Author Archives: 123outsource

Getting workers to care

November 21, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged Teaching integrity to workers | Leave a comment

It should be a science to figure out how to get workers to care. Managers often study how to milk more productivity out of their staff, but do they study how to make workers care? One elderly manager in the United States told me that caring / integrity is the FIRST thing he looks for in a worker. He told me that if a worker lacked skills, that skills could be taught, but that teaching integrity was not generally possible.

So, perhaps starting out with workers who care makes sense. But, a more interesting topic to discuss is how to optimize worker caring. There are many ways to get workers to care more. Making them feel like a part of the company and a part of the long range membership of the company makes alot of sense. Some executives include all workers in profit sharing and stock options. With huge companies, I personally feel it makes more sense to have workers reap a long term benefit if their particular department does well in addition to the long term wellness of the organizatin as a whole .

Another aspect that is typically purposely ignored is tying the workers into how the customer feels. Todays workplaces are segmented with the salespeople selling,, and then forgetting about the client after the sale is made. The technical staff does its part without interfacing with the customer, and the accounting department doesn’t see a human face of the client either. Having workers be more part of the whole transaction in an emotional sense seems to be practical. If programmers see a client when they are happy that things went well, or frustrated when things don’t go well, perhaps they will care more. If a salesperson is held responsible for selling the wrong thing to a client and actually talks to clients throughout the business relationship, they will have a very different attitude.

Integrating segmented companies is important in business. Departments need to be able to seemlessly communicate with each other, and all workers need to be in touch with clients in one way or the other. My idea is very unpopular with many companies who don’t want most of their workers interfacing with clients at all. Additionally,, most workers don’t want to be bothered talking to clients and simply don’t have the social skills to do so in any case. But, there must be some way to have all workers get some sort of feedback of how the customer’s life is improved by their work, or inconvenienced by their failure to do what they are supposed to.

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians?

November 14, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: India | Tagged NRI Indians, Readjusting to India | Leave a comment

My friend told me a story about his buddy. His friend seems to go back and forth from India to California. He had a job here in California managing seven workers. It was okay, but he longed for India. He went back to India every year to see family and meditate, etc. This time, he decided to get a job in India, so he could be close to the family.

This character is a perfect example of how NRI Indians have a tough time readjusting to Indian life. Indians get used to America after a year or two, but getting used to India after living in the states for five or more years is daunting and perhaps impossible for many.

In any case, this loveable NRI got a prestigious job in an IT firm in Chennai. Instead of having seven people under him, he got twenty-four. Yes — this is how management is done in India.

In America, everyone wants to be the boss, but few want to be the worker. We call this scenario by a name created based on Native American culture —

Too many “chiefs” and too few Indians.

When we say Indian in this context, we mean Native Americans since they were confused by the early European explorers and thought to be Indians from India despite the fact that they didn’t wear saris or cook dosa! I don’t think the Christopher Columbus ever had the luxury of ever having a dosa (he should have stopped for a bite in New Jersey).

But, in India, management has the opposite problem. Too FEW chiefs, and too MANY Indians! How can any one manage 24 employees? In any case, this manager was on call 24 hours a day it seemed. The phone was ringing off the hook. There were hundreds of projects simultaneously going on. The stress was piling up. Finally, he took a vacation to a remote part of Tamil Nadi. He couldn’t enjoy himself, and the phone was ringing off the hook. His wife askied him why he even bothered taking a vacation if he couldn’t relax. He said that he didn’t know. That vacation was his breaking point.

It was time to move back to America and go back to managing only seven workers. The moral of the story is — don’t try to manage 24 people no matter how good they are. You will go crazy, and there is no place to run unless you quit and move to California which is not possible for most people.

6 Habits of Successful Outsourcing Companies

October 23, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Outsourcing Articles, Popular on Twitter | Tagged bpo, BPO Companies, BPO in India, BPO offices, Outsourcing, Outsourcing Companies | Leave a comment

I have been talking on the phone to some of the most successful BPO outsourcing businesses in the market. I bet that you are very interested to know what I learned about their habits. There are those who beg for BPO “processes”, and those who get so much work, that it would make you dizzy. So, what is the difference?

