Author Archives: 123outsource

Indians are used to noise, but do they like it?

July 8, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: India | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cultural differences are sometimes hard to define. People resort to very basic statements like, “Easterners are more family oriented,” or “Americans are more independent.” Yes, we know that Indians eat masalas and chutneys while Americans eat more potatoes, meat, and salads. But, what about other environmental issues such as noise?

During my several trips to India I noticed that everywhere I went it was very noisy. Even when I went to places that were famous for being quiet, there were drunk people yelling at 3am! Indian cities are famous for honking sounds, loud vendors, and other unbearable noise pollution.

When I ask the locals what they think about the noise, the standard response is, “Oh, I don’t even notice it.” Even at night in India, security guards rap their sticks against metal objects making a ticking rhythm and once I heard a security guard blowing a whistle at midnight to scare off the bad guys.

When I asked Indians if they prefer quiet and order, most of them said they would, although they are not really bothered by chaos and noise. I, on the other hand am very bothered by noise, disorder, and being pushed by rude people at train (railway) stations!

I noticed that in my apartment complex, there are some noisy children. I did an experiment to see how far noise traveled. I walked away from a volleyball game where everyone was screaming. After I got 100 wide paces which is 300 feet, the noise died down to being almost not detectable, and after 400 feet I couldn’t hear it at all. Interesting.

Tweets:
(1) Cultural differences are hard to define: Masala vs. Hamburgers is one. But, what about noise tolerance?
(2) Noise from children playing travels 300 feet and then becomes virtually undetectable to the human ear.
(3) Although Indians are accustomed to noise and chaos, most claim that they prefer peace & quiet!

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What if classically trained musicians ran IT companies in India?
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5 reasons Indians are less stressed than Americans
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Why terror doesn’t scare anyone in India

July 6, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: India | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Israel has been bombarded with attacks on civilians for decades. Their solution is to build a wall. Maybe if they had been a little nicer to the oppressed folks in the occupied territories there would be a nicer way to solve the problem. But, what about India? India never oppressed people from Pakistan. India doesn’t oppress, they just let problems happen to you and ignore you when you complain!

I feared for my life when I boarded a local train in Mumbai. My friend’s father came within an inch of his life on the very same line a year before during a blast that killed dozens. He jumped out of the train while it was moving and suffered only a sprained ankle. The others all died. “It was surreal,” he said. It looked like flowers expanding and slowly going to all parts of the train car, killing people. He felt it was safe to jump and jumped out of the train just in time. God was watching him. It wasn’t his time to die yet.

But, if you ask the average guy on the street what they think you get these answers that indicate they are not afraid.

(1) When it is my time to go, it is my time to go. What can you do?
(2) My life is not that great anyway, so why should I be afraid of dying?
(3) If I die, then I won’t have to deal with my nagging wife anymore.
(4) India has always had blasts. It is just a part of life over here.
(5) We’ll just wait until they run out of bullets, then we’ll have ten babies per family and repopulate however many they kill. We’ll show them in the end!

My commentary for answer #3 is, “I bet you are a member of the henpecked husband association in Mumbai.” His response would be, “Are you kidding, I’m not only a member, I founded that association a few decades ago!”

The reality is that Pakistani extremists think they can scare Indians with terrorism, but Indians are simply not afraid. Their plan didn’t “work” so to speak. But, I’m afraid. So they scared someone! But, honestly, I’m much more afraid of Indian cab drivers than of Pakistani extremists. Indian cab drivers have put my life on the edge hundreds of times already — they are more likely to end my life than anyone else.

Perks to hiring part time workers

July 2, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

It is a well known fact that part time workers are the first to quit, and are often less qualified. You are thinking negatively! Let’s think of what is good about hiring part timers!

