As China's commercial exchanges with the rest of the world soar, one thing businesses have to ensure is that nothing is lost in translation.

And doing exactly that is Shanghai-based YesMeaning Co Ltd, which entered the translation industry in 2002. Although a newcomer, YesMeaning has become one of the leading professional translation companies in the country.

"YesMeaning aims to contribute to China's economic development by connecting people with each other and connecting China and the world," says Daisy Chen, general manager of marketing at YesMeaning.

In the short period of three years, the company has provided services to foreign embassies in the country and more than 200 companies and organizations at home and abroad, including the local offices of IBM, Microsoft, Siemens, McKinsey and Citibank.

"YesMeaning's uniqueness and advantages lie in the fact that we are committed to providing high-quality services to all customers," Chen says.

This is probably why the company has managed to stay ahead amid fierce competition.

According to the Translators Association of China (TAC), the nation's translation industry accounted for some 11 billion yuan (US$1.33 billion) in 2003, and that number is expected to grow to over 20 billion yuan (US$2.41 billion) this year.

Given the huge market potential, many people have entered the industry there are 3,000 registered translation companies and 500,000 translators in China.

However, problems such as poor quality, varying levels of service and inefficient management have impaired the development of the industry.

"Different from most other companies, YesMeaning gives top priority to branding instead of seeking short-term profits as we know branding is the only way forward," says Chen.

The best way to build the brand, according to Chen, is to guarantee the quality of translations.

"We blazed a new trail in improving and ensuring quality by making good use of technology," she says.

YesMeaning has developed an online translation quality control system, through which project managers, customers, translators and customers can communicate well with each other for in-time and correct translations.

Generally, after the company and the customer sign a deal, the project manager first lists the customer's requirements. The customer checks the requirements and makes amendments, if any, before confirming them. The translator's work must be based on the requirements, which will be finally examined by the proofreader who makes changes according to the requirements.

"Our services are totally customer-oriented because YesMeaning's mission is to try every means to satisfy the customers," Chen says.

"Facts show most of our customers are very satisfied with the quality. Their praise also encourages us to work harder."

Volkswagen's headquarters is one of YesMeaning's long-term customers. Before that, Volkswagen had tried other national translation companies, Chen says.

"But the company was not satisfied with them, and finally turned to us. After translating some materials for them, we gained their trust and acceptance. We reached a long-term agreement very soon."

Exacting standards set for translators also play a key role in guaranteeing quality, according to Chen.

Of the 3,000 translators in the company, 80 per cent have vast experience. Only 20 per cent of the employees are graduate students, and YesMeaning is cautious in assigning them tasks. The company mainly provides them training, helping them grow professionally as soon as possible.

Apart from translation quality, top-grade service is another important factor in the company's success, according to Chen.

"YesMeaning's service is merely a little better than the others, but this makes a very big difference,"she says.

Compared with other countries and regions, the awareness of service in the mainland is poor, according to Chen. However, employees in YesMeaning take pride in providing service. They treat customers equally and are polite to everyone, Chen says.

More importantly, the company pays a lot of attention to after-sales service which is usually regarded as the key in service providing.

The company has set up an after-sales services department, which is mainly responsible for collecting evaluations and advice from customers.

"Customers' feedback helps the company know more about translators, including their performance, their strengths and weaknesses, on the basis of which we keep dossiers on all translators,"Chen says.

"The dossiers help the translators continuously evaluate their performance, and teach the company to adjust its training strategy as well."

YesMeaning has long-term agreements with more than 100 companies. "Permanent customers are what we are most proud of. I think this is mainly attributed to the professional translations and high-quality services," Chen says.

It is not just translations that the company is focused on. It is considering setting up a free call centre targeted at foreigners living in China.

"As more and more foreigners come to China for business or leisure, how to make their life in China happy and convenient remains the biggest problem. The centre is expected to tackle that," she says.

"Furthermore, it can also be of great help to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Exposition, which will attract a high number of foreigners."

The project has won the support from the local authorities and the call centre is expected to open soon.

The company is also preparing for the launch of a national English competition themed "China and the World".

"The competition is oriented towards the broad masses of people. We will provide those with good performance opportunities to study abroad and to work in YesMeaning, and if they like, they could also work voluntarily for the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Exposition,"Chen says.

The competition is expected to be held this month and the company plans to hold the competition annually.

"Projects such as the free call centre and the English competition can, on the one hand, contribute to the exchanges between China and the world, and on the other, strengthen our brand image,"she says.

In addition to being one of the biggest translation companies in terms of branch offices - more than 20 on the mainland, the United States, Japan and Germany the company has also set up a franchise system.

But YesMeaning is very choosy with the franchisees; and when they get the franchise, they receive frequent training and assessments.

"The chain stores of YesMeaning have a very good understanding about our core values and perform well in providing professional services," Chen says.

"What we do is to help them improve their performance and increase their profits, which makes them very happy."

From the beginning of this year, a lot of foreign companies have shown interest in collaborating with YesMeaning, says Chen, but refuses to reveal any details.

"This indicates they are optimistic about the industry's prospects and YesMeaning's business mode, but we will be very prudent in seeking foreign capital."

(China Daily 07/11/2005 page3)