When expanding your business to international limits, there’s a few steps you need to take in order to be prepared. This is especially pertinent when working with international clients that don’t speak the same language as you do. It’s relatively simple to prepare yourself for your new clients and we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to do to be fully prepared to work with international clients.
Learn about the culture, customs, and language of your client
It’s important to seem welcoming, kind, and professional towards your new client and, believe it or not, those traits can be culturally subjective. Different cultures can view different things as being welcoming or not, kind or hateful, and professional or inappropriate. If you do basic research on the cultural customs and taboos of the region your client is from, you can ensure that you don’t offend them and you maintain an image of professionalism.
If necessary, prepare for a translator/interpreter
If your client speaks a language different from your own, it’s not only helpful and welcoming, but also necessary to seek the assistance of a translator and/or interpreter. You’ll need to translate your contracts so that they are still legally binding and understandable to your client, undergo negotiations, and discuss important decisions. Interpreters can allow you to communicate with your client in their language, without having to sacrifice the personal aspect of face to face conversations and negotiations with your client. You can either seek independent translators/interpreters or seek the assistance of a translation agency that will handle interpretation, translation of important documents, translation of web content and press releases, help with SEO, and more. If you choose to go with an agency, we recommend choosing one you know you can trust, like The Translation People.
Make accommodations for them
If your client is overseas, away from your location or otherwise too far or too busy to physically be present for a meeting, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to sacrifice that precious face to face time with the client that can make or break your business relationship. You could make accommodations for a video meeting to be arranged through a service like Skype or FaceTime, allowing you to have a face to face meeting with no travel involved. You can have your interpreter be present for that or a conference call, whichever best suits your client.
Working with international clients can be an exciting expansion for your business, but it requires a certain level of preparation beforehand. If your client speaks a language different from your own, you’ll have to get the assistance of either an independent translator/interpreter or that of a translation agency to assist in facilitating negotiations and translating contracts. Choosing an agency can help to simplify the entire process, but it can also be more expensive. Despite how you hire a translator or how you hold your meetings, your client will be pleased and impressed that you went to such lengths to accommodate for them.
