By Tom Polanski

It’s hard to ignore the facts:  The Hispanic market has more than doubled between 1990 and 2000 and continues to grow with no signs of a slowdown.  Officially, they’ve surpassed African-Americans as the largest minority group in the United States. 

As a whole, Hispanics are younger, and the middle to affluent classes are growing faster than any other ethnic group.  With this in mind, how can you adjust your marketing and business plan to encompass this undeniable growth and market to the Hispanic population? 

First, although many Hispanics are bilingual, most prefer their native language, Spanish, when conducting commerce.  Fortunately, you don’t need to invest in a massive language course to reap the benefits of conversational Spanish.  There are many websites where you can learn basic business Spanish for free - such as www.businessspanish.com and www.123TeachMe.com

Simple greetings and basic questions will do wonders for establishing that crucial merchant-buyer relationship.  Generally, Hispanic customers are more loyal to businesses than other ethnic groups, and they won’t hesitate to recommend you to another Hispanic or Latino if the opportunity arises and the service is commendable.

Secondly, if you have Spanish-speaking employees, consider brainstorming with them to come up with new ways to work together with this growing market. 

Chances are, they will be both proud and excited that you are expanding your business to include their segment of the population, and oftentimes they are more than happy to recommend ways to approach Hispanic customers while maintaining cultural sensitivities and realizing differences that exist between the two groups.

Overall, doing business with the Spanish-speaking population is about taking time to listen to their needs.

Patient, pro-active businesses that take the lead in harnessing basic Spanish conversational skills, understanding cultural differences and building a more Latino-friendly identity will surely reap the many benefits that come with working together. 

Buena suerte! (Good luck!)