The Growing Need For Multilingual Customer Communication

George Carlin has presented a very deep thought in just four words’ sentences. If you are one of those who have faced the same problem then surely it is very relatable for you

How? Let’s take a look at it.

आमचे अर्पण

અમારા તકોમાંનુ

আমাদের নৈবেদ্য

If you do not understand any of these languages, deep apologies for it. This is the exact problem which George Carlin wanted to address when he wrote the above-mentioned quote. 

Why multilingual communication is required?

Imagine if a customer who comes to a platform faces the same problem! He is unable to understand what you are trying to deliver. Being forced to understand and communicate in a language one is not comfortable with definitely makes him dissatisfied and uninterested. No matter how good your product or service is, the first impression means a lot to your customers. 

Let’s look at the other side of the coin, If you are one of those people who understand the above languages, you’ll be very comfortable with the next conversation. Isn’t it? That’s the comfort that a customer feels when he is delivered solutions in his language. 

In today’s time of cutthroat competition when ‘customer is the king’ if you don’t treat him like a king, he has many different options to look for.

The single extra step you take to provide a multilingual website, a good chatbox, excellent after-sales service is what sets you apart from your competitors and you definitely have a place in your customer’s heart.

By helping customers in their own language you not only remove barriers but also make them feel at home. Every business has to understand, buying is not just a logical decision it has emotions attached with it and if your customer is attached emotionally with you it definitely will show up in his buying behavior.

Some Statistics by Common Advisory

• 72.1% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own language.
• 72.4% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy a product with information in their own language.
• 56.2% of consumers said that the ability to obtain information in their own language is more important than price.

When consumers have conveyed any idea in their own language definitely the response you get would be faster and positive because they would understand the same faster.

Benefits of having a multilingual interface

• Improves communication: For anything to be communicated well it is very important that it is understood well by the reader. The interest of a  person develops with a user-friendly interface, and what better option would be language. Effective communication leads to business growth.

• Search Engine Boost: Not all websites offer this facility and if your site has initiated it, google will definitely pay you back for the same,when a customer searches for a multilingual website due to lower competition you will definitely be ranking higher so why not move a step ahead and get listed first!

• Client Satisfaction: When I visited a shop and the shopkeeper communicated with me in the language I was comfortable with, I always came out with an impression in mind definitely of revisiting the store because I have the comfort level now developed with him, similarly audience coming to a website will have the same impression after exiting your site.

• The demand of the majority: After checking the above-mentioned statistics you might definitely have understood what is the customers’ perspective about having multilingual interfaces so why not satisfy their demands by walking two more steps towards them!

• Conversion of Leads: After so much effort put by your marketing team to bring your customer to the interface, the lead does not get converted just because the customer could only partially understand what was delivered to him, all the hard work which was put in goes waste so this should definitely be given a thought.

Read – Proactiveness – The key to converting sales leads

Now that we have taken a look at what all benefits will having a multilingual interface serve us, next I would like to introduce you to the practical examples of companies in India who have realized its importance and are also getting benefited from having a multilingual interface.

From Digital Payment companies like Paytm, Phonepe, cab service providers, e-commerce shopping companies, to even tech-enabled customer communication and reporting solution startup-like NeoDove in India have realized that the users are more comfortable talking to their customers in a language that both of them understand.

Research indicates, to drive stickiness to any app, just an intuitive interface is not enough. In case, the interface is in a language that users understand, they are able to use the features better and derive better results. 

Wrapping up

NeoDove has already made a bilingual interface – Hindi and English but going ahead they are going to add other regional languages like Gujarati, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Punjabi, and more.  

Once you develop a  relationship with your users, word of mouth is one thing that will definitely help in getting customers from various parts of the world.

To conclude I would just like to say the little extra effort you put in providing the customers a multilingual website, app, the chatbox will just show the customers that you care for their comfort and if you’re able to make your customer feel valued they will definitely be interested in doing business with you.

Build that connection. Start speaking with your customers in their language!