- 2016 Research -

Lost in Translation
Leveraging Language to Deliver an
Exceptional Customer Experience

A Contact Center Research Executive Summary sponsored by

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Leveraging Language to Deliver an Exceptional Customer Experience

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Research Introduction & Key Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Study Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Language Support Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Language Support Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Language Support Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

The Impact of Language Support on Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
About This Report
About ICMI
About GeoFluent
About Lionbridge

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Leveraging Language to Deliver an Exceptional Customer Experience

Research Introduction
Great customer experiences don’t happen by mistake or incredible circumstance. They are meticulously designed, expertly
planned and beautifully delivered. To believe that providing excellent customer service is simple is to underestimate grossly
the complex systems, intentional processes and extensive training that’s required to enable frontline employees and brands
alike to efficiently meet and exceed the expectations of other humans. It’s a difficult job and the complexity of people,
process and technology resources only increases as our world becomes more connected than ever before.

Today we account for much of this in our design, planning, and delivery of these customer experiences. Many organizations
have increased their channel offerings, implemented new technologies and evolved their agent training programs. We’re
in a period of exciting change, rapid growth and innovations that bring the contact center to the forefront of many executive
level conversations. It’s an excellent time that is full of opportunities for customer service leaders to experience, learn and
grow from the day to day interactions in their contact centers.

For all of the challenges and advancements over the past decade, however, one topic has gone seemingly unaddressed and
yet increases in importance year over year: the impact of language on the customer experience.

In 2013, ICMI conducted research on multilingual customer service to understand how contact centers support non-English
language clients and whether or not offering multilanguage support improved the customer experience and positively
impacted engagement and loyalty. This study, which focused primarily on the voice channel, gained a lot of attention and
uncovered new data on the impact of language on the customer experience. Since launching that study, more research has
revealed an evolution in customer expectations and rising demand for service in non-voice channels such as chat and social
media. These monumental shifts in preferences require all organizations to re-visit and re-prioritize their customer service
strategy.

In this new 2016 research, ICMI and Lionbridge partnered together to understand what direction and data would be
necessary for contact center leaders to make informed decisions around their omnichannel multilingual support.

“This landmark research shows that omni-lingual support is the new battleground for contact centers,” said Tom Tseki, VP &
GM, GeoFluent and Customer Care Solutions, Lionbridge. “With voice giving way to self-service and agent-assisted digital
channels, contact centers should evolve their language support. Providing OPI as the primary multilingual support option is
no longer effective and positions brands as laggards in terms of CX.”

Key Findings:
• 79% of contact centers have customers who are not native speakers of the primary language(s) that they serve.
• At least 60% of customers expect service in their native language when contacting a brand.
• 52% of contact centers expect their volume of non-primary language communications to increase over the next
three years.
• The #1 way that contact centers provide customer service to customers that speak an unsupported language is to
“simply apologize and attempt to handle in the agent’s primary language”.
• Only 19% of organizations can support customers of any language over the phone. The percentages decrease
significantly when it comes to every other channel of service.
• One-fifth of contact centers doesn’t measure the quality of their non-primary language contacts.

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Respondent Demographics
The individual respondents from the ICMI community represent virtually every role and level in contact centers and
customer service organizations. The 526 respondents to this survey were primarily executives (23%), directors (22%) and
managers (38%).

ROLE IN CONTACT CENTER

Manager Director Executive Supervisor Other

2%

15%

38%
23%

22%

The United States and Canada accounted for the majority of respondents (91%), but individuals from Australia, Asia, Europe
and South America were among those from around the world who contributed to this study. 89% of the organizations have
a brand headquarters in the US, 7% are located in a country where English is the primary language and 4% are in a country
where English is not the primary language.

Numerous industries were represented in this study with Healthcare, Financial Services (Banking), Insurance, Outsourcing
and Retail accounting for the top verticals.

The majority of participating companies (62%) are serving consumers (B2C), while 28% are serving other businesses (B2B),
8% are serving internal customers and 2% are equally acting in B2B and B2C capacities.

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Contact centers of every size responded for an objective sample size, with those having 10-49 agents (28%) and 250 or
more (26%) representing the majority.

# OF FULL-TIME AGENTS
30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Less than 10 10 -49 50 -99 100 -249 250 - 499 500+

As anticipated, over half (60%) report customer service as their primary function, with 19% focused on sales, 16% on
technical support and 5% that equally support sales and customer service.

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Language Support Expectations

It should come as no surprise that 92% of the contact centers in this study cited English as a primary language that is
spoken/written, considering that the majority of survey respondents are based in countries where English is the primary
language. The second most common primary language is Spanish.

