It’s no secret that having a multilingual business can increase revenue as you are literally able to cater to more markets versus those who only focus on one language. But what was surprising is how many people don’t bother because they think you need to be fluent in other languages for it to work. There was an example of a real estate agent that dominated the market for so many communities other than English simply by learning simple greeting terms. Imagine that. Then I heard one of a person who got a large contract simply because he was able to partially understand how to give people direction in another languages such as telling people to go left or right.
Sounds crazy, but many times people feel more comfortable dealing with those that can at least communicate a little in their native tongue. That is a far cry from someone who can speak fluently in some Ted Talk as an example. I guess it’s the equivalent in some ways to being able to do basic handyman work. People don’t expect you to be a professional per se, but having at least a little skill with certain tasks can go a long way in helping you to stand out.
As a joke, that even works on dates at times where people get impressed with those who simply speak a word or two in another language.