How to Write an RFP for Translation Services: Template, Questions and Evaluation Criteria

Choosing a translation provider through an RFP, or Request for Proposal, can be difficult because many proposals look similar on paper. Prices may be presented in different ways, quality processes can be hard to compare, and it is not always obvious which supplier has the right experience for your languages, sector, content types and deadlines.

A well-written RFP helps you avoid vague proposals. It gives translation companies enough information to price the work properly, explain their process clearly and show whether they are genuinely suited to your requirements.

This guide explains what to include in an RFP for translation services, which questions to ask potential suppliers, and how to evaluate translation proposals in a fair and practical way.

What is an RFP for translation services?

An RFP, or Request for Proposal, is a document sent to potential translation providers when you want them to submit a formal proposal for a project, contract or long-term language services arrangement.

A translation RFP usually includes information such as:

• the type of content you need translated
• the source and target languages
• expected word volumes
• subject matter and industry sector
• file formats
• quality requirements
• security and confidentiality expectations
• turnaround times
• pricing format
• evaluation criteria
• submission deadlines

The more specific your RFP is, the easier it becomes to compare providers. It also reduces the risk of receiving proposals that sound impressive but do not answer the practical questions your team needs to resolve.

RFI, RFP, bid and tender: what is the difference?

Procurement terminology can be confusing, especially if you do not run supplier selection processes very often.

An RFI, or Request for Information, is usually an early-stage document. It helps you understand which providers may be suitable before asking them to prepare a full proposal. You might use an RFI to ask about language coverage, sector experience, certifications, technology, data security or office locations.

An RFP, or Request for Proposal, is more detailed. It invites selected providers to submit a formal response explaining how they would deliver the work, what team and processes they would use, and how much the service would cost.

A bid is usually the provider’s response to your opportunity. It is the offer they submit to compete for the work.

A tender is often used from the buyer’s side, especially in formal procurement environments. In practice, people sometimes use “tender”, “bid” and “RFP” interchangeably, but the important point is the same: you need a clear process that allows you to compare providers fairly.

When do you need a translation RFP?

You may not need a full RFP for a small one-off translation. If you only need a short document translated into one language, a clear quote request may be enough.

An RFP is more useful when the project is larger, more complex or likely to continue over time.

For example, you may need an RFP if you are:

• selecting a long-term translation partner
• centralising translation across several departments
• translating into multiple languages
• working with technical, medical, legal or financial content
• launching products or campaigns in several markets
• localising a website, software platform or eLearning content
• reviewing your current translation supplier
• handling confidential or regulated material
• managing high volumes of recurring content

The RFP process gives your team a structured way to compare quality, price, service coverage, technology and risk.

Translation services RFP template: what to include

A strong RFP for translation services should usually include the following sections.

1. Background about your organisation

Start with a short overview of your organisation. Explain what you do, where you operate, and which teams or departments need translation support.

You do not need to write a long company history. The aim is to give providers enough context to understand your business, your audiences and the type of language support you may need.

Include:

• company name and website
• main products or services
• countries or regions where you operate
• departments involved in the project
• main point of contact
• any important background about your current translation process

2. Purpose of the RFP

Explain why you are issuing the RFP.

For example, you may be:

• looking for a new translation provider
• replacing an existing supplier
• expanding into new markets
• improving translation quality
• reducing turnaround times
• consolidating multiple vendors
• introducing a more formal review process
• preparing for a product launch, campaign or regulatory deadline

This helps providers understand what problem they are being asked to solve. It also allows them to tailor their proposal instead of sending a generic sales document.

3. Scope of work

This is one of the most important parts of the RFP.

Describe what needs to be translated, how much content is involved, how often work will be sent, and what types of files the provider will need to handle.

Include details such as:

• source language or languages
• target languages and regional variants
• expected word volumes
• frequency of work
• subject matter
• file types and formats
• required turnaround times
• internal review stages
• whether the work is one-off or ongoing
• whether the supplier will need to work with your systems

Try to be as specific as possible. “Marketing content into several Asian languages” is useful, but “approximately 50,000 words per quarter of website, email and product copy from English into Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Thai” is much easier for providers to price and plan.

4. Required services

Translation projects often involve more than straightforward translation.

Depending on your needs, ask providers to confirm whether they can support:

• translation
• editing and proofreading
• localisation
• transcreation
• terminology management
• desktop publishing and typesetting
• subtitling and closed captions
• voice-over or dubbing
• interpreting
• certified translation
• website localisation
• software localisation
• eLearning localisation
• machine translation post-editing
• multilingual SEO

This is especially important if you want one provider to support different departments. Your legal team, marketing team, product team and training team may all have different language requirements.

