When looking for a translation company, don't forget single point of contact!

How to choose a translation company for your project? It’s a question that might keep you up at night. Luckily, there are some helpful guidelines for choosing a good translation company. Some of the things you should look for will probably seem obvious when you read them. But there’s one that may surprise you: a single point of contact. What to look for in a translation company Organizations like the American Translators Association (ATA) and the US Chamber of Commerce, as well as experienced translation clients consider these features essential when it comes to choosing a translation company for your project:

● quality control - A translation company should operate following industry guidelines and should also have procedures in place to verify the accuracy of translations. One way to easily see if a translation company provides this is to check their certification(s). You can also ask them about how translations are verified and about the methods and procedures they use before you hire them. ● certification - This goes hand-in-hand with the previous item on our list. A translation company should at the very least be certified by the ATA (for American-based companies). Certification means that a company complies with industry quality standards and procedures. ● localization and transcreation - A translation company’s team should be knowledgeable enough about your target culture to offer more in-depth, culturally aware translations. ● testimonials and reviews - These can show consumers some of the projects the company has worked on, and prove that clients were happy with the result. Some companies will include testimonials on their website, but if you want to be sure you’re getting unbiased testimonials, you can also look at Google reviews or do a general web search. ● security and privacy - A reputable translation company will be able to assure you of confidentiality for your project as well as up-to-date cybersecurity. ● single point of contact - This lesser known translation company “must” is such an incredible benefit! Having a single point of contact means that you will speak with one or possibly two people tied to your specific project, rather than anyone who happens to work at the company. As you can probably guess, having a single point of contact makes translation projects a lot smoother, since it’s easy for both the client and the company to know whom to reach for updates, questions, and anything else that might arise during the translation and verification processes. aiaTranslations is proud to tick all of these boxes. We comply with industry quality control standards, including the ISO 17100. We are ATA-certified and hold a number of other certifications, as well. Our team of translators from around the world means our translations are localized and transcreation is a given. While you can find testimonials on our website, you can also see that our Google reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Security and privacy are also important to us, especially with our specialization in medical translation. We work with the single point of contact system. Since this is such a little-known advantage, let’s take a closer look….

How does the single point of contact method work? Single point of contact is the unsung hero of translation projects. It all starts with an account manager. This person will talk to you about your project, answer any questions you might have regarding things like pricing, delivery, how we work, and more. Once you’ve decided to put your project in our hands, the account manager will introduce you to your project manager. “Project manager” isn’t just a general title; this person is directly in charge of managing your project. They will discuss your project with you down to the smallest detail and will give you a price and time estimate. Then, they’ll pull together the best team to create the perfect translation. In addition to managing your translation project in every way, your project manager will also give your account manager regular updates that they will pass on to you. Sometimes, they’ll even reach out to you themself. Clients, meanwhile, don’t have to just call our number and hope to speak to someone if they have a question; instead they have a direct way to get in touch with their account manager, so they can easily get answers about their project. Single point of contact makes communication easy even when dealing with a highly complex translation project. Knowing that there’s a clear, easy line of communication between the team and the client means any questions or concerns on either end will be addressed quickly and efficiently. Now you know why single point of contact is such an important part of a translation company’s offerings, and why we’re such a fan of it at aiaTranslations. When you’re choosing a translation company, it’s important to keep all of the points we’ve discussed in mind, very much including this often overlooked feature.

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