Language is the foundation of any great relationship between human beings. From the inner being of a person, a mother communicating to an infant in her womb, the smile of a stranger to another to express admiration. Communication in relationship is only established through understanding the language of the other person and speaking it, no matter the form it takes. As a Business in the hospitality industry, a hotel, a Tourist site, a restaurant, you find yourself interacting with many people from different background and your constant goals, or desires are:
1) To serve those people better.
2) Increase your business revenue.
3) Be the leader of your industry.
This is always on your head and takes all of your critical time, searching for means and ways to serve customers better. In this article we will tell you why you need to speak the language of your customers, to achieve your Business goals in the hospitality industry?
Language: An Identity of people
Language is much more than just the exchange of words; it is an entity that connects a person to his family, culture, music, beliefs, and wisdom. It transmits history, traditions, customs, and folklore from one generation to the next. No culture can exist in the absence of language. Our language is, in fact, our identity, and this concept resonates a lot with Africans.
For example the egyptians were known to have started the first form of writing and to understand them, do business with them, many people had to learn they way of communicating to become prosperous, the same applied to other cultures, and other form of languages, many countries had found the necessity of learning English because it was the language of Business. In the African continent anytime you travel to a remote places, like Obuassi in Accra, keta, in the volta region, Maasai Mara National Reserve, in kenya,Victoria Falls in Zambia your ability to understand its people and serve them well is only limited to how you communicate with them in their own language and understand culture. . Only after you have broken the barrier of language would you understand why certain things matter to people and not others. What do certain groups in that society see as important and why.You would have gotten the key to understanding your customers and this would help your activities in the locality.
As a result, doing business in only a universal language like English would almost certainly result in the loss of culture and heritage communicated through the native language and give you just a little information about the people you want to attract as customers.
English is the third most widely spoken language in the world, with at least 330 million native speakers, and is the most widely spoken language. But ignoring other languages means ignoring who your customers really are,not being able to find what truly motivates them to buy from you and what their culture barriers are. This can go against your own business.
Speaking the language of your customers helps you build a great relationship with them.
As a business in the hospitality industry, you are constantly seeking to understand your customers and want to speak with them and build a great relationship. Here is a simple clue: People always respond better to the language they grew up speaking. Do you remember that time you were in a foreign country, and you met a person, who could speak your native language and you instantly became friends?
About some time ago, I had a friend who manages a hotel agency for international travelers in Ghana. She is a restaurant owner as well. One day she saw an Indian lady passing by her restaurant, so She exclaimed :”हैलो, कैसे हो ” meaning : “Hello, how are you?” in Hindi. The customer’s face lightened up, a smile flew over the surprised potential customer. Our restaurant owner had the honor of having an Indian as a guest at her restaurant. She was happy to have met a friend in a foreign country. An Ally, Since that encounter the Indian guest always goes to that restaurant to have lunch in Accra. She might not hear any more Hindi than she heard the first time, but at least she remembers that, the restaurant owner was interested in establishing a personal relationship with her and saying a few words she had heard in a movie had won her a long term customer that feels at home in a foreign land. And that’s the key to your customer retention for your hotel, restaurant, showing customers that they matter by speaking their language.
It is not enough to speak a language that people understand to effectively sell to them. You must communicate with them in the language of their heart.
Nelson Mandela was right when he 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.”
According to a Common Sense Advisory study, 75% of customers “prefer to buy products in their native language.”
Speaking the language of your customers and potential customers will show them that you’re not only interested in selling to them, but you are more interested in establishing a long term relationship with them.
Speaking the language of your customers help you Better Communicate with your Audience
When visiting places they have never visited before, tourists are prone to becoming frustrated. This is primarily due to the language barrier that exists between them and the general population of their vacation destination. As a result, your hotel, international restaurant, and tourist site should be able to accommodate them in the event of any ambiguity or assistance that arises because of the aforementioned barriers. You must be their friend in a foreign land that puts your business in the front, going the extra mile with speaking the language of the customers will definitely pay off well.
If you want to leave your customers satisfied and ensure that they return, having your website, flyers, and brochures translated in the customer’s language to better communicate with them is critical.
Speaking the language of your customers help you Grow Your Business Hotel and Be the leader of your Industry
As communication and travel advance, your hotel, International restaurant, and tourist site must keep up by translating their websites into multiple languages so that they can be easily accessible to a wider audience. For those traveling from afar, the website may be the only way for them to access the hotel’s services. According to a Common Sense Advisory study, 72.1% of consumers spend most of all of their time on websites in their own language, and also Nine out of 10 Internet users said that, when given a choice of languages, they always visited a website in their own language.
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The website serves as a global point of contact with the external world; if it is inaccessible, fewer people will be interested in it. This is your only selling point, so it is critical to invest in a good translation company and have your website translated into the language of your target audience to establish yourself as a leader in your industry and show customers that they actually matter! Choose qualified human translators to avoid word salad in your outreach efforts.
Takeaway
Smart businesses understand that putting all of their eggs in one basket is bad for business. So is putting all of your marketing content in just one language. Polyglot translation services assist you in communicating with your customers in the languages they prefer. Our translation and localization services will ensure that your message remains relatable and effective globally. Going the extra mile with us through speaking the customer’s language will always put a smile on the customer’s face and let them remember that establishing a relationship is a priority to your business.
Written by Jennifer, Marketing Manager at PTS( A Micromega Company)