(1) It is easier to find really interesting part timers
If someone spends their entire life at a horrible grunt job, they are likely to be a very disgruntled grunt, or a very boring person. However, there are many aspiring artists, musicians, and people seeing bigger things in life who will not work for you full-time, but might do a part time job for you. If it fits their schedule, they might even stick around for the long haul. If you like interesting people, or just like the personality attributes of an individual, you could hire them part time! But, give them a schedule that works for them if you want to see them stick around. Part timers often quit, because they need more money. Those who already have another gig will quit, if your job gets in the way of the “more money” that they are already making. Think about them first before your own needs.

(2) You can try people out without a commitment
Most of the people I hire don’t work out. They are not thinking about what I need. They are not thinking about what is good for them in the long term either. There is no commitment. How can I commit to 40 hours a week, if I have no idea if the other person’s skills are up to par, or if they are committed? For me, I prefer to hire people part time. I want to see how they do. If they do well, I can gradually give them more and more tasks and see if they can handle it.

(3) You can try several people out at once
If you get a full time person, if you fire them, then you are left high and dry. With part timers, you can hire several. If they don’t work out, then replace them. You could hire five part timers for one full-time job. Then fire the ones that don’t quit and keep the two best ones. If another drops out, you either higher more part timers or promote the remaining one (if they are good) to be full-time!

(4) Burnout is less frequent with part time work
We live in a world where so many people are burned out. If your job is grueling or hard, doing it full-time can do a lot of wear and tear on the person’s psychological state. It is often better to do several hours a day of grunt work, and then spend the rest of the day doing something else like being a yoga instructor, massage therapist, or singing!

Conclusion
If you hire part-timers, you might be able to get some really interesting people. If you treat them right, they might stick around. Additionally, they will not burn out so much, since they balance your drudgery with something else that they find is meaningful.Part-timing might not be right for everyone, but for some types of jobs, companies, or temperaments, it could be perfect.

Tweets:
(1) If you hire part-time workers, you might get artists, musicians, and other very cool types!
(2) People burnout doing full-time drudgery, but they might last longer as part-timers!
(3) If you hire part time workers, you can hire a handful and then keep the ones that work out!

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Good sign bad sign: what to look for in newly hired workers
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Don’t hire an employee, hire 5 and keep the best one
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/20/dont-hire-an-employee-hire-5-and-keep-the-best-one/

Want to be popular at blogging? Write “how to” blogs!

June 30, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Social Media | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

I just went through my stats for my outsource blog. I write all types of content that even my professional writer friends consider to be interesting (although they criticize my punctuation mistakes.) However, the content that does well always seems to have a “how to” in the title. Hmmm. How to start an outsourcing business, how to get call center clients, how to this, and how to that.

People out there want to know how to succeed in life. You need to give them the keys to do that, and then they will give you ample traffic to your blog. It seems fair. You get paid for teaching, but the payment is in traffic which helps your overall ranking.

The economy of the new world will be more spiritual, and already is. Many people will do tasks without getting direct payment. But, they will be repaid in other ways such as appreciation, recognition, and traffic to their website. It all seems very fair, although convoluted. If you think about the karma of tything it is similar. You give to charity, and then God rewards you, but in other ways. Hmmm. Intriguing! You might get more clients, or better people to help you, or better conditions in your afterlife.

But, what about your blog’s afterlife?
Just kidding.

How to write a blog about how to blogs! Now there is a title!

How to get call center clients by monitoring better!

June 28, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The title of this entry should really be about how to keep your clients, but our readers are more concerned with getting clients, so we’ll leave it as is. Those who succeeded in the call center industry insist that trained managers and intricate monitoring systems win the game in the competitive call center industry. Nothing is better than a call center clerk who is being constantly watched and improved upon!

Training
Just for the record, training and coaching needs to happen regularly for all call center agents, no matter what level they are at. Monitoring can key management in to see what individual callers need customized coaching at! Training programs also need to be modified and evolve over time to meet the needs of your staff. Keep track of what parts of the training program worked well, and what needs to be developed upon or changed.

