First, understand that if you’re feeling the effects of inflation, so are your clients and companies that you’re working with. You should try looking at your rates compared with other translators and interpreters and know where you stand.  Everyone’s situation is different, however everyone is in the same inflation. This means the best way to cope with the uncertain times is to make sure that you stay in a good position without losing any of the business that you currently have. You should always be sure to do your best to honor your rates with your current clients. Even to lower your rate to attract more business may be also a good idea!

Next, the world has gone through a lot of changes over the years and we all have had to learn and adapt in order to stay afloat. Before the pandemic, the majority of work was done in-person, but now, there are more and more remote interpretation opportunities. Be sure to also widen your reach to other parts of the country. If you are working from home, that means you can work anywhere. Someone in a completely different area from you may be looking for someone with your experience. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

If you’re going to be working more from home, it may be time to reassess your internet, phone plan, and current equipment. Investing in better internet, phone service, and equipment will make you a more attractive interpreter or translator because you will not have as many technical difficulties as others may have. For that matter, be sure to educate yourself on how to connect to the various video conferencing services. For example, try setting up Zoom, Google Meets, or Webex on your own and test having a call with yourself to make sure you know how to quickly connect and also that your audio equipment is good. Connection means work and livelihood in today’s work place!

Finally, we do hope the world will be back to normal where we can also provide both remote and in-person interpretation without worrying about the inflation nor the pandemic. After all, a balance of in-person and remote work would be the ideal model for clients, interpreters and language service providers!

Usually, language buyers will characterize their needs and the LSP will have to do their best to capture their attention and show that they can satisfy the needs to be considered as a potential partner. In this case, the needs could be anything from time constraints, to specific languages, to translations or interpretations in specific fields, or to convey the meaning clearly. The language buyers will then look into the LSP and see if they believe that LSPs can deliver the type of service that they are looking for. If everything seems ok, they may typically take them on as a language supplier, but they will observe them over time to see if they crack or show that they are suited for their needs. The LSP will in turn do their best to try and foster a trusting relationship with the language buyer and try to make sure to meet their expectations to become a trusted supplier for frequent use and a closer partnership.

For the buyers, it starts with the fact that they have to look at themselves and figure out what exactly they are looking for and then find a LSP that can meet the most amount of requirements. They then have to continue to monitor the LSP to make sure that they are keeping up with the set expectations while also assessing whether they are the best option for the price that they are paying. They might need to understand that quality work is valuable and priceless because quality work usually requires huge efforts from the providers.

For LSPs, the efforts could be quite a few different people need to spend the weekends to go through a document before it gets to the client. Another is find issues and address problems quickly. Another is to figure out what is important and what is critical for clients in a translation or interpretation project.

We will continue to talk about the recommendations for both language buyers and LSPs, but the main point here is that a good relationship between buyers and LSPs is precious. When that happens, it’s ideal to better meet the needs of each other, to be more efficient in taking care of requests and questions from both sides, and both sides can thrive and grow together positively and effectively.