This page exists because we kept finding the same post. A small business owner, a qualified lead, and a language they do not speak. Here is a real one:
We got an email from a Spanish speaking qualified lead. She says she struggles to speak English and asked if we had any bilingual staff to help her. I would absolutely love to help her, though I'm not sure how to respond to her.
r/smallbusiness, service business in Tennessee
The advice she got was "just use Google Translate" and "that is not an ADA disability." Both technically true. Neither one helps you keep the customer.
So here is the actual playbook, in the order you need it.
Today: answer the lead
Do not ignore it and do not stall. The single worst outcome is silence, because that person will assume you do not want their business and tell everyone they know. In tight Latino communities word of mouth moves fast in both directions.
Write back in Spanish, and be honest about the setup. Something like this, which you can copy:
Hola [nombre], gracias por escribirnos. Con gusto la ayudamos. En este momento no tenemos personal que hable español a tiempo completo, pero podemos comunicarnos por mensaje de texto o correo en español sin problema, y para la llamada usamos un intérprete. ¿Le funciona así? Cuénteme qué necesita y le paso el presupuesto en español.
Three things that message does. It answers in her language, it tells the truth instead of overpromising, and it moves the conversation to writing, where translation tools are genuinely fine.
Machine translation is fine for text. It falls apart on live phone calls. Structure the relationship around that fact.
This week: the three tools that actually work
Phone interpretation, for calls
Services like Language Line let you conference an interpreter into a live call in a couple of minutes. It costs a few dollars a minute. It is slower than a real conversation, and people who use it will tell you it is clunky. It is also the difference between closing the job and losing it.
One caution from people in regulated industries: some companies prohibit using a customer's child or friend as the interpreter, and for good reason. If your work involves contracts, medical detail or anything with liability, use a professional service.
Written translation, for everything else
Quotes, invoices, appointment reminders, scope of work. Machine translation handles these well enough, especially if you keep sentences short. Send the quote in Spanish. Almost nobody does, and it wins jobs.
A bilingual answering service, if calls are constant
If this is happening more than once or twice a month, an answering service that takes calls in both languages costs less than you think and pays for itself with one saved job. This is the standard answer for home services with real Spanish call volume.
This month: decide if this is a market or an accident
One lead is an anecdote. Here is how to find out if it is a pattern, in about twenty minutes:
- Check Search Console. Filter your queries for Spanish words. If people are already finding you in Spanish with no Spanish content, there is real demand you are leaving on the table.
- Check your ads search terms report. Spanish queries triggering your English ads means you are already paying for that traffic and sending it to a page it cannot read.
- Look at the census for your service area. Percentage of Spanish speaking households by zip code is public and free. If you are above roughly fifteen percent, this is a market, not an accident.
If the answer is that it is a market, the next question is not "should I translate my website." It is "which Spanish do my customers speak, and what do they actually type into Google." Those are different questions with different answers, and the second one is where most of the money is won or lost.
The legal question people get wrong
We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice, but the confusion is worth clearing up because it comes up in every one of these threads.
Language is not a disability under the ADA, so a private business generally is not required to provide Spanish the way it must provide accessibility accommodations. That is the answer people give.
What that answer misses is that other rules can still apply depending on what you do. Businesses that receive federal funding have obligations around language access. Some states and cities have their own requirements, particularly around contracts. And several regulated industries have specific rules about who may interpret. If you are in healthcare, insurance, legal or finance, ask your compliance person rather than a forum.
The practical point stands regardless: nobody is forcing you to serve this customer. The customer is choosing whether to pay you.
What this is actually worth
Here is the part that gets lost in the "do I have to" framing. A Spanish speaking customer who finds a business that handles them well does not just come back. They bring the family, the neighbors and the coworkers, because there are very few options and everyone knows it.
The barrier is low, too. Most of your competitors have done nothing. Answering in Spanish, sending the quote in Spanish and writing "hablamos español" on your Google Business Profile puts you ahead of almost all of them, and none of it requires hiring anyone.
Frequently asked questions
Am I legally required to serve customers in Spanish?
Generally no for a private business, because language is not a disability under the ADA. But this is not blanket advice: businesses receiving federal funding have language access obligations, some states and cities have contract related rules, and regulated industries have specific requirements about who may interpret. Check with your own compliance advisor. Either way, the customer is still choosing whether to pay you.
Can I just use Google Translate?
For written communication, yes, and you should. Quotes, invoices and appointment reminders translate well enough if you keep sentences short. For live phone calls it falls apart, which is what phone interpretation services are for.
Should I let the customer's family member interpret?
For simple scheduling it is fine. For anything involving a contract, medical information, money or liability, use a professional service. Several regulated industries prohibit using a customer's child or friend as interpreter precisely because of the errors it causes.
How do I know if Spanish speaking customers are a real market for me?
Three checks, about twenty minutes. Filter Search Console for Spanish queries, check your ads search terms report for Spanish terms triggering English ads, and look up Spanish speaking household percentage by zip code in your service area. Above roughly fifteen percent it is a market, not an accident.
What is the cheapest thing I can do that actually works?
Write hablamos español on your Google Business Profile and on your site, and send quotes in Spanish. Both are free, both take an afternoon, and almost none of your competitors have done either.
Getting these leads regularly?
If Spanish speaking customers are finding you already, there is demand you are not capturing. We can show you how much, from your own data, before you commit to anything.
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Related: Bilingual website design · Which kind of agency do you actually need?