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You run a human-first translation agency, but your client are clamouring for AI-driven workflows that will save them money. If you don’t give them what they want, they might leave. But have you worried about what could happen to the relationships you’ve built with your best human translators when you start asking them to work at lower rates on MTPE? Some of them have probably already told you flat out that they won’t accept any of these jobs at all. They say that post-editing takes longer than full-human translation, increases mental load, and results in inferior quality, all for less money. |
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There’s a lot of cynicism out there. Legacy MTPE is being weaponized simply to push down prices on existing work. Clients shove a text through DeepL and call it a post-editing job. Then order “human-level quality”. That is insulting. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can give your veteran translators a better baseline to work from. And you can help them come around. Here are three stubborn assumptions they probably have and how to overcome them. AI-driven workflows just mean less work overall. Be transparent; let them know you’ve been struggling too and that you are working to capture new demand. (Hopefully the job at hand will be a high-volume project that wouldn’t otherwise exist.) Ask them to help you expand the market so you can both prosper. MTPE is mainly a cynical rate play. Your best translators don’t need to study your entire 12-step execution process. But they do have to know they won’t be cleaning up a mess because you didn’t know what you were doing or didn’t care. With the right workflows (my GAIT-Augmented MTPE for instance), they can play an integral role in delivering the kind of high-quality output that grows the premium end of the translation market. Working on MTPE is a tedious polishing chore. Veteran translators naturally want to rewrite things to match their high standards. Unfortunately, this destroys their pace. I recently coached a professional translator through this on a Spanish project. She was drowning until I told her: the client isn’t paying for your version of perfect; they just want usable accuracy. Once she learned to lean into the AI, watch the clock, and match her effort to the rate, the work became fast and engaging. To help you break these three stubborn assumptions with your translators, I have prepared free materials, including a white-label cheat sheet that you can share with them. |
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I also want to show you exactly how to execute this shift. This Friday at 5 PM EST, I am hosting a 20-Minute Live Walkthrough titled: “MT & MTPE Reinvented: How to stop competing with big tech on volume and start winning on your own terms with workflows your best translators trust” Here’s what I’ll cover: |
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Make this the last thing you do this week. Join me for just a few minutes, and you will start your weekend with a brand-new perspective on succeeding as a boutique LSP. If you’re interested, just hit reply and ask me for the Zoom link. Talk soon, Steven PS – Remember: Just 20 minutes this Friday at 5pm EST. Email me for the link. |
