The importance of planning your translation requests ahead of time
More often than not, translators are faced with “urgent” requests sent last-minute by stressed-out clients who need the translation “yesterday”. It sometimes happens that once they have learned the extra cost involved in an urgent translation, they reconsider the urgency of their request and agree to a more reasonable deadline. Very often, though, that’s not the case. This situation is not ideal for either party and you should try to avoid it at all costs. Here are three good reasons why:
- It’s going to cost you more
Don’t forget that good translators, like any good professional, are hard to find and therefore their services are in high demand. Fitting an urgent translation request into an already busy or overflowing schedule will inevitably entail a higher cost for you. The translator who will take up the project will probably have to work overtime in order to fit your request in with work he/she’s already working on. We believe that nobody should have to work for free on weekends, holidays or at night, so neither should your translator.
- Quality may be compromised
Very often, the translator or translation vendor will let you know that the rushed translation you’re asking for is not going to be of the highest quality. This is usually because there just isn’t any time for a second reading or much less for a thorough review of the translation by another linguist –which is the standard practice for quality assurance in our sector. And even if your service provider doesn’t inform you of this fact, you should always be aware of this distinct possibility. Not to mention that nobody works at their best in the middle of the night or afterhours.
- It’s going to stress everyone out
If you already know that you require a specific volume of words or pages to be translated at a given period –maybe it’s your yearly financial statement or the contents of a yearly edition- make sure to communicate this information to your translation provider as soon as you have it. It’s very important for him/her to be able to plan their workload ahead and make sure they can fit your request in eventually when it’s time. This way, you will be less stressed because you’ll have already agreed on the basics -price, indicative deadline, terminology- and you’ll be confident it will be done in time. Your translation provider will also be less stressed because she or he will know in advance what to expect and will have planned their schedule accordingly to fulfill your demands. It’s a win-win!
To sum up, we all know that planning ahead and prioritising is essential for a successful business. Therefore, it makes sense that you should try to apply this principle to your translation requests: this way you’ll actually save time, money and a whole lot of stress and, last but not least, you’ll likely end up with a much better result. What’s not to love in this scenario?