Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece Berlitz Cultural Isights Series Author: Sue Shiomiya
Berlitz Cultural Isights Series Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece The Global Busiess Ladscape Advaces i techology eable us to commuicate, collaborate ad provide services istataeously 24/7 with co-workers ad customers i almost ay part of the world. But do we have the cultural skill set ad kow-how to be truly productive i a global marketplace, provide the best customer service, ad make the most of the techology that coects us? Some 64% of cosumers said they switched from oe service provider to a ew oe i 2010. That s up from a low of 49% i 2005. America Express Global Service Barometer Survey, July 2010 Word of mouth has always bee a importat motivator for cosumers, but it s bee thrust ito ew levels of importace as social etworkig proliferates, Robert Wolla, global maagig director of Acceture s customer relatioship maagemet practice. Customers typically expect quick, polite ad thorough solutios. Assumptios about how to provide that excellet customer service experiece, however, vary from culture to culture ad ofte pose a challege. For example, a key igrediet of quality customer service is empathy the idetificatio with ad uderstadig of aother s situatio, feeligs ad motives. But, is it possible for someoe sittig i a call ceter i Easter Europe, to really put themselves i the customer s shoes i Caada? Uderstadig cultural values, behaviors ad attitudes regardig service expectatios ad a workig kowledge of social protocol ad etiquette i various cultures is essetial for success today. Orgaizatios that focus o customer service require a global perspective i their approach. Global Satisfactio Treds Three overarchig treds are drivig ew approaches to global customer service, accordig to the 2010 Global Treds report. 1. Social media, collaboratio tools ad techology coectig people aroud the globe, require ew strategies, skill sets ad midsets ad brig ew pressure o compaies to be more midful of their customer service. A bad experiece ca lead to a quick blog or tweet, ad ca result i damage to the compay s image. It is much less expesive to deal with a routie customer complait i a way that gives them a good experiece tha it is to lose a good customer. 2. Emergig ew markets, icludig some of the fastest growig ecoomies such as Ghaa, Qatar, Turkmeista ad Chia, will provide the cosumer growth egies of the future. 3. Globalizatio of the labor market will drive compaies to compete for the same global braipower ad talet. Off-shorig ad outsourcig are ot just ways to save moey, they are essetial strategies to compete i the global marketplace. Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece 2
Berlitz Cultural Isights Series The Global Customer Service Experiece Dilemma Customer service surveys coducted worldwide idicate there may be some uiversal expectatios for service providers which are: Is available i a timely maer Is competet, kows the product, kows the customers Is courteous Creates a positive customer experiece While it may seem obvious that cosumers wat courteous, competet treatmet, words like timely, competet ad courteous are subject to cultural, regioal ad other persoal iterpretatios. For example, a customer i the U.S. might be impressed with a represetative who takes cotrol of the situatio, coveys the cofidece that I ca get the job doe for you, chats with the customer, gives him or her recommeded choices, ad maybe eve throws i a joke while the issue is beig resolved or the service is beig redered. This would probably ot impress a Japaese customer, who is used to a represetative who speaks softly or i a higher-pitched toe, ad uses hoorifics ad polite phrases to show respect for the customer by beig humble. A Scadiavia might prefer a straight-forward maer service without a smile ad would feel that aythig but the trasactio would be excessive ad too much like a hard sell. From a busiess perspective, it is vital that the service provider accepts the resposibility to adapt as much as possible to the culture of the customer. Customers adapt by movig to a provider that better meets their expectatios! A positive customer service experiece differs from culture to culture I am sorry to have kept you waitig. You are very welcome here. The total is 4,757 ye. I humbly request 4,757 ye. I have certaily just received 10,000 ye. Shall I take it from 10,000 ye? Your chage is 5,243 ye. I will first give you the large bills. Please cofirm. Here is your (small) chage ad receipt. Please cofirm. Thak you very much. Hi, I m Heather, ad it s my pleasure to be your server toight. We have some really great specials I d like to tell you about. They re all delicious, but my persoal favorite is the shrimp fajitas seasoed with cilatro ad epazote; they are just fabulous! Photo source: R. Mastro Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece 3
