PRINCETON, N.J., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Berlitz (www.berlitz.us), the world's premier provider of language training and cross-cultural services hosted the first of the Cultural Insights Webinar Series, "Culture and the Customer Service Experience" on March 30th, 2011.  In conjunction with each webinar, Berlitz is developing white papers on each topic which will be released following the events.

The Berlitz Cultural Insights Webinar series covers topics ranging from the impact of culture on customer satisfaction to effective cross-cultural communication and diversity and inclusion. Each webinar in the series will feature examples and tips related to culture to help businesses operate more effectively in today's global marketplace.

Highlights from the webinar, "Culture and the Customer Service Experience", include:

• A positive customer service experience differs from culture to culture; words like "timely", "competent" and "courteous" are subject to cultural, regional and other personal interpretations.

• Emerging new markets, including some of the fastest growing economies such as Ghana, Qatar, Turkmenistan and China, will provide the consumer growth engines of the future.

• Social media and technology connecting people around the globe require new strategies, skill sets and mindsets and bring new pressure on companies to be more mindful of their customer service.

• Understanding the time orientation of the culture is important; Research shows that pauses in 10 or 30 second intervals are acceptable in Eastern Europe. In some Asian cultures pauses lasting up to 1 minute are not unusual. In the Americas a pause that extends beyond 3.5 seconds is "painful."

To learn more, download a free copy of the whitepaper "Culture and the Customer Service Experience" at: www.berlitz.us/prwhitepaper

Upcoming webinars include:

For more information on the Berlitz Cultural Insights Webinar Series or to speak with someone from Berlitz, please contact Jennifer Vollaro, Integrated Marketing Services, at jvollaro@imsworld.com or (609) 683.9055 ext. 247 or Lois Kaufman at lkaufman@imsworld.com or (609) 683 9055 x 203

SOURCE Berlitz Corporation