2011 saw the launch of our Client Portal, a system which offers our customers greater transparency and control with regard to the monitoring of quotes and projects. Individual login details give our clients secure access round the clock to the Portal’s control panel, where the progress of translation projects can be monitored and any corresponding files can be uploaded/downloaded. Moreover, as no initial setup or software is required (the Portal is available online), the Portal can be used immediately.

The Client Portal offers a user friendly interface with quick and easy access to all of your projects. The main features of the portal are as follows:

• Updating of client contact details
• Managing account security settings
• Requesting quotes and uploading files
• Tracking quotes (both current and past), viewing/approving or declining them
• Tracking projects and monitoring their status
• Retrieving translations and uploading reviewed files
• Communicating with your Account Manager through the Message board

Whilst we are still more than happy to receive communications and project requests by email, we feel it is important to allow clients who want a secure platform for submitting documents (which are sometimes larger than permitted by email) and who want to have visibility on the status of their projects around the clock. Moreover, through fully trained Crystal Reports specialists, we are able to create customised reports detailing a wide variety of information about client quotes, projects and invoices. For more information on our client portal, please contact Jasmin Schneider, our operations manager, on 0121 635 5065 or jasmin.schneider@thetranslationpeople.com.

Following our successful launch in Paris last year, we have taken a further important step to increase our presence in Europe by opening a new office in the city of Bonn.

The Translation People’s business in Germany has seen dramatic expansion this year with client numbers in the first 4 months of 2011 up by more than 80% compared with the same period last year.

The Translation People director, David Nichols commented “we have experienced a strong build up of business in Germany in specialised sectors such as medical, pharmaceutical, transport and engineering where the need for precision in translation and tight delivery turn round times is critical. Many of our customers are vying for important export business and find that multilingual presentations and literature in their customers’ languages help considerably in winning export contracts. With the continuing weakness of Sterling against the Euro, our clients also find our prices very competitive compared with those of other European suppliers.”

The German economy overall has rebounded strongly from recession and some forecasters now expect a period of sustained growth lasting up to 10 years. Germany recently announced a record export performance enabling it to retain the coveted number 2 position amongst world exporting nations, just behind China.

The Translation People’s operation in Bonn is headed up by German national Patrick Hobus, who has extensive knowledge and years of experience in the translation industry in Germany. Patrick, in his role as German business development manager, enjoys support from a highly qualified team including project manager Denise Sauer who moved from her home town near Frankfurt to join The Translation People last year and native Bavarian Jasmin Schneider, who oversees the company’s operations.

Commenting on the location of the new office, Jasmin Schneider said “Bonn is ideal for us as it benefits from the proximity of airports in Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt and also from excellent direct rail links with German and European cities. Situated on the banks of the Rhine, it is famous for being the birthplace of Beethoven and the seat of the Federal Government for 5 decades but it has now transformed itself into a thriving cultural and business city, home to such well known companies as Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Post, DHL and Postbank.”

For further information and advice on doing business in Germany, please do not hesitate to call us on +49 228 304 14016

ISO 9001: Just another tick in the box?

When the management team first discussed the process to gain ISO certification there was a genuine sense that we could improve the way we operate and gain some quantifiable evidence that the service we provide to our clients was as good as our perception.

There were some fears at the outset that gaining certification would be difficult, longwinded and entail endless amounts of documentation but we hoped the result would be worthwhile. We chose BSI, who advised us on the process and they were optimistic that whilst there were many documents to write and much evidence to be gathered, the fact that we were well organized meant we should expect to achieve certification within approx 9 months.

Due to the sterling efforts of our Operations Manager, Jasmin Schneider, who adopted the role of Quality Manager, and our Glasgow Branch Manager, Sam Bennett who trained and qualified as a QA Auditor, work commenced quickly after the initial meeting with BSI.

Mapping out procedures and work instructions for the Quality Management System was a fairly major task but was completed in 3 months. The next stage of implementing any changes to the current way of working and then gathering data through audits and measuring KPIs took rather longer.

When BSI came back to do their external audit in November the auditor was extremely complimentary about the standard of our system and the evidence which clearly showed that the system was working. Basically all issues resulting from the data are reviewed at every monthly management meeting and if required corrective actions are decided on and put in place.

It really works! As one example we have flushed things out that we were unaware of previously and we felt that we had so few complaints before that everything was fine. Sometimes complaints do not surface unless you seek them out. Practically every survey response yielded 10/10 so we improved the system of gaining client feedback and targeted a much higher response level. We also logged all internally raised issues with suppliers as complaints so that they would be investigated and included in the monthly review.

Jasmin actually said “All these perfect 10/10 responses with no suggestions of what we could do better are nice but they don’t help us!”

The result is that now, despite previous excellent customer retention, a very low level of complaints and highly motivated staff we can, with clear evidence, say that we have still reduced complaints, very significantly increased feedback, improved our service, grown our business and our staff are as motivated as ever!

To any business genuinely seeking to improve its performance ISO certification is definitely not just a tick in a box!