Send them home…
One company I heard of watches their call center workers all day long. The minute they start slipping, they get sent home. You lose your company’s reputation the minute your phone staff starts getting cranky. I know this because I am sometimes forced to work long hours, and we get lots of complaints when I started getting upset with people who are rude to me (which happens regularly.)

Stop bad habits before they start!
Regular monitoring makes it easy to spot bad habits as they are being formed. The minute your call center worker starts getting off on the wrong foot, it’s coaching time! Stop that bad habit right away!

Keep track any way you can
You can track worker performance on paper, on an online database, but don’t do it in your head even if you have a good memory. Technology is not the goal here — keeping top-notch performance through worker tracking is the goal!

Give daily feedback
Workers like feedback if it is genuine and helpful. Be careful with negative comments. Try to phrase things in a way that praises people for what they did right, and makes suggestions for what they could do better!

Not everyone can do monitoring
Someone who is good at calls might not be good at monitoring and vice versa. You need someone anal who likes nit-picking everyone else, and who has the grace and suave to be well received when they start giving commentary. Monitoring is an art that is refined over time, but regardless of how good your training program is, you need to start with the right personality for the job!

Regular rewards boost morale
The call centers that do well have regular rewards. There is the worker of the month reward, and other creative awards that imaginative companies think of. Those who just have their grunt workers clock in and clock out lack the enthusiasm and quality of work that the more thoughtful companies have. This is what top-notch expert call center managers told me in private interviews. Happy workers are born out of a fun and stimulating environment!

Review examples of high quality interactions on tape
If you have an experienced rep who handles themselves gracefully, use particular calls they did as case studies. Sure, this is not Harvard Business School, but case studies can help with studying many subjects at any type of skill level, plus it is fun to see real experts engaged in what they are good at. Personally, I would like to see Donald Trump in action, since I do business for a living!

Have a system for checking on people
Yes, you need the right person to do the checking. But, you also need the right manager managing the monitor. You need a methodical system for checking up on your call center workers. You need to decide how often to check up on people, how often to give feedback to them, and how to handle every common type of difficulty or issue that props up.

Customer feedback is imperative
If you have your customers give any type of feedback on your callers, that can be very helpful. Customers are wary of long and drawn out forms which take a long time to fill out. But, if you can have them answer a few questions over the phone for you, or write a few quick comments in an email, that might be enough to get some insight as to how your call center agents are doing!

Keep score
If you award your callers scores for how good their calls are, they will be able to compare themselves to others, and compare their progress over time. Nothing motivates better than seeing yourself improve in a big way over the course of a few months.

Group meetings are helpful
If a bunch of callers get together with a manager and discuss calling techniques for particular situations, that can be meaningful and helpful as multiple points of view will arise. Callers who regularly attend group meetings do measurably better than those who don’t according to the experts!

Self-assessment is also useful
Many callers find that assessing their own calls is helpful. When they analyze what they did right, and what they had trouble with, it becomes a learning process with good long-term results.

Good luck, and make your BPO call center a learning environment where self-growth and fun is a daily occurrence!

Who you gonna call – Ghostbusters? Nah. The Philippines!

June 25, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sometimes you get companies that offer inexpensive work, but the quality is not that great. Other times you get expensive work, but the quality is not good enough to merit the price even though it is good. The Philippines is a lucky destination and very popular with call center outsourcers. There, you get people who are super on the phone, and the price is calculated in pennies. I’m exaggerating, but you get the point!

The Philippines has a virtual (no pun intended if you’re hiring a virtual assistant) army of half a million English speaking, highly trained call center workers who are ready for battle. They can do telemarketing, lead generation, technical support, customer care, or just chat with customers. Culturally, they have a very smooth manner over the phone. They don’t get mad at customers like I do, on the other hand their sense of humor isn’t always as good as mine!

It is good to compare. Try people in various different countries. But, when all is said and done, call in the artillery, and find a Filipino Call Center. Caribbean destinations are also known for high quality call centers and they are on American time zones which in addition to great Costa Rican coffee, is another great perk!

