A DATAMARK white paper on customer contact with a focus on the $1.2 trillion U.S. Hispanic consumer market. Part one of this two-part series focuses on building relationships through authenticity and connecting through language, location and culture.

1. Connecting With the
Hispanic Market
Part One
Contact Center
White Paper
March 2014
www.datamark.net
•Building Relationships Through Authenticity
•Connecting Through Language, Location and Culture

2. ©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
Building Relationships Through Authenticity
•Population: 53 million (17 percent of the U.S. population).
•Growth: Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew 43 percent, from 35.3
million to 50.4 million.
•Hispanics are projected to become the largest single racial/ethnic group in California
by 2014.
•The median age of the Hispanic population is 28 years old, nearly a decade younger
than the total U.S. market median age of 37 years.
The concept of authenticity may seem
nebulous at first, but Glenn Llopis, a
Forbes contributor and founder of the
Center for Hispanic Leadership, says
companies must work to understand the
perspective of the diverse bloc of
Hispanic consumers and target them with
a strategy of “culturally appropriate
messages and language, providing
education, showing care for the
community beyond just selling to them.”
“Hispanics expect companies they do
business with to understand and address
their unique and diverse needs, and
research indicates common themes
across industries looking to build
relationships with Hispanic consumers,”
Llopis, a Cuban-American, said. “Many of
these themes tie into the growing
prevalence of social media, mobile
solutions, big data, and interactive
technology – and the spotlight all of these
developments put on the importance of
relationship building.”1
Connecting with the $1.2 trillion U.S.
Hispanic market requires a broad
understanding of Hispanics’ cultural
identity. It’s a difficult undertaking
because the Hispanic population can’t be
looked at as “one group.” Hispanics are
heterogeneous, coming from different
national origins and cultural groups. Then
there are generational differences to
consider, with variations in language use,
cultural identity and values among first,
second and third-generation Hispanics in
the U.S.
However, many thought leaders say a
common thread connects Hispanics—the
ability to recognize “authenticity” in the
marketing and advertising messages
aimed at the Hispanic demographic.
The idea also applies to service provided
by multichannel contact centers. When a
customer reaches out to an agent by
phone, email or social media, they hope
to connect with someone they can trust.
U.S. Hispanic Population – Quick Stats:
Source: U.S. Census Bureau; Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project2

3. The ability of agents to connect with
customers through language and cultural
understanding is an important
consideration when selecting a partner
for a multi-channel contact center.
DATAMARK’s customer contact center,
for example, is located on the U.S.-
Mexico border in the El Paso/Juarez
metroplex, home to more than 2.1 million
residents, and one of the country’s largest
labor pools of bilingual English-Spanish
speakers.
Nearly all of DATAMARK’s bilingual
customer service agents have lived,
worked or traveled on both sides of the
border.
In addition to excellent language skills,
each has a unique cultural understanding
that helps deliver a sense of
understanding, trust and security to
Spanish-speaking customers from across
the U.S.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
Language Use
•92 percent of second-generation Hispanics say they are proficient in speaking
English. 91 percent say they can read a newspaper or book in English “very well” or
“pretty well.”
•82 percent of Hispanic adults say they can carry on a conversation in Spanish “very
well” or “pretty well.” 78 percent say they can read a newspaper or book in Spanish
either “very well” or “pretty well.”
•In Hispanic households with incomes over $50k, the majority speak both English
and Spanish, easily shifting between both languages.
Source: AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA: 5.8 million
2. New York-Northeastern NJ: 4.3 million
3. Houston-Brazoria, TX: 2.1 million
4. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA: 2.1 million
5. Chicago, IL: 2 million
6. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX: 1.8 million
7. Miami-Hialeah, FL: 1.6 million
8. Phoenix, AZ: 1.2 million
9. San Francisco-Oakland-Vallejo, CA: 1.1 million
10. San Antonio, TX: 1.1 million
11. San Diego, CA: 1 million
12. Washington, DC/MD/VA: 810,000
13. McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr-Mission, TX: 720,000
14. El Paso, TX: 670,000
15. Denver-Boulder, CO: 600,000
Top 15
Hispanic
Metro
Areas
Source: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project
Connecting Through Language, Location and Culture

4. The U.S. Hispanic market is uniquely
diverse and requires a savvy approach to
establish authenticity and trust. An ideal
customer service agent in this market is
agile—ready to switch between Spanish
and English at a caller’s preference.
They are able at any moment to handle a
call from an elderly Spanish speaker who
has never owned a computer, then web
chat or exchange email with a young
customer, using a mix of English and
Spanish if necessary.
They understand that callers may not
necessarily be interested in keeping the
phone call short—often, they want to
chat a bit, get to know who they are
talking to, and establish a sense of mutual
trust.
When selecting a contact center partner
to serve the Hispanic market, consider
the attributes highlighted in this paper:
location and cultural familiarity; a
technology platform that supports phone
calls, interactive voice response (IVR),
email, web chat, social media and other
channels; and a training program that
develops bilingual agents capable of agile
customer service.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
Agile Bilingual Customer Service
What experience do they
have in the Hispanic market?
Does their location provide a
quality pool of bilingual
customer service agents?
What technology do they use
for customer contact?
Do they offer voice, IVR,
email, web chat, text,
broadcast message and
social media support?
Are they PCI-DSS compliant?
Do they have quality
assurance policies and
training programs in place?
Do they offer a no-obligation
consultation?
Choosing a Contact Center Partner:
Questions to Ask

5. The remarkable growth of the number of
U.S. Hispanics and their considerable
purchasing power—expected to reach
$1.5 trillion by 2015—has led to their
designation by marketing groups as
“super consumers.”
The opportunity to connect with this
relatively young and highly diverse
demographic requires working with
business partners who have an innate
understanding of the Hispanic market and
its language, culture and values.
In Part Two of Connecting With the
Hispanic Market, we’ll take a closer look
at the buying power of U.S. Hispanics and
address the importance of multichannel
customer contact with a young, tech-
savvy demographic.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
Looking Ahead
About DATAMARK
For more than 20 years, DATAMARK
has provided mailroom management,
data entry, document processing,
contact center, business process
improvement consulting and other
outsourcing services for Fortune 500
companies across all industry sectors.
If you have questions or need
assistance in developing your
organization’s case for outsourcing
and business process improvement,
DATAMARK’s business process
outsourcing specialists are available
for a complimentary initial
consultation.
Contact us at:
www.datamark.net
Toll-free: 800.477.1944
Info: info@datamark.net
“The opportunity to connect with this
relatively young and highly diverse
demographic requires working with business
partners who have an innate understanding
of the Hispanic market and its language,
culture and values.”
Notes:
1Glenn Llopis Group, 2014;
www.prweb.com/releases/2014/03/prweb11640148.htm
2Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, www.pewhispanic.org
3AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, www.ahaa.org