It isn’t any secret, the Hispanic market is booming in the U.S. and there does not seem to be any end in sight. As such, organizations operating in the U.S. need to be able to embrace this market, or risk losing out on significant sales opportunities. To do so, their call centers must be ready to understand and service this broad market.

A recent report by the National Association of Call Centers (NACC), the U.S. Census Bureau recently listed the Hispanic demographic at 14.4 percent of the total U.S. population. This statistic states that one out of every seven people in the U.S. is of Hispanic decent. By 2050, this number will grow to one in four.

The growth rate of the Hispanic population is increasing each year with 60 percent being native born. The economic impact, according to the NACC report, has grown 307 percent from 1990 to 2007. This impact is forecasted to be more than $1.2 Trillion (News - Alert) with a growth rate of 495 percent from 1990 to 2012.

Given the growth rate in this population, the expected increases in the rate and the buying power of this segment, it is difficult to understand why call centers as a whole have not embraced this demographic.

According to the NACC report, customer service managers may be facing specific challenges, including the fact that the population is not homogeneous. The term “Hispanic” applies to all people of Spanish-speaking descent, whether they are from Cuba, Mexico, Spain or Latin America. While these individuals may share a common language, they do not necessarily share preferences, habits, tastes, etc.

These differences present challenges for the call center industry as it limits the ability of these centers to successfully target this market. Companies must be able to create culturally relevant products and services, language specific marketing material, communication, Web sites, as well as invest in bilingual agents and technology features, such as IVR. 

As the population numbers continue to rise, businesses throughout the country must take a strategic approach to targeting this segment of the market or risk losing a significant amount of business.

The first step of this strategy must be in understanding the Hispanic market as a whole, as well as the individual segments within the market. By doing so, these companies will be better positioned to address specific markets and deliver the type of service that is expected.