PRIMARY LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN/WRITTEN

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Supporting non-primary languages is important, as 79% of the contact centers surveyed for this study acknowledged that
they have customers or prospects who are not native speakers of the primary language(s) that they serve. As a result, many
of these contact centers are supporting at least one, if not several, additional languages. The most common non-primary
language supported by contact centers is Spanish.

NON-PRIMARY LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN/WRITTEN

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

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A majority of contact center leaders recognized that customers expect they will receive service in their native language
when contacting a brand. It’s important to note that customers don’t typically think of brands in terms of geographies and,
as more and more brands expand their global reach, it is unsustainable for leaders to simply ignore anyone who doesn’t
speak their brand’s primary language.

Do customers generally expect service in their native language

(non-primary to your contact center) when contacting your brand?

8%
Yes
No
36%
57% Unsure

The importance of language support is growing and just over half of contact center leaders expect to see an increased
volume of non-primary language contacts to their organization.

Do you expect the volume of non-primary language contacts to

your contact center to change over the next three years?

45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Increase Increase Neither Increase Decrease Decrease
Significantly Slightly nor Decrease Slightly Significantly

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There are a variety of contributing factors to the volume of non-primary contacts into these organizations and respondents
to this study cited the following as primary influences in their organizations:

What primarily influences the number of non-primary language

contacts that are received by your contact center?

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Increased Company is Marketing Time of Changes in laws or Acquisitions or
company/product actively campaigns year/Seasonal regulations divestiture of
exposure pursuing new company
demographics or
geographic
markets

69% of organizations plan to support additional languages within the next 12 – 24 months with Spanish being cited as the
most common language that will be added into the contact center.

What languages do you anticipate adding support for

in the next 12-24 months?

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Respondents cited increased revenue as the most important criteria for a contact center to support a new language (39%),
followed by increased language-specific value (31%) and better or improved customer experience (25%).

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Language Support Challenges

This study also revealed great opportunity for organizations to improve their ability to support non-primary language
contacts. Less than 25% of the surveyed contact center leaders felt that they do extremely well in meeting their customer’s
language expectations. In considering the potential for growth in non-primary language contacts, it is important to
understand and address the key language support challenges that are faced by contact center leaders.

The single biggest challenge in providing support beyond a contact center’s primary language is finding and retaining in-
house bi/multilingual agents.

What are your biggest challenges with providing support beyond

your contact center’s primary language?

Unable to justify adding new language support

Cost of hiring agents/BPOs

Real-time translation quality

Finding and retaining in-house bi/multilingual agents

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

When asked how they provide service in non-supported languages, here’s what respondents had to say:

“How do you provide customer service to customers that do not speak a language that is supported by your
contact center?”

39% Apologize that the language is not supported and attempt to handle in the agent’s primary
language
32% Informally find someone in the department that can translate or speak the language
28% Utilize free online translation services to translate dialogue
22% Find someone in the company that can translate or speak the language
17% Provide a scripted response and make no further support attempt

The “strategies” to address these challenges are alarming and don’t address the root cause of the problem. If organizations
want to thrive and see maximized revenue potential and increased customer satisfaction, they must move past apologies
and toward solutions.

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Language Support Strategies

There are several strategies for supporting non-primary language contacts. According to ICMI’s research, the most common
approach is to utilize in-house Bi- and/or Multi-lingual agents.

How does your contact center currently support

non-primary languages?

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
In-house Bi-and/or A third party over
- - Outsourced Bi-and/or Second-generation, Free translation tools
Multi-lingual agents the-phone (OPI) Multi-lingual agents real-time translation (Google translate, etc.)
software

As the most popular way for supporting non-primary language contacts also happens to present the greatest challenge to
the contact center, it is important to identify an appropriate solution for your organization to overcome the problem. For
the solution to be most effective, it needs to align with your overall customer service strategy. One of the best exercises for
identifying customer needs and expectations and determining your organization’s strategy for addressing them is to create
customer journey maps.

Despite the broad value of customer journey mapping, only 36% of contact centers surveyed create customer journey
maps. Of that 36%, just over half create customer journey maps for customers fluent in a non-primary language. The
result is a misunderstanding or assumption of customer expectations, a lack of insight into roadblocks or pain points in the
customer journey and the inability to develop an effective strategy for improving the customer experience.

Previous studies by ICMI and others identify the robust organizational value of creating customer journey maps and as the
complexity of contacts increase and the diversity of language needs expand, their value could not be greater. They will
require cross-departmental collaboration, robust customer insights and a willingness to own the fact that some changes
may be necessary. It will not happen quickly or easily but, when complete, they will provide clear direction, holistic
understanding, and a meaningful strategy around how to best serve your customers across every touch point in your
organization.

