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CRM Outsourcers Must Break Down Language Barriers to Tap US Hispanic Market: Ovum

By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor

Ovum, a provider of independent and objective analysis, says only customer relationship management or “CRM” outsourcers that can effectively break down language barriers will be benefited from the increasingly valuable U.S. Hispanic market.

Based on the findings of a new report, the independent technology analyst claims that CRM outsourcers are poised to profit from the vast number of enterprises looking to gain favor with the American Hispanic community.

It also warns that only vendors that can keep up with changes in consumer language preferences will be able to take advantage of the burgeoning market.

The population of US Hispanic is growing faster than any other group in America. Its consumers are courted heavily by firms across many industries and are one of the most sought after demographics in the country.

Peter Ryan, report author, lead analyst, Ovum (News - Alert), said, “With both household income levels and educational attainment on the upswing among US Hispanics, the types of goods and services that this group is taking on are not only growing in volume, but also in value.”

CRM outsourcing vendors should ensure that they have an adequate number of agents that can service calls both in English and Spanish. By adopting this method the vendors could risk losing business to more forward-looking competitors.

In the report, Ryan also points out that there are a number of industries that CRM outsourcers could target to tap into the growing Latino market. He also believes that not all of these industries are ready to attack the American Hispanic market till now.

Ryan also cautioned CRM outsourcers to be wary of changing linguistic patterns in the U.S., which could also mean reviewing operational tactics for many vendors.

Ryan said, “As the language of choice among US Hispanic consumer’s shifts from Spanish to English, being able to communicate in both will be of paramount importance for outsourced contact center providers.”

Vendors should be in a position to evolve services from Spanish to English over the long-term, according to Ryan. These vendors must work with their clients to determine well in advance how the linguistic patterns of their user base will shift. This will ensure that the correct resources are in place to meet customer needs and maintain satisfaction levels.

In June Ovum released another report in which it found that investment in speech analytics in call centers is set to double, growing from around $95 million in 2009 to $180 million by 2014. Read the full report here.