5. Quality expectations

Do not simply ask whether the provider delivers “high-quality translation”. Every provider will say yes.

Instead, ask them to explain how quality is managed in practice.

You may want to ask about:

• translator selection
• reviewer qualifications
• sector-specific experience
• quality assurance steps
• use of style guides
• terminology management
• revision workflows
• complaint handling
• corrective action processes
• ISO certifications
• client review and feedback loops

For sensitive or specialist content, make your expectations clear. A medical translation project, for example, may require different qualifications and review stages from a general marketing translation project.

6. Technology and workflow

Technology can make translation faster, more consistent and easier to manage, but only when it is used properly.

Ask providers what tools and workflows they use, especially if you have recurring content, technical files or multiple languages.

Useful areas to cover include:

• CAT tools
• translation memory
• terminology databases
• project management systems
• secure file transfer
• CMS or platform integrations
• QA checks
• version control
• reporting
• client portals

If machine translation or AI-assisted workflows may be involved, ask the provider to explain where these tools fit into the process, which content types they are used for, whether human review is included, and how confidential information is protected.

This does not mean you need to use machine translation. It simply means the provider should be transparent about their process.

7. Security and confidentiality

Translation providers may handle sensitive commercial, legal, technical, financial or personal information. Your RFP should ask how that information will be protected.

Ask about:

• NDAs
• data protection policies
• secure file transfer
• access control
• information security processes
• confidentiality agreements with linguists
• handling of personal data
• whether files are stored, deleted or archived
• use of third-party tools
• restrictions around machine translation or AI tools

This section is particularly important for regulated industries and confidential business documents.

8. Pricing format

Pricing can be difficult to compare if every provider uses a different structure.

Tell providers exactly how you want prices to be presented. This may include:

• per-word translation rates
• hourly rates
• proofreading or editing rates
• minimum charges
• project management fees
• rush fees
• desktop publishing rates
• subtitling or voice-over costs
• discounts for repeated content
• translation memory savings
• costs for updates or revisions
• payment terms
• currency
• proposal validity period

You do not need every provider to be the cheapest. You do need pricing to be clear enough to compare.

9. Evaluation criteria

Tell providers how their proposals will be assessed. This makes the process fairer and helps suppliers decide whether they are a good fit before investing time in a full response.

Your evaluation criteria may include:

You can also assign weighting to each area. For example, quality and sector expertise may matter more than price for highly regulated content, while speed and scalability may be more important for high-volume operational content.

10. Timeline and submission instructions

Give providers a clear timetable.

Your timeline may include:

• RFP issue date
• deadline for questions
• date when answers will be shared
• proposal submission deadline
• shortlist date
• presentation or interview dates
• decision date
• expected contract start date

Also explain how proposals should be submitted, who they should be sent to, and what format they should follow.

This makes your internal review much easier. If every supplier answers in a different structure, comparing proposals becomes unnecessarily time-consuming.

Questions to ask translation providers

The best RFP questions are specific enough to reveal how the provider actually works.

Here are examples you can adapt.

Company and experience

• How long have you been providing translation and localisation services?
• Which industries do you specialise in?
• Do you have experience with organisations similar to ours?
• Can you provide relevant case studies or references?
• Which office locations and time zones do you operate in?
• What level of support is available outside normal office hours?

Language and sector expertise

• Which of our required language pairs can you support directly?
• How do you select translators and reviewers for each project?
• What qualifications or experience do your linguists need?
• How do you handle regional language variants?
• How do you maintain consistency across multiple languages and markets?
• How do you manage specialist terminology?

Quality assurance

• What is your standard translation workflow?
• Is editing or proofreading included?
• How are translation errors reported and resolved?
• Do you use style guides or glossaries?
• How do you incorporate client feedback?
• What quality checks are performed before delivery?
• Which certifications or quality standards do you hold?

Technology and process

• Which CAT tools and project management systems do you use?
• Do you create and maintain translation memories?
• Can you work with our file formats and systems?
• Do you support CMS, LMS, software or content platform workflows?
• How do you manage version control?
• What reporting can you provide?
• Do you use machine translation or AI-assisted tools, and if so, how?

Security and confidentiality

• How do you protect confidential files?
• Do your linguists sign confidentiality agreements?
• What secure file transfer options do you offer?
• Where is client data stored?
• How do you control access to sensitive projects?
• Are third-party tools used in the workflow?
• Can you comply with our internal data protection requirements?

