Leica, the demise of the camera shop and the costs of translators; thoughts on a rainy November evening...

Tonight I walked back through Ennis after having had dinner and watching the first-half of the Liverpool football match.  Significant events always seem to take place on dates ending with a ‘9’ and this one was no different.  During my much needed stroll, I noticed two shops.

A small photographic outlet caught my eye for two reasons.  Firstly, these are slowly disappearing, being replaced by large chains.  Having just migrated to a digital Leica 8.2 from my “MP” film camera, I still feel a pang of guilt turning my back on film.  Secondly, it boasted “Full Air Conditioning” at a time when this area of Ireland has suffered its greatest rains and floods for years.

The other shop had a sign in the window stating ‘...will not be beaten on price’.  It was boarded up and presumably empty.  I am not sure what happened, but it seems they had not survived their boast.

I remember a discussion asking why some providers rush straight into the negotiation-end-game.  By this, I mean that price becomes the competing factor (too) early in the procurement cycle. The answers to this question are varied, but I suspect include machismo statements from some sellers and buyers proclaiming how experience and tactics were executed to make this happen.

Language providers carefully develop their differentiators.  However, despite the value placed upon quality and timeliness, pricing is commoditised.  If this industry were selling a fizzy drink, we would end up by pricing the individual elements of the coloured and flavoured water, the aluminium can, the ring pull, and the labelling, rather than value-pricing the end product. 

Many linguists work for more than one translation agency. Therefore, there is the possibility that a client could end up with the same translator irrespective of the language provider they choose. So, does the client actually get the better deal by driving hard on price?

Imagine you fulfilled PC orders on behalf of a manufacturer and that the manufacturer agreed the pricing with your client companies. If you have limited stock and achieve greater profit with one client than another, you are likely to be more interested in offering your product to the client who pays more, potentially limiting access to your other client.  A similar situation exists with language providers and linguists. Given the choice, the higher skilled linguist would be placed on the more profitable project and the linguist would hopefully receive more money.

So, what of eTeams? Beyond quality and timeliness, we list another 25+ value-add differentiators. Our relationship with our linguists is relatively extra-ordinary.  We aim to pay higher rates; we help administer their relationship with us; we provide zero cost access to advanced web-based language technology; and, in an industry which promotes the clinical nature of ‘vendor management’, we have a Linguist Care Manager, who believes in old-fashioned relationship-building through listening and understanding.

 ‘eTeams - translations you can trust’