Customer satisfaction – an adapted/adaptable survey questionnaire

 

[4 people with things to say]

In such a volatile market for freelancers, including translators, and large businesses alike, it is vital to retain existing customers and learn why customers do not return. The BBC TV program, Four in a Bed, which features four different B&B operators checking each other’s place out, asks a specific set of questions to sound out, for better or worse, the customer experience, rating them with a score ranging from one to ten. The participants do not always agree with or appreciate the feedback, both written and oral, but clearly learn from the experience in terms of improving their product. The same set of questions, with appropriate changes, could also be useful for other service providers. I will relate the original questions to the translation business but most providers can adapt them.

4 in the Bed question: How were the hosts?

Translator customer question: How was the communication with the translator?

Explanation: People prefer to do business with people that are pleasant and professional and tend not to return to those that are indifferent or amateurish. In translation, most of the communication is written, i.e., customers and service providers don’t physically meet or even talk to each other. Thus, the tone, content and timeliness of the email or WhatsApp chats create the relationship. Think before you press send.

 

4 in the Bed question: How clean was the room?

Translator customer question: How accurate in terms of errors was the translation?

Explanation: Translation buyers expect translators to pay attention to detail. A clean translation should have no spelling, name or number errors and visually resemble the original document. Multiple post-delivery correspondence is a bad omen for future business with the buyer. Clearly, “critical” error is a subjective matter and may, in some cases, involve mistaken judgment by the buyer. The lesson for the translator is allow and take the time to do proper QA.

 

4 in the Bed question: How were the facilities?

Translator customer question: Could the translator provide all the required services?

Explanation: Translation often involves more than production of a document and may include certification, notarization, delivery or even translation into other languages. The question is whether the translator managed the whole process or dropped the bag on the customer. People are willing to pay for convenience.

 

4 in the Bed question: How did you sleep?

Translator customer question: Did the translated document meet your needs?

Explanation: Excellence is not always required. Translation buyers choose to hire translators because of a specific need. If the person used the document without any issues, the translation was successful. If not, the purchase was a waste of money. It may be that customer did not know or failed to provide the actual requirements but such explanations only identify the source of the problem and do not eliminate the issue. Translators must attain the actual requirements before starting.

 

4 in the Bed question: How was the breakfast?

Translator question: Did the translator meet my special needs?

Explanation: From the program, it is clear that many Brits are rather particular about the runniness of their poached eggs and/or the quality and cooking of their sausages. Similarly, translation buyers can be rather particular about delivery format, paging, color issues, phrasing and terminology, among other factors. A translator cannot please all customers but at least should try to ascertain these special demands and attempt to satisfy them.

 

4 in the Bed question: Would you stay here again?

Translator question: Would you use my services again and/or recommend me to a friend?

Explanation: Many people are quite critical by nature but that does not mean that they don’t appreciate good service. Service providers create customer loyally through the manner in which they handle issues. Regardless of any problems that arose, the essential issue is whether that buyer would use your services again and/or recommend your services to a friend or colleague. On the other side, every dissatisfied customer is a double loss for the same reason. Clearly, in situations where, for whatever reason, the buyer chose an inappropriate service provider, a negative answer is not necessarily an indictment of the translator. However, a consistent positive answer to this question is the key to long-term success.

 

4 in the Bed question: How much would you pay for the room?

Translator question: Did you receive fair value for your money?

Explanation: At first glance, this question seems irrelevant and even dangerous for translators. After all, many customers neither know nor can attain competing rates nor does the translator generally wish them to find out. On the other hand, the likelihood of a translator retaining a new customer is highly linked to the sense of value. Regardless of the objective reality, a sense of a reasonable price creates satisfaction while a feeling of overpaying leads to dissatisfaction. On a positive note, responses to this question can provide an objective basis for a translator to raise or lower rates or make other changes.

This series of questions can help all freelancers discover the strengths and weaknesses of their business. It takes courage to pose the questions and strength to accept the answers but these responses may surprise us in a positive way and inspire us to improve. I hope you can adeptly adapt and adopt the basic questionnaire and grow your business.

The more, the merrier? – the mult-presenter experience

 

[3 perfomers]

In my final year at UC Santa Cruz more than 40 years ago, I took a senior seminar entitled “History of Socialism”. What was remarkable and memorable about this course, aside from the amount of work and information involved, was the presence of two teachers, each an expert in a different aspect of the topic. Seeing two experts openly disagreeing on the interpretation of various events gave us students the feelings of awe and freedom, significantly enhancing the course. Last week, I was part of a group of three lecturers giving an ATA (American Translator Association) webinar on preparing a professional website, a topic that I had previously presented to the Israel Translators Association in collaboration with Uri Bruck. I and my colleagues, Dmitry Beschetny and Ben Karl, discussed the rational and manner of preparing a profession translator/interpreter website. I found the experience enriching, challenging and worthwhile.

This combination of expertise provided a texture to the course in that each person contributed his knowledge, style and voice. In the case of the course, we covered three aspects of website construction, specifically the rationale, approach to third party providers and doing it yourself, each of us sharing his experience and point of view. As expected, the presentation styles differed in terms of organization and terminology. More importantly, the voice differed as every individual has a unique presence, ranging in formality and technical vocabulary. The webinar had three noticeable separate parts.

