The Translation Company Talk

S03E09: Customer Centricity Enterprise Language Service Delivery

Translation Company Talk brings you another exciting episode with an important personality in the translation and localization industry. Christophe Djaouani from Toppan Digital Language talks about customer centricity and the importance placing the customer in the heart of everything within a language services organization. 

We cover many topics about the basics of a customer centric LSP model, customer service as a differentiator, customer focus beyond sales, the impact of automation on customer centricity, difference in the customer lifecycle comparing customer centric and traditional LSP models and much more. 

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening. 

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx. 

S03E08: Digital Transformation of the Language Industry

Here we are with another exciting, and highly engaging episode of the Translation Company Talk podcast. In this episode we cover the topic of Innovation in Language Services. Smith Yewell, the CEO of Welocalize talks about what innovation means and how lead an organization with an innovative mindset. With a rapidly changing language dynamic, opportunities offered by technology improvements, a more connected world and our willingness to collaborate globally, it has never been more important to think about developing a vision based on innovation. 

We cover many topics in this interview including, the concept of innovation in the context of an LSP, innovation with technology, process and people, digital transformation in LSP operations, applying NLP to translation execution process, responding to the demand for innovation emanating from outside the language industry, collaboration and partnership with clients on innovative opportunities, the role of our industry associations in bringing us together to innovate more effectively, why opensource efforts like GlobalSight don’t get little support from the community, the need for developing opensource tools such as project management systems that form the core of every LSPs business function, building a culture of innovation inside an LSP, focusing on the end-product of our translation and create interoperability among stakeholders in the industry and much more. 

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening.

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S03E07: Effective Machine Translation Strategy

We are back with another exciting episode of the Translation Company Talk podcast. This episode is all about machine translation and how this technology has become a common place in our industry, yet many people don’t know much about it. To find out about the state of machine translation, we have invited Kristin Gutierrez from United Language Group once more to come and share her knowledge of machine translation with us. 

There are lots of interesting topics that we cover such as the business case for an effective machine translation implementation, rolling out an MT program across the enterprise, client-side concerns, supply side issues with adoption of this technology, frontline resistance to MT adoption, modes of accessing MT solutions, quality concerns, the place for an MT standard and much more. Kristin brings a fresh and interesting perspective, offering both the supply and client side an inside glimpse of the machine translation world. 

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening.

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S03E06: Leading and Managing A Multi-Region LSP

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk podcast, we discuss LSP leadership in a transborder and multinational context. Tea Dietterich, CEO of 2M Language Services in Australia talks about her experience as an entrepreneur who started her LSP with a laptop from her bedroom which has scaled up to a multinational across 3 continents in multiple countries. She talks about her experience leading teams of people across different jurisdictions and cultures and highlights what has worked well for her which translated into business success. 

Among the many topics we cover in this episode, we discuss how to think globally as a language company owner, strategic corporate behavior complemented by reactive and on the fly adaptive vision, business horizon and landscape visibility measurement in time units, building alliances that extend beyond your geographic presence, rapid innovation, strategic translation sales mindset, building a team in which everyone feels a sense of belonging, aligning corporate values with strategic objectives and much much more. 

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening.

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S03E05: Outcomes-Based Language Solutions Delivery

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk, we are very excited to be discussing a topic of great interest that receives very little coverage and attention in the translation industry. Nic McMahon joins us to talk about how language solutions companies create value and define it in a way that their customers understand and relate to it. He dives deep into how his organization has adopted an outcomes-based approach to solving language translation gaps for clients across a variety of industries. 

Among the many topics discussed, we cover the definition of value, an LSP’s role in creating value, understanding each client’s needs and generating KPIs based on those, establishing internal processes and procedures to complement clients’ KPIs, addressing the problem of applying high-value resources to low-value content, defining the role of technology in creating translation value, communicating value from leadership to internal stakeholders, keeping a consistent value delivery promise, and much more.  

This is one of our best and most engaging episodes to date and it is highly recommended for language company executives that are looking for ways to differentiate their service offerings and improve their business with the most relevant of their clients. 

Nic McMahon is the CEO of United Language Group (ULG) – one of the world’s leading language solutions providers. Nic has more than 20 years of experience working for many of the top companies in the language industry and has travelled extensively in almost every continent. During his career, he has worked on language solutions for diverse projects ranging from healthcare and education disparity to commercial market expansions for the world’s number 1 control valve manufacturer and effectively supported the entire Fortune 500 to achieve their global growth and expansion. In all Nic’s experiences, the impact and opportunity of culture and language have been the constant foundational theme. 

