Deal with customers across a language divide
Overview
This standard is part of the customer service competence area related to Customer Service Delivery. It covers dealing with customers across a language divide. It includes customer service behaviours and processes that have most impact on the customer experience during Customer Service Delivery. Remember that customers include everyone to whom you provide products and services. They may be external to your organisation or they may be internal customers.
Customer service is frequently delivered across a language divide. Customer service centres may be in one country but deal mainly with another. In a multi-cultural society, many customers may have a different first language from those who are delivering customer service. This language divide can present a challenge to your delivery of customer service. You prepare to deliver customer service across a language divide and see through delivery. You can deal with customers with different language preferences without having full access to your customers first language. To do this you may use electronic translation tools or contract a language support specialist.
This standard is for customer service professionals who deal with customers across a language divide.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- identify the languages that you are likely to come across when dealing with customers
- identify your customer's first language and confirm this with them
- learn a greeting, thank you and a farewell phrase in the languages you expect to deal with
- identify colleagues who can help you with a language you expect to encounter
- gather and note useful words and phrases to support your dealings with customers with a different first language
- use the electronic translation tools to communicate with customers face to face and in writing
- seek a specialist language support when required
- establish the expectations of customers regarding whether they expect to deal in your first language or theirs
- speak clearly when using a language which is not the first language for either you or your customer
- maintain a consistent tone, volume and pace when dealing with customers across a language divide
- listen to your customers to identify any words they are using that differs from how you would use them
- check your understanding of specific words with your customer using questions for clarification
- seek colleague assistance if you cannot complete a customer transaction because of language barriers
- reword a question or explanation when your customer does not understand you
- follow the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to your role and the activities being carried out
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the languages you are most likely to encounter when dealing with your organisation's customers
- how to greet, thank and say farewell to customers in their first languages
- the colleagues in your organisation who speak different languages and the languages that they can communicate in
- the methods you can use to develop your language skills and continue to learn
- the importance of dealing with customers in their first language when possible
- the electronic translation tools for verbal and written communication with customers
- how to seek a language support where required
- how to explain to a customer that you cannot hold an extended conversation in their first language
- the importance of tone, pace and volume when dealing with customers across a language divide
- how to check that you have understood what your customers have said
- the sources of assistance to use when a language barrier demands additional language skills
- the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to your role and the activities being carried out