Sample report · Translation agency

Demo business — real audit patterns, anonymised

Urgent jobs are slipping off the books on WhatsApp.

A full demonstration report. The business is fictional; every pattern in it is one we have measured in real audits.

The phone line is quick and helpful. But the email quote doesn’t match the translation agency’s own Instagram, the live chat drops messages, and one WhatsApp reply offered to do the job privately for less.

Business
Example Translations (demo)
Market
Parramatta, NSW (demo)
Audit period
Aug – Sep 2026
Channels shopped
5 of 5 · 7 days each
Revenue at risk

Revenue at risk on three of five channels

The live chat never replied, the email quoted below the Instagram “from” price, and a WhatsApp reply offered the job privately at a cut rate.

  • Enquiry form · 81/100
  • Email enquiry · 52/100
  • Live chat · 0/100 · Not scored — no reply in 7 days
  • WhatsApp · 35/100
  • Phone call · 84/100
Slowest first reply
4h 15m

On the email. Benchmark for a translation agency: turnaround quoted within an hour.

Biggest price gap
A$12/page

Quoted A$48/page on the email vs. “documents from A$60 per page” on the translation agency’s own Instagram.

Red flags found
1

The job offered privately, off the business’s books.

What you're looking at

A demonstration report for a fictional translation agency, built from anonymised patterns we see in real audits.

One score, nine criteria

Speed, accuracy, personalisation, qualification, follow-up, close, tone, red flags.

Evidence on every finding

Timestamps, transcripts, screenshots and recordings attached in the full report.

Fixes ranked by revenue

What to change this week, in order of money at stake.

01 — Per-channel scorecard

How each channel treated a real prospect

ChannelFirst replyQuoted vs listed priceFollow-upsCourtesyScore
Enquiry form46 min✓ A$60/page quoted · at or above “from A$60/page” according to your website1 in 7 daysHelpful · 8481/ 100
Email enquiry4h 15m — Mon 13:40✗ A$48/page quoted · from A$60/page according to your Instagram0 in 7 daysBrief · 6252/ 100
Live chatNo reply in 7 days— nothing to compare0 in 7 days—0/ 100

Not scored — no reply in 7 days

WhatsAppRed flagOffered the job privately, below the published price9 min — from a personal number✗ A$36/page quoted · from A$60/page according to your website2 in 7 daysFriendly · 9035/ 100
Phone callAnswered in 2 ringsA$120/page for express turnaround quoted · No listed price to compare1 in 7 daysWarm · 9284/ 100

First reply, price accuracy, follow-up and courtesy are four of the nine criteria. A channel with no reply in 7 days scores 0 — there is nothing to judge, so it gets no partial credit. Listed price = what you publish on your website or social profiles. A quote at or above a “from” price counts as consistent; where nothing is listed we show “No listed price to compare” instead of a score. The overall score is the weighted total across the nine criteria.

02 — Criterion scores

Nine criteria, scored across every channel

Response time61/100
weakest: email enquiry

Enquiry form 46 min, email 4h 15m, WhatsApp 9 min and phone line answered live. The live chat never replied. The slowest reply took 4h 15m. Benchmark for a translation agency: turnaround quoted within an hour.

Answered at all80/100
weakest: live chat

Four of five channels replied. The live chat widget took our message and nobody answered it in seven days.

Price accuracy vs listed price44/100
weakest: email enquiry

The website and the translation agency’s Instagram both say “documents from A$60 per page”. The enquiry form quote is at or above that, so it counts as consistent. The email quoted A$48/page — A$12/page below the published “from” price. The WhatsApp quoted A$36/page — A$24/page below the published “from” price. The phone line quoted A$120/page for express turnaround; that rate isn’t published, so it has no listed price to compare.

Listed price = what you publish on your website or social profiles.

Personalisation69/100
weakest: WhatsApp

The phone line reply used our name and picked up what we’d asked about. The WhatsApp reply was a template that could have gone to any customer.

Qualification questions57/100
weakest: WhatsApp

Good questions on the phone line: what the documents were for and when we needed them back. The WhatsApp asked nothing before pushing for a booking.

Follow-up cadence49/100
weakest: email enquiry

The enquiry form followed up once, the WhatsApp followed up twice and the phone line followed up once. The email never followed up. The live chat never replied at all.

Close attempt / next step63/100
weakest: WhatsApp

The phone line offered an upload-and-pay link at a specific time. The WhatsApp ended “let us know if you’d like to go ahead” — no time offered.

Tone & professionalism86/100

Warm, patient and clear — especially on the phone line.

Red-flag screen50/100
weakest: WhatsApp

One flag raised — see below. Also noted: per-word rate not disclosed until after the file is sent.

