Multilingual Support for an Enhanced Customer Experience
Imagine that you need to reach out to a business after receiving the wrong product. Or maybe you were incorrectly billed for a service. Either way, you’ll be frustrated and want to get to the bottom of it – quickly.
What if, upon answering your call, your customer service agent didn’t speak your language? That would only add to your frustration. Multilingual customer service agents can mitigate or entirely eliminate this risk. Whether your customers speak English or Spanish, an agent will be available to deliver frictionless support.
In fact, 72% of customers in an ICMI study stated that support in a customer’s native language increased their satisfaction with customer support. Furthermore, 58% said multilingual service increased loyalty to the brand as a whole.
A bilingual contact center like Radius Global Solutions offers a variety of advantages for your business and your customers. Read on to find out our top 5.
Advantage 1: Improves Your Customer Engagement
62% of customers are willing to pay more for good customer service, and even more for convenience. If you engaged with a customer contact center agent who could not speak your language, would you consider that a positive experience? Would you say it was convenient? The answer to both of these questions is likely an emphatic “no.”
If your customers cannot speak to you in their native language, any conversations will likely be less effective. It will take longer to find a solution with a language barrier present. Considering that most consumers don’t enjoy contacting support in the first place, difficulties communicating with an agent can be extremely irritating.
Your customers can easily switch to your competitors that do offer multilingual customer support. After all, these competitors are clearly focused on building a solid customer engagement strategy. Brands that put their customers and their preferences first often find it easier to maintain a positive business reputation, drive new leads, and retain existing clients.
Advantage 2: Helps Outperform Your Competition
Speaking of competitors, your business can outperform them with a multilingual contact center. Many companies outsource their customer experience strategies to a call center. But not all call centers provide multilingual service.
ICMI data shows that 86% of contact centers report having non-English speaking customers. Only 66% of them, however, have formal customer support options in a language other than English. Your business can bridge that gap.
Do your competitors outsource to a call center that only employs English-speaking agents? Their customers are likely experiencing friction when they reach out for help. Make it known that your customer care team provides support in multiple languages.
State exactly what languages you offer service in because potential customers will likely be looking for theirs. Listing out these languages on your website and promotional materials will help give you a competitive edge. Not to mention that it makes your brand appear highly people-centric and service-oriented.
Advantage 3: Widens Your Customer Base
Even if your service area is restricted to the United States, having bilingual support agents can significantly widen your customer base. The U.S. is home to over 50 million Spanish speakers – and counting. That’s millions of homes that you may not currently be able to reach due to a language barrier.
Providing bilingual customer care creates countless opportunities to make a connection with new customers by speaking their native tongue. And word-of-mouth recommendations are a powerful thing. By providing amazing service in more than one language, you can increase referrals from happy customers.
Advantage 4: Offsets Other Customer Service Issues
Of course, your company’s goal is to always deliver amazing products or services. However, things can sometimes go wrong. If an issue arises, customers respond better if support is offered in their language. This is particularly true if the customer doesn’t typically get to speak their native language around their English-speaking peers.
58% of customers are willing to wait longer to access customer care in their first language. And 62% are more likely to put up with product or service problems if they can speak to your support team in their native language.
We’re not saying that a multilingual contact center will make your customers happy all the time. However, it is easier to look past issues when you feel catered to and understood. The pleasant surprise of being able to speak their first language on a service call can often alleviate a customer’s irritation.
Advantage 5: Boosts Your Customer Retention
Not every contact center offers customer service in multiple languages. As a result, many businesses are not equipped to communicate effectively with non-English speaking customers. This is a major challenge for those who speak English as a second language.
People want to work with businesses that can solve their challenges. If your company can deliver a solution to common language barrier challenges, consumers are less likely to place their business elsewhere. This alone can help your company build a loyal customer base and increase retention.
The benefits of retaining existing customers cannot be understated. Increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase your profits by 25 to 95%. While you always want to acquire new customers, don’t forget about the cost savings and additional profits that brand loyalty offers.
Employing a multilingual or bilingual customer service team is one of the ways your brand can improve customer retention.
Say “¡Hola!” to Your Multilingual Contact Center
Radius Global Solutions is a cross-channel, multilingual customer contact center with services designed to boost your bottom line. Our outsourced agents are extensively trained to provide exceptional customer experiences in each interaction.
Are you ready to enjoy the many business benefits of a bilingual contact center? Contact us today to learn more and partner with our experienced team.
