Customer Service or escape room? Speaking with a native-speaking operator to improve Customer Experience

Whether in B2B or B2C, an effective Customer Service is often what allows us to distinguish a smooth experience from a frustrating one.

When products and services are complex and require tailor-made solutions, the risk of misunderstandings, especially in the case of responses from contact centers based abroad, is high.

In these cases, a prepared, proactive, native-speaker customer support team responding from the customer's country of residence not only clarifies their doubts but also guides them, strengthening brand trust, satisfaction, and customer loyalty.

Good customer service doesn't just solve problems: it becomes a strategic ally that creates value and fosters lasting relationships.

Lost in Misunderstanding: When Understanding is a Challenge, Good Customer Service Can Make the Difference

Have you ever found yourself in a foreign country without a dictionary or Google Translate? August 10, 2024, Night of San Lorenzo, Mont Saint-Michel area.

A small preamble: only on that day of the year does the entire village turn off its lights to better admire the shooting stars.

10:00 PM. Dead phone battery.

The whole group returns to base cycling cheerfully after visiting the abbey, except for yours truly, who lovingly gives her bicycle to her son and, just for good measure, decides with supreme naivety to take the bus (to get there faster… or so I thought).

Complete darkness!

I find myself in the middle of fields, deserted parking lots, and… darkness darkness darkness (did I mention it?). Oh, I forgot: I don't "speak" French, even with the most imaginative mental translator. And the French don't seem to "speak" English!

Panic!

When you're abroad without "outside help from the director," you realize people around you are saying something, but the meaning completely escapes you. You feel excluded, bewildered, and, as the misunderstanding grows, your temper starts to rise (in my case, pure terror as well).

Exactly the same feeling you get when you call a toll-free number that, on paper, should be Italian… but in practice seems transmitted in an alien language.

Imagine for a moment a poor human being desperately trying to send an invoice while their child screams “Mommm!” or “Daddddd!” with the drama of a castaway spotting a ship on the horizon, and Alexa, with her usual robotic impassivity, reminds them that in two minutes they have a work call.

In the midst of this chaos, our hero or heroine finds the courage to call customer support. Too bad that's exactly when the real problems begin.

Speaking the Same Language is Not Enough to Improve the Customer Experience

And what happens? No one speaks Italian! But I mean, we're in Italy!

We are so geolocalizzati that Google Maps even knows when we are in the toilet, yet, as soon as we have a problem and call a toll-free number, we are teleported to a Customer Service center on the other side of the planet.

Why? Because it costs less abroad! Too bad the savings on labor translate into a customer experience on the edge of the grotesque. You are answered by a voice that, just because it gave you a signal, fills you with hope:

“Buongiooorno, benfenuto nel nostlo sentlo cliendi, come posso aiudavla?”.

In that moment, you already know it's going to be a long battle. You try to explain your problem calmly, articulating every word well, almost counting like an Italian teacher for foreigners. But nothing: the conversation takes a surreal turn.

You: “I have a problem with my connection.”

Operator: “Ah, yes yes! Connection ploblema… one moment while we con-trol.” A moment of mystic silence follows.

Operator: “Lotel! You have to le-t-art the lotel!”

You: “…Do you mean the router?”

Operator: “Yes, yes, lootellll!”

At this point, you start sweating cold. You need help, not a live crossword puzzle. You try to rephrase, but the linguistic gap widens like a chasm: “I need assistance with the modem configuration.”

Response: “Ahhh… configulazzione… moment… I put you on hold.”

And the world's most annoying hold music starts. After ten minutes, you feel like DiCaprio clinging to that floating door in the ocean in Titanic: frozen, resigned, and with a vague hope that someone, sooner or later, will come to save you.

But instead of death by hypothermia, here you are met only by the monotonous sound of the voice that finally returns: “I'm sorry, technical ploblema, explain to your friend and call again then.”

…WHAT?!

And so, after wasting twenty precious minutes of your already too frantic life, you hang up with more questions than you had at the beginning.

But the real question is only one: why do I have to go through all this hell just to talk to customer service?

Result?

Our request for help goes down the drain, just like my smartphone's battery on the night of San Lorenzo at Mont Saint-Michel.

The Right to Speak with an Operator Who Responds from Italy

But wait! We consumers have the sacrosanct right to speak with an operator who responds from Italy, and this has been true since April 1st, 2017!

This is established by Article 24-bis of the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005). This regulation requires Customer Services to offer customers the possibility to speak with an operator located in Italy, upon request.

So, the next time you find yourself trapped in a surreal conversation between "lootell", "ploblema", and "waiting moment", don't panic! Take a deep breath, channel your inner Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket and state with all possible firmness: “I want to speak with an operator in Italy!”

And if they try to be vague on the other end? Remind them it's a right, not a favor! And as the good Sergeant Hartman would say: “WHAT IS YOUR MALFUNCTION, SOLDIER?!” Imagine barking that after the umpteenth "I don't understand, technical ploblema". The operator will probably jump… although, ironically, they might still not understand.

In the meantime, arm yourself with determination and cold-bloodedness… because, apparently, it's easier for Google Maps to find us in a secluded alley of Mont Saint-Michel with a dead phone than it is for us to find an operator who understands us if they answer from abroad!

Are you a Company or an SME? Improve Your Customers' Experience with Voice & Web Customer Service

Speaking with an operator who, despite speaking our language, answers from another country, makes us perceive differences that are not only linguistic but also cultural.

For this reason, B2B and B2C touchpoints must be personalized for each country and geographically close to the users.

Relying on Voice & Web means offering a multilingual Inbound Contact Center service that responds directly in the country of residence of your customers or in a neighboring one.

This brings several advantages, such as being able to speak with a native-speaker operator, improving the customer experience, and offering a better Customer Service.

Article by Simona Di Iorio Sales Assistant for Voice & Web.

Voice & Web's range of activities spans from Customer Care services, to Customer Satisfaction, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), to the facilitation and guidance of the Customer in eCommerce activities and processes, to improve their user experience.