Recruiting freelance translators is easy. Outsourcing work to freelance translators is easy. Paying freelance translators is easy. But what about recruiting, outsourcing and paying other translation companies?  By Christina@Wocintechchat In an ideal world, a database would be 20% freelance translators and 80% translation companies. It would make things so much easier! Project Managers could allocate entire projects to one supplier, without worrying about splitting files, coordinating deliveries, lengthy quality checks etc. Unfortunately, that is not how it usually happens in the real world. Working with translation companies can get very messy and stressful for a Project Manager. A small mistake can leave you with thousands of words untranslated the day before the deadline. It is true that this can also happen when working with freelancers, but the amount of work allocated to a freelancer is usually much smaller.  While working at Xerox, I resourced a job to a company that dea...

A company's database is one of their most valuable assets. Therefore, the relationship between the LSP and their suppliers is key to the success of the supply chain. Establishing and developing these relationships is one of the main responsibilities of the Vendor Manager.  In every relationship, we need to take into account each party's power. The matrix below will help the Vendor Manager assess the effectiveness and strength of the company's database by taking into account each party’s interest in the collaboration and the translation market. This analysis will split the database into four main groups:  Key suppliers – Supplier dominance This group should include the company's go-to suppliers. The people that the company can always rely on, who work with their most important clients and who generally deliver quality translations. The supplier should receive a large amount of work from the company, and have worked with them on a long-term basis to qualify for this group...

In the translation industry, negotiation is sometimes a daily practice; vendor managers negotiate with potential suppliers, project managers negotiate with freelance translators and clients negotiate with LSPs to get the best deal possible.  I used to be the kind of person who shied away from negotiating at all costs. I felt uncomfortable and overpowered when trying to negotiate. That is why, in 2017, I attended a short negotiation course, and I realised that everyone in the room that day had the same problem as me. This course taught me some basic principles, so that I was able to build   my negotiation skills at my own pace. The truth is that the more you negotiate, the better you get at it.  In my opinion, preparing for a negotiation is key in order to get the best outcome. What could you do to prepare for a negotiation?  Learn as much as you can about the person/company you are going to talk to.  Think about the relationship you have...