(1) Knowledge at your fingertips
The larger and more successful BPO companies have someone knowledgeable answer the phone. The phone rarely goes to voice mail. The person you talk to on the other line can answer most of your preliminary questions, and make you feel confident that their BPO company can get the job done. The difference I see is that some companies have a very sophisticated and knowledgeable person who will talk to you, while others merely have someone “adequate”, who knows the basic answers. Some people at BPO offices I talked to sounded a bit bored, while others sounded like amazing people. I talked to one gentleman who had been a consultant who impressed me. I asked him how he learned to speak English so clearly. He told me how he did consulting all over the United States and London. He is a breed of his own, and guys like him would be too expensive for most of us to hire. But, if you want BPO business, hire someone really good to answer your phones.

(2) 24 hour phone answering?
I just talked to a company that does IT related BPO processes in Delhi the other day (my day — their night). The guy on the other end of the line sounded bored, but he spoke good English and answered all of my questions. His company had hundreds of workers, so they were doing many things right. I prefer to speak to exciting and fascinating people, but someone who gets the job done is much better than 95% of the OTHER outsourcing outfits do.

BPO Business these days is global. If you want to catch calls from other countries, it might matter WHERE your office is — however, it matters more WHEN your office is. If you have an office in Delhi and you answer your line all night long (which is daytime in America), then you can get American clients. You will need an American phone number so you don’t scare off the Yankies. Having an office for BPO in America with locals answering the phone will make you sound local, but to me, knowledge sells much more than having an uneducated blonde on the other end of the line. Have someone who can answer basic business questions who answers the phone. Don’t make prospects work to talk to a salesman. You wait on them, they shouldn’t have to wait for you.

(3) Having the staff to do the job
Big companies have large staffs. They have staffs of different levels of experience, and different specialties too. No matter what type of BPO job you throw at them, they have the availability to get the job done. If you want to get ahead in your outsourcing outfit, you had better have people who are ready to jump on new projects, otherwise you will not get the new projects. Think ahead.

(4) Being flexible
I have notice that many of the companies with 20-40 workers can be very rigid. They want tight contracts that protect THEM, but put their client in a very constricting position. I noticed that the larger BPO outfits are often more flexible about terms. Since they have such a huge staff at large companies, they don’t NEED to lock you into a constrictive contract. In any case, you should be in business to make life easy for your clients if you want to have enough clients to have 200 workers. Think like the big guys — do you think they don’t philosophize about how to please their clients better?

(5) Having higher level workers
Many companies that offer BPO in India have low-end staff, and perhaps a few senior workers who have four or five years experience. If you want to get serious clients, please consider having high-end staff available. Some projects require higher level skills, while some require a mixture of levels of skill. If you only have low-end people, you will scare off the serious clients. If you want to grow your business big, you need big clients, and big clients want smart workers. Think ahead! Big companies in India who do outsourcing have a higher percentage of high skilled people, and they are more accessible than in medium or smaller companies where those “experts” are likely to be tied up on some other project and too busy for your new clients. If you want to get clients like the big guys, give them some skilled workers. It makes all the difference.

(6) Good communication
Some companies in India have great workers, and write good emails, but have a horrible phone manner. Little BPO companies in India almost always are horrifying on the phone. No respectable client would hire them to even pour a cup of coffee with their bad communication skills. The bigger companies seem to have a much better command of phone etiquette and English. However, even many huge companies in India still are far from perfect on the phone — phone manners seem to be a problem across the board in India. But, I will say one thing: the larger BPO companies are MORE LIKELY to have staff with good English and good phone etiquette than the smaller companies.

Don’t interview the salesperson

October 22, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged Hiring outsourcing companies, Interviewing outsourcing companies | Leave a comment

Don’t interview the sales person.

If you do business with high tech companies, or other outsourcing companies, the salesperson is the worst person to talk to. They only care about scoring a sale, and will answer yes to all of your questions. If you talk to the technical manager, they might say no to all your questions, but at least that is honest.

In the long run, you will be dealing with project managers, staff members, and perhaps the boss himself. But, after the sale is made, the salesperson is out of the picture, so why deal with this person in the first place?

Sure, you are forced to deal with the salesperson, but you can ignore everything they say (recommended), and then have your second interview with a real person who gives real answers. You need to interview all members involved in your work if you choose to hire an outsourced company. If you can’t communicate with the programmers, or if the call center workers don’t communicate the way you like — you will be sorry — and the salesperson will not be in a position to help either.

Indians who succeed use their real name

October 13, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: India | Tagged Using your real name | Leave a comment

Indians who succeed use their real name!

