Global business environment is demanding and you want to grow your client’s database and aim to increase sales & revenues in order to be more competitive? Are you ready to go international or you already are international? Challenge accepted! In today’s post I would like to address how to improve the communications with your customers when providing a multilingual support. Here are a few tips to provide a better customer service & support.
Get your website translated
Make sure to have a proper translation of your product or service descriptions on your website. A proper translation will help you to keep the professional image of your company and to improve the position you have on your target market.
By defining your brand personality in all supported languages, you will maintain consistency across all communications. Your key support consideration? Manage expectations of your customers. Most customers will not expect that you offer support across all channels, hours, and languages. To avoid unnecessary frustration and disappointment, you should communicate proactively and state clearly what you do and do not provide. Also inform about your support availability.
Adapt and modify your products and services to strengthen your offer within the target market.
Having your website translated, is the first step but is not enough to drive your international business. Prospects will expect at least people being able to communicate in English (on the phone and per e-mail). Make sure to hit their expactations!
Create cross-cultural best practices
You have decided which languages to support and how to resource them, the next step is to develop policies for effective cross-cultural practice. At the most basic level, this involves to create guidelines for using clear and simple language easily understood by non-native speakers.
According to my own experience I would suggest the following:
For written communication
- Adapt the language according to the market e.g. for German language use of ‘Sie’ or ‘Du’
- Create your own template in all languages you support and share it with your colleagues
- Make easy sentences and use easy words, you do not want your customer to get lost, give easy examples to help them to understand better – complicated explanations will cause more questions
- Use common language of communication within the company and common keywords
- Create a glossary if necessary
- Prepare demo or examples on how to use you product/service
For oral communication
- Know your topic by building for example an internal self-help database for most common questions or issues and share skills, you can help your customer more easily when he is calling
- Do not be afraid to ask questions to your customer or your colleagues, that is how you will improve your skills – you cannot know everything
- Be prepared and remain confident especially on the phone, ignore offending comments like “I would like to talk to a native speaker”, you are managing the situation and you are the one reference for the situation
This will improve efficiency and productivity as well as the customer service standards and will help you to drive sales and revenue in new markets.
Create a great customer experience
You are showing cultural sensivity by offering your services in other languages and opening your company to international markets.
By using the right words and definitions of your products and services, your prospects will have a full understanding of what you are offering, helping you to establish a dialogue and gain their trust. Gaining your customer´s trust and retaining their loyalty leads to a win-win situation: An amazing quality of service and the satisfaction of your customers boosting your business.
Find your own recipe! Now it´s time to share your own experience!
