How to Unlock New Doors of Opportunity by Catering to Spanish-Speaking Customers

Tapping into the second-largest demographic in the United States 

With 62.1 million Hispanics or Latinos currently in the U.S. as of the 2020 Census, this group represents the second-largest demographic, or 19% of the population. “This number represents one in five U.S. residents,” Rivas explains.

In border states, the Hispanic population reaches closer to 50%, with California and Texas at 39%, New Mexico at 48%, and Florida at 29%. And even in the Midwest, 83,000 Hispanics live in the state of Kansas, for example.

For the sixth year in a row, Rivas says, Latino home ownership has increased as a percentage, with 48% to 49% of Latinos in the U.S. now owning una casa.

“This is now coming in as the second largest minority group as far as home ownership goes, behind Asian-Americans at 59.5%,” Rivas says.

Hispanics also fill 19.9% of all HVAC jobs in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census, and nearly 75% of all HVAC installers speak a foreign language, he adds.

“So, Spanish within the trades is quite prevalent,” Rivas says.

What does this mean for service shops across the country? There’s a ton of opportunity to unlock if you can cater to the Spanish-speaking population, whether that means servicing new customers or hiring new techs.

Understanding a Culture of “Necessity”

Campirano got his start in the trades by signing on with an agency that supplied workers for various jobs, such as digging a trench for plumbing, servicing an HVAC unit, or fixing an electrical problem. 

“I wanted something different in my life,” Campirano says. “That's how I started climbing the ladder in the trades, and I got exposed to quite a bit of it.”

In 1997, however, the hiring companies started running background checks on the contracted workers, and Campirano started losing out.

“My background was not as clean as it should have been,” he says. “We make mistakes when we're young, and obviously, I had made some mistakes in my past.”

Campirano persevered, and eventually landed a job with Express Electrical Services. Then, when the opportunity presented itself a few years later, he bought the business. It was simply a matter of necessity, he says.

“A lot of the things that happen in life as a Hispanic, as a Mexican American, as second-generation Mexican, a Chicano, when you see your parents struggling tremendously, it's the necessity,” Campirano explains. “How much of a necessity do you want to make a change? You got to feed your family, right?

“I got into this business because I didn't have the same opportunity as others to stay on a job because of my background. I was getting a lot of doors closed, but a lot of other doors were being opened,” he adds. “And here I am today, and I'm blessed. I thank my wife and my kids for putting up with me, and I have an awesome staff. We have an awesome culture here.”

Creating a ‘Win Culture’ and Family Environment

Today, Express Electrical Services operates from locations in East Los Angeles, Orange County, and New Riverside, and plans to soon open an office in the Santa Clarita market. The company employs about 40 service technicians and apprentices, and Campirano says 85% to 90% are Mexican Americans.

“Our culture here is always a win culture, camaraderie. We all get along. We make it a family environment,” Campirano says. The company recently hosted its annual summer picnic with a live band playing banda and mariachi music.

Even more important, however, the staff at Express Electrical embrace the idea of picking each other up, rather than dragging anyone down.

“It's really important for us to pick everybody up. For us, training is key to success,” Campirano says. “Let's not go in there and make assumptions. We can't operate a business based on assumptions. We can only operate a business based on our key performance indicators, our KPIs. But when we see somebody struggling, we just can't give up on that person, right? 

“As human beings, we’ve got to learn how to love each other. We’ve got to learn how to teach others, too,” he adds. “Knowledge is power when you implement it. You could be the smartest person on Earth, but if you don't want to share your knowledge, it's worthless. That's where you make the most impact, when you start changing other people's lives.”

The positive, family-style company culture also makes an impact on Express Electrical’s retention rates. Campirano says his current retention rate is 97%, and his longest-serving technician has been with him for 18 years.

“Our turnover is very, very low, and, knock on wood, I would like to keep it that way. But it has to do with communication. Communication is key to success, right?” he says. “It's about making sure we can help another human being. That's all. 

