Category Archives: Outsourcing Articles

Getting the feeling of success in your bones

March 12, 2013 by 123outsource
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I talked to a new programmer who I hired. He and I were doing some similar feng-shui experiments. He wanted to be successful, so he went and spent time in some very wealthy neighborhoods to get success in his bones. He is now successful, and hires 10 people. I’m sure that his visits to poshe areas helped. I am very inspired by this new programming boss because he thinks like I do. He takes analytics on everything, and belives in the power of feng-shui.

I have been visiting Bel-Air regularly. One of the most wealthy neighborhoods in the world. House values in Southern Bel-Air range from 3 million to 30 million. Rent can be $300,000 per month in some homes. What do you pay for rent per month? $300,000 is pretty expensive, especially when you don’t have roommates to split the rent and utilities!

The first time I visited Bel-Air as an adult, my business started to flourish. Keep in mind that I used to visit Bel-Air, CA regularly as a courier. I had daily deliveries there and went all around that neighborhood. But, that was 17 years ago, and I was in a different business then. I don’t think the neighborhood had much of an effect on me at that point. So, since the area had such a positive effect on me, I thought I would take my friends there. One friend came with me, and his business benefitted after the visit. But, my other friend said she didn’t benefit at all. So, I believe that the mystical energies in certain areas only benefit those who are in particular types of businesses, or are in some way tuned in to the energies.

But, there is more. Besides my income going up, the way I think changed too. A few months ago, I wanted my business to grow, but it was hard for me to picture it happening. Now, I am feeling my business expand under my very feet. I am picturing where it is going to be in a few months, and a few years. I am making my plans for what I should do today, because I see how it will effect me once I have evolved a little more in the next year. I am seeing the new types of staff members I will need, what their roles will be, and how nit-picky I will be about all procedures. I will have all of my procedures streamlined and semi-automated as well. I have also predicted the next type of business that I will go into on the side.

The bottom line is that you really need to picture your success unfolding and live it in your waking dreams to get that feeling into your bones. Live it like a virtual reality game. Keep picturing yourself living the type of life you want and doing the type of business you love. Plus get a lucky feng-shui spot that works for you. Maybe there is a part of the city that gives you good luck. Experiment a little and find that lucky spot. You won’t regret it. Remember — one spot that is lucky for you might not be lucky for someone else — it is very personalized!

The back burner strategy for outsourcing

March 8, 2013 by 123outsource
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I don’t see BPO companies who think like this. Most BPO companies have really obtuse pricing strategies. It is too bad, because they would be able to grow more, and pinpoint what their clients want with a bit more innovation in their pricing strategy.

Imagine that you are an outsourcing company. Imagine that you have four employees that do a type of task. Perhaps they are call center workers, or perhaps programmers. Programmers are a better example since they often do a few hours a week for one client and a few hours for another client. But, the type of work they do is immaterial. The point is that in any given type of shop environment, you might have certain workers who are just busy all the time, and others who might have free time. Or, you might want to hire someone new, but don’t have enough work to keep them busy full time. So, what do you do?

My suggestion is NOT to have a flat labor rate. The rate for labor should depend on:

(1) Which employee is assigned to a particular account

(2) How busy that employee has been during the previous quarter.

If they were really busy, then you raise their hourly rate by several percent each quarter they were booked up, until you reach an equilibrium.

(3) Charge based on the time sensitivity of the job.

Front Burner Jobs
Let’s say that you have three rates for each employee. Let’s say that Mary’s time will be billed at $100 per hour. However, if you have a rush job, Mary will put you first — no matter what. Since other people will be delayed, it is only natural that you would have to bill more for the rush job. “Front Burner” or rush jobs might be billed at $130 per hour for example. In real life, perhaps only $115 or $120. You should taylor your rate so that 15-25% of any employees monthly labor consists of “Front Burner” jobs.

Back Burner Jobs
On the other hand, what if a client wants you to work for cheap, but doesn’t care when you get the project done. In such a case, you could charge them $60 per hour for Mary’s work. However, Mary would only work on your job when she has no more medium burner or front burner jobs to do. You might be waiting for months to get even one hour of Mary’s time. The problem is that your client might LEAVE if nothing gets done on their project for months.

