Pulling Together the Team

It's all about the people. One could have the best, most sophisticated processes in place, but unless the right people are on the team running that process, success could elude you. Here's how we capture success with the right team.

At Soventrans.com, we are strong believers that our clients should be supported as close to their office locations as possible. We have put this belief into action by opening over 25 offices around the world, so that our account managers can be available for short-notice meetings and/or same time zone interaction.

We routinely place account managers on-site at our client's offices for better visibility and real-time communication. In fact, for Hilton International, we placed six members on-site with their system integrator for the one-year duration of the project.

So who comes to the kick off meeting? While our account teams are customized, we would generally recommend these key roles for all engagements:

• Account Executive: Responsible for overseeing the sales and RFP process, as well as assembling the internal Soventrans.com team.
• Account Manager: Working with you, scopes and plans the entire localization project. Responsible for updating the client on project status/progress and relaying changes in scope from you to Soventrans.com teams.
• Project Manager: Responsible for maintaining project budgets and timing, as well as day-to-day management of language producers.
• Localization Engineer: Oversees all technical components of the project including macro creation, file prep, graphic editing, localization QA and post-localization testing.
• Language Producers: Responsible for execution of language components. They manage translators, editors and proofreaders, making certain all translations adhere to the specs laid out in the language pre-flight. They also liaise with In-Country Reviewers to define in-language brand nuances.
• Translators/Proofreaders/Editors: All linguists are native speakers of their respective target languages and are selected for their industry-specific knowledge.

This team will be maintained for the length of the relationship. It has been our experience that the creation of such teams, and their experience working on dedicated accounts, allows them to develop a deep understanding of our client's brand and corporate culture, such that they move from being merely a vendor to becoming an extension of the organization.