S03E04: Building Out Enterprise Localization Teams

Translation Company Talk brings you another exciting interview. This time we sit down with Paula Hunter, who manages the translation and technical documentation teams at Motorola Solutions, Avigilon division, in Vancouver, Canada. She will speak about establishing and building enterprise localization departments.  

  

Among the topics covered, we discuss the high level structure of a localization department, the experience of moving localization into engineering function, expanding localization support into upstream initiatives, exposure of localization team to cross-fuctional teams such as customer service and product development, defining the globalization strategy across departments, value demonstration by KPI presentation to decision makers, developing efficiencies by technology customization, raising localization profile across the enterprise, gaining executive sponsorship and how the vendor community can help buyer localization teams leverage their expertise in raising their team profile, as we as many more valuable topics. 

  

We also cover topics such as how can an enterprise's localization vendor deliver additional value, centralization and decentralization of localization units, value of working with a vendor versus building an inhouse team, metrics and data driven globalization decision making, vendor contribution to enterprise bottom line and the evolution of automation in enterprise localization landscape. 

S03E03: Global-Ready-First Enterprise Strategy

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk, we hear from Talia Baruch about Global-Ready-First Product Strategy. Talia shares her “global-ready” and “geo-fit” frameworks for maximizing adoption in new markets at scale. She talks about Localization as a strategic, cross-functional horizontal effort that requires close alignment on MVP priority initiatives across the org. We cover topics such as HQ centralized vs in-country de-centralized teams, building an org structure that enables international horizontal efforts with all key stakeholder leads in all core functions. We discussed how Localization is often misperceived only as a language support production tail-end effort, instead of an upfront influencer for developing and designing the relevant features and value prop positioning for worldwide customers, and much more. 

As the enterprise localization department reaches maturity and organizational recognition, localization managers have to make decisions in line with leadership defined KPIs.  

Talia is a seasoned localization leader with experience in optimizing product performance and experience to win adoption in new markets. She Headed International Product & Growth at LinkedIn and SurveyMonkey, formerly at Google. Talia Founded GlobalSake in 2017, as a collective global community of tech executives driving international growth. She’s an independent consultant, helping companies with international expansion and product geo-fit.

Visit https://www.taliabaruch.com/ to learn more about Talia.

This episode is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S03E02: Effective Translation Vendor Management

In this episode of Translation Company Talk we hear from Carla Itzkowich, President of International Contact Inc., about effective translation vendor management. This is a special episode because Carla is joined by Norma Armon, her business partner and her mother and they take a deep dive into the history of translation services in California and how they started their business.  

Vendor management is an art and a science, Carla and Norma discuss how it has changed over the years and what are some of the top challenges that our industry faces with regards to the supply chain. The conversation revolves about what activities are involved in vendor management, building an inventory of qualifications and the processes around effective vendor relation development. We also cover the role of standards compliance, the impact of vendor processes on translation output quality, best way for a translator to stand out, qualities of a good vendor manager, the role of education institutions in improving linguistic supply mechanisms and much more. 

This episode is of particular interest to both translation companies as well as freelancers and MLVs interested in collaborating with translation companies. 

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening.

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S03E01: Trends in eLearning Localization

In our first episode of 2022 season, we discuss eLearning localization with Kristin Gutierrez from United Language Group. While the pandemic has highlighted the need for remote learning across all areas of education, Kristin covers eLearning from a corporate perspective and discusses how it has evolved over the years. 

From developing an eLearning localization program to intricacies of designing an efficient process, selling eLearning localization, working with a client to identify needs and offering solutions, the type of effort needed for a proper eLearning localization implementation and more, we cover topics related to this specific type of localization.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk podcast on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite platform. Give this podcast a thumbs up wherever you are listening, and send us your comments and feedback.

The Translation Company Talk podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E21: Principles and Benefits of Quality Management Systems for LSCs

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk we sit down with Leigh Turgut, Quality & Compliance Manager from CQ fluency and she talks to us about the principles and benefits of a Quality Management System, the different definitions of Quality within a language translation company. Quality is something we all promise our clients and clients naturally assume every vendor delivers translation with optimum quality, but how do we measure quality? Like in any industry quality issues can arise, particularly with the something as subjective as language.

Leigh is a veteran industry expert,having occupied multiple roles within localization, she eventually found her niche in Quality & Compliance, and now oversees and aims to grow that function at CQ fluency. In this interview we cover many topics, including the definition of quality in product, process and perception by client in addition to many other interesting topics.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk podcast on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite platform. Give this podcast a thumbs up wherever you are listening, and send us your comments and feedback.

