The security industry originated in the United States. After more than half a century of development and evolution, it has gradually developed into a mature industry with a massive global market. From 2016 to 2018, the global security market is growing at an annual rate of nearly 10%. In 2018, the global security market was worth US$275.8 billion. Among them, China’s security market has developed rapidly in the past ten years, and reached approximately US$1.1 trillion in 2018, brought the Chinese market to the top. Currently, the domestic security market is a highly mature market, the leading companies such as Hikvision, Dahua, and Yushi have emerged. The competition in the local security market has become increasingly intense, and the market dividend has gradually disappeared. There are considerable opportunities in the overseas security market, especially the national market along the “The Belt and Road Initiative,” which is an opportunity for China’s security brands to make great achievements.
Security manufacturers and brand companies can start from various application segments，such as residential, buildings, rail, airport, railway, electric power, schools, shopping malls, city monitoring, convention centers, public transportation, sports venues, entertainment venues, banks and other industries, to find the application points of innovation in various markets to allows the R&D products have more features and advantages. The deepening application of security + AI artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data and Internet of Things not only brought upgrades to the wisdom of the security industry, but also opened up a new space for survival and development for the security industry, and also found new growth points for Chinese security brand companies in overseas markets. Many domestic security industry brand owners believe that the overseas security market has explored potential, and there is much more space to be explored than the domestic market.
Quality and service are the most concerned aspects of users. Variety is the foundation on which companies depend for survival, and service is also the key to business development. For security companies interested in entering overseas markets, improve product quality, and enhance after-sales service are essential.
Callnovo’s global one-stop call center is committed to providing Chinese outbound companies with pre-sales and after-sales or technical support solutions for customer outsourcing in more than 30 languages, such as English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Indonesian, and Vietnamese. In more than ten years of operation, Callnovo has accumulated rich experiences in several industry outbound customer service outsourcing programs, from the team building of localized native-level customer service representatives, to the development and integration of CRM customer relationship management systems, and the cloud communication platforms and AI artificial intelligence development. Among them, the security industry outbound customer service outsourcing service is one of the industries that are worth sharing in Callnovo’s customer service outsourcing experiences. The Chinese security companies intend to enter overseas markets should consider the characteristics of national markets, and after-sales customer service is one of the vital, and it is necessary to customize a comprehensive customer service and technical support solution that fits the characteristics of each market in a different country. Outsourcing to a professional overseas customer service contact center is a fast and effective way. This article briefly describes the experience of localization of outbound customer service for Chinese security products based on the markets of North America, South America, and Europe.
1.North American Market – Large Demand, Fierce Competition, Value-Added Services, Foundry Brand
North America is the world’s largest security market, with the United States accounts for approximately 90%, Canada for 8%, and Mexico for 2%. The security market in North America mainly presents the following characteristics: significant demand, intense price competition, numerous manufacturers, and mature markets, which are the places where security companies compete.
North American Market Customer Support Language: English, Spanish, French. The primary language in the US market is English, accounting for 82.1%, and Spanish accounting for 10.7%. The primary language in Canada is English, accounting for 56%, and French accounting for 20.6%.
North American Market Customer Support Channels: Brand official Tollfree 800 numbers, brand official email mailbox, and website online communication Live Chat. It is essential to mention that the popularity of the Tollfree 800 number in North America is very high. Unlike Chinese consumers who are enjoying the great convenience of the mobile Internet, fewer and fewer people communicate via the telephone. Americans or Canadians are still used to dialing the 800 number to talk to customer service personnel directly, especially Americans and Canadians who are over the age of 50, they are still staying in the era of using traditional customer service channels to solve problems. Therefore, the North American 800 number is more popular than the Chinese 400 number. Besides, the United States and Canada both have 800 numbers and can be used in both countries. Chinese outbound companies should have 800 number in the North American market as the communication tariffs are quite cheap, and this number can be printed on the product manual and the product. Callnovo has a client service staff whose native language is English, Spanish, and French, and they can use their native language to conduct telephone/online communication/Email customer outsourcing for Chinese outbound security companies. They are not only familiar with the language, but also can seamlessly communicate with the cultural subtleties in verbal and written communication with North American consumers, so there is no consideration about recruiting foreign language talents in China for the night shift.
