Target audience or not. Big buyer or not. We all deserve quality customer support 

It’s not easy. English is so widespread it seems like enough. We narrow our target to “English proficient” people. But what if there were ways to go around it? Why limit ourselves?  

Website localization makes us accessible to new countries and audiences. And website localization could be our first step toward multilingual customer support. There are several stepping stones before having to actually hire a team of native speakers. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming and expensive. 

WHY CONSIDER IT 

Finding localized websites is not uncommon today. The benefits and potential revenue derived from it have become clear as day.  

– It gives you a competitive advantage: it allows you to address a larger audience and differentiate yourself. 

– It improves the user’s experience: when you speak in your audience’s own language, you generate a much better UX. Your potential customers will feel more comfortable and take an interest in your products or services. 

– It achieves better SEO results: when a website transforms its content considering other target audiences, the keywords, and SEO structure change and improves its ranking in international markets. 

But then leads and customers are not just sales, but people. And people have doubts, questions, and needs. And there, most companies struggle to envision how to execute customer support. 

A recent survey found that 67% of customers reported they would switch brands due to a poor customer experience. It’s no surprise then that Intercom found that 70% of their end users felt more loyal to businesses that offered customer support in their native language and that 29% percent of businesses lost clients because they didn’t offer multilingual customer support. 

STARTING SMALL: LOCALIZATION, VIDEOS, AND FAQS 

In the U.S, there are 67.3 million residents who speak a language other than English at home. Multilingual customer support means making sure that all of your customers, regardless of preferred language, culture, or location, are able to get the most out of your products and services. 

A possible and efficient solution to multilingual customer support is to localize Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) pages. It’s smart to get ahead of the most commonly asked questions, save a lot of time, and give users an awesome experience because you saved them the back and forth of contacting support and it’s lots of money saved on live support services. 

Once this is done, audiovisual material is a great second step. According to recent research, online videos make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic, fifteen times more than in 2017. So tutorials, interviews, reviews, testimonials, and recorded events can be very eye opening. And by dubbing or providing subtitle alternatives, you reduce the strain on customer support agents. 

Also, if prevention is not enough, and your product simply tends to receive questions, then email support can be the next best alternative. Phone support is expensive and creates long wait times. But email (providing you are quick to respond) is a more than adequate platform that is compatible with plenty of translation integrations.  

CHATBOTS  

Chatbots are a more tech and quick way to address questions. You can upload a set of standardized most frequent Q&A’s to only derive to an actual human if absolutely necessary. They are 24/7, less expensive than live customer support, easy to evolve, and feel more human and immediate to clients. 

OVER THE PHONE 

The main benefit of Over-the-Phone Interpretation is that it instantly gives access to on-demand interpreters. It’s important to avoid long waits in line. And it’s more expensive than the previous automated options. But it’s still cost-effective in relation to in-house resources. And a clear upgrade for speakers of other languages.  

WHAT NOW? 

Mull over what the best option for you might be. How many languages do you need? How digital native is your audience? Where are you looking to expand? Which of these resources solve best?  

And after you’ve put all this on the table, maybe call our language experts. We can help you out.