Improving Tech Support with Multilingual Content

November 28, 2023

In today’s global economy, tech support companies face unique challenges in serving customers from diverse linguistic backgrounds. As businesses expand their operations worldwide, catering to customers’ needs in different languages has become imperative.

According to Common Sense Advisory (CSA), 76% of customers prefer to buy products and services in their native language and 75% of respondents say that they’re more likely to buy the same brand again if customer care is in their language. With customers’ needs and wants more clear than ever, the demand for multilingual support is on the rise. So, how can businesses meet customers where they are?

Tech Support Challenges in a Global Economy

In the interconnected world of technology, businesses often encounter challenges when providing technical support to customers from diverse linguistic backgrounds. For example, in the U.S. alone, over 20% of the population doesn’t speak English at home. When language barriers are present, understanding complex technical issues becomes difficult and companies operating globally must also address the varying cultural norms and expectations of their customers.

Meeting customers where they are and speaking to them in their native languages can significantly impact customer satisfaction and loyalty with a survey from the International Customer Management Institute reporting that communicating with customers in their own native language increases satisfaction by up to 72%. On the flip side, without effective multilingual support, tech companies risk alienating potential clients and facing increased customer churn.

Adopting Multilingual Tech Support Powered by a CMS

A well-implemented CMS can transform tech support, enabling businesses to provide consistent and efficient assistance in multiple languages. Here are some areas where a multilingual CMS proves invaluable:

  • Knowledge Base: By translating the knowledge base into various languages, customers can easily access self-help resources, troubleshooting guides, and tutorials in their preferred language. This reduces the need for direct support and empowers users to resolve issues independently. For example, Unbabel localized training materials and other business communications for Orange, translating over 3 million words in more than 30 different language combinations.
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): FAQs play a crucial role in resolving common customer queries and offering these in multiple languages ensures a seamless experience for customers worldwide. In fact, Dashlane implemented Unbabel’s quick and seamless human-machine translation into its existing customer service workflows to manage, on average, around 2,000 monthly customer inquiries in French and German. Our platform also helped Dashlane translate its FAQs and other support materials in multiple languages to cater to its customers in 180 countries.
  • Support Ticketing: Implementing multilingual support ticket categories and routing ensures that queries are directed to the appropriate team members who can provide assistance in the relevant language. For example, Unbabel helped TechSmith to deliver multilingual customer service to its 73 million active users in 100+ countries. Our AI-powered Language Operations (LangOps) platform enabled the team to handle more ticket volumes in 15 language pairs.

How to Implement Multilingual Content in Your Tech Support Team

Implementing multilingual content in a tech support team requires a comprehensive approach covering everything from assessing needs to supporting ticketing. Addressing each step in the process is key to embracing multilingual support in an efficient and productive way.

1. Assess Customer Needs

Analyze your customer base to identify the languages in which support is most needed. Gather data on customer demographics, geographical locations, and language preferences – this approach will help you prioritize which languages to target and allocate resources accordingly.

2. Choose the Right CMS

Select a robust content management system that supports multilingual capabilities and offers features such as content translation workflows, language-specific content storage, and seamless integration with your existing tech support tools. Ensure that the CMS is user-friendly and can streamline the translation process efficiently. In the case of Photobox, an Unbabel customer, the company was able to set up a translation process that would integrate seamlessly into its new content platform to ensure quality translations for over 30 million users globally.

3. Build a Multilingual Knowledge Base

Create a comprehensive knowledge base that includes troubleshooting guides, FAQs, product documentation, and self-help resources then translate this content into the languages most relevant to your customer base. For example, GoCardless, an Unbabel customer, created a library of content in multiple languages, along with options for customers to access personalized content that’s tailored to their particular business and place in the customer journey.

4. Support Ticketing and Routing

Implement multilingual support ticketing and routing systems and categorize tickets based on the language of the customer’s query, ensuring that queries are directed to the appropriate team members who can provide support in the relevant language.

5. Utilize Translation Tools and Services

Leverage translation tools and services to expedite the translation process and ensure consistency across languages. In fact, Unbabel was able to help Concentrix scale multilingual customer support operations across new languages in Asia, without having to hire native speakers.

6. Monitor and Improve Multilingual Support Performance

Regularly analyze support metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your multilingual support strategy. Monitor customer satisfaction rates, ticket response times, and resolution rates across different languages. Use feedback from customers to identify areas for improvement and refine your multilingual support approach continually. For example, Unbabel monitored KPIs such as CSAT scores, AHTs, and translation quality to improve its translation service, helping Hopper handle more than 13,000 chat and email conversations in less than four months.

Deliver Seamless Multilingual Tech Support with Unbabel

Unbabel’s support for different CMS platforms empowers tech support companies to overcome language barriers, improve customer experience, and drive business growth. By leveraging Unbabel’s machine translation and quality estimation technologies, companies can deliver consistent, accurate, and rapid support across the globe.

Embracing Unbabel’s innovative approach to translation addresses the tech support challenges today, ultimately leading to a more successful and customer-centric tech support operation.

Request a free demo to see how Unbabel can help you deliver multilingual support.

About the Author

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Content Team

Unbabel’s Content Team is responsible for showcasing Unbabel’s continuous growth and incredible pool of in-house experts. It delivers Unbabel’s unique brand across channels and produces accessible, compelling content on translation, localization, language, tech, CS, marketing, and more.