Category Archives: Call Center

What is the average age of someone working in a call center?

May 28, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Many people think that to work in a call center, you need to be under thirty and live in Manila. This is not exactly true, although there are probably a few hundred thousand individuals who match your description.

Roughly half of call center workers are thirty or younger, but there are older people as well. Only 10% of call center workers are over fifty which is another interesting statistic. There are more ladies than men in the industry, and the ladies often do not have a high level of education. Based on this information, I would tend to assume that call center work is entry level, and so unpleasant that nobody would want to do it into their old age unless they had been promoted to a higher level, or unless they actually liked the work.

Call center work doesn’t have to be an entry level job. With good training, and many years of experience on the job, a certain level of mastery is likely. Additionally, if management treats their agents with kindness and appreciation, why wouldn’t more people stay at the job for a longer period of time? A third point is that call center work seems to drive people crazy due to the long hours even if they enjoy it. But, what if your job consisted of only a few hours of calls, and you could do data entry, chat support, or something else during your other hours? It might be a whole lot more tolerable that way!

Some employers prefer to hire older employees who had more life experience who can establish a rapport with a wider range of clients.

Although most call center employees are young, you might be better off hiring older people who will really take care of the end-users attentively!

Management of Labor Disputes at Call Centers

May 27, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The problem with call centers is that management wants to get the maximum amount of labor out of their workers. Many call centers don’t train their call center agents much if at all. Many of these call centers put lots of pressure on their workers to do more calls per hour and work long hours. The result is a high attrition rate, and high burnout. The management can’t handle the pressure either and they tend to quit frequently as well.

The problem is, how do you get high volume, high quality work out of your workers? Keeping them in a pressure cooker will upset them. Is there a better way?

I have a friend who works in a tax preparation center. The more returns she does, the better she gets paid. There is an incentive and profit sharing program in action. She gets paid on an hourly rate, but that rate is set based on how well she did the previous year. For call centers, you could do the same. Pay your workers based on how good their quality and quantity was in a previous time period. That way you don’t have to hassle them and you can all be friends! Work at your own pace. Since call center work has a high turnover rate, why not pay people on how good they were the previous quarter? Give quarterly raises.

If you want to keep your callers around longer — don’t mistreat them. Give them appreciation, and more freedom, and pay based on results!

Call centers in the Philippines are getting more expensive than India

March 30, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Philippines | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Although the Philippines seems to be a country that is permanently cursed with poverty, prices for labor might seem expensive relative to India. The Rupee has been losing ground for the last several years. It went from around 40 per dollar to around 60+. Will this devaluation ever end? India has the corner on the market for price, but few companies have ever had a positive experience with an Indian call center.

The Philippines has over 1000 call centers. They are distributed all around the country. However, a huge percentage (roughly two thirds) are in urban areas near Manila such as Makati City, San Juan, Ortigas Center, Manila Proper, and Quezon City.

Call center outsourcing in the Philippines is not that old. It started in 1999 when Cyber City created an outsourcing facility in a former US Air Force base in Clark. That created a trend that really took off (no pun intended.) A decade ago, India had a huge lead in the call center industry, but now Philippines is #1 in line for being the biggest international outsourcing location for call center work.

Tweets:
(1) Call center prices in Manila are more than Mumbai due to fluctuating exchange rates!
(2) Call center outsourcing in the Philippines started in 1999 at a former air force base.

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http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/05/how-to-get-clients-for-call-centers-contracts/

Half a million Filipino call center workers are on American time

March 29, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Philippines, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

500,000 Filipinos live on American time! Their bodies are still in the Philippines, but could be said to be emotionally in the United States. They work and sleep on an American time zone. Additionally, they take their vacations when America is on vacation. Imagine celebrating the 4th of July in the Philippines! It sounds dreadful. Next, if disaster hits in a part of America, they become more involved with that snowstorm, power outage, or mud-slide than they would be if a tsunami or hurricane hit their motherland.

There is some sort of an emotional divorce that happens between the call center workers in the Philippines and “regular” folks. They just can’t relate to each other the same way after getting their call center job.