Berlitz Cultural Isights Series Coectig with culture to solve the problem: Oe example A customer s atural preferece is for local service ad they may be more willig to pay extra for local help. For example, the Apple ipad has a special $99 package that guaratees every time the customer calls the help desk, the perso pickig up the phoe will be a U.S. America. Yet, may compaies are offshorig or cosiderig cotact ceters overseas to save moey. Oe America IT Services compay decided to locate their global customer cotact ceter i Sophia, Bulgaria, based o their uderstadig that Bulgaria is home to may sophisticated, educated youg people with excellet techical skills, who are also coversat i the Eglish laguage. Beyod the usual customer service traiig, they offered Eglish Laguage Prouciatio Traiig, but came to realize that the Bulgarias also eeded a higher level of uderstadig of their customer s actual busiess eviromet ad cultural assumptios. Berlitz was brought i to help. They foud service represetatives were very competet at solvig customer issues, but there was a gap whe it came to coectig with the customer ad empathizig with their immediate situatio. A custom course was desiged to help cotact ceter represetatives better uderstad the cultural implicatios of their work ad boost their cofidece level. The respose from the service agets has bee quite positive, may of them reportig ew Best Practices i customer service that iclude the missig elemets of coectig ad empathizig with the customer from the customer s cultural poit of view. Best Practices especially for off-shorig ad outsourcig Some tips for providig excellet global customer service: Whe a America aget aswers a customer service call, the cost is approximately $7.50 per call. Outsourcig to live agets i aother coutry brigs the average dow to $2.35 a call. Havig customers take care of the problem themselves through automated respose or website averages aroud 35 cets a call or cotact. Evaluate the regios where you will be providig customer service or if you have a cotact ceter, the culture of that regio. Aalyze: The historical perspective; is or was the area a capitalist or socialist society? How log has the culture experieced cosumerism? I some cultures, the customer is always right. I coutries where cosumerism has a strog foothold, customers have power ad expect to be catered to. I other coutries, such as i Easter Europe, where cosumerism is ot strog, customers are expected to wait i lie ad ot make as strog demads. Cosumerism may be see less positively, while i other cultures the expectatio is that if you work hard you get rewarded. I Idia, the service sese is very differet. Trasactios are a dace ofte ivolvig bargaiig ad egotiatio ad may eve get emotioal. I additio, cultural differeces may defie our attitudes toward work etirely. Some cultures live to work while others work to live. Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece 4
Berlitz Cultural Isights Series Time orietatio: how log is a pause? Is it 3 secods or 3 miutes? Research shows that pauses i 10 or 30 secod itervals are acceptable i Easter Europe. I some Asia cultures pauses lastig up to 1 miute are ot uusual. I the Americas a pause that exteds beyod 3.5 secods is paiful ad Americas try to fill that void with a coversatio eve if it is chit chat. Cultures who are used to a loger pause may thik this is a sig of disrespect or fid it uusual to carry o a coversatio outside the trasactio itself. I the U.S., if a customer service represetative is o the phoe ad eeds to put a customer o hold, it is recommeded they tell the customer they eed to put them o hold ad ask if that is okay. I Easter Europe, a much more trasactioal culture, represetatives typically do t ask permissio. Asias o the other had, apologize for puttig a customer o hold, but do t ask if that is okay. Uderstadig the time orietatio of the culture is importat. The most satisfied customers go out of their way to actively try to covice others to do busiess with you. Ufortuately, dissatisfied customers make it a poit to tell others to stay away, ad dissatisfied customers are sigificatly more vocal. JD Power ad Associates Relatioship vs. task orietatio: Get it doe, with or without a smile. I the Uited States, a customer service represetative may appear to be the customer s best fried for five miutes. While they are movig towards accomplishig the service task, they are expected to appear persoable ad friedly. This approach is see by may Easter Europeas as igeuie. I Asia, a slight, polite smile is expected, but Asias would ot expect the represetative to act like they are the customer s best fried. Achievemet/optimism vs. Beig/realism: What does success mea to your customers? I some cultures providig a busiess