1. Tap new customers

Almost one-fourth of the Canadian population speaks French as their official language. If your business answering service only focuses on English, you’re potentially losing out on a quarter of the people. Communicating in another language expands your company’s reach.

If you’re a clinic, a bilingual phone answering service can help secure appointments from customers who prefer to transact in their mother tongue. Communicating in their language increases trust and confidence that your business can deliver what they need.

2. Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty

When customers call your business, they expect a real person to answer. It can be irritating to talk to an automated answering machine and hear robotic voices. A self-service option can address some concerns, but a live bilingual representative can provide answers if they have more questions. You shouldn’t transfer customers to an automated service if they don’t speak English.

Speaking their language also shows that you want to provide the best possible service for them. If you run a property management business, you want clients to feel at ease when they lease your property. A bilingual answering service provides a personal touch that shows you care about their comfort. Satisfied customers tend to stay with a business longer and recommend its services to others.

3. Increase staff productivity

If you already serve a bilingual community but don’t have bilingual receptionists, you’re probably transferring bilingual calls to internal staff. Your staff has better things to do than answer customer concerns over the phone. Getting calls throughout the day can also disrupt their work routine, leading to decreased productivity and harming the business.

Let your staff focus on what they were hired to do by delegating customer calls to a bilingual answering service.

4. Decrease overhead costs

Hiring staff to deal with bilingual calls entails spending on additional staffing costs. A bilingual answering service already has sufficient French-speaking staff. You just need to train them on your company’s specific issues and customer policies. The price of getting an answering service is far lower than hiring an in-house team.

5. Stand out in the market

If you’re in a very saturated market, offering bilingual services and having bilingual receptionists is guaranteed to stand out. Bilingual representatives can engage French-speaking customers and build rapport, leading to increased sales.