Six tips for flexible and cost-effective management of your translations

Whether it’s a large or small project, you want flawless quality whenever you order a translation. And that makes two of us! Most likely, you’ll be keeping a close eye on the cost of your translations and you’ll want to waste as little time as possible. Once again, we’re on the same lines: the flexible and cost-effective handling of your translation process is our concern too. Below, we’ve listed six simple tips to help us manage your translation costs in the most effective way, without compromising on quality.

1. Plan your projects in good time

You’re probably thinking this is pretty self-explanatory, but it can't be emphasised enough: being properly prepared will save you time as well as money. You’ll also avoid a lot of unnecessary stress and endless e-mailing back and forth, which is good news for your own peace of mind as well as the quality of the translation.

The first thing to do is decide what you want to translate, and into which languages. Especially for big projects, this will give us the time to select the most suitable linguists: our network of 1800 translators is guaranteed to contain experts who know your exact line of work inside out.

2. Use our management system

We encourage customers to use our MyTranslation online platform. Aside from enabling you to quickly get a quote and place your order at the press of a button, it also gives you a clear overview of all your ongoing projects, right from the initial request to final delivery. All in all, it’s the ultimate tool for a speedy and cost-effective translation process. On top of that, the platform's reporting function offers a clear overview of your company's translation expenses at any time.

3. Ask us about our translation memories

Our translators use translation memories, and you can benefit from this technology too. Here’s why: a translation memory is a database that locates sentences and words that have already been translated in previous projects, enabling us to reuse them in future translations. The result is translations that are more consistent as well as cheaper: you’ll get a discounted rate for all repetitions in your texts.

4. Give feedback

Translation is always a two-way process, especially in big projects. If you’ve got any additional instructions, any preferences in terms of style or tone of voice or any specific language or jargon we need to be aware of, just let us know, or better still, send us some previously translated texts for reference. With your feedback, we can kill two birds with one stone: it enables us to keep your translation memories and terminology up-to-date, which is good news for the consistency of your translations. In addition, it allows us to deliver translations that meet every one of your requirements first time.

5. Send us your latest version 

Better still: send us a source text that is fully finalised. By doing so, you can avoid any extra expense if you decide to change or add content.

When you're sending us a pdf or other graphic file format to translate, take some time to track down the original file. It might take a little effort, but the benefits are huge: it will allow us to stick to the original layout in your translation(s), so there’s no need to waste any time copying and pasting to get everything just right. All in all, this will save you a significant amount of layout costs.

6. Ask our project managers for advice

Our eight-strong team of project managers is always at your disposal: they will make sure your translation is delivered right on time, with every last detail taken care of. They also serve as your fixed point of contact during the translation process. If you’ve got any extra instructions in terms of terminology or style or if you’d like to know more about your translation costs, your wish is their command!

Got any questions about the optimal management of your translation budget?

Simply call Johan Noël, our Business Development Director, on +32 (0)11 49 04 68 - johannoel@elanlanguages.com. He’ll gladly help you save money on your translations. Or request your no-obligation request here!