CAP Q is the Milan-based powerhouse translation team. We've been in the translation industry for quite a while now, so we know what clients expect from us. GREAT QUALITY. That's why we take translating seriously. So let's take a closer look at what Quality is.

Quality matters. That's a fact. But ask yourself if it's quality or cost your primary consideration. If it's cost only, well, you might as well skip this section, cross your fingers, hope for the best and choose the rest. If not, read on...

What is translation quality? There are basically 4 levels of translation:

• raw translation
• normal quality translation
• great quality translation
• adaptation of original text

Raw translation means a translation which conveys the central meaning of the original text. There may be grammatical errors and misspellings, but the text has to be understandable. Typically, this could be translations of large amounts of scientific abstracts.

Normal quality translation corresponds roughly to the translations of old. The original text is translated fully and the translated text is grammatically correct and reasonably fluent. The text may be awkward at times, but the contents of the original text should be understood completely from the translation. Typically, this could be a translation of a technical manual.

Great quality translation implies that the translated text is both fluent and idiomatic. The translation should be assimilated completely to the cultural context of the target language. One should not be able to recognize the translated text as a translation. Typically, this could be an advertisement brochure or a piece of literature.

Adaptation of original text is not actually the direct translation of text but the production of new text based on foreign language original(s). The resultant text need not have to correspond sentence by sentence to the originals, but may instead even have omissions or re-orderings according to what the translator deems appropriate. The resultant text is expected to be fluent language.

Our Quality Policy starts and ends with you the Customer as our focal point: understanding your requirements and giving you great quality to meet these requirements. We strive to create a Culture of Quality where continuous improvement becomes a way of life.
At CAP Q, we believe it's you the Customer who defines Quality. You do this every day with the services you buy. You buy based on perceived value, which means that you measure benefits vs. costs and choose the services and experience that provide superior value, or Capital Quality in our case. We, therefore, define Quality as customer perceived value. 
 

At CAP Q, we believe you get the best experience when it comes to translation quality. Customers are disappointed if their experience does not match expectation. If their experience just fulfils expectation, they are satisfied, but that's still no big deal. If their experience exceeds expectation, that is when the real benefit occurs. A happy customer means a returning customer. And a happy customer also means that we get a great service from favourable word of mouth publicity on our translation services. A virtuous cycle, because both sides benefit. That's why over 60% of our business comes from repeat clients and referrals. It's hard work trying to satisfy everyone, but we approach each task with a dynamic focus and sense of urgency. These are, after all, highly competitive times.
 

Value for Money is the term used to assess whether or not an organization gets the maximum benefit from the services it acquires. It not only measures the cost of these services, but also takes account of the mix of quality, cost, resource use, timeliness and convenience to judge whether or not, when taken together, they constitute good value. 
We are constantly being asked to achieve two seemingly conflicting goals: assuring great quality while keeping costs low. Quality has its price, and great quality in particular must be rewarded. Searching for lower costs is almost always a time-consuming, nerve-wracking and nail-biting experience. Yes, you might find even some decent agency out there offering rock-bottom prices and willing to knock off a good deal of euro. Be aware that most of the times you will pay for a sloppy translation over and over again, and every time someone reads it, your company will be shed in a poor light, erasing the money you've spent for marketing and brand building. And in the end, when it's too late, you'll discover that the "price of great quality is always less than the pain of regret". So consider that while the initial costs may be high, it is an investment that pays dividends in the long run.
At CAP Q, we know our regular clients are happy with what we do and we always leave them with a pleasant memory of our relationship and the willingness to come back to us. All said, and bearing that in mind, choose who to go with..the best..or the rest. If you choose to stay on..check out our "CONTRACT" overleaf and visit our website from time to time. You'll always find interesting things, great offers now and then, free pages to translate for you in exchange for our link on your own website, plus news, views, quotes and oddities from the Web we usually receive from our customers or readers. So stay tuned....