In collaboration with Cintia Gazola Metallinos
Culture is central to all human activity, and that means it should be central to how you create your brand strategies. Every place has its own unique cultural norms, values, and traditions that will influence the best way to get and maintain high customer retention rates. Keep reading to learn about five important cultural roots that you should keep in mind when designing your own customer service model.
1. Communication Style
Communication styles can vary widely from one culture to another, so you should build your customer service model around the most popular ones in your target demographic. Customers from cultures that prefer more direct communication will prefer interactions that are straightforward and explicit while customers from cultures that have a more indirect communications style will prefer nonverbal cues and sometimes even subtextual information delivery over direct address.
Tone, expression, and timeliness play just as important roles in communication styles, and these too can guide how you train your employees. Certain cultures will prefer customer service that is heavily personalized and warm while clothes will want a more detached approach that avoids overfamiliarity. Even perception of time can be cultural, with certain customers asking for a more flexible and reschedule while others take great comfort in a rigid and timely structure.
As your business grows, try to adapt different communication styles into your customer service model so that you can have the broadest reach possible. For example, storytelling can be a unique and culturally relevant mode of communication to boost your marketing and engagement.
2. Individualism vs. Collectivism
Individualism and collectivism are two diametrically opposed concepts that are often culture-specific. Customers from more collectivist cultures tend to want customer service models that prioritize communal trust and personal relationships. On the flip side, customers from more individualistic cultures tend to prefer models that have self-service options and a high priority placed on appeasing one customer at a time.
Collectivism-centered businesses can use communal events and customer support to prioritize engagement while individualism-centered businesses will place a greater emphasis on customer feedback and streamlining processes. Many cultures are not completely individualistic nor collectivistic, so a dual approach that focuses on both can be quite effective in certain markets.
3. Risk Tolerance
It might surprise some entrepreneurs to learn that risk tolerance can be very culture-specific. Some customers will grow up going out of their way to avoid any potential risks, meaning that they will prefer businesses that have strict timelines, policies, and processes. These factors give the customer a greater sense of control.
Customers that grew up in a culture with a high risk tolerance will not necessarily want a business that is rigidly structured. Instead, they will likely prefer customer service models that allow for improvisation and flexibility. Such systems are less about control and more about taking initiative and making space for various options.
One way that a business could design their customer service model around their risk intolerant customer base is by explicitly stating all of the ways that they are prepared to act in unpredictable scenarios. For example, a tent rental business could reassure a customer who is worried about the unpredictability of local weather patterns by mentioning the availability of air conditioning or heaters as add-ons for the customer’s upcoming event.
4. Power Hierarchy
Power hierarchies will vary greatly depending on cultural views of power distance. Cultures that favor a lower power distance will prefer businesses that are hierarchized in a more egalitarian fashion so that customers and employees alike feel like they are at the same level. Cultures that favor a higher power distance will prefer models with clearer and stricter hierarchies so that employees have tiered relationships with one another as well as with customers.
Just as with individualism and collectivism, a dual approach is often the move here. Many cultures fall somewhere in the middle in terms of power distance, and some businesses have to appeal to a broader range of cultural backgrounds. As a result, a dual approach to power hierarchy can be utilized where higher-ranked employees handle the most pressing issues in a rigid manner while lower-ranked employees interact directly with customers in person or via virtual live chats and helpdesks.
Businesses that are rooted in cultures with lower power distances should prioritize employee flexibility and shared authority when meeting the customer’s needs. On the other side, businesses that are rooted in cultures with higher power distances should try to have a clear delineation of employee tiers and responsibilities.
5. Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking
The fifth and final cultural root to take into account is a tendency toward short-term or long-term thinking, for this concept helps guide what customers expect from a given product or service. Customers from cultures that are more short-term oriented will want immediate and clear results, so businesses that want to appeal to that market will likely take a more transactional approach in terms of basic customer service.
Customers from cultures that are more long-term oriented will want products that last a long time and services that are consistent in quality. Businesses built sound long-term thinking should prioritize customer loyalty, brand reputation, and long-lasting partnerships with both clients and other brands.
For example, a tent rental company that wants to prioritize customers who are thinking more long-term should find ways to advertise that they have large tent rental options with longer rental periods and even lease renewals if the client decides to extend their contract.
Summary
Customer service models need to incorporate features that appeal to the roots of the culture or cultures in which they are based. Companies that want to broaden their customer base or even reach out to new markets need to take into account different communication styles, individualistic and collectivist mindsets, varying risk tolerances, unique power hierarchies, and differences in short-term versus long-term thinking. Every customer comes from a unique cultural background, and customer service models should be designed to address these vital differences.
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Cintia Gazola Metallinos is a Business Operations and Marketing Leader at All Occasions Tents, a company she has helped grow and modernize for more than ten years. She is the central driver for operational excellence, overseeing critical functions like client proposals, contracts, billing, and database management. Additionally, Cintia directs the company’s entire digital presence, including website development, Google Ads, and social media strategy. With her background in law and court administration, she keeps everything organized and follows all the rules in the tent rental business. She speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and is committed to providing excellent customer service and delivering strong results.
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