 3 Min. Read |
 Reagan Evans |
 March 23, 2018 |
Your website isn’t just a marketing tool.
When you’re taking your company into new international markets, it’s a sales tool as well, giving your in-market sales teams the messaging, brand presence and in-market authority that will help them open doors, build relationships and close deals.
Your reps on the ground need localised website content both before engaging with new customers, and after you've actively started doing business in the region. Here’s why:
Global online customers nearly always prefer to search and consume content in their local languages. Good news for your people on the ground: the technology exists to easily make that happen.
Localisation makes life easier for your in-market sales teams. Translating online content improves your site's discoverability in regional search engines. This brings leads to your people, rather your team hunting for them.
Better still, you're arming your reps with business information that's relevant, accurate and valuable to your potential customers. Great information always influences-and often seals-the deal.
Once you've started doing business in a new region or country, your salespeople will have a big task ahead of them. After all, continuingly creating in-market demand and growing revenue is a challenge.
Properly localising your website takes a major burden off your sales teams, and empowers them to become more efficient during the sale. Why? A localised site plays a critical role as a centralised "hub" of sales assets: from product information, to educational content, to industry expertise and more.
Having that information visible, available and accessible on a localised website-with all of the important details translated accurately and authentically-can accelerate the sales cycle, make conversations easier and create a much more favourable customer experience that can drive revenue and relationships.
A bonus: Your salespeople don't have to lug around heaps of localised printed sales collateral. Now, it's all a mouse-click (or screen-tap!) away to access during a sales conversation.
So you know you need to get that localised website up and kicking before you start working in a new global market. What's the best way to get that done?
You need specific expertise and seasoned professionals who understand the ins and outs of translating a website for new, global markets.
It may be tempting to lean on the team members you’ve hired in the region—such as your sales or marketing people—but they won’t be your best resources.
They're already overburdened with getting the company to market, finding new customers and establishing brand credibility and presence. They're often not professional translators, either. That's a big deal. Customers can sense the difference between authentic, pro-quality translations and shabby stuff created by part-timers.
The far better solution is to hire a professional, digital-first agency staffed with professional translators who not only understand how to get words translated, but how to navigate the cultural nuances, regulatory demands and specifics of the local market. The difference in quality can make or break your go-to-market strategy in that area.
It's smart to use digital-first agencies that specialize in the unique challenges of website translation. They offer powerful technology-based solutions that remove the translation and operational responsibilities from your local teams, and enable them to focus on their core duties.
Using a fully-turn key proxy solution for website translation automates many tasks and actions (or handles them completely behind the scenes), eliminating the on-going burden of building, launching and managing localised websites.
With a turn-key proxy, you’ll never have to ask your in-house teams to take on a brutal technical or translation workload, or to stay on top of the complex workflows that arise once you’ve got an active site in a new market.
This entire translation and publishing process requires practically zero effort from internal teams. That saves your local salespeople countless hours of time, frustration and distraction from essential projects.
Your in-market sales teams are already on the front lines of business development in new regions. Their skills and experience are essential for identifying and engaging new customers, building brand awareness and finding opportunities to deliver targeted products and services.
Give them a localised website that's accurate, dynamic and always putting your best local foot forward. It eliminates risk for you, and empowers your sales and marketing teams can focus on what they do best: Building your global business.