A Back Burner Contract Idea
So, you need a CONTRACT where you guarantee the client a certain amount of work that you will get done. In exchange for offering a low price, you need to get flexibility from the client in exchange. I feel this is fair. After all, if the client needs your company to be flexible by doing a rush job, you charge them more, right? Let’s say that the client has a job that is 200 hours of labor to complete. Let’s say that the client is willing to give you up to a year to accomplish this task, but you can go as fast as you want. However, the client wants to make sure that you are not completely slacking off, otherwise there is no point in assigning this project to you. So, you can have a contract that states that you will do at least 15 hours of work per month on their contract, but you can do as much as 100 hours per work on the job too if you like.

The Next Issue – WHO will be working on the Back Burner Job?
Back Burner jobs are perfect if you have an employee who is no longer in demand. If your previous star employee only has an average of 20 hours per week of billable work, and you don’t want to fire them, then a back burner job would cover your costs to keep that employee around. On the other hand, what if you never know which of your employees will have time to work on a project? Whichever has extra time on their hands would be perfect for that back burner project. On a brigher note, if your company is growing, your new employee might have very few paying jobs to keep him busy, so a back burner job would be great for the first few months until you can dump some high paying work on him. The problem is, that your client might like Mary to be doing the work, and if Mary gets busy, the client might not like it if John (the new guy) starts picking up where Mary left off. After all John is new and might not be any good. If you write a contract, you have to specify WHO is authorized to do the work on a particular project, or at least what skill level of people. Certain BPO jobs require a specific skill level after all.

It is complicated having different employees all with differing hourly rates, and then to add the complexity of billing based on time sensitivity. However, this way you can deliver optimal results to your clients and be more popular. To me, it makes sense if a company aims for having 10-20% of their total work being back burner work. Why? This way you have plenty of time to accept rush jobs, so you don’t keep your paying customers waiting… Think about it.

Many BPO companies will take on a new client and promise to get their project done fast. Then, they will get a much bigger client, and put the smaller client on the back burner without consent. This is a dirty business technique used by so many programming houses. They basically ruin the schedule of the smaller company, and lose them as a client. Then, the big client might dump the BPO company as well, leaving them with NO clients. It is much better to just keep time commitments by charging people enough to warrant overtime pay, and the hassle of an uneven schedule.

The end!

What is your back up plan for outsourcing?

March 2, 2013 by 123outsource
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Do you do outsourcing? Do you have a new company who you are assigning processes to? I understand how you feel. Or, perhaps you have a company that you have hired for years. Perhaps that trusty company is pretty good. Or, perhaps they have a number of employees who are above average, and some more who are masters of disaster! Sound familiar? Am I preaching to the choir?

My experience tells me that you need a back up plan. That way, if your main service provider starts being unreliable or playing games, you have a leg to stand on and a boat with a paddle on the Rhone. The problem is as follows. Let’s say that you have a mediocre service provider. Most service providers are mediocre — even the ones who charge more than average. Let’s say that these mediocre folks go down hill and become “Sub-mediocre”, if there is such a term. Or, let’s say that you raised your standards and want above average people working for you for a change.

So, you shop around, and you find nothing but MORE mediocre companies at best. At least, the ones who answer their phones are mediocre, but most don’t even answer their phones. You keep shopping. You decide that you need to talk to 300 companies. You can’t FIND 300 companies. You spend days, weeks, months looking for better companies. Is it this difficult? If you want a list of back up companies who get an A or a B then yes, it is that difficult. Be prepared for some major shopping around. Most companies are run by over-worked managers who can not tend to all of the details of running a company well. the other companies are run by people who either don’t know, or don’t care how to run their company well. Good luck finding a back up plan — you’ll need more than good luck.

If all else fails, resort to prayer.

There is an expression created by a linguistic comedian. It is in French, but means nothing in French. It sounds more like English with a thick French accent. It sounds like: “Paddle your own canoe.” It means — Not their Rhone that we — or perhaps — We are not their Rhone river.

If your outsourcing company fails you and you have no back up plan, you will feel like you are in a boat without a paddle in the Rhone river — helpless — floating — and without a prayer. However, I recommend that you have a back up plan so that you can:

“Pas de leur Rhone Que Nous”

Picturing your business dreams happening

February 27, 2013 by 123outsource
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I was reading some blogs about being motivated and successful today. This is my favorite topic besides cats and Chinese food. Some of the quotes and blog entries I was reading told me that you have to picture an outcome before it is possible. This is absolutely true. But, not so easy to realistically do.

According to one famous local Rabbi who is an expert at Kabbalah (Rav Berg): If you emphatically decide that you are going to Hawaii next week, then you are already there — the only thing that separates you from being in Hawaii is time, space and motion.

