Businesses are expanding globally as never before, yet one of the most challenging parts of this growth is scaling customer experience (CX) without losing those personal connections that create loyalty. Customer experience is increasingly a top business driver, and organizations with great CX outperform their competitors by close to 80%. High demand for both quality and volume is a serious source of tension.
Customer expectations have never been higher. Global events have caused service standards to rise for 61% of customers. These same customers have low tolerance for failure and are ready to leave a brand at the first negative encounter. Product managers charged with global support operations have a fundamental question: how can organizations provide hyper-customized service at scale across all market types?
The automation paradox is at the center of this question. At its best, technology can increase efficiency. But heavy dependence on tech can also leave support experiences feeling sterile and frustrating for customers, especially in those scenarios where human empathy and personalized problem solving are required. The goal then becomes finding the sweet spot between automation and human agents.
Localization services that specialize in this work have the solution. Product managers with a vision for global customer support see localization as more than just the mechanics of translation. It becomes a trusted infrastructure to deliver nuanced, culturally relevant support experiences at scale. Accurate localization deepens understanding of regional market dynamics and the different technologies that power them, as well as the ever-important regulatory environments.
New data helps to explain this persistence of human connection, even as the call for automation becomes louder. Close to 79% of consumers believe that humans will always be involved in customer service, a sentiment that is shared among all age groups, including 70% of tech-native Gen Z. In fact, 37% of those over the age of 55 even believe AI has improved customer service over the past few years, a nod to humans’ willingness to embrace best-of-breed hybrid approaches.
Top-performing global CX strategies use these two pieces as strategic leverage points:
- Automation for speed, efficiency, and low-touch solutions while human agents cover the complex work without friction or error.
- Quality assurance teams monitor automation results and maintain accuracy and tone.
- Agents have the agency to humanize interactions when automation cannot or falls short.
Product managers expanding into new markets see the great value in localization services that specialize in this work. Specialized localization brings to bear the cultural insights needed to provide truly authentic experiences that feel local and familiar to customers. Cultural intelligence becomes essential for executing on any global CX strategy, as each market has its idiosyncrasies that inform what customers expect from support.
In the end, the most important part of striking the perfect balance is to remember the use of technology to establish and maintain positive emotional connections with customers across the globe, while holding to the human element that makes those relationships stick.
Why Language and Culture Matter More Than Ever in Support
The data speaks for itself: 57% of customers get lost in translation when brands fail to provide service in their native language. Poor support drives away $75 billion in annual revenue. Product managers see the numbers. Localization isn’t just a niche. It’s a business imperative for any global support initiative.
A business of relationships. 44% of all customers have abandoned businesses due to unacceptable support. Native language support is a factor in 74% of customers choosing to repurchase. Translation isn’t just connecting words. It’s building bonds that convert to sales and customer retention.
Localization is a matter of cultural sensitivity and understanding, as well. A misspoken word, an accidental cultural offense. These are the types of errors that shatter customer trust. German speakers appreciate a formal tone with product information. Americans respond more positively to simple, informal verbiage. Support teams need insight into these distinctions to prevent alienating customers.
Comprehensive localization services provide product managers with the resources required to address these considerations. Product managers demand more than basic translations; they need content adapted to align with local preferences and priorities. This attention to detail in cultural alignment can increase customer satisfaction and build long-term brand loyalty.
Partnering with industry localization professionals yields significant value:
- Optimized Usability – different regions read content and navigate differently, in addition to l
- Emotional Connections – customers who feel understood become brand e
- Market Advantage – user-centric localization demonstrates a brand’s commitment to local m
Customer trust comes from meeting the expectations that language and culture create. Support teams that appreciate the different values, communication patterns, and customer service expectations develop solutions that resonate with customers around the world.
Product managers who eye global market expansion need to embrace world-class localization. Product managers recognize that the operational need for localization impacts the bottom line. The global connected economy offers new challenges and opportunities for organizations that understand cross-cultural communication.
Smart Localization: The Key to Support That Feels Personal Everywhere
Smart localization connects the global and the personal. Translation alone is no substitute for granular localization that reworks every element of the customer support experience. 76% of buyers favor products that have information available in their language.
Product managers seeking global expansion must know the extent of localization. Localization not only has a critical impact on how customers perceive products, but also affects revenue. B2B buyers of tech products would spend as much as 30% more for the right localized product. Smart localization helps PMs to see it as a strategic ROI opportunity, not just an operating cost.
Here is a practical framework to get smart about localization:
- Cultural fit: Customer support content must be adapted to the local culture, including adjusting to local norms, values, and communication styles.
- Technology: Localization tech should be cloud-based with multi-file format support, and APIs to integrate with your current CMS or preferred platform.
