It is inevitable for all translation companies, without exception, to get feedback from clients, either positive or negative. Positive feedback is always welcome because it means that the client is satisfied with the translation quality and is willing to continue to maintain the cooperation.

However, the feedback we received from the clients may be negative feedback even though it is the last thing we want to see. How to deal with the negative feedback from the clients are crucial to regain the trust of the client.

1. Firstly make clear what the client is not satisfied with ( typo, grammatical errors, accuracy, style etc.) through carefully reading through the message provided by the client.

2. Recheck the translated file and identify whether the errors presented by the client are actually found in our translation. If necessary, find one or two third-party proofreaders to recheck the translation to identify the quality as accurate as possible. If the errors do exist, immediately write an email to the client to let him/her know what happened, why the errors are made, and how to prevent such errors from occurring in the future.

3. If necessary, retranslate or reedit the file. If rework is needed, we have to ask the clients to give us more time for rework. Making sure that the quality of rework is perfect is of the utmost importance, because you may lose a client forever if you failed to meet the quality requirements in the second chance.

4. Summarize the reasons and find the solution to avoid the same errors in upcoming projects.

The reasons leading to poor quality are various including:

failed to check or edit properly due to tight deadline or breach of duty;

failed to find a right person who is not competent to translate or edit the files of the specified filed;

failed to comply with the instructions provided by the client; ….

Whatever the reasons are, we should find an effective solution to prevent the same errors from occurring in the future.

Negative feedback itself is not a good thing, but we can take it as a positive opportunity to show the client our quality and timeliness of responses and regain the trust of the client.