It seems to be the culture in North India that you have to be Americanized. But, the Americanization is really fake. I see people on TV wearing very American clothes and doing American activities, but their style of interaction is very uptight and completely opposite from how Americans interact. To make it in America, you are better off being a traditional Indian who wears a sari and has good interaction skills.

People in North Indian call centers are brainwashed into thinking that they have to be white skinned, have a neutral accent, and be a fake American to succeed. Unfortunately, the fake Americanization people go through seems to have no bearing on what the real American culture is, and is just a cheap imitation or what the Chinese might call a knock off. It is like buying a fake Rolex in Hong Kong for $5… It might outwardly appear to be a Rolex at first glance, but it is an imitation, and it shows.

Even when I see North Indian girls (from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, etc.) socializing in America, they wouldn’t be caught dead wearing Indian clothes, yet they never seem to socialize with real Americans. Hmmm. If they REALLY were Americanized, they would feel completely at home with real Americans, right? The truth seems to be that traditional South Indians — with their dark skin, saris, arranged marriages, and so on, are MORE compatible with Americans than bleached Aryan looking Indians who wear Denim and shorts and make a fake attempt at being a Westerner. Why is this? INTERACTION STYLE. The way South Indians interact is more gentle and calming — Americans are more agreeable to this style of interaction than the spastic manner of their counterparts in Delhi.

The Indians who I know who are getting ahead — far ahead — are themselves. They are real. They are good at what they do (really good in fact). And they do NOT use a fake American name!

Can a techie be trained to be a people person?

October 5, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged Training people skills, Training technical people social skills | Leave a comment

It is so common in companies that the customer service people have nice personalities, but are idiots when it comes to anything technical. They will get the answer wrong 90% of the time, making them nothing more than a pretty voice on the other end of a pretty phone. Sure, it is nice to talk to someone nice, but how long will you be patient if they give you wrong answers most of the time.

On the other hand, there are people who are technically gifted. These folks tend to be very anti-social. Getting them to say hi audibly can be a challange.

So, my philosophical business question of the day is: Is it easier to train a sociable person to be technically competent — or is it easier to train a technically savvy person to have a good personality — or ANY personality for that matter?

I think that people are not so neatly defined as I make them out to be, and everyone has a different configuration of traits and unique qualities. I think the answer here could be on an individual basis, but I am learning more towards educating the sociable types.

My experience tells me that antisocial people can not learn to act like humans. I tried for years to get programmers to have conversations and invited them to many dinners (that I would pay for), and they refused every time. It didn’t matter if they were Americans, Indians, Chinese, or Martians, their personality traits were the same — anti-social. So, we have to take those who are considered to be “a people person”, and train them how to be a little less idiotic when someone asks them a technical quesiton. My experience tells me that there are “people people” who are also very gifted technically, and many who can engage in deep thought and sophisticated problems.

I remember a guy named Josh who was the most pleasant person I think I have ever met. He gave very intelligent marketing advice, and gave great answers to questions that were completely outside of his training as well.

If you take ten people people, and train them how to really understand technical issues, you might find that three or four can really excel at answering technical questions. They might need double the training that their technically experienced counterpart might need, but if they can retain the knowledge and use it for a few years, then the training pays off.

How to sell like a pro – what exactly do they do?

June 25, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Of Interest, Sales, Semi-Popular | Tagged How to sell like a pro | Leave a comment

How to sell like a pro

I am constantly made aware, generally against my will, of the difference between a seasoned professional sales person, and an annoying minimum waged buffoon who makes annoyance calls with the hopes of selling you something. The difference between these two types of characters is vast, and not that subtle either. If you want to become a better sales person, it pays to make a study of the difference in the mentality and style of a professional verses that of a nitwit.

Portrait of a nitwit
The numskull salesperson looks at the clock, tries to calculate how many calls they can squeeze into a slot of time. He will calculate how long each call takes and what his chance is of making a sale on each call. The novice will not know his product well, and will not listen that much to the prospect either. This beginner type will come across as awkward, annoying, and not much more than a nuisance. Despite all of the calculations, this type of salesperson will probably make between minimum wage and $40,000 per year which is a very low salary for a salesperson. He will lack an understanding of psychology, marketing, and matchmaking (which product works best with which client, etc).