The Translation Company Talk podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E20: The State of Legal Interpreting Sector

Translation Company Talk podcast is back with another exciting episode covering the state of legal interpreting sector. The language industry has seen a roll coster effect across all lines of business, but interpreting and in particular the legal sector has seen changes that has affected both service providing companies as well as interpreters. COVID continues to present challenges for in-person meetings and given the nature of legal interpreting, it will evolve rapidly.

Luis Echeverry from Continental Interpreting takes a deep dives on the state of this sector. A veteran of interpreting sector, Luis has seen this industry sector transform over the decades. He talks about his own experiences in the context of the pandemic, his personal challenges and how his company adapted and evolved in the face of so many unknowns. Luis also provides his perspective on how things are changing, the role of technology and what it means for service providers.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk podcast on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite platform. Give this podcast a thumbs up wherever you are listening, and send us your comments and feedback.

The Translation Company Talk podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E19: Automation for Translation Companies

Welcome to another episode of the Translation Company Talk podcast. After a brief break, the podcast is back with lots of interesting and valuable interviews with visionaries and leaders in our industry. In this episode we will be exploring the subject of automation beyond machine translation for companies providing language services. Our guest is Matija Kovač from Taia Translations.

Among subjects discussed in our conversation today, we talk about the need for automation, applying different automation techniques to the process of translation, using automation for business processes in production, vendor management, sales and more. We also discuss why our industry is lagging behind in innovating automation solutions and how a change in our thought process can change our perspective.

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening.

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E18: Navigating the World of Regulated Industries for LSPs

The localization industry serves clients in numerous other industries. While some are relaxed in
their requirements, there are other industries that have very stringent and unique requirements.
In this episode, we hear from Alexandra Jarvis, Chief Strategy Officer at Toppan Digital
Language about what it means for a language services company to offer its services to clients in
regulated industries. She clearly describes what business is like with these industries and how
language companies can gear up to focus on this niche.

Among the many topics we cover, we discuss the concept, how LSPs can add value in the
content supply chain, understanding the rules and policies governing these industries, typical
sales cycles, nature of doing business with these organization and much more.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk Podcast On Itunes, Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite platform. Your comments and feedback are very
important, please share them with us and don’t forget to give us a 5 star rating on wherever you
are listening to this podcast.

The Translation Company Talk podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E17: Business Acumen for LSP Leadership

Starting a business is very hard, but the actual challenge is in managing and growing it beyond the point of plateau that most businesses reach after the initial demand wanes. As the owner and executive of a language company, it becomes imperative to possess the right knowledge and tools to direct your organization including its people, processes and assets to your strategic objectives. Annemarie Rutz, Chief Operating Officer from Milengo talks about what a leader needs to know in order to operate a successful language services company.

Among the topics discussed, we cover the lack of business skills in the language industry, the tools and sources of information available to industry leaders, the best way to quickly skill-up and learn about driving your organization and much more. As a very young leader in the localization industry and managing the operations of a German language organization in the technology space, Annemarie presents a very fresh and interesting approach to managing with a vision.

Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice, and please keep your comments and feedback coming. Give us a five star rating wherever you are listening.

This podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E16:The Importance of an Exit Strategy for an LSP Owner

Language company owners start their business with a dream and most realize it by working hard and creating value in the process. However, few entrepreneurs actually sit down and think about inevitability and our legacy as we build these organizations. This week on the Translation Company Talk, we talk about the timing of thinking about an exit strategy. Olga Blasco, a veteran industry leader, discusses this subject in depth.

In this discussion we cover topics such as planning for an exit, developing a strategy, identifying your needs and wants, and much more. This week's episode is highly relevant and applicable to all small to medium size LSPs at any stage of their lifecycle. Don't miss it.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk Podcast On Itunes, Apply Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite platform. Your comments and feedback are very important, please share them with us and don't forget to give us a 5 star rating on wherever you are listening to this podcast.

The Translation Company Talk podcast is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx.

S02E15: Building Customer Centric LSP Model

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk, we sit down with Anna Gargiulo, Chief Sales Officer at Toppan Digital Language. It is an interesting and engaging conversation on the topic of customer centricity in the context of language services. Among the many interesting topics we cover customer centricity at the core of LSP strategy, foundation of the right culture, doing the right thing for our clients with competing internal challenges, being able to meet the needs of your client that require specialization when you are a generalist, alignment of objectives with those of clients to drive meaningful interactions at all levels.

