With the sun shining out here as Beijing springs into warmer weather, we thought it appropriate to feature our lovely Chiara for this week’s CSOFT Story. With her ebullient personality and beaming smile brightening up the CSOFT office, Italian native Chiara Conte has much to say regarding the future of translation, personal growth, and keeping a sunny disposition as the pressure begins to mount. Read on for more!

A few weeks ago, we documented several examples of localization mishaps. To follow up, this week at T for Translation we’re providing a few success stories of companies that properly employed localization strategies and benefited immensely as a result.

KFC

Having gained mention in the previous post for the near-catastrophic mistranslation of its slogan, KFC has in point of fact done a rather impressive job of infiltrating the Chinese market. KFC’s most famous product is, of course, its fried chicken. Coming to China, the famous blend of 11 different herbs and spices remained largely unchanged; however, KFC introduced a range of China-specific food options to accompany the standard western fare. Pots of Chinese porridge, traditional Chinese breakfast breads, and a variety of rice-paired dishes all helped establish KFC’s image and popularity in China. The more adventurous young folks came to try out the American food they’d seen advertised, while those more set in their culinary ways enjoyed traditional dishes served with American fast-food flair. Chinese consumers were quickly won over by KFC’s speedy service and range of meal options.

Localization entails far more than simply translation. It requires, above all else, a cultural understanding of the practices and norms of the country into which you are localizing. A famous historical example would be JFK’s memorable Berlin speech where he began by stating “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which didn’t announce him as a native of the city as he intended, but rather as a brand of popular German doughnuts. If you’re still unsure about the importance of localization, take a look at some real-world localization blunders below.

This week’s blog entry on T for Translation makes a general case for how some of the standard service offerings of a localization provider can be beneficial to globalizing company brands. Whether you’re familiar with the localization industry or not, this piece should provide some food for thought, especially when considering current global trends.

We live in an increasingly interconnected and globalized world. With so many different avenues for advertising and so many diverse audiences to capture, maintaining a strong and consistent brand image and message has become progressively more difficult. As the game has changed, businesses looking to achieve international marketing success should consider adapting their strategies to meet these new challenges.

It all begins with understanding international markets, or trusting a company that does, such as a localization provider. A company that specializes in localization can help you make your brand internationally viable, because that is namely what they do: adapt products to be culturally and linguistically appropriate to specific target locales. Beyond that, however, localization companies can offer you a lot more to make your brand message stick. Here’s how:

Last week we introduced the first part of a two-part series on automatic terminology extraction, where translation tools expert and terminologist, Uwe Muegge, broke down terminology extraction and its role in the careful management of terminology. In this post, you’ll find suggestions regarding methods and tools for automating terminology extraction. Read on to see what tips Uwe has to give.

Michael Anobile is a founding member and former Director of LISA (Localization Industry Standards Association) with over 35 years of experience in international marketing communications. After relocating his family to Switzerland in 1980 to become European Training Manager for Exxon Office Systems, he subsequently held a number of European and Swiss senior management and marketing positions in the field of language-technology and global business development.

A few weeks ago, CSOFT held its 9^th Annual World Summit, inviting guest speakers, industry experts and localization professionals from all over the world to engage in a series of presentations and discussions with the aim of mutual learning and sharing of industry knowledge. We were fortunate enough to have Michael Anobile present on “The History, Evolution, and Future of the Localization Business.” Michael graciously agreed to answer questions on some of the more poignant matters from his presentation, so check out the interview between Ross (CSOFT Marketing Writer) and Michael below, and prepare to be educated! 

In the spirit of new beginnings and fresh starts, last week we asked a few CSOFT members to share their New Year’s resolutions for 2012. A recurring response, as well as a common intention of many resolution-makers around the world, was better time management skills.

As with most resolutions, the underlying issue lies not in deciding what to improve about yourself, but in how to sustain these healthier habits for the long haul. Because of this, we started thinking of methods that would facilitate better time management and task prioritization; today’s post will provide you with some food for thought about a concept identified as eating that frog!

“If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!”

This old saying sets the stage for the phrase eat the frog, made popular by leading motivational speaker and self-help author Brian Tracy. According to Tracy, “frog” is a blanket term used to metaphorically represent anything on your to-do list that you find yourself dreading and putting off, such as the client phone calls, that discussion you’ve been meaning to have with your boss, or even the leaky faucet you’ve been planning to fix for months now.

Thanks for stopping by for our final entry of CSOFT’s Customer Service Week with our fifth, and arguably most important, virtue. If you’re just joining us now, the concept of Customer Service Week originated from the desire to enhance the traditional customer service model with a fresh and more efficient approach. Every day this week, we’ve introduced different virtues that we believe are central to quality customer service. So far, we’ve already covered the importance of focus, perception, responsiveness, and innovation.

Each one of these virtues was chosen with the ideas and concepts of the Taoist tradition in mind. Thousands of years ago, Taoism was founded on the basic belief that followers should find harmony with the Tao, or the Way. The Tao describes a balanced and harmonious way of living with the natural order. Similarly, we believe customer service should not be a reaction to a situation that occurs; rather, it should be an integral part of the entire buyer-seller relationship, shaping attitude, behavior and disposition. Today we will discuss the value of having a sense of humor.

We’re back with day four of CSOFT’s Customer Service Week series to offer you another fresh perspective on ways to enhance your approach to service. Similar to each post this week, today we will discuss how to improve  customer service through a Taoist lens. If this sounds wacky and offbeat… well, we admit that it is! But give it a few more minutes’ thought (and reading), and trust us, it’ll all come together in the end.

The philosophy and teachings behind Taoism form more than just a simple belief; Tao is a way of life that requires mindful application in daily living. As it applies to customer service, we have long thought that the traditional customer service model needed a change. Customer service should not just be a reaction to situations gone wrong or focused merely on placating dissatisfied customers; like Taoism, customer service should be a combined set of beliefs, attitudes and practices that build and nurture the relationship between client and service provider.

In our previous posts, we’ve set forth the concept of focus, the importance of understanding your client’s angle of perception, and the art of responsiveness. Today we will discuss how innovation is related to customer service.

It’s day three of Customer Service Week, where each day of this week is devoted to highlighting different ways to transform the traditional customer service model into a more enhanced, dynamic approach to foster better  relationships between clients and service providers. Why is this important? According to the International Customer Service Association, 68% of customers will stop doing business with a company because of bad service.

It is important to note that customer service doesn’t just exist behind a designated counter at your local shopping center, or on the phone when reporting a faulty delivery—customer service underlines the entire supplier-buyer relationship. It is present even before a official relationship begins and (should) remain in sight during the entire exchange. When understanding this, we start to see customer service not as a process, but as the adaptation of certain virtues in day-to day work. Hence, this week’s customer service series can really be defined as the Tao of Customer Service.

Like Taoism, customer service describes a practice—not a reaction nor a process—but a practice that should be integrated into daily work life. By identifying certain virtues to follow, your customer service model can be transformed into something that is beneficial to all.

In parts one and two of Customer Service Week, we highlighted the value in sharpening your focus and identifying your client’s angle of perception. These two virtues emphasize approach and behavior. Today’s post will concentrate on how to respond in various customer service situations.