Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
It seems obvious that in today’s global economy, large and small businesses should train their employees to deal with people from different cultures, both inside and outside of their countries. I don’t speak only about languages but I am also interested in social interactions between front-line employees and their clients who are from various cultures.
In a previous article, I spoke about the four aspects of emotional intelligence and mentioned how social awareness allows the individual to perceive the emotions of others, giving them the ability to better empathize and connect with other people. Relationship management is also very important to build bonds and maintain connections with clients.
Social awareness and relationship management are critical in the service industry, where the customer’s satisfaction is everything.
Cultural intelligence is the same as emotional intelligence with an additional level of complexity as your employees should be able to develop connections and empathize with people from a large variety of cultural backgrounds.
I have been living in countries such as Japan and United States, where you can get outstanding customer services 24/7. Therefore, I have high expectations of sales people. In America, for example, business people return a phone call or an email, writing for a couple of hours, even on a Friday night. I was in a small Chinese restaurant recently where I wasn’t charged for a dish that I didn’t like . I got a $100 store credit for returning a broken pressure cooker 6 months after I bought it, even without receipt.
Education on Emotional Intelligence
There are tons of courses on emotional intelligence for sales people and customer service representatives in the U.S., but it is far from being the norm in other cultures. I was recently dealing with a French service provider who inspired me to write this article. The French are well-known for their arrogant sales people and there is still the mentality that the company is doing their clients a favor by serving them. In my case, it was a small French relocation and real estate company based in Moscow that asked me to justify, in very aggressive emails, why I didn’t choose their services. They even tried to intimidate me by saying that other companies in Russia will take advantage of me. I didn’t choose them because they didn’t reply to queries in a timely manner, I had to wait one month to get a response because of public holidays and most of all, because no emotional bonds were created and I never felt that they understood me. I guess this French company survives because: “in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed are kings.”
The company that I ended up choosing is specialized in the Russian real estate market for expatriates, medium size with a large international network but still small enough to work with individuals like me, unlike large relocation companies that deal only with the Human Resources department of large, multinational companies. Despite the 8-hour time difference with the U.S., the agent was responding to my emails very late at night and on weekends and holidays. They understood that despite the fact that I am French, I am also very much “international” and during my visit to Moscow for house hunting, they organized a meeting with an American woman, freshly expatriated from Europe, who gave me great tips on what life in Moscow is like for newcomers. The agent was a young Russian woman with children of her own and it helped because she could understand me on practical things like finding a laundry room with a dryer and a modern kitchen or helping me get information from the school about bus routes and stops.
I think consumers and clients are being more and more empowered via the Internet and social networks and small businesses can only survive in this interconnected global world if they establish authentic interpersonal relationships instead of focusing on selling products or services. Some big brands have already gotten hurt by people sharing negative stories on a global scale.
Conclusion
I read an article, The Importance of Multi-Cultural Customer Service, that gives you key steps to develop a multicultural customer services. Due to globalization, cross-cultural communication has become a vital part of every agent’s training more than ever before. This is a really big world and we all need to work and live together and the more harmonious the experience is, the more we will all accomplish.
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Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: MyVerizon
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
Absolutely! This applies to international and region-to-region interactions. Many companies employ "culture coaches" to train staff on cultural differences, conventions of speech and conversation, even graphics, and other items.
Posted by Lee Cunningham
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
You seem to equate "culture" with nationality?
posted by Dr. Brian Monger
Hi Brian.
Culture is not equal to nationality. Nationality is what is written on your passport(s). It is a legal thing: it is either the place you were born or depending on the country you get your parents' nationaliy. For example my son was born in the US and has both American and French nationalities. If he was born in Japan he would have been only French nationality as Japanese grant the Japanese nationality only to people who have one of the parent born with the Japanese nationality
Geert Hofstede, (a researcher and specialist of intercultural communication ) defines culture as:
“civilization”, including education, manners, arts and crafts and their products.
The second meaning refers to the way people think, feel, and act.
