Language and the Customer Experience

By Liesl Leary, Sr. Localization Strategist, ENLASO Corporation

When was the last time you filled out a customer loyalty survey in another language? The answer is “probably never”. The U.S. language hegemony is a result not only of being the world’s most dominant player in economics, but also of the fortunate coincidence that the former dominating player, England, also spoke the same language. Back in those days, we expected customers to learn English or we just didn’t care about them.

With the advent of globalization, the non-English-speaking customer base can no longer be ignored. Increasingly, global markets drive corporate revenues and profits. It’s no longer a "wait-and-see" agenda, in which companies release a product domestically, and then wait to see who shakes the box internationally. Today companies go straight for the punch—sim-shipping (simultaneously shipping) international releases at or near the same time as the domestic product. Thus, customer loyalty systems reflect diverse customer bases, and need to positively influence those global customer bases by being available in any number of localized versions.

It’s not that global customer bases can’t speak English. They cannot only speak English; they can usually speak it far better than we speak their languages. The problem is that non-localized communications to multilingual customers are incredibly frustrating. Imagine if the Japanese manufacturers of your DVD player sent you a customer survey - in Japanese only. You'd easily get the impression that the manufacturer cared only about the loyalty of customers in its home country. Certainly this is not the message your company wants to communicate.

Language is a Primary Driver of the Customer Experience

We all get a chuckle out of the numerous examples of bad translations from foreign languages to English. But surprisingly, we rarely think about how we sound in a foreign culture. Translation is not the same thing as localization. Translation refers to taking the words of one language and transforming them to their equivalents into another language. Localization, on the other hand, takes the meaning from one language and transforms it into another language, giving the product the “look and feel” of the target market. The words may be altogether different, but the meaning is the same.

One way to demonstrate this is through idioms.

• English: "Like father, like son"
• Chinese (localized back-translation): "Lions don’t breed dogs"

As you can see, while the words do not comply with the English original sentence, the meanings are equivalent.

Localization extends beyond just words. For example, here's a sign found in an inn in Switzerland:

• “Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.”

In this example, the translation is perfectly fine. But it's not well localized. Here's why:

• In the United States, what we do in the privacy of our own bedrooms is practically a constitutionally protected right.
• In Switzerland, however, government intervention is not particularly frowned upon.
• What we do in the privacy of our own bedroom with members of the opposite sex may not be appropriate for the lobby of a public hotel. This is probably also true in Switzerland but they mistranslated what they really meant. Their real intention was probably more along the lines of "please use the rooms for sleeping only".

When it comes to customer loyalty in other cultures, it’s important to evaluate our messaging not just in terms of words, but also for meaning and cultural sensitivity. How do we do that?

Enlist your In-Country Reviewers

Many program managers enlist the assistance of their in-country reviewers only when it is time to review the translation for accuracy. But as we've just seen, great benefits can be gained if you enlist them to evaluate the appropriateness of the message at the program creation stage. The in-country reviewer can offer insight into many possibilities, including the many types of:

• Companies you are competing against internationally
• Services you offer internationally
• Product names you use internationally
• Customer types
• Customer motivations and incentives
• Contact information
• Ways of viewing information

You might assume that the localization vendor will take responsibility for these tasks but, unless they are a division of your own company, this is unlikely. A localization vendor's goal is to translate your English content accurately and to ensure your product has the look and feel of having been created for the target market. No one knows your corporate culture better than you do.

In-country reviewers have other valuable uses, too. They can create ancillary reference materials that can be used to influence the translations. Localization vendors love to get two things at the start of a project: glossaries and style guides. Localization vendors can also create these glossaries and style guides; however, your cost will increase as the vendor’s billable hours increase (and your reviewers are going to have to review them anyway). That is why it is often best to create these materials yourself.

Glossary
The most common way to create a glossary—a list of specialized words with their definitions—is in Excel (assuming of course, that you don’t have a database driven glossary solution in place). In your glossary, your reviewers should consider including:

• Company name (Is there a translation, or should it be left in English?)
• Product names (Again, translated or left in English?)
• Names of executives (translated, left in English, or omitted altogether and replaced by a title?)
• Key words that repeat

Style Guide
Style guides are similar to glossaries. However, they contain information regarding grammatical constructs and formatting requirements as well. Stylistic preferences your linguists may want to define include:

• Calendar formats: In Europe, for example, June 12, 2006 would be presented as 12/06/06 and not 6/12/06 as it is in the US.
• Decimal points: In Europe, commas often replace decimals.
• Names of executives (Should they be translated, left in English, or omitted altogether and replaced by a title?)
• Formality: Reviewers may want a more formal translation than the English, or they may want to keep the survey to remain more casual in tone.

Streamlining the Review Process

Without a doubt, one of the most often-heard complaints is the difficulty of coordinating with the reviewers. The typical scenario is fairly complicated when you look at the number of players involved in different departments, offices, time zones and languages. It is not atypical to find, in a "bare bones" process involving just one language, no fewer than 16 handoffs occurring in order to approve the translations and push the final product out the door.

Over the years that ENLASO has been in the business, we have found that, 9 times out of 10, negative reviewer comments are not the result of translation quality. The major issue is that no input was solicited from the reviewer during the creation of the content (such as the questions for the survey). Because of that, the basis of understanding by the reviewer of what is intended in the localization and translation step is missed, resulting in a perception of poor quality by the reviewer.

Training is the key to overcoming the challenges that can occur from the review cycle. As I mentioned earlier, reviewers should receive training on what to expect during the program creation stage, rather than later on in the process. Doing so allows the reviewer to feel like part of the process, and will pave the way for open dialog during the translation phase. It will also lead to fewer amendments to the translation before the product is launched.

Training should consist of an outline of exactly what's expected from the reviewer, and the fact that the reviewer should not rewrite the content. Other key points include not making changes based on preferences, but on real issues such as typos or grammatical errors. The reviewer should also be supplied with any glossaries and style guides that are available, if they did not create them themselves.

Finally, keep in mind that a good vendor can always schedule a direct call between the reviewers and the linguists. In fact, in some instances, we arrange a conference call or kickoff meeting with the reviewers before the translation begins. Establishing this relationship, even virtually, can streamline the translation process and create a more harmonious relationship between reviewers, linguists, and project managers.

Conclusion

Annette Gleneicki, Director of CustomerSat's Professional Services, pointed out in CustomerSat's January 2006 Newsletter, that by conveying to your customers how important their feedback is you can improve response rates:

"Your message should be: This is part of how we do business. This is how we ensure satisfaction among our customers. You are important to us, and so are your opinions and feedback."

Annette's statement applies not only to increasing response rates, but also to improving your relationships with global customer bases and your in-country staff. By choosing your words and concepts wisely, you can enhance your localized communications and increase reviewer effectiveness and customer satisfaction.