03 — Red flags, in plain English

What the shopper found first

Red flag

The job, offered privately

Our WhatsApp enquiry to the translation agency was answered from a personal WhatsApp number, offering to do a certified translation “privately” for A$36/page — below the published price. We report what the evidence shows; we make no claim about intent.

Evidence: Thread screenshots and the sending contact are attached in the full report.

Fix → All jobs are issued and invoiced by the office; restate this in every staff and contractor agreement.

Price mismatch

Instagram and the email disagree by A$12/page

Instagram says “documents from A$60 per page”; the email quoted A$48/page. The customer who saw the post and then got the quote assumes a bait-and-switch.

Fix → One price on the website, Instagram and the reply templates.

Also noted

Per-word rate not disclosed until after the file is sent

On the WhatsApp: per-word rate not disclosed until after the file is sent. Not a red flag on its own — but it is the kind of gap that sends a customer to whoever spelled it out.

Fix → Write down how the team handles this, and check it in next month’s audit.

04 — Reply A vs Reply B

The reply you sent, next to the reply that wins the job

Left: the reply the business actually sent. Right: what a best-in-class reply to the same enquiry looks like — the name, the exact question answered, the price from the business’s own list, the timeline, what happens next, something to keep, a concrete time to talk, and a real person to call.

What Mei asked · Email enquiry · Mon 09:25
“Hi, I need two documents translated and certified for an application. How much, and how fast?”
Reply A — what the business sent42/100

From the audit record: the reply the business actually sent.

The team, shared inbox 4h 15m after the enquiry

Hi, a certified translation would be A$48/page. Let us know if you want to proceed.
Speed
45
Answered
100
Price
30
Personal
10
Questions
10
Follow-up
10
Next step
25
Tone
62
Red flags
100
Reply B — the reply that wins the job96/100

What a best-in-class reply looks like — the standard your competitors are measured against

A named person at the translation agency, same email 15 min after the enquiry

Hi Mei, Thanks for getting in touch — yes, we can help, and here is everything you asked. Price: our website says “documents from A$60 per page”. That’s the figure we work from; the exact price depends on the details. Timing: turnaround quoted within an hour, as standard. What happens next: an upload-and-pay link, then the exact figure in writing within 24 hours. One question so I can be exact: is there a date you need this sorted by? I’ve attached “Example Translations — prices and what’s included” (PDF), so you have it all in writing. Can I call you Thursday between 5 and 7 pm to arrange an upload-and-pay link? If another time suits, reply with it and I’ll hold it. If I don’t hear back, I’ll check in on Friday morning.

Example Translations — prices and what’s included (PDF)

Lena Park
New enquiries, Example Translations
Direct line: 0491 570 156

Speed
95
Answered
100
Price
100
Personal
95
Questions
90
Follow-up
90
Next step
100
Tone
95
Red flags
100

The difference · 54 points

Same enquiry, same business, same facts.

  • Answered in 15 minutes, not 4h 15m.
  • Quotes the published price (“documents from A$60 per page”) instead of A$48/page.
  • Greets Mei by name and answers the question that was asked.
  • Says what happens next and when: turnaround quoted within an hour.
  • Asks one question that moves the booking forward.
  • Attaches a fact sheet the customer can keep.
  • Offers a specific call — Thursday, 5–7 pm — instead of an open “let us know”.
  • Signed by a named person with a direct line, and a dated check-in if nobody replies.

Reply B is written by us from the facts the business already had — its own published price, its own next step — so the gap is the reply, not the offer. It is the standard, not a named rival: this sample is fictional. In a live audit this panel is built from your own replies, and on SalesWitness Watch Pro the quarterly competitor benchmark shops two real competitors and scores their replies the same way. Follow-up on Reply B is scored on the dated check-in it commits to.

05 — Review snapshot and monitoring

What prospects read before they enquire

Rating
4.7

133 reviews on Google

Negative reviews
4

1–3★ in the last 90 days

Negatives unanswered
2 of 4

No owner reply on the profile

Oldest unanswered
27 days

Still waiting for an owner reply

What it means Both unanswered reviews are about turnaround on urgent jobs — answer them with the express option.

On SalesWitness Watch, the next one never waits 27 days

The audit reads every profile once. Watch keeps reading them every day — and when a negative review lands, you hear about it within hours, with the reply already drafted.

  1. 01Watched daily

    Google, ProductReview, Facebook, Trustpilot and any other review site we find. Every negative review in each profile’s full history is captured on the first sweep.

  2. 02Alert within hours

    A new 1–3★ review triggers an alert, with the review quoted in full and the profile it is on.

