Without Omni-lingual, There is No Omni-channel

Industry whitepapers abound promoting the latest advances in the Customer Experience market. “Channel proliferation”—or expanding channels with a chatbot, SMS, knowledge base, etc.—has become a key talking point, along with enhancements and improvements in the CX tech stack. CX vendors and service providers are discussing cost savings and productivity enhancements for companies purchasing CX solutions, such as replacing live agents with AI chatbots and knowledge bases.   

CX providers also spend considerable time touting the major benefits of an omni-channel strategy.  Through innovative and customer-centric approaches, they enable connections across devices and channels, capture and distill a true 360-degree view of the customer and serve the end-customer more effectively—and with improved retention—through these innovative and customer-centric approaches. CX providers are right to promote these approaches. They are good for consumers and improve profitability and productivity of CX providers. Seemingly, a true “win-win” for everyone involved—what’s not to like?

What is the main obstacle to successful omni-channel strategies?

There is one glaring gap in most omni-channel strategies, however: They only work if the company, its agents, its chatbots, and its knowledge bases speak the same language as the consumers they are seeking to engage.

In the U.S. alone, there are over 50 million consumers—collectively constituting billions of dollars of spending power—who primarily speak a language other than English. Companies and CX providers who do not account for language diversity in their omni-channel strategies leave these consumers frustrated and on the “buying sidelines.” According to CSA Research, almost 40% of consumers will not repeat buy from a company that does not provide after-sales support in their native language.

The simplicity and appeal of an easy online chat with a customer service agent or a chatbot interaction will be unavailable to these consumers if they cannot interact in their native language. In a world that is increasingly focused on diversity and inclusion, how can we leave millions of consumers out of the full benefits of a digital economy, simply because they do not speak the same language?

At Lionbridge, a global view, diversity and inclusion are in our DNA. These critically important principles are prevalent across our company and throughout our solutions. For example, our real-time text translation solutions integrate into ServiceNow, Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Microsoft products such as Outlook, BoldChat and other leading CX solutions. Thus, we enable agents and virtual agents to connect and communicate with consumers regardless of language preferences and ensure that knowledge bases are fully omni-lingual and accessible and available to all. Our world-class global pool of on-demand interpreters helps companies and governments provide voice-based customer service to break through any language barriers to reach all of their consumers and stakeholders.   

Companies that make the thoughtful choice of integrating Lionbridge into their customer and workforce experience solutions truly deliver on the promise and potential of omni-channel, and they leave no consumers behind. For companies who have yet to do so, join with us and with our CX partners and you will see the benefits firsthand: more customers, more revenue, higher retention and true inclusivity.    

Remember, without omni-lingual, there is no true omni-channel.

Want to learn more?

Contact us at GeoFluentSales@lionbridge.com to get started on your omni-lingual journey.