In the world of customer success and sales, communication is the most critical skill when it comes to landing your dream job and for your talents to be appreciated by your team leader.
But if you’re a non-native speaker, trying to keep up with your native speaker colleagues can be a daunting task. We know that finding the motivation to continually take your communication skills to the next level is not easy. So we interviewed some of our top students active in Customer Success Management (CSM) and sales to learn about their most significant challenges and the strategies they used to get over these hurdles. From our research, we have created a language learning guide especially for non-native CSMs and Sales Reps. So what are you waiting for? Check out our new communication guide for non-native CSMs!
Or, carry on reading for four awesome learning strategies that you can use today.
1. Create your own learning context
Did you know one of the main reasons language learners fail to progress is lack of context? Most English classes use learning materials that don’t apply to your everyday life. This makes the vocabulary much harder to retain. A more effective strategy is to build your English learning around what you will use if for. For example, as a CSM you often give product demos. Try learning all vocabulary around your product and its features. Then, you can build a product demo script and try and improve it over time.
Learning in this way will drastically increase your language retention, as you will actively practice what you often use. Not only this, but when you nail that demo, you’ll get a nice boost of motivation that will encourage you to learn more.
2. Learn in bite-size pieces
Learning English can seem overwhelming. This is because as a goal, it’s much too big. One way to boost your learning is to create mini-goals – bite-size pieces that you can learn in around 30 minutes. For example, one of our CSM students recently wanted to learn the correct way to use time phrases. This was important to her for scheduling product demos. Having this specific mini-goal helps to focus your learning.
So, how can you create your own mini-goals? Start by creating a list of the things you would like to learn (time phrases, email greetings, common phrases used in product demos). You can adjust the goals over time. If it takes you longer than 30 minutes, simply break them down further.
The Talaera Talks podcast will help you keep learning while you do the laundry, go to the office, or take a break from work.
3. Find a learning partner and create an English learning #channel
It’s great having a buddy. Whether, yoga, coffee or sports a partner can help increase your motivation to do something. This is also true for learning English. It’s effective to find a learning partner with the same goals as you, so start by looking in your circle of colleagues. Is there someone who also want to improve their workplace communication? If you can’t find someone try your friends outside of work. And failing this try attending some local language meet-ups. Most major cities have a whole host of free language events where you can find plenty of people who want to learn.
Once you do find a partner, or a group, why not create a Slack #channel. This way you can easily share useful resources, articles, podcasts and also arrange meet-ups. It’s also a great way to look back on all the progress you’ve already made.
4. Get your talent manager to invest in language training
Investing in language training pays off, and companies know it. Customer success managers at PayPal, Google, Gett, and Check Point are already enjoying Talaera’s custom English training for tech professionals.
We focus on communication ability. Talaera enables you to communicate with colleagues and focus on real-life problems: big picture stuff. And the best part is, you don’t even have to pay for it yourself. Win-win!
So why not tell your talent manager to add English training to the list of personal development opportunities? If they need some convincing, share this ebook with them.
Commit to boosting your English skills today
However you look at it, boosting your English communication skills is one of the best ways to take a huge step towards your dream CSM job.
Remember to get your talent manager on your side. Major companies like Google are already using Talaera language training to give their CSMs the edge over other companies.
Check out our brand new ebook below for some more strategies you can use today. And share it with your talent manager to let them know that you’re interested in custom language training. With targeted strategies, it is possible to overcome these challenges, as many of our top students working in CSM and sales have done. Downloading this guide can help you make a roadmap to landing your dream customer success job.
The guide includes:
The main communication challenges for non-native customer success managers
The benefits of great communication skills
Practical strategies to overcome these challenges from our experts
Looking for more ways to improve your business English?
Take your professional English communication skills to the next level with Talaera.
💬 Personalized Training – 1:1 sessions, group courses, or company webinars tailored to your needs
🎥 Free webinars – monthly live sessions with one of our communication experts
📚 Free Guides – download these free ebooks to learn more about business emails, pronunciation, and other communication skills
Remote. Flexible. Effective.
For any additional information or questions, you can also reach out at info@talaera.com.
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[This article was originally posted on Aug 21, 2019 and updated on Mar 21, 2021]