When surveyed, most U.S. citizens that exclusively speak English and have no other family members that speak Spanish or another language, are strongly opposed to the fact that they need to “press 1 for English” in a call center script. However, our findings show that although most are opposed to the fact that they need to actively select language, it does not hurt sales.
When surveyed, as many as 40% said they will only press 1 for English when they have to (when they have to make a choice), but only a very small percentage will actually end the call, or choose not to do business with the vendor if they are forced to choose English. In other words, what ever ire is created is very short lived and does not affect the overall opinion of the product or service.
Therefore, retailers and service companies that sell in areas with a Hispanic population of even 5% or higher are better served if their call center, and the menu selections of their answering service, offer Spanish in addition to English.
However, there are two ways to set up call center menu scripts when potential customers call, and for those that are offended by the fact that they need to actively select English, one option produces far better results than the other.
We advise that the caller should be forced to actively select Spanish by pushing a number on their keypad, however, it should be clear to the caller that if they do nothing, English will be the default language. Scripting your call center in this fashion produced almost a 3 to 1 more favorable result in focus groups immediately after they had been asked to navigate a call center automated menu.
On the flip side, Mexican Americans in Los Angeles and other Spanish speaking areas (Puerto Rico in New York or Cuban Americans in Miami) are not offended if they have to actively select Spanish in order for the menu to continue in Spanish. Latinos generally expect English to be the primary language of business, even if they almost exclusively speak Spanish inside their own communities. (This applies to other languages as well, such as Chinese. There are many blocks inside Chinatown in New York City and San Francisco where almost no English is spoken inside the community.)
Unlike in other countries, there is no legal obligation for a merchant to act one way or another, and they are free to conduct business entirely in Spanish or Cantonese for that matter! In 2006 the U.S. Senate voted 62 to 36 in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, but the language contained in the bill is not very strong, and vaguely talks about English being “the common and unifying language of the United States” and not the official language of the U.S.
Even in Canada for example, the Province of Quebec has enacted legislation to protect the French language over English. For example, in signage, French mush be listed first, and the font size on certain signs must by law be larger than the English.
However, it’s estimated that 20% of the U.S. population over age 5 speaks a language other than English. That’s roughly 50 million potential buyers with billions of purchasing power. The facts are clear. Until it is demonstrated that “pro English buyers” will walk away from a product or service if they do not clearly favor English, get used to “para espanol, oprima numero dos.”
Nicolas DAlleva
http://www.articlesbase.com/international-business-articles/push-1-for-english-701920.html
Why did the Yamasees attack English settlements in South Carolina in 1715?
1.They were angry over the recent alliance between the Creeks and the English.
2.They heard rumors that the English settlers were planning to exterminate all Native Americans in the area.
3.Colonial traders had not only abused the Yamasees but had also threatened their lands.
4. They had recently allied with the Spanish to push English settlers out of the Carolinas.
Colonial traders had not only abused the Yamasees but had also threatened their lands.
Just want to say,
The Yamasee tribe was native to northern Florida. Spanish settlement and exploration had forced the tribe to move north and they settled along the coast in and around the Savannah River. One of their settlements was at Port Royal.
When the settlers came to the Carolinas, they found numerous tribes in the areas and that slaves from these tribes were plentiful. When the Yamasee tribe was pushed north, they traded deerskins and slaves for firearms and other European goods. As the colonists began settling lands, the deer population shrunk. With the demand for deerskins growing and the supply diminishing, the Yamasee went into debt for European goods and firearms.
Some of the tribes began selling their own to pay for their debts.
During the Tuscarora War, the Yamasee tribe had actually sided with the Carolinians. However, fearing an Ochsee Creek uprising, Governor Charles Craven sent a small delegation to Pocotaligo to meet with the Yamasee tribe to arrange a meeting. The delegation consisted of Samuel Warner, William Bray, Thomas Nairne, John Wright, Seymour Burroughs and one unknown individual. Samuel Warner and William Bray were sent by the Board of Commissioners. Thomas Nairne and John Wright were important people in the Indian trading system. They arrived and met with the Yamasee on 14 Apr 1715, the day before Good Friday. The delegation promised to address the Yamasee’s concerns. Confident that the meeting had gone well, the delegation spent the night at the Pocotaligo Trading Post run by Bray. After the delegation left the meeting, the Yamasee spent the evening debating amongst themselves and decided on a course of action. The attacked the Post, killing Warner, Bray, Nairne and Wright. Burroughs, although shot twice, escaped toward Port Royal to raise an alarm before he succombed to his wounds.
The sixth individual hid in the swamps and witnessed the death-by-torture of Nairne before escaping. This incident started the Yamasee War, one of the bloodiest wars per capita
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