Clearly, this cooperation demanded extra effort, compromise and vision. Specifically, as there was a need to create unity among three parts, the planning involved many emails and several Zoom conversations to ensure that everybody was on the same page. In such cases, it also involved a certain loss of individual preference in order to create a unity of not only of theme but spirit. To make and accept this compromise, the parties must create a single overall vision and identify how each element contributes to it without insisting on a single path. This whole process involves far more time and effort than solo presenting.

However, this investment was worthwhile for both the learners and lecturers. The attendees received far more information and advice than would have received from any single lecturer. Furthermore, the lack of complete consensus among the lecturers reinforced the message that many roads lead to Rome. Thus, the issue become which method is more appropriate, not one size does or does not fit all. The division into three sections and three voices also made it easier to concentrate for two hours, an important benefit. For me as a lecturer, I enjoyed hearing the experience of my colleagues and will benefit from it when I redo my site at some time. All the participants gained.

In teaching and presenting as well as other areas of life, synergy can have important benefits, adding knowledge, texture, perspective and variety. Of course, it involves more time investment but the results can justify it. More may not always be merrier but it is almost always richer.

Looking over the women’s medical horizon – impressions of a Kerem-Tech event

 

[sunset]

This week, Kerem Tech, a group bringing together startups, entrepreneurs and freelancers in the technology field in northern Israel, arranged an event at which representatives from several startups in the FemTech field presented current developments in matters of vital importance to women. The lectures discussed new treatments for endometriosis (EndoSpot), a better method for choosing the best embryo in IVF treatments (Carmel Diagnostics) and a developing solution for the need to prevent the release of cancer cells during hysterectomies (Ark Surgical Ltd.) It was a fascinating evening in terms of personal relevance,  a view of  the process of the medical research and exposure to the passion of people working to improve people’s lives.

During the lectures, I discovered  that, beyond my business reason for attending, I had personal, grantedly third-handedly, interest and experience with these issues. My daughter is among the estimated 10% of women with endometriosis. The treatment discussed may provide her with a future with less pain and a greater chance to have a child. Furthermore, her mother and I went through three years of the IVF rollercoaster ride of hope and disappointment. The method of embryo analysis being developed may significantly increase the 25% current rate of success of IVF. Finally, it was rather shocking to discover that a women’s risk of dying as a result of rather common  hysterectomy surgery was far higher than I imagined. The company is trying to develop a much more reliable system of preventing the release of unknown cancer cells into the rest of the body. Although I was there to market my translation services, the subjects of the lectures were of far more interest.

At the same time, one reality somewhat mitigated the hope raised by all these developments, namely the lengthy time and effort required to make them available to the market. Each of the presenters described the long serious of tests and approvals that they had conducted and received and hinted at the those that need to be done and attained. Consequently, they emphasized the need for medical startups to take the long view in terms of organization, financing and cooperation with government bodies and large private companies. Clearly, given the size of the potential market due to the number of women suffering these problems, the long-term effort is viable but success requires patience and endurance.

Beyond any specific information I received, the evening encouraged me. I was extremely impressed that these individuals and all their colleagues view the current situation as a basis and need for change and strive to improve the lives of women and their partners through technology. As implicit in the word “hope”, this betterment may be in the future but it is a future that will become the present. In a world that is rather dark now, a glimpse into the minds of the people involved in startups is a ray of light.

Thus, the Kerem Tech event was far more than a marketing opportunity; it was a look into the not-so-distant future where more women and men will enjoy a family in good health. If you will, it was a peak into the future just over the horizon, giving hope to countless people.

On one year of orphanage

 

A year ago, on January 9, 2024, my mother passed away at the age of 96, some three years after my father died at the age of 94. She was independent until almost the last day of her life, just as she wished. I recall a conversation I had with her decades before when her mother had passed away, aslo in her 90's. I asked her, naively but not maliciously, why she was so distraught given that her relation with her mother has been so difficult. Every conversation was accompanied by a cigarette (until my mother stopped smoking). My grandmother was a difficult person or at least became one after the war. My mother’s explanation to me was that she was now an orphan.

I  now understand that answer. I have been an orphan for one year. Happily, my relation with my mother was far better than hers with her mother but that fact is irrelevant. I am happy that she died not only because the events of the world of the last year would have extremely distressed her but also she was ready to die. My parents left me and my brother an ample and organized estate, which has been distributed without great struggle except with the bureaucracies of the various financial institutions. I have come to terms to the fact that I gave my best to be a supportive son despite living far away on another continent just as they came to terms with me choosing to live in Israel. In short, we parted on the best of terms and remain that way.

In this year, I have made some difficult but unavoidable emotional decisions without any consultation with my parents, not that I did that very much when they were alive. To be honest, I wish I could ask my father some advice on investing but it is far too late for that. Amusingly, if I were to suddenly drop by their house and sit down with them, I imagine the conversation would be exactly as it was before as if they had not died. I don’t know if that is good or bad.

In short, it is has been a challenging year. My parents’ education has stood the ultimate test: I stand on my feet as an orphan. Time does heal certain wounds. I now am capable of enjoying the present and getting excited for the future. Yet, I feel  a sadness in me because t I do not have a parent to whom I can recount my successes and failures. I suppose that this emptiness will never go away completely but, as the Yehuda Poliker song goes, it hurts but less.

On a spiritual note if you will, as I often “talk” with/to my parents on my daily walks, I am inspired and/or comforted by the words of Pooh, whose wisdom I also did not appreciate in my youth. In a certain sense, I find them true and comforting. I am getting used to being an orphan.