“I'm in a different chapter in my life now, where I believe as human beings we should be helping each other, not hurting each other,” he adds.

Deciding to Market to the Spanish-Speaking Community

Campirano decided it was time to serve his own community by educating customers about the difference between an unlicensed handyman versus a professional, licensed electrician who knows how to do the job the right way.

The call-takers at Express Electrical, many of whom are bilingual, immediately put customers at ease by speaking Spanish to anyone who called to inquire about booking a job, but preferred to speak about the problem in their native language. 

“That created a lot of comfort in the beginning,” Campirano says.

Next, the CSRs ask customers, “Have you ever had electrical work done in your home?” and “When’s the last time you actually had a technician in your home?”

“We want to know what happened in that relationship with that other company or handyman. And we want to know where they went wrong, so we don't make the same mistake,” Campirano says. “Then we start taking it from there, right? Well, let me tell you why we're different.”

Campirano also needed to sell the idea to his own techs.

“If I'm running 90% technicians out in the field who are second-generation Mexican-Americans, how do you sell this to them? Because they already know the mindset of the local community,” he says. “It's really just opening up their eyes that there's an opportunity to help out people within our community and help out our own people.”

In addition to educating the community about the value of hiring a licensed electrician, Express Electrical also sought to expand potential interest for working in the trades.

“How do we help the average kid that walks through here, coming home from high school, who's completely lost?” Campirano asks. Many don’t want to go to college, because they either can’t afford it or don’t have the grades to get in. 

“I'm here to see if we can actually open up the minds of some of our young kids, who can actually become tradesmen and make a good life for themselves. Not only will you change their mindset, you will financially change the way they think, right?” he says.

And companies in the trades also need to take notice, Campirano says, because a Hispanic worker means business.

“Let me tell you something about el Mexicano, the Mexican American, the Chicano. We are some hardworking [people]. We are. We are known to bust our tail. We are known not to say no. And we are known to hit the ground hard,” says Campirano, with clear passion in his voice.

That same philosophy applies to all Latinx, he says, with the majority seeking an opportunity to live the American dream. “We don’t want a handout. What they need is a little bit of guidance. That’s all. Just guide them,” Campirano says.

Taking a Risk to Advertise in Spanish

In addition to answering the phones differently and speaking in Spanish to customers who requested it, Express Electrical also took out ads in local Spanish-language newspapers and TV stations, just to see what the ROI might look like.

“At the beginning, it sucked,” Campirano says. But he kept an eye on the data, worked out a few bugs by asking questions differently, and began to see a steady climb for positive ROI on his Español-specific marketing campaign.

“All in Español. Everything in Spanish. We wanted to make sure they understood we were a Spanish-speaking organization as well,” he adds. “I'm pretty sure they found comfort with that.”

Companies interested in tapping into their local Spanish-speaking communities need to be open-minded, Campirano says, especially when it comes to training their techs and taking a risk to market to this demographic.

“No risk, no reward," he says. “Listen, in business, we take risks every day, right? We take a risk when we walk into our office every single day because we're self-employed, we're entrepreneurs. We're running a business. So, just take a risk on helping somebody else.”

Sometimes, taking a risk won’t go your way, he says, but other times you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

“Take a risk, and put a training plan in place on how you're going to handle it. If you don't have somebody in your organization that speaks Spanish, hire a translator,” Campirano says. “Life is full of puzzles. You just have to be a good problem-solver.”

ServiceTitan Features to Help You Better Serve Spanish-Speaking Customers

During the webinar, ServiceTitan SMB Implementation Manager Dago Iraheta also explained several features in ServiceTitan that can help you better service your Spanish-speaking community, including:

• Add a Spanish-speaking tag for any technician, and it shows up on your dispatching dashboard.

• Track Spanish-speaking marketing campaigns with a drop-down menu that asks customers how they heard about your company, to track revenue and effectiveness.

• If you hire a Spanish-speaking technician, you can easily download the ServiceTitan Mobile Technician Handbook and convert it into Spanish.