{"id":2308,"date":"2020-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/?post_type=blog&p=2308"},"modified":"2020-04-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T00:00:00","slug":"how-covid-19-exposes-a-vital-need-for-localized-customer-staff-portals","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/blog\/how-covid-19-exposes-a-vital-need-for-localized-customer-staff-portals\/","title":{"rendered":"How COVID-19 Exposes a Vital Need for Localized Customer & Staff Portals"},"template":"","blog_categories":[16,107,15],"resource_categories":[27,28,37,34,30,24,35,26,23,22,17,29,18],"targeted_localized_audience":[],"document_categories":[],"class_list":["post-2308","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","blog_categories-covid-19","blog_categories-translation-technology","blog_categories-website-translation","resource_categories-industry-b2b-manufacturing","resource_categories-industry-b2c-manufacturing","resource_categories-content-type-blog-post","resource_categories-business-goal-brand-experience","resource_categories-business-goal","resource_categories-role-business-strategist","resource_categories-content-type","resource_categories-industry","resource_categories-role-marketer","resource_categories-role","resource_categories-topic","resource_categories-industry-travel","resource_categories-topic-website-translation"],"acf":{"blog_short_description":"In the time of a global pandemic, offering clear communication and assistance to multilingual constituents is more important than ever. ","news_inline_styles":"","blog_video_id":"","article_body":"

No other event in modern history has impacted the economic performance of organizations worldwide more than the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Even after months into the crisis, the active workforces in many nations are working from home, and customers around the globe remain housebound, scouring the internet for answers, products and solutions.<\/p>\n

With so many of your company\u2019s employees and customers leveraging the power of digital channels, it\u2019s critical to offer them secure login experiences where they can clearly communicate with you, coordinate with each other, access important account information and more. <\/p>\n

If your business operates in multilingual and international markets, it should translate those portals,<\/b> now more than ever.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s explore why.<\/p>\n

The Value of Localizing Customer Portals<\/h2>\n

Your multilingual customers are the most vital component of your business, and they deserve localized content<\/a><\/b> during the pandemic<\/b> (and beyond). Customers always prefer to work with organizations that value them\u2014especially in times of duress\u2014and offering a localized customer portal is an invaluable way to help ensure they work with you.<\/p>\n

There are additional short- and long-term benefits to translating your existing customer portal.<\/p>\n

Reduces International Customer Service Costs<\/h3>\n

When multilingual customers can\u2019t find online support in their preferred languages, they turn to Customer Service departments for help. This often increases the number of inbound support requests, which overburdens existing multilingual support resources (who handle phone and email requests).<\/p>\n

In crises, when support requests often skyrocket, this workload goes from inconvenient to downright brutal.<\/p>\n

Localizing support and account management content within your customer portal eliminates most of these operational complexities<\/b> and resource demands. It usually also improves customer satisfaction, as most customers prefer self-serve online support to phone or time-shifted email support.<\/p>\n

Provides Useful, Customized Engagement<\/h2>\n

Customer portals use innovative technologies to deliver customized experiences to users\u2014such as recommending products or solutions, or providing account or service information that is unique to each customer. <\/p>\n

These bespoke digital experiences can be further tuned by displaying locally preferred words and phrases, references to local customs and buying habits, and\u2014especially important during the pandemic\u2014regionally relevant information about business operations, product availability and more.<\/p>\n

These market-specific experiences build brand credibility and trust<\/b>, which might otherwise be in short supply during a crisis.<\/p>\n

The Value of Localizing Employee Portals<\/h2>\n

Coordinating global resources is demanding for companies in the best of times, but the COVID-19 pandemic has created countless operational issues<\/b> that are further complicated by having a workforce that is, overwhelmingly, working from home.<\/p>\n

Remote work has been a lifeline for many businesses, but its model brings undeniable challenges. Processes that were once clear and efficient can be delayed or outright derailed. Important changes in resource management can be miscommunicated\u2014or not communicated at all.<\/p>\n

These problems are even greater and more numerous for multilingual employees working in different markets. They, like the workforce in your primary market, need a secure, centralized employee resource that\u2019s available in their preferred languages.<\/p>\n

Here are some other benefits to localizing your employee portal:<\/p>\n

Unified Communication Across Disparate Locations<\/h3>\n

Translating the content of your organization\u2019s intranet or employee portal ensures clear communication<\/b> across all countries, subsidiaries and departments. This empowers your multilingual teams to effectively sidestep the continual confusion that vexes businesses during times of crisis\u2014to say nothing of the additional communication gaps that come with telecommuting.<\/p>\n

This translated \u201csingle source of truth\u201d does more than streamline collaboration among staffers and markets. It provides a vital hub for delivering companywide announcements about how your organization is handling the pandemic, or how eventual return-to-work policies may be implemented.<\/p>\n

It also streamlines employee and contractor management, and resource allocation.<\/p>\n

Centralized HR and Training Resources<\/h3>\n

These portals can also provide multilingual employees with instant access to key resources<\/b>\u2014including ways to easily (and if needed, urgently) review and manage private data such as employee benefits, insurance-related information, PTO requests and more\u2014in their languages of choice. <\/p>\n

Secure employee portals can also offer training materials and other documented processes for remote work. Translating this material ensures staffers get the support they need to efficiently help customers during a time of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

How To Translate Your Secure Portals<\/h2>\n

The upsides of translating secure login<\/a> areas are high, but\u2014unfortunately\u2014so are the number of technical challenges you\u2019ll overcome to successfully localize them. Generally, this is because:<\/p>\n