Why it Pays to Be a Bilingual Customer Service Representative

Will speaking a second language fluently pay off in your career in a Call Center? Yes, it will. We live in one of the most ethnically diverse nations in the world, which every year welcomes residents from all across the globe. With that comes a multitude of cultures as well as languages. Being able to communicate with a customer in their native language is very valuable, especially if you are a customer service representative (CSR).

 

To fully grasp the relevance and importance of communicating in your native language, consider the following scenario:

 

You move to Germany. You know just a little bit of German before moving there, but after a few months you start seeing some significant improvement. You’re now on your way to being assimilated into German culture and German life and have even opened a checking account with a local bank there. Now imagine that you receive your bank statement one day and you notice some unexpected charges. You’re very concerned about this and immediately call your bank to find out what is going on. Between your nerves and the fact that the conversation is over the phone and perhaps somewhat of a more technical nature, you don’t understand a thing they are saying.

 

How frustrating would that be? Now imagine that, at your request, they can immediately transfer you to someone who speaks English fluently and can help you understand the situation in your native tongue.

 

That level of convenience and comfort when calling a company’s customer service line is invaluable to millions of consumers in the U.S. every year who don’t speak English as a native language. For businesses, it is very important to offer their customers that support and are therefore constantly looking for diverse customer service representatives who mirror the demographic and language composition of their customers.

 

As a result of this extra demand for bilingual CSRs, according to payscale.com, the average pay in the U.S. for a bilingual CSR is $13.39 per hour compared to $12.96 per hour for CSRs who only speak English.

 

In addition to the monetary gains associated with being a bilingual CSR, speaking two or more languages will also help you expand your areas of expertise in the field of customer relationship management.

 

Contemporary Staffing Solutions is a leading provider of staffing services to call centers and the customer relationship management industry. Speak to one of our professionals today to explore careers in this dynamic and rapidly evolving field.