Portrait of the James Bond type salesperson
A seasoned professional has a very different way of looking at sales. There is no hurry, no desperation, and the calculations of how long calls take and the likelihood of success on any particular call are statistics he knows well, but doesn’t DWELL on all day long. The seasoned salesperson is like the smooth and well-dressed guy who attracts girls without even opening his mouth — half of the work is done purely on demeanor alone! The seasoned pro is confident and cool. He speaks with a strong, but not overbearing voice (I’m generalizing a caricature). He has little nuances in his voice and is irresistably personable and intelligent. This guy can chat with you and get to know you. He will figure out where your buttons are during the chat, and then move towards the sale later. Timing is everything. Rather than reading a script and talking endlessly, he will be much more interested in LEADING the conversation and getting to know you — or at least getting to know what he needs to know about you and your company. He will move from small talk to different subjects, you might talk about your baseball game, and then move on to how your business is going. After talking and introducing his products and services to you, he will continue to be very smooth, and reserve his pressure tactics until the critical moment. Perhaps he will mention some dangerous risk associated with not being under his company’s care. He might mention how his competitor’s overlooked some critical aspect of their work which cost a particular company millions, and how going with a company other than his might cost more than you have, or even put you under water!

The exact timing and tactics vary from industry to industry, but a beginner salesperson needs to understand the winning mentality and play the part convincingly too. If you train salespeople, you need to understand the mentality too, and how to teach it. Some people just are not made for this type of career, so pick your sales people well!

But, there is more to the profile
I have made it a practice to watch and notice things. I notice people and their behavior, and where it gets them in life. Why does one person end up in a mansion while the other ends up in a homeless shelter? How they think and what type of habits they have influence where they end up quite a bit. The personality of the minimum wage salesperson is that he will memorize some sports scores and be able to make some very primitive conversation about his favorite sports team. He will know about burgers and tacos, but his only knowledge of cuisine will not go further than the basics of his favorite artisan brew. The James Bond type salesperson will know about the sports teams, not necessarily out of interest, but because he NEEDS to be able to speak the language of his clients. If his clients speak sports, then he speaks sports. If they like music, he talks about music, etc. The sophisticated salesperson will often understand much more sophisticated aspects of business, accounting, culture, politics, fine wine, world cuisine, and be able to talk about any type of topic — shallow or deep. This saavy type will not stress over particular sales. He is making at least $200,000 per year, on a bad year, and is simply too cool to perspire over small things like a petty two million dollar deal.

I always like to talk about my neighbor who speaks five languages. He will have breakfast in Singapore, lunch in Japan, and Dinner in Arabia chatting up millionaire business people in a variety of tongues. He can talk about any topic in any language ranging from sports to politics, music, art, travel, and more. His sales are typically in the million dollar range and he fits the part of what I call “The gentleman of the business”.

I wrote another blog entry about annoying call center workers. There is a very culturally relevant passage about Arab and Jewish business traditions which involve a lot of what Jews call “Schmoozing”. It is a great extension of this subject matter… In any case, a seasoned salesperson is at home just chatting with clients while sipping on a glass of wine while wearing a $1000 Armani suit. He is not bothered or pressured by his need to close a deal. He is much too cool for that. He understands that people like to make purchases from people they (1) Know, (2) Trust, and (3) Have confidence as a source of accurate and helpful information. The socializing as pleasant as it may be, is merely a means to strengthening the client’s confidence in the salesperson and the relationship. Short term lowly paid screwball salespeople will never get to this level, and will never understand it either!

Tweets:
(1) He did million dollar deals without a single drop of perspiration!
(2) A portrait of a nitwit: clock-watcher, ignorant about his product, awkward, annoying, and little more than a nuisance.
(3) The James Bond type salesperson: he wouldn’t be shaken, he wouldn’t be stirred. He keeps his cool, no matter what!
(4) Portrait of a Pro: there’s no hurry, no desperation & he instinctively knows if the deal will go through early on.
(5) The seasoned pro salesman: He can chat w/you & learn where your buttons are so he’ll know where to push and how hard!

(6) The seasoned pro will learn things beyond his selfish interests in order to relate to his clients on a personal level.
(7) The pro sees the big picture. He sees the value behind really bonding w/a client. #schmoozing
(8) Are you seen as knowledgeable, trustworthy & a source of accurate information? If so, many will buy from you!