This is very esoteric and bizarre. In a sense he is right though. My personal story is based on a comment my astrologer housemate made to me. I had booked my ticket to India and was going to leave in four days. She commented that she felt I was already in India. And in a sense she was right. My vibration changed. My entire consciousness was immersed in India — what appointments I had there, the hotel, the traffic, people I was going to socialize with, etc. I was there in thought and in spirit. Quite bizarre — but true!

People pay a lot of money to go to success seminars and workshops and not without reason. The teachers always tell you to think positively and say affirmations, etc. These are all good things. But, they are ignoring one pivotal fact. If your SUBCONSCIOUS doesn’t feel something happening, then you lose the effect of the positive thinking.

A few months ago, I was thinking that my business would grow and I would hire new people, and try new things. Now, I am really feeling the growth. We really are growing. But, now I am picturing much bigger and better things happening. I am not even TRYING to picture these things. The thoughts are just coming to me. Perhaps my higher self is a few steps ahead of me and sees what is happening.

My suggestion to all of us is to practice picturing things. Sure our friends will think we are crazy. So, our first exercise in picturing things will to picture our friends who think we are crazy — and picture them saying things that really are crazy while we “visionasize” ourselves to success.

Picture how you want your business to be in 5 years or 10 years.
Picture what steps you are going to take to get to that point
Picture the daily things you need to do
Picture the structural changes you will need to do as well.
Also — picture me making $1,000,000 per day — do something for me too, okay?
After all, I had the courtesy to write this thought provoking article, right?

Hiring people who work from their home

February 23, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Outsourcing Articles, Popular on Twitter | Tagged | Leave a comment

In this day and age, it is more and more common to see responsible and successful people work from home. However, I have found that many companies with bosses who work from home can be very irresponsible. Hiring a new company to outsource your work for is risky and actually dangerous. No matter how careful you are choosing them, many things go wrong, and you are left holding the bag.

Companies with offices are also risky
I have learned in my years that hiring companies with professional offices is risky too. These companies will often hire young and inexperienced (or reckless) employees and put them on YOUR projects — while these employees don’t care at all about you or your project. Your business is in jeapardy simply by being involved with careless people. My motto is that you hire not only a company, but also particular staff members. No company likes how I pick and choose people, but my experience has dictated that even a good company can burn you if the wrong staffmember is working on your case!

Companies that work from home are more risky?
Companies with offices have turned out to be 50% responsible on average for me. But, I have many stories about nightmares that happened hiring individuals who worked from home.

(1) I attempted to hire a very gifted and bright Indian gentleman in California. He advertised as being a former VP of some large company. I didn’t believe it, but I’m sure he had some post at the alleged company based on his very professional sounding communication skills. At any rate, when I asked him how many hours per week he could dedicate to my project he said 15. Then I talked to him two days later and he accused me of trying to take up too much of his workweek, and that he didn’t want to work for me at all. I mentioned that it was HE who volunteered 15 hours a week when I only needed 5. I think the real reason he didn’t like me was that I insisted meeting him at his SHARED office which was a source of humiliation to him — perhaps because it didn’t exist at all.

(2) I hired a sidewalk mechanic long time ago. He didn’t have a garage. In any case he did some wiring for me that resulted in years of having to replace starters. I had to have a two hour session with Toyota many years down the line to finally figure out that the source of my trouble which had cost thousands was because I hired a cheap rate unprofessional who didn’t have an office.

(3) I hired another guy in California who was very nice to work on one of my sites. He had 30 years of experience. He looked at my site and told me that it was in PHP, not ASP (which is what I thought the site was in). Then, after six weeks of waiting for him to learn a little more PHP which he was weak in — he announced that he had no time to work for me at all. What a waste! So, I took it to a company that did have an office (a shared one — better than nothing), and lo and behold, they told me that it was in ASP, not PHP (the story keeps changing), and they got the job done in days.

(4) I hired a printer who USED to have an office, but started working from home. I questioned him as to whether he was still in business or not when my order was delayed when I stopped cracking the whip. I am busy and don’t have time to harrass people who don’t do what I ask them to do. In any case, the next year he was gone — without a trace — and all of my files were gone. Fortunately I had backup — and was able to publish a revised edition of my book!

I work from home and so does my assistant
My assistant and I, and a good friend of mine all work from home. We are responsible. I would recommend ONLY hiring someone who works from home if you either know them, or know they have a solid reputation. Otherwise it is too risky.