The North American market has a customer service channel that is very much in need of attention but is easily overlooked by Chinese security outbound companies: SMS. In China, there are fewer and fewer people using text messages because consumers are on WeChat, but in North America, SMS is an essential and fast communication channel. Callnovo can accept customer product repairs and notify each processing result by SMS. Typical scenes, such as a consumer text message with a security product failure photo, customer service send a troubleshooting guide picture and text through the SMS or send the replacement shipping number notification for the customer via SMS, and the processing of a work order status, thus achieving brand efficient customer service. Since SMS can make consumers feel the experience of personalized intimacy and do not need to take up the valuable time of the customer, so the brand customer service team can use SMS to win customers’ five-star rating for this purchase on Amazon or eBay platform.
North American market customer service is a channel that cannot be ignored: Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. If the Chinese security brand has long-term plans in the North American market, it is necessary to set up social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as early as possible and remain active, which is the same as setting up and operating the WeChat official account and Weibo when building a brand in China. In addition to promoting through Facebook and Twitter, the brand also needs to respond to some customer service requirements and conduct event public relations, which is also the work that professional outsourcing customer centers can do for Chinese security brands.
From 2018, Callnovo has helped Zosi, the leading Chinese security brand, to launch an overseas customer service outsourcing solution, providing Zosi with a complete US customer service outsourcing solution. Successfully and quickly achieved the one-stop outsourcing of the professional 24-hour English customer service team in the US market for Zosi security company and has entered the omnichannel stable professional operation. In the aspects of customer service professionalism, labor cost saving, and customer service quality, Callnovo has brought the value-added proposition to the US market for Zosi.
2.European Market – Stable Demand, Focus on Product Quality, Numerous Consumer Languages
The Western European security market, represented by Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, accounts for 36% of the global security market. The European security market has the following characteristics: stable demand and focuses on product quality; diversified competition, the difference between high and low products is evident; and different distribution channels.
European market customer service essential languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian. The customer service channels in the European market have many similarities with the North America market above-mentioned, but the language of each country must use the official language of the country to satisfy customer service. Outsourcing to professional English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Russian customer service center companies can quickly address the needs for the communication technology platform, and localization of the language and culture of customer service and technical support personnel. Please note that British English and American English are not very different in terms of text syntax, but the difference in speaking is noticeable, so if you provide telephone service, you must choose a team of representatives with the British accent to carry out outsourcing services. European customers also like to use text messages, compared with American customers, most customers in European countries are more gentlemanly, so they are more critical in customer service quality and pay attention to experience, unlike most American customers who believe that solving problems with the shortest amount of waiting time is most important.
3.South American Market – The Consumer Market is Emerging and with Many Logistics Issues.
Unlike the United Kingdom and the United States that value product quality and most security users from South American cares about the price comparison. In terms of product distribution channels, most security companies are mainly engaged in import, wholesale and engineering installation due to the small number of local manufacturers，and most of them are targeted at Asian, European and American markets. However, the consumer market is gradually taking shape，and more consumers to purchase security products through e-commerce or retail channels, so brands need to establish customer service communication channels as early as possible with consumers.
Customer Service Essential Language in South American Market: The official language of most South American countries is Spanish, but the official language of Brazil is Portuguese, and Haiti is French. The customer service channels in the South American market have many similarities with North America, but in terms of specific service culture, each country is very different from the United States. Outsourcing to professional Spanish and Portuguese customer service center companies can quickly address the needs for the communication technology platform, and localization of the language and culture of customer service and technical support personnel. South American customers have relatively low consumption power; they more focused on the low price with less demand for customer service and technical support. However, it is precious to have a capable customer service team to provide package tracking services and to reassure customer due to the difficulties of logistics in South America. These seemingly inconspicuous package tracking services or product remote support can impress South American consumers with every service and gradually build a brand image for them. South America has relatively high population density, and it is absolutely, should never underestimate the spread effect of the sensational South American people on the brand of Chinese security outbound companies by word of mouth and the excellent rating on the Internet.
Conclusion
China’s outbound security industry is steady and far-reaching, under the exceptional environment of China’s intellectual creation and “The Belt and Road Initiative,” now is the perfect timing to create a brand overseas. There are no shortcuts for enterprise growth, only persistent technological innovation, expansion of marketing channels, and excellent long-term pre-sales and after-sales services to highlight the brand value. To gain a foothold in the international market, only through long-term competition.