You might also like:

Annoying call center workers… (and the art of schmoozing)

Does your company have testimonials from happy clients?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/30/does-your-company-have-testimonials-from-happy-clients/

The power of knowing people in outsourcing
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/10/the-power-of-knowing-people-for-outsourcing/

Capitalizing on the shock factor in sales
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/03/capitalizing-on-the-shock-factor-in-sales/

The 2 Minute Contact Rule!

June 22, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Outsourcing Articles, Popular on Google+, Semi-Popular | Tagged 2 Minute Rule, Prospecting for new clients | Leave a comment

The 2 Minute Contact Rule

For those of you in marketing, what I learned in my years can be reduced to a few simple principles. One of these simple principles is something I will spend the next two minutes explaining to you — it is called, the two minute contact rule.

If you are prospecting for new clients or calling existing clients, contractors, subcontractors, or people you work with, the rule still applies. Business is about relationships, and the key to relationships is mastering the stages of a relationship. You get to know someone, you consider working with someone, you start work with someone, you develop your working relationship, and then from there it either ends or it blossoms!

As a general rule it is good to make quick regular contacts with people you work with. It strengthens your relationship with them regardless of who they are. You will be in the front of people’s minds if you keep in regular contact. They will be more likely to want to work with you, and they will be likely to do better work for you too.

Prospecting
If you are prospecting for new clients, the most important thing is NOT to make a sale right away. It is hard to sell to a stranger, so the first hurdle is to make the stranger an acquaintance, and one who likes you. It is good to make a quick contact with a decision maker. Be nice and be positive. Let them know that you are there to help and listen to what they have to say about their needs. Nobody likes a pushy salesperson with a deal they want to push down your throat. Never be pushy! Be gentle, friendly, and prove to them through knowledge (not force) what a helpful asset you can be to them. Your first call to a prospect could be as little as two minutes where you introduce yourself and your company, and what you could offer them. It is not even about price or availability at that point. The point is people connecting with people — it is powerful and it is effective for future sales. The fact that they have gotten to know you a little, and that you were pleasant and helpful makes you 100 times as likely to get a deal out of them than some other clown (not that you are a clown).

Calling those who you work with
If you hire people, or work in conjunction with others, it is great to make a two minute call from time to time. It is a little like throwing another little stick on the fire. It keeps the fire going, and momentum is everything in relationships and business. You can just say hi, and bring up one or two quick points in a casual way. If you live in India, many of you need to learn to be more casual in your business relationships — being uptight just isn’t pleasant for others (at least not by my standards). The people who you work with will work better with you as a result of your quick call. They might work more efficiently for you or put in more hours just because they are thinking more about you, and thinking in a positive way.

Calling existing clients
People who succeed in business do so generally by having many long term clients. Building momentum and trust is everything. Giving your existing clients a quick call is a wonderful thing to do. I do this all the time. They might have questions which they never thought to email you about. Your call will stimulate these questions, and thoughts about purchasing more. I notice that when I contact several hundred people in a two day period with quick calls, there will be many new sales as a result of these quick talks. Not everyone buys something, as a matter of fact, relatively few purchase anything as a result of the call — at least right away. But, a few will make a purchase within 72 hours, and then others in a week or two, and a residual sale or two will pop up a few months later as a result of your quick calls. If I put a dollar or rupee value on these quick calls, it might be worth $200 or more per hour to me in the long run. That is a lot of money by my standards!

What to talk about?
In a quick call, you could ask the other person if they have any questions. Or, you could ask a few quick questions, or quick discussion topics. You could also make quick pointers or customized suggestions for a client. NEVER make general suggestions, because it can turn people off. It shows that you care and are paying attention if you offer suggestions that are taylor made for the individual you are talking to, and this applies to emails to. If you segment your email blasts to target companies with similar needs, then you are sending companies information that is particular to them which they are very likely to appreciate!

Let bygones be bygones?
On the other hand, it is part of efficient management technique to know when NOT to contact someone. If a relationship proves to be fruitless, you need to know how to identify how fruitless it is in order to stop all contact. Don’t waste your time contacting companies or individuals who are just not worth it. Become an expert at assessing other people’s worth — and don’t listen to those religious types who say, “Judge Not” — that doesn’t apply to business. Judge! And judge effectively!

