All over the world, there’s a growing need for multilingual customer support as brands aim to capture the international market and establish global dominance.

7 Steps in creating a multilingual customer support strategy: Part 1

In the first part of this article, we discussed how you and your contact center can start building a powerful multilingual customer service strategy.

The first step is to identify your target markets, so you can determine the languages you need and the size of the workforce necessary to support your operations. Next, you must anticipate the type of queries that you’re likely to get from customers. This will help you pin down the skills your agents must have. After this, gauging customers’ expectations is crucial so you can provide the services and channels they need.

This article will walk you through the next four steps you must carry out for an effective multilingual customer support strategy.

4. Form your ideal business model.

Most brands design their customer care strategy in a way that allows them to stand out from the competition, and this is also the ideal outlook. If you’re striving to do the same, your multilingual strategy must be comprehensive, covering all your needs.

More importantly, your customer service model must reflect your brand’s missions. From the hiring process, to the employee onboarding stage, to the organizational structure, every aspect must bring you closer to your goals.

For the human resource aspect, a well-designed recruitment strategy is a must so you can find professionals with the exact skills you’re looking for. You should also zone in on the specifics: Will you hire freelancers and part-timers? Is outsourcing an option or would you opt to build an in-house contact center?

Other things to consider are:

•     employee engagement;
•     trainings (for cultural sensitivity and skills development);
•     shift scheduling;
•     quality monitoring; and
•     management style.

5. Review business policies and laws.

Government policies and laws, as well as regulations in specific industries, may influence the way you deliver multilingual customer support. This is especially true for companies in the finance, healthcare, or legal sectors. The main policies you need to pay attention to are those about consumer rights and privacy.

To ensure that your multilingual call center complies with all relevant laws, you may consult corporate lawyers familiar with the business environment of your target markets. Ideally, these practitioners must be from those areas themselves, as they’re more familiar with the local and national policies that could affect your operations.

6. Consider the technology you need.

It’s no secret that a large part of the customer experience is hinged upon technology. The right software and devices can help your contact center deliver the kind of customer service that addresses the preferences of your market.

Right now, all brands and service providers are focused on creating smarter strategies. Aside from connecting multiple platforms and streamlining customer transactions that take place in two or more devices, companies are working on more sophisticated solutions. Some of these are language-aware IVRs, multilingual self-service portals, and cloud-based operations.

These technologies exist to make the lives of customers easier, as they make flexible and agile solutions possible. They’d allow you to provide services regardless of time gaps and geographic borders and are thus a must for serving the international market.

7. Plan for future improvements.

The customer experience is never meant to be stagnant. Along with advancements in technology and changes in how people make purchasing decisions, new customer support standards are being formed. For a multilingual call center to effectively assist the brands they represent, staying on top of the latest trends is a must.

To plan for future improvements, you need to continuously gather customer insights and ensure that they’re being echoed in the way you deliver your services. To do this, your internal departments must be well-integrated so you can make the most of the information you gather.

For multilingual call center needs, Open Access BPO offers scalable business solutions anchored on a multicultural company culture that captures your target market s specific needs. We speak your customers’ language to create better experiences for your brand.