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In looking at the languages offered across the channels supported by the contact centers surveyed, it was evident that the
clients have very different experiences depending on the channel that they use and the language that they speak.

Inbound Phone Outbound Phone Email

31% 47% 31% 4% 34% 39% 17% 10% 44% 34% 14% 8%

Chat Help Desk Self-Service

33% 26% 12% 28% 42% 29% 10% 19% 41% 28% 13% 18%

Social Media SMS Video

44% 24% 11% 21% 30% 20% 11% 39% 28% 16% 14% 43%

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The majority of respondents in this study acknowledged that if they exclusively provide multilingual support for one
channel, their customers want that same service support in other channels. Most contact center leaders also acknowledged
that if they had a solution that made it easier for them to translate content into any language, they would use it.

“If solutions existed that made it easy to translate any content into any language, would you use it for your
forums and communities?”
68% | Yes 32% | No

“If technology solutions existed that made it easy to multilingual-enable your existing chat platform (and
existing agents), would you use it?”
71% | Yes 29% | No

“If solutions existed that made it easy to translate your internal training and knowledgebase content, would
you use it?”
62% | Yes 38% | No

If all things were equal (no budget, resource or implementation restrictions), contact center leaders would most prefer to
support non-primary language customers internally with additional bi/multilingual staff.

If all things were equal (no budget, resource or implementation

restrictions), how would you MOST prefer to support non-primary
language customers?

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Support internally Support with second- Support internally Support externally Support through a Would prefer to not
with additional generation, real-time with existing staff through a BPO/outsourced third-party, voice-only support non-primary
bi/multilingual staff translation solutions contact center over-the-phone- languages
interpretation (OPI) service

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The Impact of Language Support on Metrics

When it comes to measuring the quality of interactions, ICMI’s research revealed a key opportunity for contact centers, as
their non-primary language contacts receive far less quality control than their primary language counterparts. In almost
every category, primary language engagements are measured in more dimensions than non-primary language contacts. In
addition, 20% of contact centers do not even measure the quality of their non-primary language contacts.

How do you currently measure the quality of your primary & non-
primary language service interactions?

Do not measure the quality of interactions

Customer Effort Score (CES)

Quality monitoring by external partner

Percentage of transferred calls

Percentage of calls placed on hold

Net Promoter Score ® (NPS)

CRM reporting

Number of complaints handled

Time-to-response

First Contact Resolution (FCR)

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys

Quality monitoring by internal team

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Non-Primary Primary

This is concerning (although understandable considering the people and technology resources that are typically required
for such efforts), but it is nonetheless ill-advised to leave unaddressed. If we don’t measure quality, it is impossible
to effectively manage it. If we can’t control quality, then we are putting our organizations at an incredible risk that is
unsustainable long term.

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ICMI’s research was able to uncover the positive impact on several quality measures when customer service is delivered
in a customer’s native language. The metrics most closely studied were Customer Satisfaction, Net Promoter Score, First
Contact Resolution and overall quality monitoring scores. These findings reinforce the value of delivering service across all
languages (not just the primary language supported by an organization) and strengthen the importance of measuring the
quality of service.

Have you identified improvements in customer satisfaction (CSAT)

when customers receive service in their native language
versus those who do not?

Yes, customers served in their native language give

41% higher CSAT ratings
59% No, CSAT ratings remain consistent whether or not
service is provided in a customer’s primary language

What was the difference in CSAT between customers served in their

primary language and customers who were not served in their
primary language?

CSAT was significantly higher when served in primary langauge

CSAT was moderately higher when served in primary language

CSAT was slightly higher when served in primary language

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

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Have you identified improvements in Net Promoter Score® (NPS)

when customers receive service in their native language versus
those who do not?

Yes, customers served in their native language give

45% higher NPS ratings
55% No, NPS ratings remain consistent whether or not
service is provided in a customer’s primary language

What was the difference in NPS between customers served in

their primary language and customers who were not served
in their primary language?

NPS was significantly higher when served in primary language

NPS was moderately higher when served in primary language

NPS was slightly higher when served in primary language

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

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Have you identified improvements in First Contact Resolution (FCR)

when customers receive service in their native language versus
those who do not?

Yes, customers served in their native language give

40% higher FCR ratings
60% No,FCR ratings remain consistent whether or not
service is provided in a customer’s primary language

What was the difference in FCR between customers served in

their primary language and customers who were not served
in their primary language?

FCR was significantly higher when served in primary language

FCR was moderately higher when served in primary language

FCR was slightly higher when served in primary language

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

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Have you identified improvements in quality scores when

customers receive service in their native language versus
those who do not?