Toppan Digital Language is carving a niche for an under-served market that has been neglected overtime as the industry demand has changed. Anna further talks about the importance of allowing the customer's strategy to drive your business as opposed to imposing the LSP objectives on client, thinking strategically to drive the relationship versus applying band-aid solutions to typical problems, understanding the need of the customer for the kind of experience they want and to be able to provide that experience, what are clients actually buying from a translation company, determining the buyer journey and improving the experience at different touch points, how to analyze our customer's problem and offer strategic solutions in the light of volume explosion and proliferation of media types. This is a master class in sales and leadership that LSP executives cannot miss.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your platform of choice. Give us a 5 star rating and thumbs up wherever you listen to this podcast. Your comments and feedback are very important to the improvement of this podcast.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx

S02E14: The Disconnect in Expectations of Buyers & Sellers of Language Services

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk, we cover the Disconnect In Expectations of Buyers and Sellers of Language Services. The author of the The General Theory of the Translation Company, Renato Beninato from Nimdzi Insights, talks in depth about what our industry doesn't understand about the needs and requirements of the buyer side. This is a very timely subject and while covered in most conferences, Renato provides a jargon free and easy to  understand way of grasping this concept.

Among the many topics that we cover, we discuss some of the seismic shifts that have occured in the localization industry, the next pivotal evolution, the LSP misunderstanding about customer needs, the inability to speak customer's own language, mapping our services to the challenges of end clients as solutions, pricing and pricing models, the reason why an LSP exists, the core functions of LSPs, what do customers look in their vendors, and many other great topics. If you are an LSP owner and thinking about your growth strategy, you do not want to miss this episode.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk Podcast On Itunes, Apply Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite platform. Your comments and feedback are very important, please share them with us and don't forget to give us a 5 star rating on wherever you are listening to this podcast.

This episode of Translation Company Talk is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx

S02E13: Role of Technology in Success of Language Providers

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk podcast, we hear from Elsa Sklavounou about the role of technology in the success of a language company. Technology has been intertwined with the delivery and output of language services from a long time, in this interview we cover its impact on today’s language providers. 

 

We cover topics ranging from the changing role of linguists to content developers, use of technology in content supply chain, the proliferation of artificial intelligence in content development, and the future of language technology. Elsa presents a fresh and different perspective on the subject and offers a very candid view of our industry in the short end long term.

 

Don’t forget to subscribe to Translation Company Talk on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite platform. Give us a five star rating and provide your comments and feedback.

 

This episode of Translation Company Talk is sponsored by Hybrid Lynx

S02E12: Post Merger Operational Scalability

In this episode, we welcome Paul Doherty back once again to discuss post merger operational scalability in language services organizations. Most mergers happen for the purpose of expanding sales and operational footprint and if not done right, the two merged organizations will experience chaos when combining the operations teams.

We cover the following topics in this episode, please see the time-code for easy access:

1. How to market yourself	02:25
2. Operational Scalability	07:14
3. Why do companies want to acquire another company	08:40
4. The mindset of the buyer	11:25
5. What is supposed to change and what should stay the same	15:58
6. Is there a template for scaling up an operation	18:58
7. The role of training in process improvement	31:25
8. How to maintain talent	32:24
9. The right time and the wrong time to publish a new organisation chart	35:03
10. How do you know you have reached the next level	38:15
11. The complexities and complications of implementing a change program	44:12
12. How to deal with growing pains	40:58
13. Why is it so hard to scale up a one million dollar revenue company	41:50
14. What is the role of management	43:06
15. The role of broker firms	44:20
16. Final words of wisdom	45:44

Paul is a seasoned industry veteran with multiple mergers, acquisitions and executive roles under his built, his advice and insights are applicable to every organization within this category.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite platform and give us a 5 star ratings. Make sure to send your comments and feedback.

S02E11: Basic Principles of Keeping Translation Clients Happy

In this episode of the Translation Company Talk, we hear from Georgia Roeming from Geo Group about tools and tricks to keep translation clients happy. It is a challenge to keep a client happy in order to grow their business in a fashion that means value to the client but also a happy relationship with the vendor. This is where we draw the line between transactional sales and relationship based business development.

We cover topics such as the foundations of account management, how account management is different from sales, identifying a good fit, role of production staff in client satisfaction, comparing ROI from sales with account management, importance of good customer experience, how do our freelancer partners keep their LSP clients satisfied and much more.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Translation Company Talk Podcast On iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite platform. Your comments and feedback are very important, please share them with us and don't forget to give us a 5 star rating on wherever you are listening to this podcast.