Tweets:
(1) If you want a great call center at a great price, consider the Philippines & the Caribbean.
(2) The Philippines is a lucky destination that is popular with outsourcers

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Call centers in the Philippines are getting more expensive than India
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Half a million Filipino call center workers are on American Time
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Choosing the right people to help you blog

June 20, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Social Media | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

You can’t just go to eLance and pick people to help you blog. There is a lot in the equation. Blogging is actually very complicated if you want to be successful at it. There are many metrics and analytics to consider. The value of a good blog post is based on how many readers it gets, and how many more regular readers you develop. To turn a one time or two time visitor into a regular reader of your blog might be based on more than one really good article. It might be based on consistently good articles which appeal to the reader. However, if you have a few really good articles or a few really unattractive ones, that might make the difference between having a regular reader — or not! Another factor is SEO benefit of the blog post. Some blog posts attract a lot of traffic from Google, while other ones might be popular with your regular readers, but wouldn’t show up well on search results.

Freelance bloggers do not generally care about the long term success of your blog, nor do they care about the “analytics.” That is your problem. They just want to collect their fee and pay their bills. As a manager of hired hands, you need to know who is worth it and who is not. Freelance bloggers typically want to charge an enormous amount for each piece they write. Unfortunately, the monetary benefit they create for you might be far less than their fee. To get a blog popular, you need more than 1000 pieces. If you pay $100 per piece, you will have paid $100,000 just to get your blog regular traffic which might help your site be a little more popular. Hardly worth even $5000. It is easy to lose all your money hiring the wrong people at the wrong price. You need to understand what makes your blog tick, and find people who can do it for a price that is sustainable.

Have someone write a few pieces. See how much traffic each piece gets after ten days. Measure again after sixty days. See if it gets many clicks from Facebook or Twitter. You can use that figure to compare to articles written by you or others on staff. Also, have your new writer submit several pieces over a two-week period. See if your general blog traffic goes up in a noticeable way in that period or right after that period. That will indicate if your exciting newbie got you some new “regulars” to come to your blog. If your experiment delivers positive results, you could test them over a month or two and keep your eyes on the growth. Remember, that some weeks your blog might have a good week. But, if your new writer is any good, then every week will be a good week.

Outsourcing makes the world go round!

June 19, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Some people think that outsourcing is good because it allows you to cut costs. Others think that outsourcing is bad because it takes jobs that rightfully belong to Americans and gives it to undeserving poor people in foreign countries who have names that we can’t pronounce (and don’t want to learn to pronounce.) In California, some people think that there are too many Mexican immigrants coming in while others like the affordable source of labor. The truth is that without Mexican labor, nothing in California would get built, harvested, or done. The state would grind to a stop. You wouldn’t be able to get help at your restaurant and you would be able to run most types of businesses that rely on labor. We don’t realize this, but outsourcing is the same. Without outsourcing, America, Germany, and the UK would grind to a stop.

There is an acute labor shortage in industrialized countries. There are not enough people to do many of the tasks we need to have done. Those who are hard working already have jobs. Those who are lazy don’t deserve jobs. Whatever can’t be done here, needs to be shipped to wherever some willing and capable hands (fingers) can do it.

We take this for granted, but much of America’s medical transcriptions are done in the Philippines or India while we sleep. There would be horrible delays and triple the cost if those offshore agencies were not able to handle our medical transcription outsourcing needs. Something like 80% of UK’s programming is handled offshore. Without people in India and Eastern Europe helping out, how would the UK function? They would only be able to do 20% of the work.

I am struggling to find quality help in the United States for basic tasks such as programming, phone help, and other work. It is like pulling teeth to find someone willing to work who actually cooperates. It is not funny, and not pleasant. It is so nice to have the option to hire overseas to people who have a work ethic.

Also, there is a new outsourcing company in India that claims that they can enhance planetary movement through intermolecular technology (never heard of that.) I guess that proves that outsourcing really does make the earth go round — literally.