Someone told me — how can you speak so poorly of people who work from home when you do too?

I replied — with me it is DIFFERENT because I KNOW MYSELF!!!! And therefor can trust myself.

Challenging your comfort level on a daily basis

February 21, 2013 by 123outsource
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If you examine the differences between very successful people and mediocre people, you will notice many things. The successful people seem to have more of a sense of purpose in their work, even if they don’t work more hours. There is a higher level of efficiency and skill in their work as well. Many are very philosophical or even spiritual in how they view the world and their career. I was just reading a quote by Steve Jobs about how your heart and intuition know what you truly want. People high on the totem pole really like thinking about things, and understanding how the world works. People up top also like challenging themselves, and that is what this blog is about.

I grew up with many academic types. They always enjoyed challenging themselves, reading, and getting their children to have a well rounded education with academics, sports, music, and other extra-curricular activities. This is all fine and dandy, but there is something missing… Comfort level. To be successful, you need intelligence, drive, organizational skills, people skills, number skills, and more. But, the inability to challenge your comfort level can be a stifling block to any of us, and to all of us.

I know so many people who are set in their ways. They don’t want to budge an inch, or grow in certain ways. They like to challenge themselves, but the challenges are all very similar each time. The intellectual likes to challenge themselves intellectually — every day a difference intellectual exercise. The athlete likes to try to run faster or further every day. But, what these people don’t understand is that they are already very good at what they value — and that is probably NOT where their attention needs to be. You need to pay attention to what you are NOT good at, and nobody likes to pay attention to that.

I love to do things I am horrible at. The reason is that I see the importance, and I also have no attachment to how well I do those things. When I screw up, I laugh and think its funny, while others might lose face and feel bad. Sure I try to master my inabilities, but the result is not what I am after. I am after expanding my mind. When I try new things and pay attention to new things, my mind expands and I learn to think in new and better ways. The more I think about problems, my mind comes up with more and more interesting and sophisticated ways of approaching those problems — generally business problems. By asking the questions, and thinking from a broader point of view, I learn and develop.

But, what about doing things we are not comfortable with. Some people would rather die than do something they are not comfortable with. Others will remain mediocre their entire lives, never expanding themselves, simply because they don’t feel comfortable with the new tasks, or new ways of doing existing tasks that they need to do to succeed.

As a business owner, you need to do new things all the time as we live in a changing world. You need to hire new people, and perhaps hire new types of people. Knowing what to do can be daunting, but critical and necessary. What if you never tried new things in business because you were not sure? There is a learning curve in everything. If you find it fun to try new things, and try to master them, you will find a new happiness in life. It is the attachment to succeeding in everything you do that cripples you, and your attachment to keeping things the same forever that limits you. Don’t limit yourself.

My suggestion is to make a list of things that you are not comfortable with at all. They could be business related or personal. If you are South Indian, the list will be very very long — perhaps you don’t have enough paper for the entire unabridged list. Force yourself to do something you are not comfortable with every day or every week. Also, try doing some new things as well that you are neither comfortable or uncomfortable with. By doing this, when your business requires you to think outside the box or change gears, you will be ready. Comfort level might be the one thing that blocks you from success, so unlock the blockages that start in your mind, and challenge your comfort level. Remember — it is all in how you think!

Some people think outside the box
My comment is to think against the box and break the box

The correlatio​n between personalit​y type and work behavior

February 13, 2013 by 123outsource
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I am by no means an expert in this subject, but I have seen many different personality types in the workplace, and seen how the quality of their work was as well. To equate a personality type with a particular type of work output is not possible — it is too complicated. But, I noticed many things with the companies I have hired for outsourcing tasks. I have notice who has what type of personality — and I’ve noticed how their work is and how their attitude towards work is.

Good personalities
I have worked with many people who have great personalities. Having a friendly disposition doesn’t guarantee anything, however, it is better than having what Americans call “an attitude”, meaning an unfavorable attitude towards people and work. Technical skills and personalities do not correspond to each other — you might have a brilliant artist who is impossible to get along with or the opposite situation. Amongst the nice personalities with whom I have had the pleasure of working — I have notice that a few were very responsive and great workers. A few others gave brilliant advice and were really in tune with more than just their little niche in the work world. I have dealt with some very well-meaning flakes, who just do half of what they are supposed to, or don’t get back to you when they are supposed to. I have seen busy types who just promise that they will help you — and then find out they are too busy and leave you hanging for more than a month. I worked with another gentleman who was nice, but reserved, and only semi-competent about his work skills. Another lady was very friendly, but helter skelter about her output without me babysitting the work. All in all, I would say that the ATTITUDE of friendly workers is much better than of anti-social or hostile workers. I will also say, that the overall OUTPUT of friendly workers is “on average” better than the unfriendly ones. However, work skills, responsiveness, responsibility and other aspects of working can not be determined by personality

Unfriendly personalities
There are all types of people who I have met who I asked myself, “How is it that this person can have a job — any job?”. When I ask this question of myself, I usually get an answer from the universe a few months or years later when that employee I am thinking about gets terminated.

