Today, the world is more global than ever, and there is an increasing number of communities from all over the world, living in American cities. After English, Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the US. Hiring bilingual receptionists is becoming very important in order to properly serve your customers. Marketing books would teach you that you should speak your customer’s language, metaphorically. However, even literally, it helps to speak your customers’ actual preferred spoken language. Let us take a look at why hiring bilingual receptionists is so important today.
Addressing a multicultural society
America has always been a multi-cultural nation, with immigrants from all over the world. An estimated 45 million people speak Spanish as their first or second language in the US. Spanish is widely spoken in states with large Hispanic populations such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Puerto Rico and Nevada.
It makes sense to offer customer care in both English and Spanish, when customers from any of these demographics may call you. For us at Abby Connect, it was never a question for our company to hire bilingual virtual receptionists who can speak both Spanish and English fluently – about half our staff is bilingual.
Building rapport with ethnic minorities
Having bilingual receptionists or customer care associates helps you to build rapport with customers who may otherwise feel alienated or misunderstood.
If you are able to prove to your customers that you are willing to provide services in their native languages, you will win their hearts. Building rapport with ethnic minorities in a respectful and empathetic manner is very important. It not only helps you gain newer clients and customers, but will also help you to position yourself as a company that cares about its target audience.
In today’s world, it is all about building a positive brand image. Additionally, opening up marketing avenues in a different language helps you to create campaigns that are uniquely targeted at ethnic minorities, and appeal to their cultural context.
The Hispanic market is enormous
Hispanics are a large market in the US and they are known to be digitally savvy and entrepreneurial. They are known to use smartphones and tablets more than other ethnic groups, which indicates that they may very well find you in a search engine result. Most likely, they will call you up after looking at your website, if you have enabled touch-to-call facility on your mobile website.
If you provide customer care services in Spanish, and also develop marketing campaigns in Spanish, you will be able to target a very large market. Their numbers are likely going to increase by 160% by 2050, and will comprise of 30% of American population by then, according to a study.
Their buying power is likely going to increase as well, making Spanish a very valuable linguistic asset. Google has been focusing on Hispanic populations for quite some time now, as the company believes Hispanics are ahead of other ethnicities when it comes to digital adoption. If we must go by Google’s word, it makes absolute sense to offer virtual receptionist services in both English and Spanish.
Reaching Latin American countries
Considering how global businesses are today, your customer may not be from the United States. You could very well be serving your clients and customers in Mexico, Argentina, or even Guatemala, all of which are Spanish-speaking countries. Starting from Mexico, and ending at Argentina and Chile, the large Central and South American land mass is home to millions of Spanish speaking people.
You will be able to tap this diverse and burgeoning market if you decide to offer services and customer care in Spanish. Most importantly, industry analysts point out that using Spanish in marketing communication is a sure shot way to enter the Latin American market, and reach business class folks in those countries.
Moreover, Latin American countries are home to millions of successful enterprises, all of which can be interested in your B2B services. Latin Americans tend to consume more video and mobile content than other communities. This means, you should develop marketing and communication channels that are more mobile-friendly, with some video content inserted in between. Speaking of mobile technology, hiring Spanish-speaking virtual receptionists who also provide services in English can be a valuable business strategy.
Bilingual virtual receptionists offer promise and growth
America’s Hispanic population is set to increase dramatically, and businesses need to address this emerging market by offering services in Spanish. Also, targeting a multicultural society and building a rapport with them can only be possible when a company speaks its target audience’s language. Thus, it is crucial to hire receptionists and sales staff who can speak both English and Spanish, which will help to serve customers not only in the US, but also in other parts of North and South America.