You might also like:

Capitalizing on the shock factor in sales
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/03/capitalizing-on-the-shock-factor-in-sales/

6 strategies for growing your outsourcing business fast
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/16/6-strategies-for-growing-your-outsourcing-business-fast/

Types of tweets that win the game
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/15/types-of-tweets-that-win-the-game/

Promoting your products with humor and information using social media
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/05/28/social-media-promoting-your-products-with-humor-information/

Rules verses Reality: Feng Shui and Vaastu

June 19, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Vaastu Feng Shui | Tagged Rules vs Reality, Water to the north | Leave a comment

Rules verses reality of Feng Shui and Vaastu

For those who are regulars to my blog, you will know that I look at business in a multi-dimentional way, including metaphysical viewpoints in my greater perspective. India has Vaastu, and China has Feng Shui. Both are concerned with finding lucky spots and lucky directions, and I use it DAILY in real life — and I am no fool. Yes, it works, but you have to know how to work it!

The rules don’t always apply?
I went to a formal Feng Shui school. We learned how to do charts of houses and learned formal rules of feng shui. I didn’t stay long enough to learn the advanced materials, but enough to know how to do basic readings. There is a simplistic rule that water to the North is good for money. Another general concept is that places where the affluent stay have a better vibration for making money. My last Feng Shui trip to San Diego proves this that this theory doesn’t always produce favorable results.

I frequently go to the San Diego area in California to de-stress after weeks of over-working. The relaxing energies there really help, and the water energy at the beach is great for my health and spirits. The purity of the water there helps too, as the coast in Los Angeles county is impure from all of the heavy industry and heavy thoughts in the air! I stayed at a few different hotels to test out the Feng Shui. I stayed a really swanky place for one night. The Hyatt. Wow, was it expensive, and the soaps smelled so nice. If only I were a millionaire, I could stay there every night and have fragrant body lotion and fluffy towels every day! My business did extremely well the following day after a night at the Hyatt. But, the next night I wanted to try out the theory about how water to the north is good for money and business.

I know from experience and from school that water to the North is good for money, but if the water isn’t moving, it doesn’t help so dramatically. When I go to Yosemite National Park, I will stand directly South of a large waterfall to absorb the energies of the fast moving water directly North of me — and YES, I bring a digital compass to verify the exact direction.

Water to the North doesn’t always help?
But, during my last trip to San Diego I stayed at a hotel on the La Jolla Beach coast that had water directly North and West, and the waves were decent enough to surf on. The hotel was in a well to do area, but I got a cheap rate since I arrived late and left early. They gave me the “crash” special. Rich area — water to the North — this is a formula for wealth, right? WRONG! We made very modest sales the following day. By the way, my experience with lucky Feng Shui spots is that they effect you for roughly 24 hours after you arrive, so I track sales the following day after staying at a hotel or having a long dinner in a lucky restaurant. My only conclusion here is that the hotel was too old, and had a bad chart which was why my sales weren’t better the next day. Or, perhaps I just went on an unlucky day? Astrology is a factor here too. It is best to try a location on three non-consecutive days to get a basic preliminary reading assessment.

Poor areas aren’t always bad!
The next night I stayed in my favorite town of Encinitas. I love this place because the people are very nice, and the restaurants and coffee houses are so interesting and unique. Have you ever tried cardamom ice cream or dark chocolate cayenne ice gelato? You should! And, you should try it very soon if you have good taste! I love this town because Yogananda built a beautiful meditation garden there that has been blessed by the gods including lord Krishna. Even Jesus appeared there in astral form before Yogananda at that garden once! I like to meditate there and absorb all of the divine energies plus the healthy vibrations from all of the flowering plants and the sea. A few weeks before, I stayed at a very modest hotel in the area, and sales the next day were almost nothing. So, I thought the whole area had a bad money energy. But, this time, I stayed at another modest hotel, and sales were through the roof. We made triple the average new sales that day. So, the moral of the story is that knowing all of the various feng shui rules is good for your personal reference, but sometimes a very average place might have very good feng shui. You really have to spend time in many places to get a good feel for which place is lucky and which place is not. Take notes otherwise the experiences you have will go to waste!

Regardless of what country you live in, there are lucky places you can go. Even if you only go to a place for an hour per day, that is long enough to get roughly 40% of the energy you would get if you were there for 24 hours which can change your business tremendously. Visiting a lucky hotel, waterfall or restaurant can completely transform your business if you go regularly. This is part of my lifestyle because it is powerful!

