Case Study: Offering Prices v. Offering Quotes

As Boostability expands into international markets, making sure everything is translated into the proper languages is a rather large and vital part of the process. Finding the best translation services is key to helping the transition into foreign languages run smoothly.

So to find the best translation services, naturally I turned to Google. I quickly found numerous reputable-looking companies that offer translation services for technical and marketing documents. What I didn’t find, however, was a lot of pricing information.

Only three results on the first results page had any sort of pricing information. In fact, I ventured onto the second SERP (gasp!) because most of the companies on the first page didn’t list any upfront pricing. Rather, each website had an abundance of “request a free quote” buttons and forms. From two pages of results I had only four websites that gave me a ballpark estimate for my projects.

Why? Why do 80% of the companies worthy of the top spots in a Google search not list their prices? They’re hesitant to list the info for competitors to see? The prices are fully dependent on a lot of different variables and details? The companies want to capture my email so they could spam my inbox?

For those of you familiar with Marcus Sheridan and his attitude toward content marketing, you know the above reasons are ridiculous. Providing the information that potential customers seek is one of the strongest marketing tactics a company can employ.

I get that different projects cost different amounts, all based on specific variables, which is why I’m okay that two of the websites gave me an estimated price range, rather than a hard, fast price. At least I know what range I’m looking at, which is a lot better than knowing nothing at all and waiting for a sales-heavy email to show up that I’m going to have to unsubscribe from later, all just to find out an estimate.

In this case, I didn’t fill out a single “request a quote” form. I did, however, write down the prices from the four websites that listed them. And when we are ready to have our documents translated? I’m going to go with one of the four options that gave me a price up front.

I want quick, simple information, and I want it when I search for it. The companies that give me that information up front are the companies that will get my business. I don’t have the time or patience to beat around the bush and get sucked into some company’s email list. No, the four companies that gave me the information I sought today do not have my contact information, but they each have a 25% chance of getting my business when I’m ready to buy—which is 25% more of a chance than any of the “request a quote” companies have.