The Business Benefits of Speaking Your Clients’ Language

It’s no secret that providing excellent service and nurturing strong client relationships is key to running a successful operation. It’s equally known that a big component of managing both those tasks is speaking your clients’ language.
 

Most people mean that as a metaphor, but literally speaking your clients’ language is just as vital to performing a service well and offering the kind of customer care that inspires loyalty to your business.
 
After all, little is more frustrating (or embarrassing) than being unable to communicate, and these emotions are the last thing you need workers’ compensation clients to experience.
 
Speaking your clients’ language prevents these negative feelings and comes with a host of other business benefits as well.
 

Up Your Client Base

For starters, being able to communicate in several languages increases the number of clients who are willing to work with you.
 
Right now, in the United States, more than 67 million people speak a language other than English at home because they feel more comfortable communicating in their native tongue. Several of these individuals could be a client, and in workers’ comp, any one of them could end up an injured employee.
 
Now take into account CSA research that reveals that 75% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand again if customer service is offered in their language. An insurance provider may offer a service instead of a product, but this statistic indicates the importance of language to a consumer.
 
If language is so critical when it comes to purchasing a product, imagine how much more valuable it is for a service that impacts monetary and physical well-being.
 
Effective communication is also an integral part of providing successful workers’ comp solutions. Whether you’re helping a hurt worker or convincing a business that your service is the one they can trust to do a good job, speaking the same language gives you a competitive advantage.
 

Access a Wider Market

A study by the European Commission found that when given a choice, 9 out of 10 consumers will always visit a website in their language. Additionally, 42% said they never purchase products and services in other languages.
 
The study was based out of Europe, but can you say you would do any differently?
 
Even when you sell a service, your clients have to discover you somewhere. Consumers with word-of-mouth recommendations still usually evaluate a website before calling a business (if they don’t try to reach out through the website first).
 
As a result, offering translations of your website broadens your circle of potential clients.
 
And if you ever plan on growing your business on an international level, this is the case to a much larger degree. Whether you offer services in one other country or five, adjusting to the local language is necessary.
 

Build Better Client Relationships

Nelson Mandela once said:
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
 
Speaking the same language builds trust between individuals. Consider how much easier it is to understand someone when they speak your language and how much easier it is to develop a relationship when you understand someone.
 
At the same time, speaking the same language can bolster client loyalty. Why would a client want to go somewhere else, where it may be difficult to communicate?
 
In 2020, 40% of people stopped doing business with a company due to poor customer service. If making sure clients can speak comfortably improves their experience, then it’s worth it.
 

Protect Against Miscommunication

Workers’ compensation insurance is a dangerous business in which to have a communication issue. You’re either helping someone during one of the most delicate and imperative times of their life, or you’re helping a business protect their employees from those times.
 
It’s essential for everyone involved to understand what is going on and what they need to do, patients especially.
 
By speaking the same language as them, you protect their best interests and your reputation.
 

Alleviate Threats When Issues Arise

Of course, not everything will always go according to plan. Sometimes mistakes are made, or emergencies come up. As someone who works in insurance, you know how important it is to prepare if something goes wrong.
 
While using your client’s language reduces the risk of an issue arising, it also reduces the consequences when it does. This is because it makes it much easier to smooth over rocky ground with an upset client.
 
If you have been speaking their language the whole time, you will also have built a stronger foundation with them to work with.
 

Speed Up Recovery Times

As a workers’ comp provider, fast recovery times are important to success, and patients recover faster when:
 

1. They know what to do to heal properly.
2. They are willing to do it.

 
Speaking their language helps with both.
 
The first half we’ve already discussed. As for willingness, many people avoid tasks that make them anxious or uncomfortable—like going places where they can’t speak with ease and struggle to communicate.
 
If these places include a doctor’s appointment or workers’ comp meeting, they may very well skip out and prolong recovery.
 

Keep Processes Efficient

When people don’t speak the same language, communicating takes longer. It takes more time to choose the right words and then to get them out. Sometimes people have to repeat themselves to hear past a strong accent.
 
Altogether, this added effort makes for longer meetings and interactions.
 
In this way, speaking the same language equals time efficiency. And, as you know, time equals money.
 

What Languages Should I Focus On?

When providers learn about the impact of speaking their clients’ language, many start wondering, “What languages should I focus on?”
 
The problem, of course, is that there are over 350 languages spoken in the United States.
 
This is why the best solution, especially for insurance providers who work with all kinds of people, is a 3rd-party interpretation and translation service.
 
When you outsource to a language service, you don’t have to choose one or two languages or go through the effort of learning them yourself.
 
Instead, you save time, and every client gets the care they need.