Both Australia and New Zealand are countries of diversity, veritable melting pots of cultures, religions and languages with new migrants arriving regularly.
Most new members to our society quickly attempt to master local dialect and do so without fail at an impressive speed, but often initially struggle to understand phrases and speech unless face to face.

Is there a way that companies can support new immigrants by making life just a little easier as they settle into a new home, potentially earning their loyalty and custom for many profitable years to come?

Yes.

Join the many forward thinking companies who appreciate the potential income that can be gained by creating language accessibility within their messaging and call centres.

• Use language selection options at the beginning of the call to present all messaging in a selected language. This will also allow you to transfer the call to someone on staff that can speak that language, or at the very least warn the incoming rep that language may be an issue. A nice way to make the customer feel welcome could be for the English-only speaking rep to greet them with a welcome in their indicated language.
• Set up easy access to 3 way calls with an interpreting service. If no one on staff is fluent in a specific language then contact an interpreter for future calls.
• During the hiring process don’t discount the skills of a multi –lingual speaker. A customer service rep who has the ability to converse fluently in Chinese, Spanish, or Arabic languages can be a godsend for a business. Customers will remember where to go the make their needs heard.

Great customer service is about keeping the client happy and removing barriers to service. If your business is frequently used by those Kiwis and Aussies where English is not their first language, then you may want to consider adapting your messaging and call centre options.