I have personal experience with this type of life. I sometimes will be on the phone with India all night for weeks in a row. I lived in India a few times before as well. But, this didn’t divorce me from our locals here in Los Angeles. I still relate to them the same way I did before. I relate to individuals — or not!

But, I think there is some truth to the fact that the first time in your life that you become immersed in a 2nd culture, a gap is created between you and your countrymen. There is just too much that you become familiar with that they know nothing about. It creates a huge division.

But, there is relief to having what I call a “bicultural gap.” In the Philippines they solve the problem by drinking beer, hard alcohol and consuming vast quantities of fried chicken! Maybe it is not the most healthy way, but they will figure that out when they get into their late thirties and forties!

Tweets:
(1) 500,000 Filipinos live, eat, sleep, and work on American time
(2) Their bodies are in Manila, but emotionally they are in the US #callcenterworkers

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How to get more clients for your call center
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Why Indian Call Centers Fail

March 16, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | Leave a comment

In a recent conversation with an executive who is an expert on setting up call centers in India as well as other countries throughout the world, I learned that a major reason call centers in India fail is poor management. And 90% of call centers in India fail. Start-up companies in India do not consider hiring an experienced call center manager to be a critical part of the first years’ budget! This sets up a vicious cycle that harms the business in three ways:

1) Poor skills and poor salary = poor attitude

When a new call center starts up, the company will very often spend money on everything else: office space, furniture, desks, technology (IT), and equipment. To be sure, these are important… but without an experienced manager from the call center industry, a call center in India will not be able to select, train, and retain the right staff. The company will also not know how to build the business and retain good clients without the expertise of a manager who has worked in that industry. Spend money on an experienced call center manager whom the company, callers, and clients can respect.

Frequently, a call center manager in India will earn the equivalent of $4000 a year…or less. It is not a position that commands as much respect as being an IT manager, for example. So finding an experienced call center manager and rewarding that person more than usual can be good for him/her–and good for business. Instead of going out and finding the best managers they can, companies are spending money on brokers to help them get clients. Many of these brokers demand money up front. Better to invest money in the key employee–a good manager–who will make your call center stand out from all the call centers in India!

An inexperienced call center manager may be distant, inefficient, and ineffective. Any of these problems in a call center in India will lead to failure.

2) Poor attitude = poor environment, poor employees, and poor retention

M any call center managers in India don’t care about finding, training, and rewarding good callers. Maybe they just don’t like people. They may even be rude or apathetic. This leads to caller burnout–and high attrition rate for callers and clients. A manager’s inability to create a good work environment predicts the failure of your relationships with clients and your business. Aim to have a manager who can motivate callers to stay–and become managers themselves!

The lack of respect a manager at a call center in India gets filters down from the manager to the callers to the person on the other end of the phone…which is why Indian call centers are currently not competitive with those in other parts of the world. If you run a call center in India– hire an experienced manager who commands respect and respects others!

Since most call centers in India suffer from 20 to 50% turnover in the first year, it is important to hire someone who can recruit and train a reliable group of callers who will make money for the company.
Which is worse–having to pay staff a bit more each year because they are pulling in good clients and establishing a successful business… or finding and training new callers all the time because management just does not know or care how things are done?

Studies show that work environment is as important as–and often more important than–salary…even in a call center in India where people may be desperate for work. A manager with experience in the call center industry will create a system of rewards that makes the place feel like home.

3) Poor environment & results = poor reputation = The End.

When managers do not treat callers well and do not know how to train callers, the company loses both callers and clients: long-term losses that cannot be reversed. According to a Wharton Business School study, call centers that keep more employees –and promote them from within–maintain a better customer focus and keep their clients. Call centers in India that develop a bad reputation with employees and clients fail in the first six months.
Remember: a bad reputation is nearly impossible to reverse…and certainly cannot be repaired as quickly as it is created.

According to the NY Times, as of August, 2013, business growth in India has slowed to 4.4% per year (down from about 8%). A great deal of this reversal is due to poor management.

Call centers in India are often hesitant to spend money on experienced managers. However, the ones that do spend their money on good managers are the ones that succeed in the long run.

