Multilingual Customer Support Chat Functions 

In an increasingly connected digital world, it’s easier than ever for businesses to start thinking about global expansion. However, international outreach isn’t always straightforward. Adapting content and localizing content for linguistic and cultural nuances requires in-depth research and careful planning. What’s more, if you want to ensure unbeatable levels of customer service, you’ll need to prioritize multilingual customer support. 

Multilingual customer support explained

Localizing a product for a new market is all well and good, but you’re selling your customers short if you’re not providing multilingual support. No matter where your customers are based and what language they speak, translated support solutions like multilingual chat functionality make your product and services as accessible as possible. 

Customer support takes many forms. Sometimes it’s as straightforward as providing answers to simple questions from customers. Other times, customers may need a troubleshooting guide to resolve a problem or require expert guidance via remote desktop assistance. For a first-rate customer experience and high rates of consumer satisfaction, you need to make these support solutions as accessible as possible. 

The importance of multilingual customer support 

Succeeding in new markets requires a comprehensive localization strategy. However, you need to think beyond retooling your marketing materials and undertaking product localization. While these form the bedrock of international expansion, offering customer support in multiple languages makes it easier to connect with consumers, establish trust, and build brand loyalty. 

Failing to invest in multilingual customer support can have serious consequences. Not being able to reach a resolution quickly is a killer as far as customer experience is concerned. It’s a surefire way to say goodbye to customers for good, hurting your brand’s reputation and putting a dent in your bottom line. 

As well as making life easier for customers, multilingual support can help elevate your brand. Are you operating in a fairly saturated market? If your competitors aren’t offering multilingual support and you are, you’re instantly setting yourself up as the more desirable choice. Multilingual support bridges the gap between customers and your support team while giving your brand an advantage. 

How to effectively implement multilingual customer support 

The scope of customer support varies between companies and depending on what your product is. However, most brands will need to deploy multilingual support across numerous channels. Looking for more ways to increase accessibility? Read on for some of the most commonly encountered multilingual support channels. 

1. Introduce multilingual customer support with live chat functionality  

If you’re searching for a simple way to connect with customers, make sure you offer multilingual live chat as standard. Live chat functionality can drive engagement and dramatically improve customer experience. As you expand beyond borders, navigating time zones can prove challenging. Thankfully, live chat sidesteps this issue, allowing you to connect with consumers 24/7. 

2. Embrace the benefits of over-the-phone interpretation 

Just because your help agents aren’t multilingual, doesn’t mean you can’t offer customer support in many different languages. Over-the-phone interpretation services allow your agents to connect with professional interpreters to ensure everyone calling in receives the best customer experience possible. 

3. Multilingual chatbots make for faster resolution times 

If your support team is struggling to keep up with demand, think about leveraging the potential of chatbots. Provided customers enjoy a quick resolution to their problem, the average consumer will have little issue in communicating with a chatbot. Along with being increasingly reliable, chatbots allow you to scale up your multilingual support offering relatively affordably. 

4. Enhance customer support with multilingual video content 

More brands are turning to video content to provide customers with the support solutions they need. This can include user-friendly tutorials, product reviews, and testimonials from happy customers. If you want to provide exhaustive insights into a new product, video content is the way to go. However, you’ll need to localize it for a new audience. Voice-over, lip-syncing, and subtitling can all be used to retool video content for new markets. 

5. Make customer support materials a translation priority 

The more customer support materials you translate for consumers in other markets, the better. Some materials are more easily translated than others, with assets like websites, user manuals, blog posts, and press releases the most straightforward. Localizing this content also ensures anything potentially offensive is sifted out before landing in a new market. 

What industries make use of multilingual customer support? 

Multilingual customer support is a staple of e-commerce. If you want to extend your reach globally, launching a multilingual online store is the way to go. For the best user experience, you’ll need to think beyond product descriptions. Retooling customer service channels to offer multilingual live chat, phone, and email in new languages ensures every customer is catered for. 

Any self-respecting tech company will also offer multilingual support. Whether you’re selling electronic devices or software as a service, continuing technical support is often considered part of the package. Without it, tech companies are likely to suffer from slow product uptake and a cool consumer reception. 

In the travel industry and hospitality sector, the importance of superior customer support can’t be stressed enough. However, success hinges on being able to deliver reliable multilingual customer support across every available channel. When handled well, it can reduce cancellations, resolve complaints quickly, and significantly improve customer satisfaction. 

Key help functions for multilingual customer support 

Unsure where to start with multilingual customer support? Try implementing some of the following functions to improve customer experience and resolve complaints more quickly. 

Email Support 

Email is a cost-effective way to communicate with customers. What’s more, it’s easy to incorporate emails into a multilingual support strategy. With email templates, you can quickly standardize communications across the board, while machine translation tools can be used to streamline the process. 

Knowledge Base 

Creating a multilingual knowledge base allows you to centralize all of your available customer support material. Once assembled, localizing that content into a new language is relatively simple. Knowledge bases allow customers to resolve issues themselves, freeing up your support agents for pressing matters. Learn more about help center localization.

Remote Desktop Assistance 

Remote desktop assistance is often called upon when standard troubleshooting solutions have failed. While effective at resolving complicated issues at minimal cost, it can prove complicated if there’s a language clash between the agent and the customer. If your business occupies the IT or tech sector, remote desktop assistance should be a key priority when drafting a multilingual customer support strategy.

Master multilingual customer support with BLEND 

Today, even a modest-sized business can think seriously about international expansion. Unsurprisingly, this means that international markets are becoming increasingly competitive. If you’re finding it hard to make an impression in a market saturated with competitors, offering first-rate multilingual customer support can set you apart. 

Whether you’re thinking about translating your customer support materials from one language into another or want to put together an unbeatable knowledge base to expedite resolution times, BLEND can help you achieve your goals. Our localization experts work with the latest translation tools to ensure your customer service offering is leaps and bounds above the rest. Are you eyeing up multiple markets? With thousands of linguists working in more than 120 languages, it’s easy to cater to customers in every corner of the globe.

BLEND + Zendesk: Instant Customer Support Chat Translations

Using Zendesk as your customer support platform? Take advantage of BLEND’s AI-powered support solution for Zendesk customers, a cost-effective way to get instantaneous support translations for flawless communication with your customers around the globe.

Our machine translation (MT) engines provide quicker and more accurate results over time, so you can easily communicate with customers while lowering costs and maintaining your brand’s terminology and style. Want to learn more about BLEND’s Multilingual Help Desk integration? Get in touch with our team today!

Interested in learning more about how BLEND can help you break into new markets with multilingual customer support? Get in touch with the team today. 

Kateryna Ostapenko

As BLEND’s Director of Customer Services, Kateryna is an expert in leading efficient and effective customer support processes that result in happier customers and higher revenues for global companies.

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