Outsourcing or Offshoring? Which is which?

June 16, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

When I use the word outsourcing, I am thinking of a mystical character named Rajiv who kisses his sari-clad wife goodbye, mounts his elephant, and makes his way down the crowded streets of Agra with his briefcase in one hand and his mobile phone in the other. Of course in real life, people in India only ride elephants for festivals since the cost of buying 600 bananas every time breakfast rolls around isn’t getting any cheaper. But, it is a nice caricature of Indians, having them ride exotic creatures.

But, outsourcing only means giving work to another company or freelancer to do. If the work is not done by an in-house staff member, that would constitute outsourcing.

Offshoring is another concept altogether. Offshoring is when you take your work and send it to some other country far far away. But, offshoring might not be outsourcing. If you had your own branch office in Nepal and hired your own people, it would be offshoring, but not outsourcing. If you are in Arkansas and hired a company next door to do your data entry, it would be outsourcing, but not offshoring.

Then, there is Nearshoring where you take your job and give it to somebody in another state or country that is not that far away. If an American companies hires someone in Mexico that would be nearshoring.

Then, there is Backshoring when you bring your overseas jobs back to the good ‘ole United States.

Then there is Non-shoring where you have your work done by the Outsourcing boat! Just have Isaac mix me another mojito!

All of these terms delight me, but what would be a good term for having someone on another planet do your work? What if your medium consults the spirits on the planet Gorkon for some deeply philosophical spiritual matter? Off-Planeting or Off-Terra-Firma-oring? Maybe Off-Terrestrializing.

Call earth for only 3 cents per minute!

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How can corporations encourage “garage entrepreneurship” in their workers?

June 14, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Innovation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

It is always inspiring to read about how Steve Jobs succeeded, and how a guy working in his garage became a billionaire through sheer passion, perseverance, and brain power. He made it there through “garage thinking.” Innovating on a shoe string in a garage! But, big corporations often lack innovative capabilities. Their workers are too engrained in the cubicle mentality. If you work in a cubicle, pretty soon your brain will become a cubicle if you ask me. To succeed you need tremendous drive, but you also need the independence and environment to succeed.

Using artificial conditions to foster entrepreneurship
Real start-up entrepreneurs use their garage often because that is the only place they can use. But, imagine what would happen if you put your workers in entrepreneur type positions and created a virtual garage in a huge warehouse next to your office? Or, what if you asked them to work at home in their own garage? In real life, garage type entrepreneurs start organically. I don’t think they can be artificially produced under the right circumstances. There is something innate about a good entrepreneur. Even if everyone around them tells them that it is bad to be an entrepreneur, they will want to do it anyway! I think that creating a warehouse filled with garages is a silly idea, but makes for a great blog article!

A plethora of garages
Imagine that these faux-entrepeneurs were asked to come to work unshaven wearing torn t-shirts or tank tops, whatever successful entrepreneurs wore when they started out. Let’s put a little more pressure on these folks. Real entrepreneurs will go broke and lose everything if they fail. They are under real pressure, and have real drive to make sure their invention doesn’t fail. Let’s sign a contract with these workers that if their invention sells, they get a percentage, but if they fail, they get fired and have to pay the company $5000. That contract will separate the men from the boys. No more excuses. This is the real deal. You can duplicate a dusty garage, but can you duplicate the pressure that a real entrepreneur goes through? The answer is — to a point. I’m sure that you cannot duplicate an entrepreneur’s drive to succeed, but what if someone with a quarter of that drive were put under the right combinations of circumstances — could that guy make it as an entrepreneur? It is quite possible.

Internal drives fluctuate
We all know that to become an entrepreneur you need tremendous drive and internal discipline. I remember stating businesses as a child. I was completely incompetent, yet I always worked really hard and managed to turn a profit. I have that innate entrepreneurial spirit that others lack. But, if someone with 25% of the necessary drive were thrown into a situation where they would be subjected to the same market pressures of an entrepreneur, I feel their drive would fluctuate in the up direction in many cases.