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
@Brian,
Good point, its is much better to see the conversation now that I have joined the group. So yes it may be confusing that I used "countries" but I was referring to the countries where the companies operate or have clients. My point was that companies should hire and train people who are able to deal with clients from all over the world and from various cultural backgrounds with cultural sensitivity/intelligence. This is complex since you may have your company headquarters in France but targeting North American customers for example, without having a physical presence in the US. That is why I said "both inside and outside of their countries".
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to join the discussion
Posted by Anne Egros, PharmD, Global Executive Coach
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
take a baby, have it brought up in a different country with parents of that nationality, and i believe you would have a completely different person culturally. you would have a brazillian, japanese, fijian,… person.
And you're point about your son being a TCK proves the point about culture and the country where one lives.
A country like Japan, where they speak their own unique language, and many countries like that, have strong culture.
Posted by Mark Poore
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
yes culture is always changing, especially with globalisation. nevertheless, culture is largely determined by nationality and what that nation has been exposed to throughout history. would we be the same people we are if we were born in another country?
Posted by Mark Poore
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
@Mark , As a serial expat of 20+ years across three continents, I agree with Brian, globalization has changed everything lately, especially for global citizens and global brands such as Apple.
Apple does not belong to USA anymore, People may not have enough to eat but they may have an iphone because communication and being social is entirely part of the "gen Y and Z" culture almost regardless of countries, However the way those people use the internet varies across cultures. The language and tools are often culture specific. For example Russians use Yandex.ru instead of Google to browse the web.
For customer services,clients need to feel understood, Knowing the language is not enough, you have to create bonds and understand basic cultural traits that are so deeply anchored in the education system and translated into social rules, etiquette and typical behavior. Then you have to deal with individuals who have unique personality and preferences based on their experience, age, gender, education level, social status etc.
Showing empathy and emotional intelligence including intuition and active listening are the most important skills needed to communicate in a multicultural environment.
Posted by Anne Egros, PharmD, Global Executive Coach
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
when comparing culture between countries, relatively, those differences and defining cultural characteristics become a lot more distinct.
defining a national brand is hard, especially for a young country like Australia. For countries with a lot of history, such as maybe Japan and Turkey, its easier. A strong brand is unique and consistent.
Posted by Mark Poore
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
Mark, Have you been to Turkey in the last few years? Massive changes
I used to think Japan was quite culturally distinct – the reality is the same as everywhere.
You think a young group in Japan is the same culturally as their parents?
Anyway we have strayed from the direction of this Discussion.
Posted by Dr. Brian Monger
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
Mark, Re "In my experience, I think there are lots of cultural behaviors and mentalities that can be linked to nationality."
For a number of years I taught visiting American students about "Australian" culture.
If you were going to do that, what would you describe as the key elements of AC?
I pose that rhetorically. My guess is that in the first instance you would give out several things that are usually trotted out. Perhaps Mateship, Sportiness and such. Soon thereafter you would notice that these are hardly universal.
Culture is a concept, but to get a real, useful, grasp of any wide culture you will need to understand the segments and varieties. "Sub culture" assumes some universal starting place – but many forms of culture I can think of within a national culture like Australia, are quite different from each other.
Now Australia is a small place – if we have trouble defining a true Aussie Culture (and BTW see the elements of culture suggested by folk like Geert Hofstede), imagine how much more difficult that would be say in the USA (300+ Million)
And folk may in fact be part of more than one cultural group.
Makes it hard to define a national brand doesn't it?
Posted by Dr. Brian Monger
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
Brian,
You suggest that culture doesn't equate with "nationality". So what are your beliefs exactly and how do you define culture?
In my experience, I think there are lots of cultural behaviors and mentalities that can be linked to nationality. It's what makes us all different and the world very diverse.
I dont think culture can be a big big driver in exchanges with people/customers of different nationalities, but it should be a consideration and may be important in creating dialogue.
Posted by Mark Poore
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
American sociologist David C. Pollock developed the following description for third culture kids:
"A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.
Somehow I relate to this definition as I have spent most of my adult live living abroad
If you want to know what it feels like to be a TCK ,please watch this great 8 min video: "The Pasengers" : http://vimeo.com/11658942
Posted by Anne Egros, PharmD, Global Executive Coach
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Group: Linked Business
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
Businesses not only seem more informed, but clients from multicultural backgrounds are more impressed when we go out of our way to try to understand where they are coming from.
