If you do not have bilingual customer service agents working in your customer service department, your customers are definitely missing out. By having agents who can speak two languages, they can speak to a larger number of customers. That means, your company sees improved sales and profit for your company.

As a business, you need to account for French and English-speaking customers. Here are some things you need to know about having a bilingual customer service department in Canada!

Why French?

According to the 2016 census, 7.2 million people speak French in Canada. Most of these French-speaking citizens live in Quebec. In Quebec, 95% of people are francophone. Because of this, the federal government passed the Official Languages Act in 1969. This means that both French and English are the official languages of Canada, The languages are both in equal standing with each other. So, if your calls come from Canada, you may get a customer who is going to speak only French.

The immersion of the French language in culture is not unique to Canada. French is one of the most widely used languages in the world, with 225 million francophones worldwide. As the language becomes more popular, there are predictions that the number will jump to 700 million worldwide by 2050.

French is the official language of 29 countries. The majority of francophones live in Europe. In fact, German is the only language that currently surpasses French. However, French may pass German by 2025. Every continent speaks French, and it is roughly the 7th most used language on the internet.

So, bilingual customer service agents who can speak French are a great idea to increase the success of your business.

Bilingual Customer Service Agents

Due to industry advances, it is more important to utilize french and english-speaking service agents. As your company’s client base grows, you will have more variety in customers. With bilingual service agents, your company will not only service your Canadian customer base,  but also give you access to an international market.

Language barriers between your customer service agents and your customers are quite frustrating for everyone involved. If your CSA’s can’t understand your customers, how can they solve their questions and concerns?

It is easy to see how this can make your customer satisfaction rating go down.

Outsourcing Customer Service

In order to hire bilingual customer service agents, you would likely have to pay them more per hour than standard agents. You would also have to verify their fluency in the language to make sure they can actually speak French well enough to assist your customers. However, if you outsource your customer service calls, you will have access to bilingual customer service agents that the call center has already hired. This is less expensive to your company, it saves you time, and your customer service department will be better equipped to handle your customers’ questions.

All these reasons, and many more, are why you should have a bilingual customer service department or outsource your calls to a customer service call center that features bilingual services. The repeat business from happy non-English-speaking customers will most likely offer big returns, making it worth the effort.