  3. 03A drafted reply

    Empathetic, de-escalating, no admission of fault — marked “review before use”, ready to paste.

  4. 04A removal path, when the rules allow

    If the review breaks the platform’s own policy, you get the rule it breaks and the exact appeal route.

One of the 2 unanswered reviews above, as the alert would arrive

Review alert · Google

Sent within hours
J. C.
“Needed it urgently and nobody told us how long it would take.”

Policy check: a genuine customer experience — not removable. Reply publicly, and fix the cause.

Drafted replyReview before use

Hi J., thank you for taking the time to tell us, and I’m sorry this wasn’t the experience you expected. That isn’t how we want anyone to be treated. I’d like to understand what happened and put it right — please call me directly on 0491 570 156.

— Lena, Example Translations

When a review breaks the rules · Google

  1. 1Check the review against Google’s “Prohibited and restricted content” policy — e.g. not based on a real experience, a conflict of interest, personal information.
  2. 2Gather the evidence: most often, no matching booking, order or enquiry on your records.
  3. 3Report it: Business Profile → Read reviews → Report, or Google’s Reviews Management Tool. Google says decisions typically take several days.
  4. 4If it’s refused: one appeal through the same tool, with the case ID and the evidence. That decision is final.

SalesWitness Watch: the appeal drafted for you, citing the rule — you file it.SalesWitness Watch Pro: we file the appeal for you.

Platforms remove policy breaches, not bad opinions. We never file a false report, and we never post or solicit reviews — the public reply goes up either way, because it is the part prospects actually read. Every platform we read has its own route; the same checks apply.

06 — The tape: one enquiry, two replies

One enquiry. Two replies.

Our enquiry · email enquiry

📨 Prospect emails hello@abc-company.com asking for a quote.

✅ Reply 1 — from the company

sales@abc-company.com · quotes list price · books a call

🚩 Reply 2 — from a rep, personally

j.smith.freelance@gmail.com · “I can do it cheaper directly” · asks to move to WhatsApp

What the report says“The enquiry was answered from an address not on the authorised staff list, with an offer to transact off-channel (evidence attached).” Evidence-led, defamation-safe — and the kind of leak that costs more than a year of SalesWitness.
One customer enquiry receiving two separate replies — one official, one from a personal phone

07 — Evidence excerpt

The WhatsApp thread

[Tue 10:02] Auditor → Hi, I need two documents translated and certified for an application. How much, and how fast?

[Tue 10:11] Other number → Hi Mei, I’m one of the team. I can do a certified translation privately for A$36/page, ready tomorrow. Cheaper than the office.

[— the business’s own WhatsApp never replied —]

08 — Case closed: what changes next month

Three fixes, under two hours

None of this needs new software or a new hire. In order of revenue impact.

  1. 01

    One price, everywhere

    Align the website, Instagram and the reply templates on the same published price.

    20 minOwner
  2. 02

    Work only through the office

    Remind everyone who handles enquiries, in writing: jobs are issued and invoiced by the office, never privately.

    30 minOwner
  3. 03

    Fix the live chat

    Route live chat messages to the shared inbox with an auto-acknowledgement; test it weekly.

    15 minOffice admin

Before → after

Illustrative — what the three fixes typically change within 30 days.

  • Published prices

    2 different1 everywhere

    via One price, everywhere

  • Live chat

    no replywithin 1 h

    via Fix the live chat

  • Jobs offered privately

    10

    via Work only through the office

Confidential. Prepared under the written authorisation of the business owner. Findings reflect the audit record only and are phrased to describe evidence, not intent. Not legal advice. The business and every figure above are illustrative, not a guarantee.

09 — What this costs

What slow and missed enquiries cost a business like this

Enquiries a month
60

Typical for a translation agency

Close rate
4 in 10

40% · lost to slow or missed replies: 2 in 10 of those

Average order value
A$850

What one order is worth

Lost a month
A$4,080

A$48,960 a year

60 enquiries × 40% close rate × 20% lost to slow or missed replies = 4.8 orders lost × A$850 = A$4,080 a month

One recovered sale (A$850) covers 8 months of SalesWitness Watch (A$99/month).

Typical figures for this kind of business, not a benchmark and not a promise. A lost enquiry isn’t a lost sale, so only the share you’d normally close counts. Put your own numbers into the calculator for your figure.

Your report looks like this — with your channels, your prices, your evidence

See yours.

One SalesWitness Audit shops every channel you offer — enquiry form, email enquiry, live chat, WhatsApp, phone call — twice, 15 days apart, scores them against your own fact sheet and lands in your portal. Owner-authorised, evidence-led.

Compare plans — Watch adds daily review monitoring →