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.

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. 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.

Multilingual support is the new battleground for contact centres

“What is more important to great customer service than the language in which we deliver it?” asked Justin Robbins, ICMI community Director, while launching Lost in Translation: Leveraging Language to Deliver an Exceptional Customer Experience report. Although providing multilingual customer support may come as a challenge, the array of benefit it provides is worth noting; • Higher conversion rates • Reduced operating costs • Personalized customer experience • Improved brand loyalty • Lower call attrition

Unfortunately, 20% of contact centres do not even measure the quality of their non-primary language contacts

By 2020, Gartner predicts customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. More interestingly, when asked their contact centre’s priority for the year, 55% of managers cited improving their centres as their top priority. However, we all know you cannot grow what you do not measure. As you plan to bridge the gap in your call centre by offering multilingual support, keep in in mind the importance of implementing a support system. For example, Call Criteria has been providing training and call quality control services for years, working with them ensures you focus on your core business while they give you data to make the right decisions. Interested in discussing more about effective multilingual support? Get in touch; we’d love to hear from you.