Pricing and commercial terms

• How do you calculate translation costs?
• Are proofreading, project management and QA included?
• Are there minimum fees?
• How are urgent requests priced?
• Do translation memory matches affect the final cost?
• What are your payment terms?
• How long is the proposal valid?
• Are there any additional charges we should be aware of?

Suggested RFP process and timeline

A full translation RFP process should not be rushed, especially if the provider will support you for several years.

A typical process might look like this.

Step 1: Expression of Interest

Start with a longlist of providers who may be suitable. Send a short summary of your requirements and ask whether they are interested in participating.

Allow one to two working weeks for replies.

This stage helps you avoid sending a detailed RFP to companies that do not have the right language coverage, sector experience or capacity.

Step 2: RFI or pre-selection questionnaire

Send a short questionnaire to interested providers. Keep the questions focused and easy to answer.

This stage can cover essentials such as company size, office locations, language coverage, sector experience, certifications, technology, security measures and relevant references.

The aim is to create a shortlist before asking for full proposals.

Step 3: Issue the full RFP

Send the full RFP to your shortlisted providers. Include all key information, including scope, files, volumes, languages, deadlines, contract terms, pricing format and evaluation criteria.

If possible, include any standard contract or Master Services Agreement at this stage. This avoids late surprises after the preferred supplier has been selected.

Step 4: Supplier questions

Give providers a deadline for questions. For complex projects, allow one to two working weeks.

When answering questions, share the full set of answers with all participating providers. This keeps the process fair and avoids giving one supplier more information than another.

Step 5: Proposal submission

Give providers enough time to prepare thoughtful responses. Two to three working weeks is common, but complex projects may need longer, especially if test translations, technical files or detailed pricing exercises are involved.

Step 6: Shortlist presentations

For high-value, high-volume or long-term contracts, invite shortlisted providers to present their proposal.

Try to meet the people who would actually manage your work, not only senior sales staff. Your day-to-day project manager will often matter more to the success of the relationship than the person who leads the pitch.

Step 7: Selection and contract finalisation

Ideally, make the final decision within a clear timeframe and communicate the outcome to all participants.

Before awarding the contract, make sure internal approvals, legal checks and data protection reviews are already moving. In some organisations, this stage can take as long as the RFP itself.

How to evaluate translation companies

When comparing translation proposals, it is tempting to focus on price. Cost matters, of course, but it should not be the only deciding factor.

A low-cost provider may become expensive if your team spends time fixing errors, clarifying instructions, chasing deadlines or managing inconsistent terminology across markets.

A stronger evaluation process looks at the whole relationship.

Consider:

• whether the provider understands your sector
• whether their answers are specific or generic
• whether they can support all required languages
• whether their quality process is clearly explained
• whether they have the right technology and workflow
• whether pricing is transparent
• whether they can scale when needed
• whether their communication style fits your team
• whether they have credible references
• whether they are honest about limitations

A good translation partner should make your work easier, not simply return translated files.

Common mistakes to avoid when writing a translation RFP

Being too vague about volume

If you do not know the exact word count, give an estimate or range. Providers need some idea of scale to price accurately.

Not specifying language variants

Chinese for mainland China is not the same as Chinese for Taiwan or Hong Kong. Spanish for Spain is not the same as Spanish for Latin America. If regional variants matter, say so.

Asking for “best quality” without defining it

Quality can mean accuracy, fluency, regulatory compliance, brand tone, technical consistency or publication-ready formatting. Explain what quality means for your content.

Comparing prices without comparing scope

One provider may include editing, project management and QA. Another may price translation only. Make sure you are comparing like with like.

Ignoring file formats

PDFs, InDesign files, subtitles, software strings, scanned documents and complex spreadsheets can all affect cost and turnaround time.

Leaving technology too late

If you need translation memory, terminology management, CMS workflows or secure file transfer, include this in the RFP from the beginning.

Not asking about AI and machine translation

Even if you do not plan to use machine translation, ask providers whether they use it and under what circumstances. For confidential or regulated content, this should be clearly controlled.

Making the timeline unrealistic

Good providers need time to understand your requirements, ask questions and prepare a useful response. A rushed RFP often leads to weaker proposals.

Need help with a translation RFP?

Preparing an RFP for translation services is not only about asking for prices. It is about giving potential providers enough information to recommend the right workflow, team, technology and quality process for your organisation.

Asian Absolute regularly responds to RFPs from organisations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. We support translation, localisation, interpreting, desktop publishing, subtitling, machine translation post-editing and multilingual content workflows across a wide range of sectors.

If you are preparing a translation RFP, reviewing your current language services provider or planning a multilingual project, our team can help you understand what information suppliers need and what to look for in a long-term language partner.

Speak to our translation team today.