I take my client briefings very seriously, irrespective of the fact whether its an old client or a new one. Okay, old or regular ones don’t take much time because I am more or less aware of their language translation requirements due to our past work together. But that’s not the case with new clients.
Translation subjects can be same but that does not give me the reason to treat them all equally. Clients have their own unique requirements from each project. It is important to nail those requirements if you would like to satisfy your clients. So how do you go about it?
I suggest developing your own questionnaire. Indulge in some free thinking associated with the kind of things you should know about a project before you start working on it. First write down as many questions as they come to your mind. You can do the editing later.
Once you’ve collected a large number of questions and feel you are done with it, you can set about cutting the list down to a manageable length. Now projects and clients are all different from one another so you might not need to ask every question from each client who comes to you. You have to create your own strategy based upon the requirement of individual translation projects.
I would suggest keeping copies of the questionnaire on your work station and a few other places where you can have a look at it every now and then. Soon enough you would have built a solid mental checklist which you can refer to whenever you face a new translation project and ensure optimal briefing sessions.
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