Techniques for interviewing outsourcing companies

June 16, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Of Interest | Tagged Asking Trick Questions, Interviewing Techniques | 1 Comment

Techniques for interviewing outsourcing companies

Don’t be confused reading this post. This is not helping the job seeker interview. This is helping the company boss give an interview to a company that he is considering hiring for some outsourced tasks.

What is the goal of the interview?
You can never know how good an individual’s work is, or how good a company’s work is unless you try them out. But, you can only try one company out at a time (generally), and it is expensive if you choose one who does a poor job or is aggravating to work with. So, asking the right questions is really important. The problem is that people always tell you what they think you want to hear, so you have to use tricks.

An interview with a customs inspector – trick questions
Actually, I don’t know if this guy intentionally tricked me or not. He asked what my address was, and I gave him my mailing address, not my physical. He asked if I was the only one at that address, and I said yes, because it was a mailbox that only I had access to. Then he asked me about my physical address and I said I had housemates. He raised his voice in anger and said that I told him that I was the only one at that address. I told him that many people have mailing addresses, and that I thought he was talking about the mailing address, because that is the address I give to people in case they want to send me something. The point here is that he might have been profiling me as a criminal and wanted to see if I panicked if he raised his voice and accused me of telling him false stories. I’m not sure what tricks or techniques he was using, but this could have been a sophisticated technique.

Ask probing questions
If you are at a restaurant, and the waitress comes over and asks, “How is everything?”. This is the most stupid question you could possibly ask — and 99% of waitresses ask exactly this question. Nobody will give you a true answer, so why bother asking? You would be better off asking if they needed anything. Everyone will say everything is fine unless something is very wrong. If you REALLY want to find out how they gauge the quality of your food and service, ask something more probing. “Was there enough garlic in the burger?”. That is a question that brings out the food critic in me. If you ask a prospective employee, “Do you like your work?”, do you expect him to say no? You can read his body language, because that doesn’t like. If he starts looking at the floor when you talk about work, that is a sign right there. If it were me, I would ask open ended questions that start with, “Tell me about your past work experience and about the programming languages you use”. That forces them to think and create conversation of value. I might also ask, “What do you think are the characteristics that makes a good call center worker?”. That way you can see if they are in tune with what matters, or at least what matters to you. But, what if you want to see how they handle sticky situations?

Catch them offguard!
In real life, some people are honest, some stretch the truth, others are nonsense artists, some are helpful, and some are neglegent. You need to get as good a picture of the people you are hiring before you are “involved” with them. It is costly to get out of a work relationship sometimes — emotionally and financially.

I was a bit rude at an interview once, and found that I got amazing input about the company from this rude remark. Please keep in mind that when I made this statement, I was not intentionally trying to catch them offguard, it just happened spontaneously. I said that the neighborhood they were in was scary, and that there seemed to be a lot of drug activity in the area. The girl said that drugs were everywhere — which is sort of true, but avoided the point that their area had exponentially more drugs than most. Then, I said that many people outside were wearing winter hats in 75 degree weather, which is indicative of drug or alcohol dependence. The girl said that the locals felt cold since they are used to much warmer weather. I learned that the type of answers I got from my off the wall comment were valuable to me, because I got to see how this individual handled controversy — and she handled it politely, but with evasion.

The problem is that conflicts happen when you use a company, and you need to know as much as possible about how they handle conflicts. You need to know if they keep appointments on time. You need to know if they overbill, or are careless in their work too. Other companies might ditch you in the middle of a big project. There are many types of debilitating issues that can happen when you hire a company.

The most serious issue I have with companies is that you might work with a different employee every year or two in a company relationship. One employee might be wonderful, while the other one might be a disaster from hell. A particular company is only as good as the employee that they have who works with you now!

So, how do you craft probing questions?
Probing questions are easy. Just ask open ended questions that can only be answered with a paragraph. If the interviewee clams up, then you know that the person is really not very thoughtful. If the person has a very thorough answer and peppers it with a few little jokes, then they are very thoughtful. You might get an answer that sounds like it comes from a textbook in a dull monotone as well which tells me all I need to know.

And how do you craft trick questions?
Hmm. This really depends on what you want to find out. If you want to find out if they bill for excess hours, then you could mention in passing how this “Other” company you heard of gave your friend a crazy bill with all types of inflated figures and unauthorized charges — see how the interviewee reacts. You might learn nothing from this, or just get a politically correct neutral answer. They might assure you that THEY would never do that. It is hard to tell what you will actually learn. If it were me, I would pay attention to their level of anxiety when you ask this question, and what their body language tells you.

