The Challenge
Rapid growth brought a new set of challenges for Argos and its translation vendors. These included:
- The many different content types we produced as well as the many industries we worked in, including marketing, legal, software and UI, HR. Our translation partners would have to have expertise with the language and context of all these fields.
- Inconsistent volumes of work. Due to big fluctuations in volumes and times of incoming work for any particular project, it is a challenge to schedule the same translator to work on the same client’s projects every time. Translators like to keep busy, but this means that they may have already been put on a different project when the client’s request comes in.
- A process for client review meetings. We wanted to ensure that we were resolving stylistic differences in a professional manner that left both sides feeling like the best solution has been reached.
- Maintaining the highest quality across all projects and content types.
The Background
ADT International and Argos formed their partnership in 2017, when Argos was looking for a reliable single-language vendor (SLV) for French. We were growing rapidly and needed an SLV with the capacity and maturity to take on an increasing number of projects. ADT came highly recommended based on their reputation for being professional, consistent and looking at the big picture instead of a project-by-project approach.
The Solution
By conducting a formal onboarding process for ADT International, we gained a partner who had access to linguists specializing in a wide range of areas. To ensure a smooth relationship, we focused the process with some key actions.
Account-specific translation planning.
To ensure that we have suitable linguists working on the account from the start, we worked with ADT to select and agree upon the account-specific team. We agreed on blind CVs/profiles for the translators and reviewers on accounts, as well as 1-2 backup linguists. ADT makes sure that the whole team is trained on the account.
When a backup linguist is needed, they will take on the role of a translator. Then, one of the dedicated linguists will review their translation before delivering the final product. This provides the backup linguist with extra training on the account while also ensuring that the quality is not affected.
Direct access to clients.
Whenever possible, we made sure that ADT had direct contact with our clients in order to best capture their needs and requirements.
Regular performance feedback and quality data sharing.
By implementing a comprehensive data-driven and objective LQA program, we established a solid quality data-tracking and feedback loop so that translation teams know at every step of the way:
- How well they are performing compared with an agreed quality threshold
- The areas they need to improve
- The issues they need to prevent from happening again
We also regularly gathered feedback from our partners on ways to improve our own processes and workflows.
Around-the-clock technical support.
We’ve seen benefits on both sides of the relationship. ADT International’s consistently high quality and service levels generate additional work for them. Argos improved end-client satisfaction by working with a high-quality partner.
The Result
The onboarding process and regular performance check-ins increased Argos’s cost and time savings by reducing the time (and money) we needed to spend on quality assurance checks and project management.
ADT International improved the way we do business as well: their feedback strengthened Argos’s vendor engagement processes and transparency—and helped us build loyalty with our vendors.
What They Say…
“We have been working with Argos since 2017. Our collaboration is based on a partner-to-partner relationship, with the same objective: to meet the expectations of end clients while satisfying our respective interests. Respect, listening and trust are key values that strengthen our partnership on a daily basis.”
“We hope to support Argos in the long term and earn the trust of many other clients.”
— Elodie Bouquet Muro, Responsable Opérationnel, ADT International
