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Creating a Successful Hispanic Customer Win-Back Program

by Jim Iyoob, Vice President Global Development, Etech Global Services - March 25, 2013

Creating a Successful Hispanic Customer Win-Back Program

By Jim Iyoob

Over the past decade, businesses have realized the importance of customer loyalty and retention. The old rule of thumb that it ‘costs five times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one’ is causing many companies to commit substantial resources to keep customers happy. While churn rates are slowing somewhat, companies are losing an average of 20% of their customers each year. The telecommunications industry is particularly vulnerable with customer acquisition rates north of $350 and churn anywhere between 10 and 67 percent each year.

This trend has led to Customer Win-Back Programs, or simply put, trying to re-acquire customers lost previously. A good Win-Back Program allows companies to realize potential profits by rebuilding customer relationships, minimizing new customer acquisition costs, reducing negative word of mouth, and developing a profile for lost customers to minimize churn in the future.

A good Win-Back Program is challenging in itself, but when you throw in the complexities of reaching specific ethnic groups, such as the Hispanic Market, it makes it even more challenging. However, the Hispanic Market is one that should not be ignored.

Hispanics are the fastest growing segment in the United States and marketing to them is an integral part of many companies’ growth strategies. Each year, major companies across all industries invest billions to reach Hispanic consumers. In the year 2020, the Hispanic American population is projected to reach 59.7 million and by 2050 is expected to reach 102.6 million. By 2050, Hispanics will be 25% of the US population. The purchasing power of the US Hispanic market is estimated at over $1 Trillion. Over 31 million US residents age five and older speak Spanish and Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US.

Hispanic Americans are Americans with origins in Latin America and Spain. They are often divided into sub-groups including Mexican Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans, Dominican Americans, Central Americans and South Americans, among others. Hispanic Americans have the highest population concentration in California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, yet have the highest population growth rate in areas including Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Many companies have higher than desired churn rates, especially in their Hispanic Market segment. They need to find a solution to win back their Hispanic customers cost-effectively. Developing a strong Win-Back Program is challenging in itself, but trying to win back Hispanic customers throws in additional complexities. Many people believe that you can simply translate your marketing messages and calling scripts into Spanish and Hispanic customers will respond just as well as non-Hispanic customers. Companies try utilizing internal contact center agents that just don’t have the expertise to make the program successful. Companies need to find a partner that not only has proven experience with Win-Back Programs but also had a deep understanding of how to reach the Hispanic Market.

Finding a partner that understands the intricacies of the Hispanic Market and how to effectively market to this important segment is crucial. Most Hispanics in the US are bilingual and companies cannot simply assume Hispanics want to do all their communications or transactions in Spanish or English. The agent must be able to communicate with them effectively in whatever language the customer feels most comfortable for that situation. Simply translating an English script into Spanish isn’t effective either. There are many intricacies within the Spanish language and a poorly translated script or message is very off-putting to any customer, in any language. Unfortunately, it seems to be a “one strike and you’re out” mentality. If companies don’t get it right the first time, the customers usually don’t give them a second chance.

A third-party resource can be very helpful, especially for a niche campaign as this. When looking for a third-party resource to help with your Hispanic Customer Win-Back Program, it’s important to look for the following:

  • A company with a focus on bilingual customer service and sales located in an area with easy access to the brightest bilingual customer service agents. Areas like California, Texas and Florida have large populations of Spanish speaking agents.
  • A company with proven experience in Hispanic Win-Back programs. This is a niche area that takes a lot of trial and error. Find a company that is already doing it and has proven results.
  • A company with a deep understanding of the Hispanic consumer who understands their needs, motivations and behaviors.
  • A company who ensures high quality service through a top-notch QA process. This also allows you to gather business intelligence data to combat competitive pressures and meet your customers’ desires.

With the right focus and experienced team, you can develop a cost-effective Hispanic Customer Win-Back Program. It’s a fast growing market segment and one that should not be ignored for your long term growth strategy.

This article was written by Jim Iyoob, Vice President Global Development at Etech Global Services. Etech Global Services is a leading provider of intelligent sales and service solutions utilizing inbound and outbound voice and web chat. Etech Global Services also understands the importance of customer relationships. Today, and in the future, all of Etech Global Services’ solution strategies will be driven by the ‘voice of the customer’. Etech Global Services’ goal is to provide industry-leading service, stellar CSAT scores, and high performing sales and service solutions that enable clients to increase revenue and delight customers. If you would like to learn more about Etech Global Services and their Hispanic Customer Win-Back Programs, please contact Jim at jim.iyoob@etechinc.com.



 

 
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