service to a customer is see as a extesio of the customer s busiess a if you succeed we succeed metality. There is a ca do attitude that is expected; let s work as a team ad solve it together as parters. Service represetatives are expected to feel coected to the achievemet of solvig a problem. I Europe, where there is a more realistic approach, customer service represetatives expect to help solve the problem ad move o. I cultures where there is more realism represetatives simply ask you about your problem ad tell you here is what you eed to do to solve your problem. I Asia, represetatives show strog persoal resposibility for a customer s problem ad would ot expect the customer to be part of the resolutio. Formality vs. Friedliess: From Yes, sir to How s it goig? The level of formality vs. friedliess varies from coutry to coutry ad culture to culture. For example: I the U.S., it is ot uusual for a customer service represetative or sales perso i a store to ask How are you? Are you fidig everythig ok? Or Did you fid what you were lookig for? Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece 5
Berlitz Cultural Isights Series This would ot play as well i Eglad or Scotlad where cosumers do ot expect to be approached without promptig. I Asia, represetatives would greet customers ad the back off. There is a certai distace i some cultures which others may perceive as stiffess. Norther Europeas are more formal ad the trasactio itself is importat, ot service with a smile. Just providig the service is eough. Asias also treat their customers with more formality. Directess vs. idirectess: The problem is operator error or May people have experieced this May coutries such as Germay, Russia, Israel ad Norther Europea coutries use a much more direct approach to help customers. Laguage used may iclude This is where you wet wrog, or Your idea is off track. North Americas may be much less direct ad package their resposes with temperace ad words that validate the other perso. Examples iclude Let s try this solutio, or Let s try it this way. Issues are resolved differetly i cultures where there is idividual accoutability vs. where there is group accoutability such as i Japa. I Japa a issue may be resolved by goig to a supervisor, cosultig peers, or eve brig i a third party as all parties are ivolved together. Hierarchical vs. egalitaria: The customer is Kig, or I am a extesio of your busiess I some cultures, they parter with customers puttig them o a equal footig. I additio, represetatives avoid the word problem ad use words like issue or challege istead. This may be see as impolite or disrespectful by other cultures. I Japa, for example, customers are treated politely ad customers are put more o a pedestal tha treated equally. Customer service represetatives eed to be traied to uderstad ad adapt to the cultural orietatios of their customers. Allow for pride i oe s ow coutry s achievemets, history ad culture ad a balaced uderstadig of both the good ad the bad of the customer s achievemets, history ad culture. Develop a set of Best Practices that will accommodate all cultures of the global busiess partership, ad optimize the advatages of each. Culture ad the Customer Service Experiece 6
Berlitz Laguages, Ic. 400 Alexader Park Priceto, NJ 08540-6306 Uited States Phoe: +1 866 723 7548 Outside U.S.: +1 609 514 3220 www.berlitz.com About Berlitz Corporatio Learig ceters aroud the globe Berlitz Corporatio. is a global leadership traiig ad educatio compay headquartered i Priceto, U.S.A. ad Tokyo, Japa. With a strog global presece, Berlitz has more tha 550 locatios i over 70 coutries. Fouded i 1878, Berlitz has log bee established as the world s premier provider of laguage ad cross-cultural traiig services. Today Berlitz offers a comprehesive portfolio that icludes commuicatios skills developmet, global leadership traiig ad scalable customized busiess solutios eablig idividuals ad orgaizatios to leverage diversity through iclusive leadership, ad work ad lead successfully i today s complex global marketplace. Berlitz also serves the cosumer market ad provides educatioal services through study abroad programs ad Berlitz Kids programs for childre ad tees. Berlitz programs ca be delivered through facilitated sessios face-toface, live olie via the Berlitz Virtual Classroom, or through web-based selfdirected or bleded optios. For more iformatio o Berlitz programs ad services visit www.berlitz.com. About the Author Sue Shiomiya is a cosultat, corporate traier, coach, author, ad webiar leader specializig i global effectiveess for corporatios ad idividuals. Her 25 years i the itercultural field have icluded early a decade i Asia. Her cliets have icluded global Fortue 500 compaies represetig a rage of idustries. She has coducted cultural ad busiess programs i the Americas, Europe ad Asia.