Tweets:
(1) Call centers in India are often hesitant to spend money on experienced managers.
(2) Business growth in India has slowed down to 4.4% due to poor management.
(3) Poor skills and poor salary = poor attitude

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From 100 Indian call centers down to 1
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Call Centers in India: Is an English Accent Important? Just do Your Job

March 1, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Necessity–or Prejudice?

Do you feel you are somehow getting better service when someone at a call center in India speaks with an English Accent? Is it better to speak with someone who speaks perfect clear English but who is not energetic or helpful? Which person gets your respect and trust? These questions actually go right to the heart of our attitudes and beliefs about customer service.

Americans are notorious for complaining about companies who use callers from call centers in India because they are hard to understand, do not understand the other person’s accent, and do not inspire confidence. The conventional wisdom is that if you are calling native English speakers, your call center will do better if you have callers who speak with an English or American accent. Call centers in India that call people in the U.S. generally do better when they hire native English speakers. This is what the mainstream media generally reports.

It is possible, though, that Americans have become suspicious of foreigners and just aren’t willing to compromise on what they want. They feel uncomfortable with accents and immediately remember their jobs are being taken away be “these people.” According to a 2011 Q&A session with professor Steven Neuberg in Scientific American, “People who are foreign to us are more likely to pose certain kinds of threats” and are not seen as having our interests at heart. They are more likely “to take more than their fair share” and to cheat us. Currently, the Better Business Bureau and many other organizations that are reputable and influential have blogs that include consumer comments on “foreign” accents. The FTC itself has a website blog “Fraud Affects 25 million people” that includes many consumer comments demonstrating suspicion about foreigners. If foreigners are cool– should we condone such comments? If outsourcing is going to work–shouldn’t we be extra careful about what we say and publish? The spin on foreign accents always seems negative, never positive.

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English is The Cat’s Pajamas

That expression, by the way, is an English slang expression meaning “the top” or “the best.” Just how important is your accent?

According to most surveys, neutral English accents are preferred; people do not mind talking with someone from a call center in the Philippines, for example, because that person can speak clear English. That is a major reason why call centers in the Philippines are getting so much work lately: native English speakers want to interact with those who speak English.

Listen to the Information, Not the Accent

However– what if you are a highly motivated and reliable worker at a call center in India and you do not speak perfect English? A call center manager who employs callers in various parts of the globe told us that if your Indian accent is not particularly heavy–but you understand the person’s questions, can explain everything clearly, and make a good impression–you can do just as well as native English speakers if you just do your job.

Doing your job at a call center in India means conveying the message, getting a positive response from the person at the other end of the line, maybe making a sale or giving good advice about a product, and not having that person hang up on you or complain. If the person has gotten good information, he or she will not feel the caller with a foreign accent has been dishonest or unreliable in any way.

Just Do Your Job

If you are able to convince the person you are calling that you understand what is being said, and if you can respond in an upbeat manner with good suggestions or comments, you may do just fine.

I would rather hear from someone at a call center in India who is positive and smart than someone who sounds lazy and stupid but speaks perfect English. I don’t care what the person’s name is if I can understand what is being said and I get some good information. I am not worried that this person will take jobs away from the U.S, because that person is a human being who is trying his or her best…and where the jobs go is beyond my control. The success of the conversation depends only on whether the person is doing the job.

If you work at a call center in India, you owe it to yourself to try to speak clearly and give the very best information you can. Be natural and helpful, and don’t worry about the person on the other end of the phone. Just do your job!

You might also like:

Call centers in the Philippines are getting more expensive than India
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/30/call-centers-in-the-philippines-are-getting-more-expensive-than-india/

Why Indian call centers fail
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/16/why-indian-call-centers-fail/

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Tweets:
(1) Is it more important to have an English accent or to just speak clearly and do your job?
(2) Many Indians think a UK accent is the way to get ahead. Being helpful counts more!

Call Center Blues: Does Credibility Matter?

February 25, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

What is Credibility Anyway?

