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Spanish Language Contact Center Solutions: edioma Targets Hispanic Customers through Mobile Phones

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TMCnews Featured Article


July 18, 2011

Spanish Language Contact Center Solutions: edioma Targets Hispanic Customers through Mobile Phones

By Rachel Ramsey, TMCnet Contributor


edioma, a provider of mobile phone and Internet-based language instruction products designed to help companies communicate more effectively with customers, employees and partners, focuses on Spanish language contact center solutions.


In a recent interview with Portada, the leading source on Latin marketing and media, Larry Upton, founder and president of edioma, explained the process of teaching major brands to learn the Spanish-language and cater to Hispanic customers.

“As you may already know, U.S. Hispanics are the fastest growing retail customer segment for many large CPG's (Consumer Packaged Goods Companies). However, traditional out-of-home marketing programs (e.g., print, broadcast, online) don't effectively target Spanish-dominant consumers. The resulting ‘language differences’ often lead to a cross-cultural communications gap,” Upton said.

This gap includes customers using different news sources and communication problems between English speaking service staffs. Traditional language training programs are usually expensive and don’t scale well for multi-location, geographically different retail operations.

edioma approaches these challenges with Spanish language contact center solutions; targeting U.S. Hispanics through their mobile phones. The platform trains U.S. retail staff in how to better engage, service and sell to Spanish-speaking clients via contextual language instruction.

“We utilize the ‘lowest common denominator’ of SMS (text messaging), coupled with embedded IVR (interactive voice response) and microsite links to deliver mobile marketing promotions and language instruction content directly to the customer/associate's mobile phone. Thus we ‘connect’ the Hispanic consumer to the retailer by providing a compelling promotion which drives foot traffic to the retailer, then prepares the retailer to actively engage/up-sell the consumer in Spanish once in-the-door,” Upton explained.

Included in edioma’s client list is 7-Eleven, which has successfully taught its employees to better interact with Spanish-speaking customers. Through a third party polling group with 800 customers, 7-Eleven experienced over 80 percent proficiency gains in spoken Spanish, over 23 percent increase in Hispanic customer satisfaction and over 50 percent close rates on Spanish language up-sell programs.

Upton explained that edioma does not believe that U.S. retail staff should be Spanish dominant. He believes they should be able to meet, greet, thank and sell products in Spanish to make a Hispanic customer feel welcome and appreciated in a retail establishment.

“If Hispanic customers come into a retail location to take advantage of a compelling offer only to find themselves unable to communicate with retail staff, the promotion will fall on deaf ears (no pun intended). Thus the out-of-home mobile campaign needs to be closely tied to an in-house Spanish language training program designed to improve the retailers' ability to engage and then actively up-sell the promotion to Hispanic consumers,” Upton concluded.

In related news, a recent study conducted by Horowitz Associates Market and Multicultural Research has revealed that for many U.S. Latinos, biculturalism is highly important when it comes to self-identity and advantageous Spanish language contact center solutions. The study highlights findings ranging from everything about U.S. Hispanic’s attitudes in relation to watching TV, broadband and alternative platform content and services.



Rachel Ramsey is a TMCnet editorial assistant, contributing news items and feature articles on a variety of communications and technology topics. Rachel has previously worked in PR and communications at The Wriglesworth Consultancy, an award-winning London PR firm. She has also contributed to the creative services department at CBS 3 and The CW Philly in Philadelphia. To read more of Rachel's articles, please visit her columnist page.







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