Posted by Clinton Studdard
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
My husband is a TCK being American but growing up in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and Jordan. One culture is the one his family is from, the second culture is the one he was surrounded by, and the third is the one he develops as a mixture of his home life and the environment outside. As a result he struggled to identify with either one, not totally feeling American or totally Middle Eastern (as David Pollack suggested). Having lived with my husband in Israel for the last year and half, and knowing my husband well, I have a small understanding of this.
To some degree, I think this issue of nationality vs. culture is a bit of a semantic issue. Yes, nationality refers to your legal documentation–but I don't think it is mutually exclusive from culture. My husband's American nationality DID affect his culture. But perhaps for others it doesn't. And, I agree with Anne's original statement that it's important to understand intercultural communication both "inside and outside of the country." This is distinct because Muslim Arabs living in the US may have a different culture from Muslim Arabs living in the West Bank, Syria, Iraq, etc. If your company has a large demographic for Muslim Arabs, it would be important to understand this difference.
Posted by Madelyn Miles
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
After thinking I admit there is some truth about nationality impacting the way people behave. Sometimes holding a passport from a specific country might interfere with the way people think your are "culturally" coming from even if you were just born there
In the US, when we show our son's US passport people are more open and think my son is American, At contrario in France we use his French passport and we are better considedered at the airport custom or police for example.
If we stop having borders and nationalities by becoming all global citizens, do you think it will change the way people communicate ?
Posted by Anne Egros, PharmD, Global Executive Coach
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Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
A key issue with "American" culture is that the US is one of those nations the dominant powers of which are descended from immigrant groups. Ask the typical US citizen and they would define themselves in terms of the country/countries of ancestral origin, even if that group came over six generations ago. Especially, the late 1960s ushered in an era of promoting "diversity" rather than the proverbial–if not mythical– "melting pot" homogeneity; as a result, citizens of the US are encouraged to think in terms of the "pluribus" in "e pluribus unam" rather than the "unam."
That a US culture exists may perhaps be best determined by outside observers. As MP Glenda Jackson [yes, that Glenda Jackson] pointed out, that US baseball cap is everywhere. And watch any one of a number of programs in other languages and count how many times someone uses the American term "OK." Other examples exist in literature, music, film, and so forth. To be sure "ownership of any particular example may be claimed by certain sub-cultures within the US that may be defined by region, religion, lands of origin, etc. –all of which can make defining a concrete US culture quite difficult.
Posted by Neil Carlson
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Group: The Society For Echo Boomers International ® Entrepreneurship
Discussion: Cultural Intelligence In Customer Satisfaction
I agree totally with you about there needing to be training for employees to be able to communicate better with people from different cultures. Understanding the various cultures is very important and if a corporation takes the time to add this feature to their training venues, it will definitely stand out from other businesses who simply ignore the situation.
As a Corporate Motivational Speaker, I do presentations titled:
"Discover Your Employees' "Hidden Talents"……and Create Lasting Change in Your Workforce!" and I stress the importance of acknowledging the skills and interests that employees have that are often not used in their everyday job. This includes the various aspects of their culture, too, and allowing them to share innovative ideas from their own particular cultural background, very possibly assisting the business to try new paths to success!
Also, as a member of a very large teaching hospital volunteer staff, we on that staff have been very mindful of making sure that we have ample Interpreter coverage for the very large quantity of different cultures who access the medical facility.
Richard Branson, the entrepreneur Founder of the Virgin business network, is ever mindful of his employees' comfort and I am an avid follower of his philosophy.
Good to hear from you!!!
Jan Lewis
Host, "Be My Guest!",UCTV-12 Massachusetts
Motivational Corporate Speaker
Posted by jan lewis
Getting employees trained in understanding people from different cultures is of paramount importance in the workplace today. Globalization has brought about a significant increase in the number of migrants from different parts of the world which elevates the importance of having knowledge of different cultures. This greatly helps in establishing an emotional bond between employees and raise productivity.