The following content is translated from Chinese source by machine translation without post-editing.
At this point, you may be a customer in need of translation services while reading the article. As a translation service provider, how can we correctly grasp your needs, better think from your perspective, and provide you with targeted solutions? This is the most critical question we consider in our daily translation services.
The customer groups, types, and needs we face every day can be said to be diverse. If we simply use “how much does translation cost for a thousand words” or “how much does interpretation cost for a day” to respond to different needs in a constant and adaptable manner, many times it will only ultimately lead to unmet customer needs. The root cause of this dilemma can be traced back to a lack of understanding of customer needs. How can we talk about meeting customer needs and creating value for them?
Next, we will use the case of customer X from a well-known sports brand who has a continuous translation demand to explore how Tang can provide valuable services centered on customer needs in translation services.
Project Background:
The customer Under Armour plans to comprehensively upgrade the official website and optimize the three layouts in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. TalkingChina, as a translation service provider at that time, had already provided some simple product translations for it.
answer:
Firstly, obtain customer demand information
There is not much customer information obtained in the initial stage, and customer service personnel need to further obtain the information. Our channels and methods for obtaining information are: one search, two questions, and three summaries.
1. First search: Try to search for information related to this customer, understand the customer’s basic information, and use the established information survey checklist to understand the customer’s company background, products, organizational structure, market situation, development trends, and other related template information one by one. Roughly understand the reasons, fields, departments, trends, etc. of the customer’s translation needs;
2. Second question: Through telephone and face-to-face interviews, further guide and listen to specific information about the client’s translation needs, supplement and complete the previous “first search” information results, further understand the difficulties, pain points, characteristics of translation needs, and have a preliminary grasp of specific languages, types, workloads, and departments in need;
3. Three summaries: Based on the “One Search” and “Two Questions” as well as the information observed in previous cooperation practices, summarize and systematically record the customer’s translation needs.
Step 2: Analyze customer needs
Based on the collected customer demand information, we have analyzed and identified the following key points that customers need:
1. In terms of product translation: Previously, the client’s main requirement was the textual description of the product. In recent years, with the rapid development of the “new retail model” online business, the brand has not only opened its own official website, but also successively opened flagship stores on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com. The number and update speed of its products have shown exponential growth, and the number of target audiences it faces is also increasing. For the newly added translation requirements in this section, the three most important requirements are translation efficiency, accuracy, and consistency;
2. In terms of target language, the original English to Simplified Chinese has been expanded to English to Simplified Chinese, English to Hong Kong Traditional, and Taiwan Traditional;
3. In terms of the type and purpose of the article, it is mainly for market communication purposes. Whether it is an official website or a third-party platform, the goal is to impress the target consumers, so there are requirements for language style and marketing effectiveness in translation needs;
4. In terms of the investigation of prohibited advertising words: In 2015, the new Advertising Law was promulgated and implemented, which can be regarded as the “strictest” punishment scale in history, shaking the entire advertising circle. Originally, slogans such as “top” and “best” that could be seen everywhere suddenly became prohibited words. How to quickly and accurately identify prohibited words on promotional pages, and how to ensure that prohibited words do not appear in future product promotion processes, is a tricky problem facing customers.
5. In terms of color creation translation: In the previous process of serving this customer, we also found that the color classification of clothing is very diverse, and commonly used descriptions such as “sky blue” and “grass green” cannot accurately describe product colors and are not rigorous enough. How to better unify the description of color diversity is another important requirement we have discovered from the perspective of our customers;
6. Customers will continue to have some “non-standard and unconventional translation needs” or “translation+” translation derivative needs, which require translation service providers to respond actively to the best countermeasures according to the needs. This is also the most important aspect that tests the service provider’s ability to respond.
In the process of providing translation services for Under Armour, we have identified some unconventional translation and creative translation needs:
6.1 Requirements for product content classification: For product description information, it is necessary to accurately classify it according to two parts: “technology introduction” and “product details”;
6.2 Requirements for modifying product copy after sample verification: Based on the actual measurement information of the customer, the original text should be modified accordingly, including simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, English, selling points, and names;
6.3 Requirements for summarizing and describing product selling points: Extract selling points based on the descriptive information in the copy;
6.4 Requirements for Writing E-commerce Product Copywriting: After the customer provides a product image, write a copy of the product information based on their translation style and customer requirements;
6.5 Advertising slogan writing and translation requirements: Write advertising slogans that match the brand promotion based on the client’s brand style.
