Sell Business Outcomes Not Your Services!

During the recent ELIA Conference in Bled, Slovenia I had a conversation with a couple of LSP owners on a topic I feel quite strongly about and frequently mention in my sales training and consulting engagements…How much of an impact we have on our clients.  Our clients benefit tremendously from our services though they (and we) don’t always recognize or acknowledge it.  Let’s take a look at the great benefits businesses derive from our services.

We touch almost every aspect of a business—from technical publications to marketing materials, from HR to legal, from regulatory to packaging, and many more.  Let’s look at just some of the ways businesses benefit from translation.  We help companies:

Expand into international markets.  Without language services few businesses can locate in a country without tax and regulatory compliance (GDPR for example) and legal documents/contracts.  Translation is a must.  These entities would simply not be able to operate or sell their products and services in other countries. 

Generate significant revenue for international companies who sell products ranging from toothpaste to catheters to services.  The trillions these companies make truly are enabled by our professional services. 

When I brought this topic up to industry recruiter @Inger Larsen the other day, she gave an impressive example by mentioning that over 66% of IBM’s 2022 revenue came from outside the United States.  Another great example is Procter & Gamble, where 51% of their $81 bn in revenue comes from outside North America from the other 178 countries outside of North America.  We can’t attribute the entire 66%/51% to our services, but without us there wouldn’t be a lot happening in non-English speaking markets for these companies.  In other words, we help them make a lot of money!  We do this in innumerable ways and here are just a few.

• Marketing – people don’t buy if they don’t know about it or can’t find it in their own language.  As @Common Sense Advisory has said for years “can’t read, won’t buy” products and services without localized websites and other marketing materials and initiatives. 

• Documentation and user videos – “can’t read, can’t use” when it comes to using a product or service.  We make it easy for people around the world to use the products and services they buy.

• Client visits and conference attendees – if visitors/attendees come from another country, on-site interpreters facilitate communication between visitors and hosts/presenters.

• Human resources & employee education – while not directly related to revenue generation, HR departments, who struggle to find qualified employees, have web content specifically for recruiting global employees. A great deal of training is also localized for international employees, so they acquire the knowledge needed for their jobs and/or understanding company policy or products. Better employees make a better company and is more likely to do well.

These are just a few ways LSPs help businesses generate revenue and realize other benefits. We haven’t even touched public sector and NGO use of our services, which is huge, but that is a different blog post.

In closing, please don’t minimize your services by only talking about the deliverables and your company.  Be sure to remind your corporate customers or ask them about the benefits they derive from professional translation, localization and interpretation. This will remind them about the important role language plays in their company.  Sell business outcomes rather than your services.  This may help you when corporate buyers ask you to explain your pricing!