Summary
A warehouse filled with faux garages is a wonderful concept to think about and write about. I would love to see this concept documented on CNN one day and see it breed some real entrepreneurs that will change the world like Steve Jobs!

7 principles of Steve Jobs: #1. Do what you love!

June 8, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Innovation, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Although Steve Jobs never had principles for innovation, he did have 7 principles that drove him. These principles are Steve’s, but the interpretation is mine, based on my own experience fused with some of Steve’s commentary.

1. Do what you love
In any career there will be serious problems, setbacks and frustrations. If you don’t love what you do, no matter how good you are at it, you will be likely to quit or lose interest if you experience any big problem down the road.

2. Put a dent in the universe
It is hard to succeed in a big way if you have small goals. It is natural to think small, but train yourself to think big. If you have big goals and huge aspirations, you stand a chance to make a big difference in the world. Maybe not as much as Mr. Jobs, but, more than most other people!

3. Kick start your brain
Steve believed that having a wide variety of experiences helps you think more broadly. If you throw yourself in a variety of difficult situations, you will learn to think effectively in a wide variety of contexts. If you are always in the same place dealing with the same issues, you will not have the opportunity to grow much!

4. Sell dreams, not products.
One steakhouse sells steak, but the other sells sizzle. Which one gets the business? Nobody cares much about having a new toy, unless that toy will transform their lives. Even if you are in a small business catering to small clients, if you provide amazing service that makes their lives so much more pleasant, you will leave them with a dream-like nice feeling that they will remember! Salesmen tend to be good at selling dreams, but those dreams often turn into nightmares if they fail to deliver on promises. Have your product deliver dreams — not your salesman.

5. Say no to 1000 things.
I once read that the difference between a successful person and a very successful person is that a very successful person says no a lot more of the time. In real life, to get optimal products and optimal people, you have to narrow down your selection. Most people are mediocre. But, even among the very best people, their characteristics might not perfectly fit a team. The normal company selects one new employee after 100 points of contact such as an email, phone call or interview with a prospective employee. To have perfect employees, it might be better to go through 10,000 prospects to find that perfect one and a few backups.

But, in the innovation process, saying no has its place as well. You might need to try thousands of experiments and refinements until you get it just right! It is a long and tedious process, but if you do it right, you get a product that will be awe inspiring! if you settle for the third mediocre idea that you test out, and say, “Good enough,” you will never be world famous! Remember — good enough is the enemy of better!

6. Create insanely great experiences
I keep telling this to BPO companies. Why just drag yourself through your processes and beg people for more when you do a mediocre job on what you are doing already. Even the way people answer the phone tells me a lot about how good or bad they are. If you are passionate about your work, the way you answer the phone communicates that to the world. The way most BPO companies answer the phone, I know right away that I am going to have a miserable experience that I will regret for the rest of my life. Instead of offering acceptable or mediocre customer experiences, why not be the best in the universe? You’ll make more money, and will definitely be remembered.

7. Master the message
Many sales experts and motivational speakers are saying the same thing Steve is. Don’t sell by selling. Sell by telling stories that are magical about how someone’s life was transformed, or could be transformed by a particular product or service. If they do the math and realize the product will be good, they might go for it. But, most people think emotionally, so you have to make them feel an amazing feeling about your idea, otherwise, they will not be that active in supporting it, especially in bad times. I remember in a movie about rap artist BIG, someone compared living for paper, with living the dream. You have to sell your dream to others to get their support. So, master the art of crafting emotionally riveting stories to implant your feeling in the hearts of your listeners!

You might also like:

Steve Jobs Principle: The more people you network with outside your field
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/08/28/outsource-steve-jobs-principle-the-more-people-you-network-w-outside-your-field/

Do you use the Steve Jobs principle: Think Differently?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/05/25/do-you-use-the-steve-jobs-principle-think-differently/