It comes down to trust. Basically, credibility means you are offering something worth listening to. Whether you work in a call center in India or a call center in the Philippines, the people you are calling need to believe you have information that can genuinely help them or improve their lives in some way. They need to feel you are calling to offer them something, not just to take something from them.

Here are three simple steps that actually create credibility:

The people you are calling need to hear that…

1) you have a name they can understand and will like.
Saying your name too quickly or in a way that sounds like you do not like your name will not create a reason for the person to want to find out why you are calling. Announce your name clearly and confidently at the beginning of the call. Imagine you are calling to tell them they have won a million dollars; the sound of your voice will make people want to listen!

Call centers in India often suggest a false name; however, using your real name (if you are allowed to) can be just as effective–if you are pleasant, upbeat, and knowledgeable. If you are required to use a false name, make sure it is one you choose and feel comfortable with. Saying your name with confidence and pride is the number one step in the entire process of creating credibility! People want to talk to someone who sounds like he/ she is worth talking to.

2) you know the name of the company you represent, and the name of the person you are calling. One experienced manager of a successful call center in India points out that a skillful, upbeat caller can create confidence and elicit a friendly response in less than one minute just by the way he announces his name, company name, and the name of the person he/ she is calling! On the other hand, if you mispronounce a name like you have never heard of it before, it shows you are not a friend or someone worth talking to. It does not create credibility.

3) you offer accurate and interesting information (name, address, account number, relevant product information–if it is a customer service or sales call). After you confirm their name, it will also help create credibility if you confirm any information you know about them (Do they own a particular product you are calling about? Do they live in Cleveland?). Even if you are from a call center in India that is nowhere near where they live, you can make them feel they know you by making them feel comfortable that you know something about them. Then, offer them new information in a way that is engaging and upbeat.

Two Known Facts:

Succeeding at these three steps in the first two minutes is proven to help people listen better, understand you better, and become engaged in the conversation.

A pleasant conversation creates warmth and builds credibility…and doubles your chances of success in making a sale or resolving an issue. People will feel you are right there in the room (or certainly in the same country)…instead of in a call center in India–or anywhere else.

Tweets:
(1) You gain credibility in a call center by having a pronounceable name & being able to interact
(2) A pleasant conversation creates warmth and builds credibility & makes the sale!

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Indian Call Centers: Credibility = a Great Voice

February 8, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Call Center Credibility = a Great Voice (Start Practicing!)

Many callers we know at call centers in India work so many hours that they are exhausted…and feel they cannot give every call their best. Their voices become monotone..and that means they lose credibility. A 2003 Harvard University study confirms that tone of voice has a great influence on what the listener perceives as a positive or negative message. Create a great tone of voice and phone manner so that you always make a positive impression!

Allure provides a certain type of credibility

Some callers we have spoken to at call centers in India develop an air of aristocracy– people who have grace and poise, and a tone of voice that captures people’s attention. Wow! When you hear this person on the phone, you feel honored to get the call. There is something delightful and alluring about a throaty female voice that rings with confidence, or a male voice that sounds like its owner is from a family with inherited wealth. It’s sexy and cool–and people will listen to you! Then, that personality you use on the phone will become part of who you are…and you may actually attract wealth. You will become your best self.

Practice saying your name and the name of your company and client

If you rush through your name or mispronounce someone else’s name like you have never heard of it before and it is not important, it shows that you are not a friend. You are not someone worth talking to! It does not create credibility. If you work at a call center in India, it is particularly important to establish credibility right away. You have only your voice with which to do that.

Practice saying your name and the name of the company so that it sounds impressive! Ditto the name of the person you are calling. Practice your new persona, that on-the-phone personality that glows with wealth or beauty. Practice calling friends and relatives on the phone.

Then–do the whole call in that alluring tone of voice. Studies show that with the right tone of voice, your success rate will increase. Everyone at your call center will envy you. That air of aristocracy will make your call memorable and earn $$ for you and your call center in India!

Tweets:
(1) Many call center workers in India work after they are tired making them sound horrible!
(2) In India, call center workers are so tired, that their voices become a monotone!

