09 July 2020 As we all adjust to the uncertainty of our current times, businesses around the world are trying to figure what is next for their customers and for their own growth. Some companies like Zoom, Netflix, and Disney+ have gotten an extra boost from our society’s needs during the coronavirus pandemic, while others like Airbnb, OpenTable and Uber have watched their operations slow as consumer needs and behaviors shift. To determine your company’s customer retention and engagement strategies through the next year, it’s important to figure out which way the winds of change are blowing. CHALLENGES Determine the strength of the headwinds: There’s no doubt that customer behaviors have shifted dramatically in the past few months. What are the forces working against your customers’ typical habits, and under what conditions are they likely to go back to using your services or localized product? If your customers have found an alternative to your services or products during COVID, how do you plan to bring them back and drop that alternative after? And what role does localization may have to play in influencing this? Prepare for uncertainty in team viability and future localization budgets: Remote work for non-frontline employees is here to stay, and you might be wondering how remote teams will stay successful, or how localization budgets will shift in the coming months. OPPORTUNITIES Take advantage of the tailwinds: For every challenge you face in retaining customers, there’s a new opportunity to reach different customer segments. Take companies like Peloton for example. The home-exercise boom has meant a huge upsurge in business as potential customers who previously went to the gym switched to a home set up. What areas of the localization industry could similarly benefit? (Think eLearning, video interpreting, etc). Identify your value proposition: In these times, when companies are making difficult decisions, it is vital to position your localization team as a strategic value and revenue contributor rather than as a static support cost. How do you do that? Gather your data, build a strong case for localization impact, and align the role of localization to your company’s strategic objectives. Leverage technology: From telehealth to teleconferencing to virtual dance classes, technology has been an enormous help in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Technology can form a core part of your company’s retention and engagement strategy, too. Accelerating your team’s technology adoption will help you work more efficiently and produce higher quality work. Automating your translation processes to create AI-driven workflows or using Neural Machine Translation to make efficient use of your budget and resources are both strong ways to demonstrate your value as a translation partner or a client. To discuss these challenges and opportunities, join us at the Bigger Better Faster Preconference Workshop at LocWorldWide42 this summer. If you’d like to continue the conversation about steering your localization team through uncertain times, sign up here to join us on July 28, 2020.