1) Native Speakers: Does provider work with translators who are native speakers of languages? There are plenty of fluent, non-native speakers of second languages, but only native speakers have a perfect feel for their language. Working with native speakers will ensure that your translations sound natural to your audiences, and not like a translation from a foreigner.

2) Specialist Knowledge: It’s not enough to speak language. The people who translate your material must know your industry. Translating for a technology firm requires different expertise than translating for a pharmaceutical company.

3) Location: The best translators are those who work from their native countries. They are up-to-date with current developments and changes in languages. If you choose a translation firm that has translators in exactly countries you are targeting, you can be sure that your translations will be linguistically and culturally appropriate.

4) File Formats: To avoid extra work and costs, make sure you choose a translation firm that can work with exactly same file formats you use and require.

5) Technology: Find out what kind of technology translation firm uses. For example, state-of-the-art translation memory tools allow re-use of previously translated material. For example, if you make changes or update your material over time, you’ll only want those changes translated, and not complete documents.

6) Quality Assurance: Ask company for their quality assurance procedures. Find out if all translated material gets reviewed before it is sent out to you.

7) Check references: Find out which clients translation company has worked for in past. Call those references and find out how satisfied they are with customer service and translation quality.

Once you have selected a translation provider make sure you work together with them closely in order to maximize quality of your translations. One rule is to allow sufficient time. Rushing a job always risks compromising its quality. Also, make sure source material is well written. You can never generate a great translation from a mediocre source text. Provide as much background material as possible to help translators understand your product-specific context and learn your organization’s jargon.

Finally, it’s a good idea to remain available for questions and feedback during translation project. Good translators are like good students – they will always ask you questions.

Founder Leo has been dead for over 30 years, but tradition of caring, protecting and guiding doggedly lives on. Their policy is simple. If a customer runs into a bad year and has to cut back on its advertising - let’s say by 50 percent - Burnett doesn’t automatically cut back on its services by 50 percent and pull half of its management off account. The company is willing to lose money on an account over short term.

The inevitable result? Of its 33 clients, 12 have been with company for over twenty years, and 10 for over thirty years.

======================== Paying Attention to Webster’s Is Not Enough ========================

It needs more. And that more is called sacrifice. Just like with children, you can’t deal with fifty all at once. Each child needs its own time, space and guidance. This requires huge resources, and if you chase every possible client, you’re soon going to run yourself pretty ragged.

The Leo Burnett Agency chooses carefully. It selects its potential clients, as you no doubt will. In 1994, 54 companies invited agency to talk about a business relationship. Burnett pursued only five.

If your selection of customers isn’t deliberate and systematic, you will run yourself ragged trying to service customers that share neither your dreams nor standards. Invariably, you will find discord and desire to care, protect and guide will evaporate like moisture on a hot summer’s day.

======================== Care, Protect and Guide – Even If You Have To Send Clients To Your Competition! ========================

If you’re scared, back out now, because I’m going to ask you to do something no seemingly rational business does. That is, you care about your client so much, that you take pains to send them to your competition if you cannot help them.

Hang on. This isn’t as bizarre as it sounds. If you really do care for your clients, you should want them to get best advice possible. However, no one said you shouldn’t make money off this.

If you sell high end BMWs and you know your client needs a more economical Toyota, you should logically send them over to your competition. However, if you set up a deal with Toyota dealer, you can not only generate a commission, but also give your potential client a bonus or discount if they go specifically through you.

Hey, those customers are going to walk anyway, once they find their exact needs aren’t being met. And if they get stuck with something they don’t really need, they’re going to be mighty mad once they find out. You aren’t doing yourself or them a favour by making them stick to what you have to offer. Sending them to a competitor that you know will treat them well, endears you to customer and ensures a tidy profit as well.

======================== Welcome To The Land Of Endless Loyalty ========================

Loyalty at its very roots is exceedingly simple. It’s exactly like a parent-child relationship. While no doubt you will come to depend on technology as your client base grows, enduring thread that binds it all is underlying psychology.

Inevitably, you won’t always have a trouble-free course, and both Leo Burnett and State Farm have had stormy days. The only way out of driving rain is to heartily embrace care, guidance and protection concept. Let it be your guiding light, far superior to any mumbo jumbo mission statement, leading to exponential profits and devoted clients.

All you have to do to succeed is play Mother Hen.

And say a silent thank you to a certain Mr.Webster.

* Source: The Loyalty Factor by Frederick Reichheld. **Secondary Source: Me. I worked at Leo Burnett in 90’s. ***************************************** Footnote: ======================== This Care, Protect and Guidance, is same system that PsychoTactics uses for its subscribers, members and clients. Should you come under our wing, we would do everything in our possible power to get you best knowledge and guidance. This is whole ethos, guiding principle of why we exist and why your business should exist. If you adopt this concept in your every day business, you'll have nothing but unending success.

======================== ©2001-2005 Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved. If you would like to learn more about way human brain works, and how customers make buying decisions, go to http://www.5000bc.com

Want to find a secret library of small business ideas? Where can you find simple, yet electrifying ideas, on copywriting, public speaking, sales conversion, psychological tactics and branding? Head down to http://www.5000bc.com today and judge for yourself.

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