Betclic customer contact-expo-presentation

Multilingual, Multicultural. D.Appleby 01/10/2014

Introducing myself

• 16 Years in Contact Centre Operational Management.

• Disneyland Paris, Standard Life, PruHealth, Betclic.

• Operational Management, Team Management, WFP, Technical

Project Management, Business Intelligence.

• PPF Accredited planner.

• Previous position, UK WFM and Business Telephony

Manager for PruHealth.

Contact Centre Expo 2014: David Appleby

Betclic Everest Group

• Four Brands under one roof (Betclic, Expect, Everest Poker, Monte Carlo

Casino)

• Circa 1,500,000 contacts per year

• Multiple Contact Channels (WebChat, E-Mail, Telephone, Social Media)

• Customer Services based in Malta, Other primary

offices in London and Paris

• 13 Primary Languages, 15 Secondary


A multi-national working environment cannot only

be seen as a challenge but also as an opportunity to gain personal qualities.

“I feel it makes me better. I’m learning something

new. And I’m learning myself to be more open

and understanding.”

Employee ECB, Frankfurt

European Central Bank

Elephants

English: Hunting Elephants in British East Africa French: The love life of Elephants

German: The development of the Indian Elephant 1200-1950 (600 pages) American: How to breed bigger Elephants

Russian: How we sent an Elephant to the moon

Swede: Elephants and the welfare state

Spaniard: Elephant fighting techniques

Finn: What Elephants think of Finland

Norwegian: Norway and its Fjords

Stereotypes

National Stereotyping

COUNTRY

Negative

Stereotype

Positive Stereotype

COUNTRY

STEREOTYPES

France UK Germany Italy

Sarcastic

Talk weather

Rains every day

Bad teeth

Warm Beer

Poor food

Manners

Queuing

Innovative

Calm

Self Depreciative

Punctual

Efficient

Hardworking

Honest

Beer & Sausages

Abrupt

Honest to the

point

of Rudeness

Garlic

Lazy

Rude

Will only speak

own Language

Stylish

Gourmet

Romantic

Think big

No personal space

Break / Bend rules

Bad Drivers

Fashionable

Romantic


National Stereotyping

COUNTRY

Negative

Stereotype

Positive Stereotype

COUNTRY

STEREOTYPES

France UK Germany Italy

Sarcastic

Talk weather

Rains every day

Bad teeth

Warm Beer

Poor food

Manners

Queuing

Innovative

Calm

Self Depreciative

Punctual

Efficient

Hardworking

Honest

Beer & Sausages

Abrupt

Honest to the

point

of Rudeness

Garlic

Lazy

Rude

Will only speak

own Language

Stylish

Gourmet

Romantic

Think big

No personal space

Break / Bend

rules

Bad Drivers

Fashionable

Romantic

Contact Centre Expo 2014:

David Appleby

“Be the stereotype - I don't go around trying to pick up

all the women at work, but an Italian ‘cold’ and not

showing emotions would be more strange than, for

example, a Swede behaving the same way, thus

would create a more negative reaction. This goes in

the line of making the other more comfortable, and in

this case even a wall of suspicion is negative.” Employee EMCDDA, Lisbon

European monitoring centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

STEREOTYPES(i)

• Mainly about how people ‘do’ or say things

• Where do we differ (meetings, personal space) ?

• How can we use this

-Cultural differences can be played with using stereotypes as

a “Common Currency”, i.e. making the other feel more

comfortable and, playfully, establish a common ground that

trust can be built on

• Where are the limits?

• Stereotypes in Action - meetings

- Parody and Caricatures


Tolerance:

Strategy: Accept stereotypes and actively

use them for ascribing qualities to a co-

worker rather than deficiencies.

SOURCE: European Identities and their Limits

STEREOTYPES (ii)

• What is Cultural Currency?

-Personal Experience of shared cultural events

• So how can we use all this?

-“Sometimes it’s difficult to see whether it’s nationality

or personality.” Train the awareness that it is temptingly

easy to use nationality as an excuse for any

miscommunication.

Employee EMA, Lisbon

European Maritime Agency

-Examples include: Applying for an ID card, opening a

bank account, obtaining a passport or simply shop

opening hours.


STEREOTYPES (iii)

EMPATHY

UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE

AFFINITY


STEREOTYPES (iv)

Contact Centre Expo 2014: David Appleby https://www.youtube.com/user/copycatchannel

Language

WRONG

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)

RIGHT


Language (i)

• Oral and written

• What you understand may not be what I

mean

• Customer service and language differences

• The hardest word?

• HAPPY


Develop a joint “code” where complex language structures and idiomatic expressions are intentionally simplified in

spoken language:

“You know, you just accept that people are thinking in their original language and structuring things in different ways. I have found occasionally

that I have to simplify the way I speak in English to a level that is meaningful to someone else. I can try to describe something, I have to pull it apart into separate components and then build from there. So I have to work backwards to get my points across to them, but I think it’s just fair –

you can’t dismiss the fact that an idiomatic British English won’t work.”

Employee EMCDDA, Lisbon

European monitoring centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

“If for example something sounds rude I would rather question whether he or she didn’t mean it that way and just used a wrong

word because it wasn’t their native language – so I am more tolerant towards the use of language and more willing to go through a

lengthy process of proper understanding.”

Employee EMA, Lisbon.

More tolerance is required towards linguistic mishaps in written communication – an area which is usually more sensitive than

spoken communication

European Maritime Agency

Language (ii)

• Back Translations

• What to Translate?

• Chat Templates

• Training Materials

• Corporate Communications / Customer Surveys

• Assessment Documents

• Quality Management Documents

• Coaching Materials

• Web FAQ’s

• Mental Back Translation.


Language (iii)

• Has the Person Understood?

• Ask critical words / spot check.

• “So how do you say that in your language? […]

• Do not assume your language expresses everything

you want to say, Actually a foreign language may

have more expressive terms than your own…

• Zeitgeist • Porcaria / Merde • Esprit De Corps

• Status Quo • Lingua franca • Faux -pas

• Sotto voce • In Situ • Schadenfreude


Serious Playtime

• Play stimulates communication.

• Conflict triggers and resolutions.

• Encourages self-development.

• Non-Verbal communication.


Putting it all together

• The ability to work in a multi-cultural environment

is a professional quality.

• Culture – and language as part of it – is a very powerful

tool for understanding others.

• National stereotypes are not all bad: they can be

used for enhancing multi-cultural communication.

• Identify the strength of shared “cultural currencies”.

• Multilingual communication requires specific

sensitivity – use all available tools!


“Building a community of human beings who are able to grasp the spirit, the aroma, the atmosphere of another language and not in a

triumph of total multilinguility. A Europe of polyglots is not a Europe of people who are perfect in several languages, but of people who are able to communicate by speaking one's own language and understanding the language of

others, even though one might not speak it fluently.”

Umberto Eco (1995) The Search

for the Perfect Language

Book Recommendation


ISBN-13: 978-1904838029

Richard D Lewis

http://www.crossculture.com/

Q&A

Ultimately, multi-national communication is not only a skill but can also become a specific pleasure which

substantially increases the attractiveness of a workplace!

Leadership & Management

Betclic customer contact-expo-presentation