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http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/08/how-to-find-clients-for-call-centers-good-salespeople

From 100 Indian call centers down to 1

January 21, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Popular on Twitter, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

From 100 call centers down to 1

I just did a big clean up of my outsourcing directory. I found that there were many companies who were just not worth listing. If a company is paying to be listed on my site, then I am forced to keep them whether I like them or not. But, most companies on our site have free listings which gives me the freedom to remove them.

I called more than one thousand companies in various categories such as software, call center, data entry, etc. I found that in India, there are some very intelligent sounding people working in Web Design, .Net development and PHP programming services. But, the call center folks were not worth calling 99% of the time. Out of 100 call centers in India, I found only 1 who I felt was worth listing. I kept another few dozen to keep the site populated. What do you do when you call a call center and they answer with a practically inaudible, “Hullo?”.

Me: Hi, this is Jeremy from 123outsource.net, what is your company name?
Company: Who are you?
Me: I just told you, this is Jeremy from 123outsource.net, what is your company name?
Company: Who is this?
Me: I told you who I was twice, now you tell me who you are.
Company: What do you want?
Me: I just told you, I want to know your company name, so I can know if I am calling the right people.
Company: Why should I tell you, what is in it for me?
Me: I will remove you from our directory if you don’t tell me your company name. If I was a prospective client, I wouldn’t hire your company even if you worked for free.
Company: who are you?
Me: Never mind, I am removing you from our outsourcing directory. You have no phone skills whatsoever, it is scary to think that you dare call yourself a call center or any type of business for that matter.

They behave as if I am invading them in their bedroom just to know what their company name is. Why is it such a secret? If you want people to think you are professional, announce your company name and personal name when answering the phone. Answer all questions in a helpful way, and don’t be a pain in the neck like the 65 Indian call centers that we removed in September!

Tweets:
(1) From 100 Indian call centers down to 1 after the weeding out process.
(2) 123OUTSOURCE.NET weeds out the deadbeats who don’t know how to answer the phone. We over-and-out-sourced them!

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How to get clients for your call center – have your sales staff work American hours!

October 12, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How to get clients for your call center – have your sales staff work American hours!

It is commonplace for call centers to have their callers working an American schedule when they are located in Bangalore, India or Makati City. But, is your sales staff working American hours too? Or do you make it like pulling teeth to be able to actually speak to someone. Running a call center is a lot more complicated than running other types of businesses because the work is very time sensitive. Calls can only be made during particular windows of time.

We call call centers, but they don’t answer
My only question is, how can you be a call center when you don’t even answer your own phone? Maybe you should hire another call center to answer your calls so you see what it is like hiring someone like you! We had to call time after time after time only to find out that the manager only works a few hours on three days a week. What a pain in the rear.

Sales calls do not come all day long.
Sales calls come when they come. But, if you are not there when the calls arrive, then you will probably lose a new contract. If someone cannot reach you, they cannot do business with you, even if you came highly referred. It is sort of like waiting for the train in India 30 years ago. You don’t know when the train will come, but if you are not at the station, you won’t catch it! You might need to train multiple people at your company how to answer basic sales calls. That way you can keep prospects interested in your company while they wait for the manager to get back to them with final answers to questions about the initial contract. In the mean time, they can get answers to questions such as: how many employees to you have, what your specialties are, what typical contracts are like, etc. Everyone has different questions, but training a handful of people to answer basic ones can go a long way!

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How to Get More Business For Your Call Center — Better Training!

October 5, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

How to Get More Business For Your Call Center — Better Training!

Everybody in India wants to start a call center. But, those that succeed have better training for their workers. But, you might say, “I need BPO clients first before I can think about training, how can I get clients?” You can get call center clients by networking with others who have call center business. You can buy leads from them, or create advertisements visible to those in the West. But, if you don’t provide good service you will get dumped before you know it, and you will be out of business. So, GETTING business is not your problem — keeping it is the problem. Sure, it is hard to think like that when you don’t have business and have never had it, but try to think from the perspective of someone who has tried and failed in the call center industry and learned something! Training is the secret to keeping clients.

