I attended Elia’s “VMs are from Venus and PMs are from Mars” webinar this year presented by Giada Gerotto from Creative Words and Nertila Konda from Albaglobal shpk.
I found it interesting to hear that common issues facing Vendor Managers and Project Managers in the translation industry today are similar to those in other industries, such as hospitality.
I can relate as my background is in Hotel Management.
If I was to summarize the webinar, I would say that it was about customer service.
Question: What is Customer Service?
As a Vendor Manager or Project Manager, your customers are both the translators and the clients.
This is what many companies keep forgetting.
In hospitality, you can only deliver quality service and receive positive guest feedback and return business, if you nurture the working environment and most importantly, employ the right people.
Qualified and experienced HR with essential human attributes and true passion for customer service are needed.
If you have good manners and are polite, you already have the necessary people skills.
Listening without interrupting is also part of manners.
It’s as simple as that.
Additionally, you need organizational skills, or more specifically the ability for: job ownership.
Taking initiative, communicating clearly, caring about the outcome and being accountable for the results of your actions, is part of delivering good service.
In conclusion, customer service is a philosophy that all of us understand, but only a few implement.
Therefore, as a Vendor Manager, Project Manager, or a translator, here is the question:
What specifically can be done to improve the working relationship and as a result have a satisfied end client?
Let’s offer solutions by suggesting the following:
- Creating intelligent and interactive interview questions based on proper CV analysis that allow employers to determine the candidates organizational and people skills.
- Creating an internal company newsletter with focus on sharing important information with the translators (overall performance, issues.).
- Creating or promoting a working environment where both internal and external stakeholders feel valued.
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