Most companies consider customer service to be a top priority, and for a good reason. Your customers are the foundation of your business and looking for ways to improve their experience could help you retain repeat customers while deriving more value from them.

Often, your customer service may be the first, or last, interaction customers have with your business. Can you imagine their frustration if they cannot even communicate with your rep? You may have heard some buzz around the need for bilingual customer service representatives in the last few years, but we will give you the information you need to make the right decision for your business.

The Spanish speaking population has grown rapidly in the last ten years, and so has their economic influence. In fact, a report from the U.S. Census Bureau states that Hispanic consumers have nearly $2 trillion in spending power.

With a growing population and consumers looking to spend, your company could be missing out on a substantial profit if you are not catering to these communities.

Here are some of the specific benefits of having bilingual customer service representatives:

Every industry and every company likely have at least some customers who speak another language. For example, there are more than 400 million native Spanish speakers across the globe. In this sense, having Spanish bilingual call centers is an essential to compete in a global economy. However, a surprising 22 percent of the United States does not speak English at home, and Spanish is the most common language after English. It does not matter where you are or who you serve, chances are at least some of your customers do not speak English already. Plus, you can widen your audience by millions simply by enabling people who do not speak English to connect with your company.

High abandon rates, or the number of people who disconnect before being connected with a representative, can be a sign of a serious problem. While there will always be people in call centers who misdial and hang up when a company name is said, others drop off when the initial options list doesn’t mention alternate languages or the representative cannot assist them due to language barriers. In many cases, the individual will simply disconnect and be unsatisfied. However, some continue to call hoping that, by chance, they will connect with a representative who can communicate with them in their mother tongue. Naturally, this taxes the system and can result in an overwhelmed team as well as inefficient service.

The service an individual receives when connecting with a company shapes the way he or she views it. Frankly, it is frustrating to be unable to express an issue to a representative or to be unable to understand the solutions being offered by one. Bilingual contact centers eliminate these issues and ensure the customer has an experience that creates positive feelings about the company.

Bilingual representatives can explain the value of new products and services in a straightforward way that makes it easier to get customer buy-in. This, paired with the positive sentiments and feeling valued by the company for its additional efforts, have a massive impact on brand reputation.

There are three typical scenarios which occur when a person cannot get the support they need due to language barriers. Two of these situations have been addressed—either the customer disconnects, which results in lost revenue, or the customer calls back repeatedly, which results in inefficiencies and increased costs. In some cases, however, companies attempt to provide services like those of bilingual contact centers by employing one or two bilingual representatives. As one might imagine, this typically results in team members investing unnecessary excess time trying to find someone who speaks the customer’s language, and/or disproportionate loads are placed on a select few employees. True bilingual contact centers do away with all this, increasing efficiency and decreasing operating costs.

Reap the above benefits and more by implementing bilingual customer service representatives into your business. Remove barriers between your company and customers, increase customer satisfaction, and increase the likelihood of delivering a great customer experience every time with bilingual customer service representatives. Additionally, you can lower costs while maintaining professional and friendly customer support when you outsource your bilingual call center.

Engage with customers in their native language without the costs of hiring and training additional staff for your own business.

BCE understands that customers want to be easily understood and have their questions answered. If your customers have a great experience every time they engage with customer service, they will tell their friends and family, post about your company on social media, and they are more likely to be loyal customers.

Customers will not be frustrated by language barriers when they call. They will be impressed by the personalized service they receive and will be more likely to rave about your company to others.

By using BCE Logistics’ bilingual customer contact center, your customers will feel confident that their concerns will be answered, and issues resolved without the stress and time of dealing with language barriers. Having bilingual customer service representatives will improve the overall experience.

Customers want to be easily understood and have their questions answered. If your customers have a great experience every time, they engage with customer service, they will tell their friends and family, post about your company on social media, and they are more likely to be loyal customers. Give your customers what they want, give them BCE Logistics.

BCE Logistics has been employing bilingual agents since 2006 and is a leader in providing bilingual (English/Spanish) and multilingual contact and call centers for customer support and service across various channels, such as:

• Voice
• Email
• Online Chat

BCE Logistics can provide quality bilingual customer support to help your customers while allowing you to achieve your business goals. Learn more about our bilingual call center services here or get in touch with one of our Business Development Managers. We are anxious to discuss your needs and determine how we can assist in exceeding the expectations of your customers. Make your next call your best call, contact BCE and let us determine how we can tailor a service that is a perfect fit for your organization.