to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "How Translation Services Help You with Customer Service

There's a German saying that I love to quote: If I'm selling, I'll speak English, but if I'm buying, Sie mussen deutsch sprecken (you have to speak German). I like that sentence because it points out the one thing that American companies seem to get right domestically, but not internationally: customer service comes first.

Here in the land of "the customer is always right," we tend to think that the customer always speaks English. And, a lot of the time, we're right. In Denmark, for example, English is taught from elementary school up. English is the most popular foreign language taught to grade schoolers in the EU and has quickly become a powerful language of commerce throughout all of Asia. But just because someone speaks a language doesn't mean that they speak it well or that you should expect them to. Your customers may speak English, but when it comes to strengthening your sales, is English the language of customer service?

Papa Johns International, CNN, Wells Fargo, the American Lung Association, Lowe's, even the IRS--across multiple industries, through online and print advertising, American business are starting to tap into the 52 million people in this country who speak a language other than English at home. These people just aren't immigrants; they're a target market. That's why companies like Bank of America, DISH Network, and AT&T are offering their websites in Spanish--because they want to reach out to this market. Because if they don't reach out to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "n

Here in the land of "the customer is always right," we tend to think that the customer always speaks English. And, a lot of the time, we're right. In Denmark, for example, English is taught from elementary school up. English is the most popular foreign language taught to grade schoolers in the EU and has quickly become a powerful language of commerce throughout all of Asia. But just because someone speaks a language doesn't mean that they speak it well or that you should expect them to. Your customers may speak English, but when it comes to strengthening your sales, is English the language of customer service?

Papa Johns International, CNN, Wells Fargo, the American Lung Association, Lowe's, even the IRS--across multiple industries, through online and print advertising, American business are starting to tap into the 52 million people in this country who speak a language other than English at home. These people just aren't immigrants; they're a target market. That's why companies like Bank of America, DISH Network, and AT&T are offering their websites in Spanish--because they want to reach out to this market. Because if they don't reach out to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "

because someone speaks a language doesn't mean that they speak it well or that you should expect them to. Your customers may speak English, but when it comes to strengthening your sales, is English the language of customer service?

Papa Johns International, CNN, Wells Fargo, the American Lung Association, Lowe's, even the IRS--across multiple industries, through online and print advertising, American business are starting to tap into the 52 million people in this country who speak a language other than English at home. These people just aren't immigrants; they're a target market. That's why companies like Bank of America, DISH Network, and AT&T are offering their websites in Spanish--because they want to reach out to this market. Because if they don't reach out to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "

dvertising, American business are starting to tap into the 52 million people in this country who speak a language other than English at home. These people just aren't immigrants; they're a target market. That's why companies like Bank of America, DISH Network, and AT&T are offering their websites in Spanish--because they want to reach out to this market. Because if they don't reach out to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "not well" or "not at all." This is in a country where English is the spoken vernacular, the language of education and commerce, the main language used for publishing and broadcasting news, as well as the language used in the medical field. This is the United States of America, where there is a higher concentration of English speakers than anywhere else in the world. Yet even here, you can not assume that your customer speaks English.

This is only if you do business domestically. If you want to do business on an international scale, you must also think and act internationally. You may not speak French, but if you are selling to the French, you need to at least learn how to say "Bonjour." Like the German saying I quoted earlier, a German business man looking to buy will buy from the salesman who uses German.

American companies are known worldwide for their superb capabilities for customer service. And while many might argue that it is harder to get waited on in a store than it used to be, that is still the mantra of sales in America today. The customer comes first. The customer is always right. The customer is our top priority. This is why I find it shocking that many companies doing business in non-English speaking countries fail to see the practicality of foreign language use. It's simply good customer service--communicating with them, marketing to them, and making deals with them in a language they can understand.

So, in a nation where many of our top execs and new hires do not speak a foreign language, where d