Let us start with what can be done from the language buyer side to improve relations. First, a language buyer should try to come up with their own requirements so that they can choose an LSP that meets their needs. Additionally, language buyers should make sure that the supplier is the right fit for the company. If they trust their supplier enough, it is possible to make the LSP a business partner and give them more privileges into the company so that they can more frequently be on the same page and know exactly what is going on.

Building a relationship with the LSP will also possibly help to foster more trust and comfort between both parties. The language buyer can also be more transparent with what they will be using services for to foster trust and understanding. After all, having a strong relationship and partnership is essential for a smooth, long-lasting business relationship.

The LSP can try to pass on as much knowledge as necessary over to the client while trying to understand their needs. However, the LSP should be careful not to overwhelm the language buyer with knowledge.  After all, the language buyer trusts that localization is the LSP’s specialty. The LSP should only try to give them relevant information that will benefit both sides. The LSP should always have the language buyer’s best interest in mind, whether it is to deliver the project timely, to convey clear meaning in translation, or to level the translation to increase the language buyer’s best image.

Overall, it is important to know that creating a strong relationship can be difficult, but it is important to show that you are committed to trying to meet all reasonable needs of each other in order to make a smoother process. There are many ways that this can be achieved, but it is important to think about what steps can be taken to move the relationship in the right direction. In the end, if you can get a strong enough relationship, then it can be possible to be comfortable being completely transparent with each other. In essence, this means that you share all the necessary information and every last detail without trying to sugar coat it. If there is some kind of issues, with a good enough relationship, there will be a high level of trust where there will be mutual cooperation to fix any problems and work on improvement plans to ensure that the same kinds of mistakes are avoided in the future.

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.