Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to have a better understanding of Australian culture to know the customer better and to identify the customer needs better.

 

UNDERSTANDING AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMERS

Studies show:

• Only 24% of Australians share products or services over social media.
• 78% of Australians share negative experiences over social media.
• The majority of disappointed customers will share their experience with between 1 and 5 people.
• 52% of Australians trust a personal recommendation as oppose to an online one.
• Word of mouth advertising is the most popular channel.
• Australian customers prefer speaking with a real person.
• Direct email is there preferred communication channel.
• Australian customers expect local Australian knowledge.

The Australian market is somewhat unique and people networks are extremely important. Therefore the best way to market is through direct email and to provide personalized follow-up service.

Australians doing business are very matter of fact. They expect punctuality, whether it be via person, call or email and they will not have a problem in telling you if they have taken offence or if they have a problem. They are direct, expert and expect the same in return.

In the past year over one-third of Australian consumers have stopped utilising services or stopped buying products due to poor customer service. Therefore we must ensure we are providing the very best customer service where possible.

Top 4 translation tips that will make you sound like a local in no time:

1. Take note of differences in spelling, punctuation, date formats, measurements, terminology etc.
2.  Do not use colloquialisms and expressions usually used in your language.
3. Take account of cultural differences so you don’t confuse or offend Australian audiences.
4. Australians like to shorten everything e.g.: afternoon = arvo, a barbeque = barby.

 

OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN DEALING WITH AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMERS

• Australians are often extremely busy and don’t have a lot of time, so they expect a prompt solution.
• When a customer calls, they are usually ready to buy. Often they are unsure of exactly what product or service they need but know the problem they have. They require us to ask only a couple of strategic but short questions to gain an understanding of the problem, then they rely on us to provide the best solution. If you provide a fast, suitable solution they will usually buy on the spot because you have confidently sold your product or service.
• Be aware that if you are not confident in what you are selling the customer will not buy.
• Avoid back and forth unnecessary banter. The customer is wanting a solution, not to answer a million unnecessary questions back and forth. You will lose the customers interest immediately.
• Politely follow up Australian customers promptly. This is often enough to convert the sale. Usually, a customer, not proceeding is due to them forgetting or being tied up with other issues and they just need a friendly reminder to finalise the sale and “get it off their plate”.
• Make it as easy as possible for them to just simply proceed.
• Be sure to be punctual. Australian customers are busy, so if you set a date/time you must stick to it.
• Australians will contact you via their preferred method of contact. Please be mindful to oblige and contact them back the same way they have contacted you.
• Australians love anything for free. Ensure you are offering consumer’s value for their hard-earned money. This could be something for free or a packaged deal. As long as it represents value to them.

 

 

      AUSTRALIAN HOLIDAYS

Australia Day

Nationally, Australia Day was originally celebrated on 30 July 1915.[33]

Recorded celebrations of the 26 January date back to 1808 in Australia, and in 1818, Governor Lachlan Macquarie held the first official celebration of Australia Day.[34] 26 January was chosen because it is the day of the establishment of the first British settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788.[35] It was made a public holiday in New South Wales in 1836, and Victoria adopted the day as a public holiday in 1931. The 26 January commenced being recognised by all states and territories as Australia Day in 1946.

Australia Day has been celebrated as a national public holiday on 26 January since 1994.[36]

Since 1960, the winner of the Australian of the Year award is announced by the Prime Minister on the eve of Australia Day (25 Jan).

Labour Day

Labour Day commemorates the achievements of the Australian labour movement. The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. On 21 April 1856 Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne, Australia, stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as the first organised workers in the world to achieve an eight-hour day with no loss of pay, which subsequently inspired the celebration of Labour Day and May Day. In Tasmania the public holiday is called Eight Hours Day and in the Northern Territory it is called May Day.

The Labour Day public holiday varies considerably between the various states and territories. It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Western Australia, it is the first Monday in March. In both Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March. In the Northern Territory, and in Queensland[3] it is the first Monday in May.

Easter

The days of Easter vary each year depending on the day determined by the Western Christian calendar. Until 1994 Easter Tuesday was a Bank Holiday in Victoria (it retains this status partially in Tasmania). The day after Good Friday and before Easter Sunday is traditionally known as Holy Saturday. However, the states where that day is a public holiday use different terminology – it is officially gazetted as "Easter Saturday" in the ACT, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory;[4][5][6] as "the day after Good Friday" in Queensland and South Australia;[7][8] and as "Saturday before Easter Sunday" in Victoria.[10]

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is a day on which the country remembers those citizens who fell fighting or who served the country in wars. ANZAC Day is commemorated on 25 April every year. The tradition began to remember the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

ANZAC Day commemoration features marches by veterans and by solemn "Dawn Services", a tradition started in Albany, Western Australia on 25 April 1923 and now held at war memorials around the country, accompanied by thoughts of those lost at war to the ceremonial sounds of The Last Post on the bugle. The fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen (known as the "Ode of Remembrance") is often recited.

Queen's Birthday

In all states and territories except Queensland[3] and Western Australia, Queen's Birthday is observed on the second Monday in June. Because Western Australia celebrates Western Australia Day (formerly Foundation Day) on the first Monday in June, the Governor of Western Australia proclaims the day on which the state will observe the Queen's Birthday, based on school terms and the Perth Royal Show.[37] There is no firm rule to determine this date before it is proclaimed, though it is typically the last Monday of September or the first Monday of October: in 2011 the Queen's Birthday holiday in Western Australia was moved from Monday, 3 October 2011 to Friday, 28 October 2011 to coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was held in Perth.[38] In Queensland, it is celebrated on the 1st Monday in October.[3]

The day has been celebrated since 1788, when Governor Arthur Phillip declared a holiday to mark the birthday of King George III. Until 1936 it was held on the actual birthday of the Monarch, but after the death of King George V, it was decided to keep the date at mid-year.

On that day the "Queen's Birthday honours list" is released naming new members of the Order of Australia and other Australian honours. This occurs on the date observed in the Eastern States, not the date observed in Western Australia.

The Queen's Birthday weekend and Empire Day, 24 May, were long the traditional times for public fireworks displays in Australia. Although they still occur, the tradition has recently been overshadowed by larger New Year's Eve fireworks, as the sale of fireworks to the public was banned by the states in the 1980s, and in the ACT as of 24 August 2009.[39]

Christmas Day

Christmas is observed on 25 December each year to commemorate the birth of Jesus. In Australia, it was introduced with British settlement in 1788 as the cultural norms were transferred to the new colonies. Though a Christian religious festival, it does not breach the constitution's separation of Church and State provision, because it is declared under State law, which is not subject to the provision.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is on the day after Christmas, i.e. 26 December each year, except in South Australia. In South Australia, the first otherwise working day after Christmas is a public holiday called Proclamation Day.[40]

Boxing Day is noted for the start of the post-Christmas sale season. The day has also become a significant sporting day. Melbourne hosts the Boxing Day Test match; the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race also starts on this day.