Unless it is staffed with multilingual employees, a commercial enterprise doing business in the current global economy will eventually encounter communication difficulties.

One Language No Longer Fits All

English may have been sufficient to meet most business needs in the past. Indeed, until recently, it has served as a major, if not the major language in nearly all commercial communication. But, as economic demographics continue to shift at a rapid pace, many businesses are choosing to operate on a multilingual platform.

Let's give the issue some perspective. Based on current estimates, a total of only 32% of the world's population has some level of proficiency in speaking English; 6% of those are native speakers, with the remaining 26% either claiming fluency in English as a second language or some level of nominal proficiency. Obviously, the majority of the world’s population is not using English at any level.

Attempting to broaden their international presence in order to reach a larger client base, flexible, innovative businesses are coming to the realization that English is not always a viable communication option in today's emerging markets. A company expanding into foreign markets that is staffed only with English-speaking employees will lack the necessary capabilities to take full advantage of this developing potential for major revenue.

The Multilingual Credit and Collections Staff Advantage

If your business is operating internationally, it's very likely that you already have a multilingual client services and sales force in place. But what happens when one of your Mexican customers is falling behind in payments? Do you have a Spanish speaking representative available to collect from your customer?

It's just as important for a credit department to have multilingual capabilities as it is for any other department. Ideally, the credit and collections multilingual speaker will be a native speaker of a foreign language or will have at least spent a considerable amount of time in another country, learning and studying the language to attain near native fluency. An effective multilingual credit professional will also have a good understanding of the local credit and collection policy in their specialty country.

In addition to performing standard credit and collections responsibilities, your multilingual specialist will have an impact by being able to:

negotiate through cross-cultural differences
interact with clients using appropriate forms of address and business protocol
communicate in the appropriate tone of business language used in their specialty country

The unique capabilities of these professionals will have a direct impact on increasing your collection of receivables, in addition to giving your company an edge in global competition.

Find the Right Fit

If you're a small business or your needs don't warrant employment of multilingual personnel in all departments, you'll find that any employee who speaks a foreign language might be able to perform other functions. For example, a sales representative who speaks Russian can at least assist in translation of written documentation and assist the collection department as an interpreter.

Another alternative to hiring in-house multilingual staff, would be to outsource any foreign language needs you have. Before you do so, however, carefully assess the requirements of your company. Depending on the volume of work you need handled, it may be more cost-effective to hire your own personnel rather than contract for independent translating and interpreting services. Unless you require a minimum of work, the cost to pay an outside source for multilingual requirements can quickly exceed the cost to hire and maintain additional personnel.

Having a multilingual workforce capable of communicating in languages other than English has not yet become vital to doing business in international markets. However, those businesses that have that capability have a much greater advantage when expanding into foreign markets.

Hello? Do You Speak English?

The Growing Importance of Multilingual Credit and Collections Staff

One Language No Longer Fits All

The Multilingual Credit and Collections Staff Advantage

Find the Right Fit

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