If you are concerned about being ditched or put on the back burner in the middle of a long project, discuss the topic of time sensitive contracts with incentives and penalties for timely or untimely delivery of work up to specifications. See if they would consider it. A contract doesn’t really protect you. Someone irresponsible will fail on a contract very often, and perhaps get sued, while someone reliable will be true to you with or without a contract. A company’s willingness to sign a time sensitive contract would be an encouraging sign, but there is no such thing as a definte sign — there are only indications.

If you think that many employees are drunkards, you could make a remark about how many people in the neighborhood or at some other company you went to were drunkards. See how people react.

Summary
You will learn nothing by asking questions that lead people to only one answer. Don’t ask if they like their job, and don’t ask if they are conscientious. As HOW they are conscientious, and WHAT they like about their job. Ask probing questions, and try to catch people off guard to see what happens. Prepare a few curve ball questions and take notes on how everyone reacts. With Indians, this might be a little harder to manage, because there are many people in India who are emotionally very over-reactive and panic very easily. Have fun, and keep the paramedics on speed dial just in case you accidentally ask someone if they did something bad that they actually did — and then they have a panic attack and have trouble breathing!

Indians who ask a million questions

June 10, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Of Interest | Tagged A million questions | Leave a comment

I was sitting in on a phone conversation between my assistant and some people in India.

Each step of the conversation, the person in India, had a list of questions that were asked in a very unfriendly TONE:

Who is this person? How do we know your address is what you say it is?

How do we know you are in America?

My assistant’s name is Maria, and the person she called thought she was Filipino due to her name. But, Maria is a name common for Christians worldwide. Mary, Maria, and in Arabic — Miriam, Mariana, all derive from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Filipinos do not have exclusive rights to Christian names, although they dominate the call center business.

It is confusing, because my assistant is from Vienna, Austria, but lives half the year in Los Angeles, California. Then, she does phone calls to India. Her global lifestyle can be confusing to others I guess.

So, my assistant said a few sentences in Hindi to the gentleman which proved herself to not be Filipino, since most Filipinos don’t know Hindi.

In any case, when doing business in India, people assume that every claim you make is false, so you have to have evidence that is easy for them to see that everything you are saying is verifiable!

When doing business with people in the West, don’t behave like this guy behaved or nobody will like you!

When to lose your temper at a BPO!

June 7, 2012 by 123outsource

Categories: Of Interest | Tagged When to lose your temper | Leave a comment

When to lose your temper at a BPO

As Americans, when we watch Indian managers at BPO companies or other companies act very politely to us, and then we watch them violently yell at their workers, we are shocked!!! This behavior simply doesn’t exist in America. Sure, American managers threaten, and give ultimatums to workers, but this abrupt yelling is a cultural oddity to us.

In America, the cultural norm is to have a talk with a worker who is not performing adequately. The manager might “write the worker up”, or threaten to. This means taking a note of what wrongdoing the worker did. If the worker gets written up several times, or has low performance in generaly, perhaps they might get suspended or fired. This would depend on the company, and the conditions.

But, India has an almost comical and theatrical way of dealing with these issues at BPO outfits and companies in general. It is so common for workers to ignore the instructions of their boss, and keep ignoring until they are yelled at. Sometimes, yelling is the magical medicine which resolves all problems. In America, a manager might get fired for yelling, but in India, it seems to be exactly what the doctor ordered.

So, if you intend to be part of BPO or other types of management in India, either from an American company, or as an Indian in India, you should practice your drama skills starting today. You can stand in front of the mirror and practice getting really angry. It’s all an act, but you need this skill to survive. Below is an example dialogue you can practice at home when you are feeling bored.

BPO Manager: “Surrendra!! You didn’t get the file to me by 3pm as I instructed!!!”

Surrendra: “Oh…..sorry, sorry, sorry…. right away sir”

BPO manager: “Don’t let this happen again — always be on time — every time — or I will be forced to let you go and you will die of malnutrition for sure!”

Surrendra: “Oh…. yes sir, yes sir, yes sir.”

Please note, that in India, when you apologize, it is normal to say sorry a minimum of three times really quickly!

Disclaimer: If you are going to be with a company that doesn’t permit bad behavior, please don’t lose your temper, or you can get fired yourself!