46% Yes, customers served in their native language

receive higher quality scores
54% No, quality scores remain consistent whether or not
service is provided in a customer’s primary language

What was the difference in quality scores between customers

served in their primary language and customers who were not
served in their primary language?

Quality scores were significantly higher when served in primary language

Quality scores were moderately higher when served in primary language

Quality scores were slightly higher when served in primary language

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

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It should come as no surprise that people are more satisfied when they’re able to communicate in their native language but,
is that enough to inspire organizations to invest in providing an omnilingual experience? It would seem advantageous in an
era that sees an increasing number of companies using their customer service as a competitive differentiator. The findings
from this study reinforce that there is a definite need for contact centers to develop a strategy to support their non-primary
language speaking customers that go beyond just offering an apology.

“Omni-lingual support doesn’t need to be hard,” added Tom Tseki, VP & GM of GeoFluent and Customer Care Solutions
at Lionbridge. “By taking a phased approach, contact centers can scale their efforts to meet customers’ expectations. For
example, begin with over-the-phone interpretation, which will be used to build and customize linguistic assets to multilingual-
enable digital and self-service channels. As the digital channels are added, this will reduce the amount of inbound calls
which in turn drives down OPI costs. That’s a win for consumers and for brands.”

Conclusion
For a majority of organizations, their global footprint is growing, and the diversity of their customer base is expanding. As
such, the need for these brands to deploy a more strategic, scalable, and cost-effective approach to language support
is inevitable. Those who serve both their primary and non-primary language speaking customers equally as well across
all channels of service will see improvements in contact quality, customer satisfaction, net promoter score, first contact
resolution and much more.

57% of the organizations surveyed in this study would consider the ability to offer service in a customer’s native language
across all contact channels as a competitive differentiator. They recognize that it presents a challenge but would be willing
to invest in the right translation solution to ensure that they’re able to deliver on customer needs and preferences. The most
significant benefit that they expect from a translation solution is better translation quality. As this study revealed, however,
organizations must also ensure that they have a method of measuring quality equally across all channels and languages of
service.

Over the past few years, the emergence of new channels and an increased emphasis on the customer experience has
captivated the attention of contact center leaders. They’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that their people, processes,
and technologies are aligned with the new normal of conducting business in the contact center. There have been incredible
efforts to deliver exceptional experiences, but they’ve been focused on the contact center’s primary language of service
and have left many non-primary languages speaking customers with a subpar experience.

It is imperative for this emphasis on language to shift to include non-primary languages considering that this study revealed
over three-fourths of contact centers have customers who are not native speakers of the primary language(s) that they serve
and that a majority of customers expect service in their native language when contacting a brand. The expected increase of
non-primary language contacts will only further amplify the disparity if little to nothing is done.

There is great opportunity ahead for those who choose to seize it. Don’t miss this chance to improve the quality of your
customer experience and increase your effectiveness in serving a global customer base.

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About This Report

This research report was made possible by the underwriting support of Lionbridge (www.lionbridge.com/geofluent). ICMI
research sponsors do not have access to research participant information, including individual survey responses.

About ICMI
The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) is the leading global provider of comprehensive resources for
customer management professionals -- from frontline agents to executives -- who wish to improve customer experiences
and increase efficiencies at every level of the contact center. Since 1985, ICMI has helped more than 50,000 organizations
in 167 countries through training, events, consulting, and informational resources. ICMI’s experienced and dedicated team
of industry insiders, trainers, and consultants are committed to helping you raise the strategic value of your contact center,
optimize your operations and improve your customer service. ICMI is a part of UBM plc (www.ubm.com), a global events-
led marketing services and communications company.

About GeoFluent
GeoFluent, a SaaS offering from Lionbridge, eliminates language as a barrier between contact centers and consumers. By
providing omni-lingual support across the omni-channel, brands improve CX, increase revenue and decrease cost and risk.
GeoFluent integrates with leading contact center communications platforms to maximize customers’ existing investments,
enabling them to support 95% of the world’s GDP languages. To learn more, visit www.geofluent.com.

About Lionbridge
Lionbridge enables more than 800 world-leading brands to increase international market share, speed adoption of
products and effectively engage their customers in local markets worldwide. Using our innovative cloud technology
platforms and our global crowd of more than 100,000 professional cloud workers, we provide translation, online marketing,
global content management and application testing solutions that ensure global brand consistency, local relevancy and
technical usability across all touch points of the customer lifecycle. Based in Waltham, Mass., Lionbridge maintains solution
centers in 27 countries. To learn more, visit www.lionbridge.com.

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