What Buyers Want: It’s Not Always Price
According to the 2024 Nimdzi 100 report, an annual overview of the language services industry, the top features buyers value in their language services include:
- On-time delivery
- Smooth communication with their provider
- True partnership with their provider
- Quality management
These findings are not surprising, yet they all highlight the importance of building a strong relationship between the translator or interpreter, LSP, and client.
Similarly, the top three concerns of buyers of language services include:
- Low quality
- Lack of knowledge about the client’s business
- Late delivery
Our own experience with clients in many industries, including market research, legal, and technology, is similar to the information reported by Nimdzi. In addition, it’s not unique to just US-based clients. We find that clients globally share these same concerns.
We routinely distribute feedback surveys to each client. Often we receive positive feedback on the responsiveness of our team, quality, and our on-time delivery schedule. The surveys are part of our ISO certified quality management system.
As the language industry grows and evolves over the next decade, a focus for both the LSPs and the translators and interpreters entering the industry will be to keep a high priority on quality and turnaround time. “The language industry is undergoing significant changes with the introduction of generative AI models, but the demands for timely delivery and quality of the translation remain unchanged,” observed Jiri Stejskal, CEO of CETRA.
