Hola, Bonjour, Guten Tag…

Only a third of the UK population can speak another language, and of this, less than 20% are bilingual…I for one do not fit into either category, sadly.


One of my regrets is not continuing with my French post first year of university, or any other language for that matter. I’m in awe of my multi-lingual friends and colleagues who have the ability to switch between their mother-tongue and English with ease. That is why I am very excited about our new partnership with ChatLingual where a conversation in any language can be translated, responded to and resolved by an English speaking agent.

The requirement that we see, particularly in ecommerce, to provide services in multiple languages is increasing. Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin Chinese, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Japanese have all been identified as the languages most vital to growing businesses, supporting new territories and geographies, and whilst the talent shortage recovers post pandemic, those multilingual speakers are now expecting an increase in wage by up to 15%.

The desire to grow, coupled with the challenge in how to continue to deliver high quality CX, as well as the availability of talent and the cost of securing said talent can be blockers, particularly where cost-to-serve is a key consideration. Which are all things we have seen quite regularly in the customer service space.

A frequent thought process from our clients and prospects in this situation is that all customers should have the same contact channels and approach. However, the desire to maintain contact channels across geography should be assessed in line with the cost-to-serve or other key market entry objectives. Rather than “omni-channel”, our approach within HGS UK is always around “opti-channel” – we don’t believe in having all channels available, just because that possibility exists to do so. Customer convenience is hugely important to channel selection but not to the point that your own operational efficiency deteriorates as a result of trying to be all things to all people.

What if we told you that one English speaking agent could support your customers in over 100 different languages with 98% accuracy, with the same or better levels of Customer Satisfaction?
Chatlingual’s multilingual messaging technology enables opti-channel and presents text-based innovation across channels webchat, SMS, Email, Social which when combined with HGS’s excellence, provides world-class customer care for contact centre operations. International brands looking to make advancements in their customer experience can confront the recruitment challenge connected to multilingual requirements.

Our approach to partnering is agnostic, with our key focus on delivering results and how we can best support your customers. A solution like Chatlingual enables us to support our clients and prospects with growth providing cost-arbitrage whilst removing the added complexity of language recruitment. Solutions that drive high standards of customer experience are the way forward, and it’s progressing quickly.

Adios, Sayonara, zbohom…

Colleen McCann

Colleen McCann, Business Development Director, HGS UK

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