METM23 presentation
Communicating the added value of language services to clients – How associations can help
Sarah Bawa Mason, Southampton, UK
Professional associations should work to ensure the skills and services provided by their members are recognized, developing meaningful messaging on the “value added” for potential clients by the work of said members. Associations can also leverage their knowledge and dissemination capacity to the advantage of their members. It is best practice for individual members to spread these messages in their dealings with clients too.
MET members are at the apex of the human language services pyramid, but many are working alone as freelancers in a highly competitive market with constant downward pressure on pricing. The speaker will draw out key messages on the added value of language services and the premium attached to language capability in a way that will be helpful to MET members in their own negotiations. She will provide links to meaningful research and a curated collection of case studies demonstrating return on investment for clients that can be used as ammunition in negotiations by individual professional translators and editors offering high-level language services to clients from many sectors.
The resources cited in the talk can be used and adapted by people working in associations and individual members to build more targeted messaging for clients on the value of language services, and to push back on behalf of premium human translation and editing service providers.
The presentation will explore the possibility of MET, groups within MET, or even individual MET members curating their own collection of resources and case studies linked to specific sectors as a bank to be drawn upon in negotiations. A listing of relevant resources could be collated online.
[Read a member’s review of the presentation.]
About the presenter
Sarah Bawa Mason has over 30 years’ experience as a freelance language service provider, 11 as a Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at Portsmouth, and she also chaired the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (2016–19). She currently provides consultancy as Commercial Collaborations Lead for the UK Association of Translation Companies.