- Prioritization: Top customer support content that has the most traffic should receive complete human localization, while machine translation, followed by human review, should be sufficient for lower-priority content.
- Terminology: Key phrases in customer support and sales materials need to be carefully controlled through a termbase or glossary to avoid high-cost mistranslations.
Smart localization means local control. Customers want to personalize their experience by setting their preferences, including language, currency, and region. At the same time, customers want the most essential content to be automatically translated into their target language or region; otherwise, there is a high risk of losing their trust.
Localization also expands way beyond localized product copy. Everything in the customer journey must be considered, including the payment, telecom, and other functional requirements that vary by market. A product localization service partner will help with these nuances in the technology ecosystem that you must adapt to.
PMs must see the customer as the center of all design decisions. Localization done well is in complete alignment with product managers’ natural affinity to scale support globally.
Quality localization services lead to faster time to market and higher customer retention. New customers cost up to 7 times more than retaining existing ones. Data reveals that by implementing a robust localization strategy, companies can boost sales by 40-50%. Localization of the support customer experience could be the key to rewriting your business results.
Case in Point: How Top Brands Deliver Localized CX at Scale
Case Study 1: Frame.io
Frame.io provides media file collaboration for over 180 countries around the world. Cultural sensitivity is key in their customer support interactions. “I’ve always advised customer success teams to avoid pointing fingers when resolving issues. When writing to a customer in another country, we need to keep cultural differences in mind and use the active voice. We should never write, “the problem you’re having,” as if that were the person’s problem. It just doesn’t work,” says Frame.io’s Director of Customer Experience.
Case Study 2: Intercom
Intercom is a customer success-focused customer communication platform. Their success in scaling knowledge sharing to a global team is mainly due to durable documentation. Intercom uses a tool called Guru to document processes across the globe, and they supplement these in-depth resources with dedicated Slack channels for daily handover notes. They’ve built processes in such detail that they “have standard decks with key updates for CS managers, welcome and onboarding emails, Workramp trainings, and walkthrough videos.”
It’s important to note that brands understand that 100% support in every language isn’t always possible, but it can still be effectively localized. Emerging translation tools like Unbabel and Lokalise provide teams with almost real-time translation capabilities for customer interactions in any language. This is important considering that 35% of users say they would actually switch products if they could get support in their native language.
Case Study 3: Airbnb
Airbnb has used geo-targeted social media campaigns to strike the right tone between localized and global messaging. This is shown in their campaign “Made Possible by Hosts,” which resonated with a broad audience in different markets by promoting hosts worldwide and focusing on universally relatable themes of wanderlust and adventure. Spotify has been able to effectively hyper-localize for each new market by customizing the app for each market.
Product managers who want to take the lessons from global localization leaders to heart should focus on the following ideas for implementing localization services.
Tips for Product Managers:
- Honor shared values, but not at the expense of local customization.
- Detailed process documentation is key for consistent knowledge sharing.
- Maximize technology to translate and support, but don’t let it replace cultural nuance.
- Be transparent in areas where localized support is unavailable.
The benefits of these practices are backed up by the fact that localized websites see a 70% increase in international revenue. So not only can localization services help your brand speak to a local market, but they can also effectively become an investment in company growth.
Conclusion: To Scale CX Globally, Start by Thinking Locally
Product managers who localize the customer experience “smartly” can deliver higher value in global markets. Companies that invest in high-quality localization services outperform their peers in their market. Localization services help create deeper customer connections and enhance loyalty. Smart localization is more than translation. It is a comprehensive approach that customizes every customer touchpoint to local cultures.
The business case for partnering with a specialized localization agency becomes more compelling as markets diversify. Businesses that leverage cultural intelligence through quality localization services achieve 40-50% higher sales. They also decrease customer losses. This, in turn, helps product managers address their most significant challenge – scaling up support operations without sacrificing the personal touch that forges strong relationships.
The right localization company provides product managers with insightful cultural counsel to help them avoid expensive errors. Medium-sized businesses value this counsel particularly when entering new markets. In these circumstances, cultural nuances can significantly impact customer satisfaction.
Astute product managers are strategic in their approach to localization. They prioritize high-value content for professional translation and maintain consistent terminology across customer touchpoints. Their blend of automation and human expertise yields support experiences that are both authentic and effective, regardless of location.
Expectations are rising among customers worldwide. Product managers who commit to comprehensive localization services are setting their businesses up for greenfield growth. Success requires the innovative and seamless integration of technology and human connection, informed by cultural insights. This balanced strategy enables medium-sized enterprises to compete in the global marketplace and to build meaningful relationships that turn customers into advocates.
