LANGUAGE & TRUST
Speaking English is not the same as preferring English
A customer can understand your English perfectly and still want to explain a problem in Icelandic. Language ability and language preference are different questions.
When the conversation matters
A study published in 2013 examined service-language preferences in Belgium, Canada and Finland. Across those settings, bilingual consumers placed particular importance on their native language in services involving greater personal involvement.
The same customer, a different conversation
Consider a hypothetical order. A customer is comfortable choosing a product on an English website and reading the confirmation. When the wrong item arrives, they may prefer Icelandic to explain what they received and what needs to happen next. That possibility is a reason to offer a choice, not to assume every customer will want one.
Choose where to start
Our suggested planning exercise is to group enquiries by the work involved: finding information, changing something or resolving a problem. For each group, ask how much explanation is needed, what a misunderstanding could cost the customer and which language customers request. Use those answers to decide where Icelandic coverage would be most useful.
A small operation can begin with a defined set of enquiries rather than promise every channel at every hour. Make the Icelandic option easy to find, state its hours and explain what happens outside them. If a specialist must take over in another language, tell the customer before transferring them.
A PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY
Plan language coverage around customer preference and the work customers need help with.
Context and limits
These studies concern reported preferences in three countries. They do not establish an Icelandic sales uplift or show that every bilingual customer prefers the same language.