Impress people with your training
If you can impress upon prospective clients how well trained and flawless your call center employees really are, they will be more likely to want to sign a contract with you. If you simply hire people off the street and don’t invest in their skills at all, when the critical call comes in from a prospect, you will have no way to impress that person. Conversely, you will be very evasive, and try to sweet talk them. You will try to assure them that everything will be okay if they just sign that contract. This is not a reliable way to gain trust. Gain trust by getting to know people, and let people get to know your staff. Don’t hide your staff — show them off (if they are any good)

Americans are wary of bad service
Americans are so sick and tired of bad service from India. You should be very tuned into this sentiment instead of continuing to ask, “How can I get clients”. If you offered high quality service you would have to fight to get rid of clients. Instead, ask yourself how you can give Americans the best service that they ever had in their life. If you can make that fantasy a reality, then your phone will ring off the hook. Word travels fast.

How do you train people?
Part of the training is for management. Managers at Indian outsourcing companies typically have many unprofessional types of behaviors. They answer the phone saying, “Hello”. Professionals state their name and company name. Only 2% of companies in India have professional sounding answering machines that actually state the name of the company you called (so you don’t have to guess) and make it possible to leave a message. Whether they actually call you back is another story. Training sales staff to actually answer the phone and be able to answer basic sales questions is another matter to consider. But, actually training the workers is harder than you think. You are not American, and you don’t know how Americans like to be talked to! You need to hire someone who specializes in training call center employees to come to your office and give regular training sessions.

That sounds expensive!
Doing business is expensive. Paying salaries, rent, cab fares, utilities and other expenses are not for free. If you are going to pay all of these other costs, invest in training. My guess is that he who invests most in high quality training will probably grab a higher percentage of market share more quickly than any other company. Most companies are not even trying to compete. Americans are less sensitive to price variations as they are to quality variations in companies. Because, if you give them low quality service, then they will lose THEIR clients which will make them go out of business. Americans would rather pay a little more and get better service. I’m not suggesting that you charge double what the others charge in your area, but don’t try to be the cheapest, try to be the best. Sure, offer special sign-up deals for the first three months to get people on board if you need to, but in the long run, focus on quality.

What type of training do people need?
Call center employees need help with pronunciation, clear speaking skills, speaking loud enough but not too loud, and handling difficult situations. You need to be sensitive when there is a problem. You need to be on the side of the person you are talking to and care. You need to be able to explain complicated situations flawlessly to the person on the other end of the phone. Some call center employees can do this, but, many can’t handle even the smallest of complication. Learning American culture and expressions is always helpful. Mastering the art of American small talk is quintessential to success. But, it is the Philippinos who learn these skills almost effortlessly and not the Indians. Why is this? People in the Philippines have excellent interaction skills in general, and they rub off well on Westerners. People in India often just want to make a buck, and don’t want to learn anything about their client or interact with their clients. This attitude is not attractive to Americans and has to change! Otherwise there is no way that you will be successful!

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How to gain more call center clients: write professional emails

October 2, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged | Leave a comment

I have touched upon this topic so many times before. It is unbelievable how unprofessional so many people are in the call center outsourcing industry. If you have an unprofessional website, personal email address, or if you write text-English, you are unprofessional. If you don’t speak clearly, don’t express yourself clearly, or don’t have well trained staff, then you are once again: unprofessional.

You will lose any serious client if you write English like this:
“How r u? We want a new client 4 r call centre. Pls gve me a call rghit away”

This sentence is littered with Text-ese, spelling mistakes, and abbreviations. Nobody with any standards will have anything to do with you or your BPO if you write like this. Also, if you are writing a proposal to a known or unknown company, you need to address the email to a particular person and state their name.

Dear John Smith,
I am writing you to introduce our link building services. We provide …… etc….

If you are smart, you will either already know some of John’s INDIVIDUAL needs and offer a few choices of useful solutions, or at least ask him what he needs help with, or if he needs any help. If you have any trouble communicating, then learn to communicate in a businesslike way before you ruin your reputation!

If you run even a small call center, communicate professionally and people will take you more seriously!

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