Step 3, develop a solution
Based on the analysis of customer needs in the previous stage, TalkingChina has formulated the key points of the solution:
1.Regarding the three key translation requirements of “translation efficiency, accuracy, and consistency”, we have further strengthened the accumulation and management of terminology that we have been working on before. For example, high-frequency words related to fabrics such as polyester fiber, mesh fabric, velvet, etc., which must not be mistaken in product descriptions, can be accurately and quickly translated through the combination of terminology and CAT;
2. In response to the increased demand for target languages, the resource department quickly recommended suitable translators for Hong Kong and Taiwan. The customer service staff conducted a test for the client in advance, and after approval, provided reference materials and corpus to quickly integrate into the project;
3. Regarding language style and translation considerations, we have developed a style guide for this client, dedicated to helping brands impress consumers in terms of language translation style. At the same time, summarize and compile personalized requests made by customers sporadically, in order to facilitate internal learning and dissemination within the company. For example, “half” must be “1/2″; Unified use of translation units for Chinese copywriting; Unified use of “-” in product names for explanation and supplementation, etc;
At the same time, in terms of marketing effectiveness, market communication translation is an independent product with distinctive features of TalkingChina Translation, and has rich experience in this area. After determining the language style and matching the appropriate translator team, we have developed a service plan for regular communication with clients, including regular product training to continuously improve our understanding of clients’ products, writing styles, copywriting intentions, etc;
4. In response to the demand for identifying prohibited words in advertising laws, TalkingChina Translation’s technical personnel have developed a technical tool for identifying prohibited words. This program can import all prohibited words and can be updated regularly. During the translation process, if prohibited words appear, the system will automatically mark them and prompt the translator to change the wording. The development of this technological tool greatly ensures the effectiveness and efficiency of prohibited word screening;
5. In response to the coding requirements in color creation and translation, we thought that as long as we use a unified standard color system with our clients, there would be no deviation. Therefore, we used a small HTML colors software that includes various colors and corresponding codes. Customers only need to inform us of the color code before translation, and we can use the software to find color samples, provide intuitive references, and accurately name and translate the color.
6. In response to customers’ unconventional translation and creative translation needs, we have organized corresponding personnel to make the following responses:
6.1 Product Content Classification: After the completion of regular product translation, the information described in the product needs to be accurately classified according to two parts: “Technology Introduction” and “Product Details”. This is also beneficial for consumers to accurately grasp the technological points and design details of the product;
6.2 Requirements for modifying product copy after sample verification: Customers will send us samples of clothes and shoes, and we will compare the actual measurement results with the original text to see if the data is consistent. For example, if the actual measurement of shoes is 400g and the copy states 350g, then the copy needs to be modified based on the actual measurement results, including simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, English, and selling points; If there is a name error, the product name needs to be modified. For example, if the actual sample garment is long sleeved and the text says short sleeved, the product name needs to be modified.
6.3 Summary and description of product selling points: Based on the descriptive information in the copy, extract four sets of key product information words, usually consisting of four characters. This includes cutting information, technological highlights, and special design points of the product to reflect its selling points.
6.4 Writing advertising slogans for e-commerce product descriptions. This part of the work has gone beyond the scope of translation services and is a typical writing service. After a period of adjustment: after the customer provides product images, we will have professional copywriters to write copywriting that meets the customer’s brand style and contains accurate product information according to their requirements.
6.5 Advertising slogan writing and translation: In this regard, we will have a team of writers specializing in advertising slogan writing to handle this task,. Write advertising slogans that align with the brand promotion strategy based on the client’s brand style. This service greatly reduces the workload of the client and improves efficiency.
Step 4, form a team, develop processes, and implement solutions
Once the plan is formulated, it is necessary to carry out matrix management around the project within the company based on the plan. Customer service, project management, translation, resources, and technology departments work together to implement the solution within the constraints of the project process.
In this project, the project process is: translation+editing+prohibited word screening+(typesetting)+proofreading.
Step 5: Break in and adjust the solution
The implementation of the plan requires adjustment through project integration and collecting customer feedback. It is a dynamic process, and the focus of all work will never change: have the customer’s needs been met? Have you helped the customer solve the problem?
Conclusion:
In this case, TalkingChina has developed a customized service plan by combining various key points such as “terminology library”, “style guide”, “market communication translation”, “translator product training”, “advertising prohibition language investigation”, “color coding”, “selling point extraction”, “copywriting modification”, “advertising language creation translation”, etc. Facing the needs of customers, always thinking ahead of them, the development of service plans is centered on customer needs. The purpose of TalkingChina is to move according to the needs of customers. All the starting points of innovative services based on traditional translation services are derived from the needs of customers. The so-called “non-standard” and “unconventional” service content is actually customized solutions that have emerged to better meet the new needs of customers.
Being able to help customers solve problems is the key.
It can be seen that excellent translation service providers must have a better understanding of their clients’ translation needs than they do. They are professional guides, reliable partners, and helpers for their clients. In today’s rapidly developing world of machine translation, while embracing machine translation and translation technology, TalkingChina Translation always puts customer translation needs first, thinks from the customer’s perspective, and strives to analyze how to help customers solve problems and create value for them. This is an irreplaceable part of translation services that machines can never replace.
In the past two years, we have been delighted to see a significant increase in UA’s online business, and its development in China can be described as rapid. Currently, there are 9 online stores. In this process, our duty is to keep up with customer needs, help them create value, and achieve greater success.
Post time: Nov-19-2025