CoachHub extends professional digital coaching services into new markets with localized apps

Democratizing coaching through its digital platforms is CoachHub’s goal. Through its network of 3,500+ certified coaches, CoachHub delivers personalized coaching to employees, and counts over a thousand enterprise customers. In addition to live video coaching sessions, coachees have access to resource libraries and always-on chat sessions.

When Kris Naydenov and Georgiana Lazar joined CoachHub as localization managers, the company had already expanded into multiple markets and localized its product into eight languages. Planning to ramp up expansion, CoachHub was counting on their expertise to keep pace with the demand for new languages, while bringing more consistency and control to the localization process.

“Communicating effectively across languages and cultures is pivotal to the global success of an organization like CoachHub,” says Kris. “As the front door to our company, our web and mobile apps have to resonate with customers, coaches and coachees.” 

As a first step to increasing localization consistency, quality and efficiency, Kris focused on setting up CoachHub’s translation management system (TMS) to enable an automated localization workflow and remove any blockers for the app development processes.

The next step was to partner with a primary language services provider (LSP). Kris chose RWS to handle the bulk of CoachHub’s localization needs in both new and existing languages. “RWS project managers being familiar with our TMS and happy to use it was critical, given the deep integration with our app development processes,” says Kris. He notes that some other LSPs were less flexible, proposing either to charge an additional fee for using the selected TMS, or to upload content to it manually from their own TMS, which could have introduced errors or delays.

Almost any LSP can produce good sample translations, but it’s often a different story once you start working together. ”RWS stands out for the calibre of their project managers and their day-to-day communication and collaboration,” says Kris. “They make the whole localization process as seamless as possible.”

RWS combines a pool of qualified in-market translators with in-house experts who bring linguistic, industry and subject-matter knowledge to client projects.

Within 18 months of partnering with RWS, CoachHub achieved its target of localizing its apps for 11 new markets, increasing the total number of languages to 19. “We trust RWS to select the right translators, deliver quality localized content, and accommodate our timelines,” says Georgiana. “They’re also flexible about reprioritizing projects if our business needs change.”

RWS project managers are closely involved throughout the localization process, keeping an eye on the detail and ensuring that translators are always up to date with CoachHub’s requirements. “Close attention from our experienced RWS project managers means they quickly spot and resolve any issues that would otherwise be multiplied across so many languages,” says Kris.

The RWS team has helped CoachHub improve terminology consistency across its web and mobile apps. CoachHub-specific glossaries and style guides support translators in their localization work, and RWS project managers ensure glossaries are promptly updated with new content.

Localization quality for new content and languages is assured in collaboration with CoachHub’s own linguists and by using the quality assurance tools in the TMS. “Positive internal reviews and stakeholder feedback confirm that the quality and consistency of our localized content have gone right up since we started working with RWS,” says Georgiana.

In a parallel project, RWS supported CoachHub to perform localization quality assurance for their apps in all the languages in which they’re available. “This QA exercise was a milestone we set for ourselves over the past year and completed on time with the help and guidance of RWS,” says Georgiana.

Pursuing its mission to democratize coaching, CoachHub continues to expand into new markets, increase coverage in existing markets, and add new apps and content to its platform.

“We’re thrilled to keep working with RWS, who provide us with an excellent quality-to-cost ratio,” says Kris. “In terms of ROI, our entry into 11 new markets over the past 18 months was supported by our partnership with RWS, which has been fundamental to our company’s growth.”