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LRMS, a small insurance business in West Suffolk is finding repeat success in entering the South American market. The Bury St Edmunds-based company, which specialises in livestock insurance, has targeted Peru and Argentina as countries from which it has received a steady flow of business. Their contacts abroad do not have a very good command of English, which makes it important for LRMS to acquire some knowledge of the Spanish language.

The company registered for a European-funded Spanish course run at West Suffolk College, which ran for nine months. “Taking a Spanish course certainly helped to build bridges and win long-term relationships. By making the effort to learn some of their language they in turn try harder on their side,” says Anja Ruppert, Managing Director of LRMS.

As a result of attending the course, Anja has been able to welcome visitors to the company, deal with general operations over the telephone and hold basic discussions about insurance queries and quotes. A knowledge of the language also comes in handy during travel, as Anja discovered when their flight from Buenos Aires was changed, yet the announcement was only given in Spanish!

Appreciating cultural differences has also been important, and localising the LRMS website would attract more visitors, as according to Anja “our customers would find the information quicker if it were in Spanish, and many of them use the web. Many of the enquiries from Peru and Argentina have come about as customers researched the livestock insurance market using the web.”

www.lrms.co.uk