not speak your language or, in many cases, any languages at all other than their own!

This also applies to software incompatibilities. If you can’t open a file because of its format, something that happens much more often than we’d like, do your research and find a programme that will help you either open it or convert it into something you can work with. The client will appreciate your initiative and the time you have saved them worrying about this. Besides, if you want to come across as a truly professional translator, you should be pretty technology-savvy anyway, there is no justification for not being able to use properly the programmes you have to work with every day.

And in the case of cultural references, explain exactly what the problem is and suggest a solution. For instance, imagine you are translating a wedding services website and the text refers to picking a location for a civil wedding, like a beach, a garden, etc. Whilst it might sound beautiful, in many countries this is illegal, as civil weddings can only take place in town halls or registry offices. If you spot something like this, you should inform the client immediately and suggest an alternative; for instance, replacing this with content about possible wedding reception locations.

What is important to remember is that, in most cases, you should not contact your client with a problem, but with a solution.

7.      But if in doubt, ask!

That said, if after researching you still haven’t found a solution, do ask. It’s better to ask and provide an accurate translation than fearing bothering the client and, as a result, produce something that’s incorrect. The same applies to software issues: if you have tried everything humanely possible to make it work and you’re still having problems, contact the client before it causes a delay in the project.

Also, do not assume that the source text is always correct, so if something doesn’t seem right to you, chances are there is a problem and the client will be grateful you pointed it out.

8.      Deliver quality at all times

As a translator, this should be a given, but sometimes it is very tempting to accept more work than you can cope with, or to translate something in a subject area that you don’t master because you are a bit short of work. As appealing as it might seem at the time, steer clear of any situations that will impact negatively on the quality of your output, for the reasons stated in point 3. You are only as good as your last piece of work.

9.      Have attention to detail

Sometimes, some of the simplest things can improve greatly your relationship with your client. For instance, adding the language code at the end of the file shows that you know they will probably be working with other languages too and you’re helping them save time by identifying easily which file is which, and avoiding the pesky error message which appears when they try to open two files with the same name at the same time.

Similarly, inform them if you notice a mistake in the original in case they haven’t seen it, and of course don’t reproduce it in your language. Replicate any formatting in the source text in your translation, as you will save your client precious time and it shows that you are computer-literate. Follow instructions to the letter and, as obvious as it sounds, make sure to run a spell check and check for double spaces before delivering! Too many translators forget this fundamental step.

10.  Be a pleasure to deal with

Small touches like asking your client if they had a good weekend, knowing if they have kids or not, or wishing them a good holiday can go a long way and help you maintain lasting working relationships. Think of it this way: would you rather deal with a nice person who’s always got a smile on their face, or a grumpy one who’s always moaning and complaining? It’s the same for your clients, if you are a pleasure to deal with, they will want to continue communicating with you.

How to deal with late payments

In the current economic climate, late payments are becoming commonplace. Whilst payment terms have never been too favourable to suppliers, they are getting more and more unattractive, with 60, 90 or even 120-day payment terms making an appearance these days. And despite these terms being already in the clients' favour, it is quite common for the actual payment to be late. After all, it's quite convenient for the client to keep the money in their account for as long as they can, earning interest.

Needless to say, this is quite annoying for the supplier, who has to chase the payment through endless phone calls and e-mails, wasting time when instead they should be working and earning money. But the real problem is with cash flow. Even if translators have very few outgoings compared to other businesses, they still need a certain disposable income every month to pay for their bills, food, etc. At the end of the day, you can't tell your phone company "I'll pay your bill when my client pays me".

And this is even worse for small translation companies which might have significant outgoings, such as rent, staff salaries and paying their own freelance suppliers. Late payments and the subsequent problems with cash flow could soon become a huge burden which could potentially send the business into bankruptcy.

Not all is lost, however, as there are ways you can protect yourself against late payments.

First of all, if you are contacted by a new client, do your research before accepting a job. Check that the company is genuine and find all their details on the Internet, such as address, e-mail address, website, etc. If it is a member of the public, it might be more difficult to check that it is a genuine enquiry, so be extra careful.

It's also a good idea to check with other translators if they have worked for that client and get some feedback. In any case, what you should always do is look up the company in websites such as Payment Practices, the Black and White list in GoTranslators, the Blue Board in Proz or many other similar sources that will tell you if the client is a bad payer.

Also, protect yourself by signing some Terms of trade. It could be your terms, or their terms, but make sure you understand them fully and you both agree on them.

If, despite doing all this, the new client turns out to be a bad payer, or one of your regular clients starts paying considerably later than usual, you should always start by chasing the payment politely. After all, it can happen that invoices are misplaced or forgotten about, or simply not received. We are all human and can make mistakes, so I would advise to start on the assumption that it is a genuine error.

If you don't get a reply to your initial reminder, or they say they are going to pay but haven't done so within a week, it's a good idea to send them another e-mail or phone them directly. How they react to this second contact is crucial: if they don't reply or start giving excuses such as "the cheque is in the post", "the person who deals with the payments is on holidays" or "the system is down", be very careful. Excuses are just a delaying tactic, and lack of response obviously means that they don't care.

In that case, you can seek cover in the law. For instance, in the UK, clients who pay late must by law pay penalty interest and compensation. For debts of less than £1000, the penalty is £40, rising to £70 for larger debts. Then interest is charged at 8% over the Bank of England rate. Whilst many translators choose not to apply this charges, it is useful to know that it is your legal right to demand them if the client exceeds the payment terms set at the beginning of the project/on the invoice.

If after that second contact you still haven't received payment in, say, two weeks, it is certainly advisable to send another invoice with the compensation and penalty interest added to it. Alternatively, you can contact the client once again stating that, if you haven't received your payment by X day, they will be hearing from your debt collection company the next day. Most clients usually pay at this point.

The last resort is, of course, sending a Recorded Delivery letter stating your intention to go to court (Small Claims court in the UK).

Once it gets to this point it is very likely that you will lose the client, but at the end of the day you have to think that A CLIENT WHO DOESN'T PAY IS NOT A CLIENT.