Why should global businesses provide multilingual customer service?

Strong consumer relationships are vital for business success, no matter where your brand operates.

That’s why multilingual customer support is a cornerstone of any global strategy. By communicating with customers in their native language, you can better understand their problems and offer timely, practical solutions. But multilingual customer service goes beyond translating content. It’s about meeting shoppers with a range of support options that suit their unique needs, time zones, and cultural nuances.

So, how can you prepare your teams to deliver a localized customer service experience that enhances business results worldwide? This guide will explore multilanguage support channels, practical tips, and software solutions to elevate global customer experiences. 

What is multilingual customer support, and why do businesses need it?

Multilingual customer support provides comprehensive assistance to consumers across different languages. This could involve sending post-purchase emails to global shoppers, setting up local call centers with native language speakers, and troubleshooting issues in real time with multilingual AI chatbots.

Multilingual business services break down language barriers and create a seamless experience for international customers. This is a key differentiator in today’s evolving business marketplace, where customers have endless options. They want companies that meet them with proper care and communication in their preferred language. The brands that do will stand out from the competition, earning customer retention and loyalty.

Benefits of a multilingual customer support team

Multilingual support can significantly impact customer experience metrics like retention and engagement, providing tangible outcomes for international businesses. Here’s a closer look at the key benefits of multilingual customer support:

Enhanced customer engagement

Customers can more easily engage with your brand and share their experiences when representatives speak their native language.

Higher customer satisfaction

Personalized and speedy service shows you value customers’ needs and time, increasing satisfaction. Even if you don’t have a multilingual team, solutions like Smartling’s AI-powered customer support translation allow you to deliver on-brand support in other languages, reducing wait times and improving global customer experiences.

Improved customer retention and lifetime value

Customer loyalty hinges on a streamlined purchase process and personalized experience. By providing tailored support for each buyer, you can increase retention, encourage repeat purchases, and boost lifetime value (LTV).

Expanded global market reach

Don’t let language barriers and cultural differences stop you from tapping into new markets. With a multilingual support system, you can easily expand your business footprint and reach new customers, regardless of location.

Increased sales and conversion rates

According to CSA Research, 76% of online shoppers prefer buying products with information in their native language. In fact, 40% will never buy from websites in other languages. You can help customers complete the purchase process by presenting your checkout and product pages in multiple languages.

Better understanding of customer needs and feedback

Communication is a two-way street. Multilingual support doesn’t just translate your content and messaging for customers; it also helps your business become a better listener. You can use customer feedback to optimize products and experiences for international audiences.

For instance, Smartling’s CXone Expert integration streamlines multilingual knowledge base translations to enhance self-service support and customer insights.

Increased brand reputation and trust

Communicating important information (e.g., return policies or security processes) in multiple languages increases trust among shoppers. You’ll deliver superior experiences customers want to tell their family and friends about.

Channels for multilingual customer support

Multilingual customer support should be a multiplatform experience that allows customers to communicate with your business using their preferred channels. Meet them where they’re already active to deliver the most effective support.

Consider these three channels for multilingual customer services:

Multilingual customer support chat

Comprehensive customer service software should enable multilingual customer support chat for your website, app, or messaging platform to quickly answer questions from global audiences. These chats can be run by human representatives or automated AI chatbots.

Customer support chat is best for helping users troubleshoot issues with step-by-step guidance. It can also direct them to relevant information, such as product details or tracking links for their orders. 

Multilingual customer support emails

If customers provide an email at checkout or when submitting a query, they should receive a response in their native language. Compared to other customer support channels, email is better at relaying complex or sensitive information that readers may need to save for later.

Work with your preferred email marketing platform to ensure they support multilingual messaging options. Alternatively, you can use Smartling’s marketing integrations to translate emails without leaving your CRM software.

Multilingual call centers

International customers might prefer to call in with a question or concern instead of navigating chat apps or emails. With a multilingual help desk, you can provide them with the necessary information.

Automated or recorded messages should be offered in your target audience’s language. In addition, consider contracting multilingual call centers with real representatives who speak the language and understand your customers’ cultures and customs.

5 tips to provide multilanguage support

Once you’ve set up customer support channels, it’s time to build and optimize your multilingual service strategy so you can engage diverse international markets. Here are five best practices to help you enhance customer experiences in different languages:

1. Use AI-powered chatbots with real-time translation

Multilingual AI chatbots can detect and translate between languages in real time. Each customer can receive instantaneous support in their preferred language without waiting for a human to answer their call.

2. Hire multilingual agents or partner with local support providers

Although AI translations can be fast and high-quality, consider pairing automated solutions with multilingual agents. These representatives help cover any gaps and provide a human connection for your customers. They can better understand idioms, slang, and cultural references that AI chatbots might miss.

3. Integrate translation technology with your customer support tools

Delivering support in other languages can be challenging, especially if customers expect real-time responses. You need instant, accurate translations to communicate with your audience.

That’s where translation technology can help. Integrating machine translation into your support tools allows you to handle high volumes of multilingual inquiries without overwhelming your agents.

Smartling offers extensive integrations with customer support tools so you can provide 24/7 multilingual assistance. For example, the Zendesk Support plugin lets your team instantly translate support tickets and take action.

3. Offer customer support across different time zones

Offering support in multiple languages isn’t always enough. You must also accommodate their time zones and peak engagement periods. Make sure your multilingual support services are available during these times so customers can speak with real representatives and receive timely responses.

4. Build a multilingual knowledge base for self-service support

Help customers help themselves by translating your website and relevant documentation into different languages. Update your FAQ pages, how-to guides, blog posts, and product pages with translated content. With this knowledge base, customers can find the information they need independently, saving valuable time for your support team.

Provide multilingual support services with Smartling

Multilingual customer support is crucial for international businesses. By speaking to customers in their native language, businesses boost engagement, drive sales and conversions, and turn curious newcomers into loyal customers.

Smartling integrates with leading tools like Zendesk, ServiceNow, and Salesforce to help businesses provide global customer support. Our AI solutions automate over 95% of the translation process, reducing wait times and increasing customer satisfaction.

The bottom line: Smartling enables fast, consistent multilingual support as you expand your business worldwide.

Ready to take your support efforts to the next level and deliver exceptional service in multiple languages? Explore Smartling’s global customer support solutions.