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St. Louis Commerce Magazine October 2008 by Christine Imbs
Thanks in part to the Internet, the world is getting smaller. And for business this means a much broader and more diverse audience for products and services. It also means more challenges. Specifically, how do you communicate?
If you’re hoping to tap into the international market and are still maintaining a strictly English standard when it comes to your website, you’re probably not doing a very good job. In today’s global economy it pays to communicate with your potential customers in their own language. That’s how you gain their trust, as well as their business. And according to Susanne Evens, president of St. Louis-based AAA Translation, there’s a lot of international business to be had.
“The money’s over there right now, not here,” she says. “So it pays to think internationally. And the first step in going global is having a website that speaks to the global community.”
Evens says in the early 1990s, 75 percent of Internet users spoke English. Today, there are more than a billion users around the globe and only a third are native English speakers.
“So the whole thing has flipped. There’s a huge market out there that businesses in this country are not tapping into. I’ve seen quite a few companies over the past 10 years fold their business overseas only because of communication issues,” she says. “So if your website and marketing materials are just in English, you’re selling yourself short.”
Kimberly Vuitel of TRG Group, a St. Louis-based full-service licensing company, agrees that having a website in several languages is important if you have, or aspire to have, an international client base.
“Think about it,” she says. “If we went to a site and it was in French or German, we wouldn’t stick around because we couldn’t learn anything. Why do we think it would be any different for someone in another country looking at an English website?”
And Vuitel adds that legally you can’t sell products in many countries without their language on them.
“We do two types of business—travel gear and footwear. So if we didn’t have our product information translated and put on these products, we honestly couldn’t do an international business.”
Chris Buckley of IMPACT Group, an employee transition company, uses translation services with employee relocations to foreign countries.
“Translation is becoming a big part of our business,” she says. “At one time we just worked with people coming into the United States, so it was just translating the material into English. Now we’re in 23 countries. It’s critical to have accurate translations.”
In other words, make sure whoever is translating your materials knows what they’re doing. That means getting your neighbor’s son who took Spanish in college to translate for you may not be the ideal solution. The same word can mean different things in different countries. For example, in Mexico “ahorita” means “immediately.” But in Puerto Rico the same word means “a little later.” And often what works in the U.S. doesn’t translate well into a foreign language. Take for example Pepsi’s marketing blunder in China when it tried translating their slogan, “Come alive. You’re in the Pepsi generation” literally. The slogan in Chinese meant, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.” And of course there’s General Motors famous attempt to introduce the Chevy Nova into Latin America. “Nova” in Spanish means, “It doesn’t go.” As you might imagine, the car had terrible sales until GM renamed it “Caribe.”
“You simply cannot translate something word for word,” Evens stresses. “And baseball metaphors mean nothing to an international audience. So colloquialisms and slang are a big no-no. So just keep your materials simple and straight forward.”
So you have your website and other marketing tools translated into several languages. You’re all set, right? Not necessarily. Evens says if you plan to meet with your international clientele, cultural differences can be a big stumbling block.
“You have to prepare for an international meeting differently,” she says. “Not only do you need to have all your collateral materials translated, but you need someone to help interpret and provide you with cultural background so you know what to do and what not to do.”
Evens’ company helped with the Chinese Ambassador’s trip to St. Louis back in February. The trip was the Ambassador’s first to St. Louis and was hosted by Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill along with the RCGA as part of the region’s attempt to position the region as China’s freight and commercial hub.
“We also did a U.N.-type meeting, similar to the one we did for RCGA for the FCC a few years ago in Moscow. And we even did a translation for the Pope when he visited St. Louis in 1999. There was a big faux pa made in the German translation of the Pope’s speech and the Vatican rejected it. They called us, because the Pope was arriving the next day and needed it right away. So it can be a very exciting business.”
With so much at stake, the need for a good translation service is critical. Evens says companies should make certain that whatever translation service they use is capable of producing a polished and accurate translation of your materials.
“We have a network of at least 300 freelance translators, interpreters, and global consultants worldwide,” she says. “Using native translators ensures better quality in the translations.”
Evens also suggests the translators have adequate experience in the field and that they have an expertise in your particular industry.
“Before we hire translators, they have to show us five years minimum experience,” she comments. “Plus it helps if they have some knowledge in a specific area such as medicine, the law, or finance. For example, right now we’re in the middle of a big project translating technical drawings using AutoCAD into Japanese. So not only do we need translators who can translate mechanical engineering documents into Japanese, but who are also familiar with AutoCAD. It was difficult, but we have a team together now.”
Evens says when it comes to doing international business, you have to think outside the box.
“You can’t apply American business know-how to international business,” she says. “You have to do your research and that’s why we’re here. And with this economy, our business is growing. I guess that’s what you call job security.” |
