In our house, it’s secondary school decision time for our eldest child. It feels like a big moment.

Thinking about it, although it feels like a big emotional investment, our decision-making process largely mimics other investment decisions. It’s a lot to do with trust, credentials and benefits.

This is the detective work we’ve done so far:

• Explored the different schools’ website to get to know them better (trust)

• Followed them on social media to get a feel for their ethos and values (trust)

• Read their prospectuses (brochures/portfolios/proposals in the business world) (credentials and benefits)

• Spoken to other parents (customers) for word-of-mouth feedback (trust)

• Run the numbers – their exam results (credentials)

• Explored their range of enrichment opportunities (benefits).

Questions we’ve pondered have included why one school has invested more of a presence on Instagram, while another is more active on Facebook. The posts they share are quite different. Does that say anything about them and about their potential pupils/parents (prospects)?

This decision-making process didn’t start this September; we began thinking about it and getting a feel for our options at least a year ago. But now it’s crunch time. It’s only by going to visit the schools and speaking to people there that we’ll be able to envisage whether they would be a nice place for our child.

Doesn’t all this sound similar to the steps customers take when deciding to invest money in professional services?

When you’re looking for a professional translator or copy-editor, what detective work do you do?

• Do you check out their social media presence?

• What key information are you looking for?

• Are their credentials important?

• Does it matter if they seem nice to work with?

If you’re currently deciding who to trust with your content, I’d love to speak to you. Why not drop me an email at philippa@hammondtranslations.com and we can book in a no-pressure chat.