Did you know that 79% of contact centres receive calls from customers who are not English speakers? Not-surprisingly, 60% of customers expect to receive customer service in their native language according to a 2016 study by the International Customer Management Institute and Lionbridge. So can you afford to lose 60% of your customers just because you do not speak their language?
According to a 2014 study by ICMI, 72% of contact centre managers agree that multilingual customer support increases customer satisfaction. Furthermore, with the world growing more connected every day, the importance of delivering personalised and comprehensive customer support cannot be more over-empathised.
With 52% of contact center managers expecting the volume of non-primary language communication to increase over time, it’s essential that contact managers consider introducing an in-house bilingual agent or outsourcing altogether. According to the Lionbridge Report, 69% of call centre managers plan to support additional languages with Spanish as the most cited language.
66% of Call Agents Are Frustrated with Language Barriers
Imagine being in the shoes of a call centre agent who receives a significant number of calls from customers who speak Spanish, and yet the contact center doesn’t have a single bilingual staff. Sure, Google translate can help, but only if the customer doesn’t speak slang. The likelihood of such calls ending in apologies for not being able to assist the customer in their language is high while the chances of getting a repeat purchase are low.