Everyone who works with foreign clients, customers, and teams has faced communication problems. It’s not always about knowing the language, but about the intricacies of the culture of communication and behavior.

However, many international companies have little understanding of how culture affects their work. And if agents know all the nuances of communication, it can significantly affect the result and reputation of the company.

How knowing cultural differences affect customer relationships

People who grew up or lived for a long time in a certain cultural environment perceive and evaluate norms, behavior, objects, and people very similarly. So when we interact with people from another culture, we can notice their difference in behavior, their attitude to the event, in their reactions to various unpredictable situations.

Of course, this does not mean that every representative of one nation or ethnicity has only such characteristics. However,  traditional and cultural values ​​are passed down from generation to generation and can influence their way of perceiving the world. And understanding the difference or subtleties of cultural differences can help ensure effective communication and a positive customer experience.

After all, one of the main tasks of customer support is to combine an individual approach to each client with a generalized perception. An idea and information about the cultural features of the country with which the specialist deals.

Therefore, the study of cultural differences can save agents from many inconveniences. Let’s consider this with one example, from the point of view of everyday communication and tone of voice. At a time when Americans prefer casual (less formal) communication, Germans are used to choosing a more formal tone.

These nuances should be considered by support teams when interacting with customers. In particular, during calls or correspondence in the chat, when the specialist pays attention to which wording should be chosen when addressing or saying goodbye.

That is why in A.R.C.E. any project begins with a developed action plan and a properly selected team. This means that for each project we recruit agents who are speakers of the client’s culture and language. In our experience, we have proven that this approach allows us to effectively communicate with people, and especially solve difficult situations with clients.

Navigating cultural differences

  • Emotions

In some cultures, showing emotions too actively is perceived as strange or inappropriate, while in others, on the contrary, it is considered good, because it allows you to communicate and understand each other better. For example, in Israel, people are used to directly expressing their dissatisfaction, because directness is a sign of honesty for them. But in Japan, India, China, and Kenya, people moderate their criticism and never publicly criticize.

The same applies to customer service. Customers from emotional cultures will talk freely when they are angry, disappointed, or happy about something. And representatives of “restrained” cultures will mostly remain neutral, although they will feel/experience dissatisfaction.

  • Context

For many Asian countries, to understand the intentions of the interlocutor, you need to rely on your intuition and experience. After all, there are many words in the languages ​​of these countries that take on different meanings depending on the context. So communication requires careful choice of words and phrasing, as well as being careful with openness. Interlocutors rely more on intuition and trust than on facts and statistics. Therefore, indirect messages are better for communicating with people from China, Japan, and Indonesia.

  • Communication channels

There is a difference not only in the type of communication preferred by people from different cultures but also in the way it takes place. For example, American customers tend to choose channels such as Live Chat more often for communication. But in the Netherlands and Germany, a large part of customers appreciates conversations in a polite and friendly manner. Therefore, they would rather communicate with someone over the phone than through online channels.

The same goes for expected response time: US customers like fast responses from customer service agents, while Dutch customers don’t mind waiting.

  • Emoji

And sometimes you have to be careful even when using emojis in text messages. It would seem that such icons are a universal language of communication, but even here there are pitfalls. For example, a thumbs up signify approval in Western culture, but in Greece and the Middle East, it has always been interpreted as a vulgar or even offensive sign. Likewise, the angel smiley, which in the West means innocence or good intentions, is used in China to denote death and even threats.

To catch and correct all possible misunderstandings in time, we know from our own experience that it is worth following a system of summarizing what was said or written during communication.

Team A.R.C.E. provides support and service in 18 languages and builds support lines from scratch. So if you need professional advice or help with customer service, get in touch. For 15 years, we’ve been helping companies implement effective contact centers to deliver a great customer experience.