2012 is right around the corner.  The economic picture remains fuzzy, but in an industry that grows consistently even in times of economic downturn, there is plenty to be optimistic about as we head into the new year.  The problems of language service providers have typically not been a shortage of business – the challenges have related more to how to manage their growth.  Here are five resolutions we would like to see translation and interpreting companies make in 2012, both to help them grow, and to create a market that’s more stable and mature:

• “We will cultivate – and invest in – our knowledge workers.” Your freelance translators, project managers, and salespeople have vast stores of untapped information in their heads that can help your business in 2012. Your salespeople often have clues as to why you’re not winning when you come up against your competitors. Your project managers know what your customers really want, and how you can make them happier. Your freelance translators know the ins and outs of your customers’ proprietary terminology and content better than anyone, except perhaps the authors who wrote it in the first place.  So why aren’t you using these resources more effectively?  In 2012, try to think beyond paying people by the word, by the hour, and by the commission on a sale. Think instead about how to cultivate these workers in new ways, make them feel like part of a team, and get them to contribute to building a true business – one that is shielded from a competitor beating you by a few pennies per line.  It all starts with asking for their suggestions, and then actually listening to them.   

• “We will stop treating our salespeople like cold calling machines.” Our research has shown that cold calling is not – in and of itself – a good strategy.  Your salespeople need warm leads, if not hot ones, in order to truly close business. How do you get them? Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just hiring a salesperson and giving them a phone or a Skype account. It takes a lot of thought to develop a sales strategy. In 2011, we devoted a great deal of research to this topic, and delivered workshops in North America and Europe. Our findings were that most language service providers (LSPs) have so much organic growth to deal with that it often gets in the way of their ability to focus on how they want to grow and what kind of company the want to be. In 2012, we challenge you to set aside time to think strategically about your sales strategy.  And, don’t forget to give your salespeople access to market information that will make their jobs easier.

• “We will offer something that no one else does.”  The language services market is characterized by diversity and fragmentation.  These two things are often conducive to innovation.  However, while hard times can be good for creativity, the relative prosperity of the translation industry has led to complacency.  We see press releases more often about a company hiring someone (yawn!) than we do about a company launching a new product or service. The latter is newsworthy. And whatever you do, please don’t be shy about it or suggest that if you tell the world what you’re doing, others will steal your idea. Imitation is not only a form of flattery – it’s an opportunity for you to take your own idea to the next level. Get in the game in 2012! Or, one of your competitors will.

• “We will take a serious look at our marketing plan.” Translation companies are dreadful at marketing, with very few exceptions. They rarely hire professionals. Instead, we routinely find owners of these companies with 30 or more employees who are still updating their own websites and drafting the copy for their mailings.  Does this sound familiar?  If so, you’re in dire need of marketing help in 2012.  Chances are, if you’re doing things this way, you’re not segmenting your market strategically either, and perhaps you’re even lacking basic market information about where the opportunities lie and how to reach them.  Marketing doesn’t just mean picking a vertical industry or blasting out Tweets to the world, although those things might very well be part of a broader strategy. Think more strategically about your marketing efforts in 2012, and allocate an amount in your budget for engaging professionals in this area.

• “We will stop putting machine translation in the corner.”  We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Machine translation is not the enemy. Black-and-white thinking of this sort will do absolutely no good for your business. Machine translation is a vibrant and growing part of the industry, and it’s actually helping to boost the demand for human-provided services. Yes, the industry is changing and change is scary. But denying the prominence of machine translation or pretending that it will go away is not going to help you.  Nor will it help freelance translators, who also need to keep educating themselves about machine translation and monitoring its emergence as a productivity tool. People used to scoff at translation memory as well. Even if it took them a few decades, they eventually woke up to reality. The same will happen with machine translation. For this reason, we encourage you to learn more about MT in 2012. And, even if you choose to keep viewing machine translation as your enemy, all we can say to that is this: keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.