Hostile types
Workers who are argumentative, rude, or hostile in any way are a huge risk. They will be the first to betray you, or let you down. They don’t care about you or your work. They are there because they have to be, or for the money. Perhaps they like the technical aspect of their job, but they certainly will not care about you. I would start shopping around if you find an unfriendly type.

Anti-social types
These are much better than the hostile types. They will do their work, but I have never had an anti-social type give my work the attention it deserves. The anti-social types I have seen so far have all exhibited the same attitude towards my work. They do the work without that much care. There are errors at all stages of the process. Additionally, I will be kept waiting, and have to ask multiple times for certain tasks to be done. Antisocial workers are far better than hostile workers in my experience. But, if you can find someone you have a positive social connection to, my experience tells me that you will get BETTER WORK from that person, as well as a more enjoyable overall experience.

The moral of this blog entry is to shop around (time consuming but worth it) and find nice, responsible people to work for you, and you will be a happier person as a result! When you find that nice person, reward them and give them a little extra to reward them for their good work from time to time, and both of you will be even happier and get even better work output!

Your phone system’s music really matters

January 23, 2013 by 123outsource
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When we call from America to India and hear the music that so many phone systems use when you are on hold, it is very strange for us. The music sounds very childish. There is the theme to the lone ranger played by a computer generated tone. There are other nursery rhyme type songs that are typically played as well. To Amerians, this seems like music that is appropriate for three year olds, not adults.

So, the question is, what type of music should you have on your phone system?

Step one, is to have an automated phone system.
That way when someone calls, they will be greated by a very professional sounding message that states your company name, and what extension to dial to get an operator, sales manager, service, etc.

Step two is to select some good “on hold” music.
Should you choose a popular Hindi film song from the 1950’s that is on a muffled recording? I suggest not, unless your clients are all senior citizens in the 65+ year old range.

Should you choose some international sounding music? Maybe some American Jazz, some Tango, or Mambo? Maybe some Frank Sinatra or Julio Iglesius. Maybe a popular Rock and Roll song from the 1980’s could work. If you want to sound a little more sophisticated, perhaps some Bach harpsichord music or an orchesteral suite.

The type of music you choose should match your clientele.
If you have cool clients who like to hang out at coffee houses, then maybe Jazz or Brazilian music might be popular with them. If you have highly educated clients, then European Classical music might work. If you have spiritually minded clients, then perhaps a good raga with sitar and tablas might be a crowd pleaser. Are your customers young hipsters from Bangalore who hang out on Church street downtown? In that case a good Rock and Roll song would be my recommendation.

What if you have a mixed audience?
Outsourcing companies in India might have a few domestic clients, a few Germans, Americans, British, and Australian clients. It is hard to know what type of music to pick with so many different groups to please. Half the battle is pleasing them, and the other half is IMPRESSING them. Appealing to the musical tastes of three year olds will not impress anyone. For a mixed and educated audience, I feel that cool jazz is relaxing and pleasant as well as sophisticated.

Coffee houses study the music they play
Companies like Starbucks don’t just play any old music they feel like. They have done extensive market research to see what their clients respond better to. They even came up with their own CD of music. I don’t know what the resulst of their market research are, but I know what they play. Keep in mind that Starbucks caters to an international crowd and succeeds in pleasing almost everyone. Their music has some classic old American songs from the 40’s and 50’s that might have been popular in movies. They mix that in with some cool jazz tunes, and some Brazilian selections too. Brazilian music is very popular since it is catchy, yet relaxing and cool as well. To keep your clients wanting to hang around on your phone line — keep the music cool — not childish.

Common mistakes Indians make
Indians tend to be very uptight a lot of the time. To attract American clients you need to be more laid back about communication and LESS laid back about getting things done on time — the opposite of what Indians are typically doing now. If you pick music that appeals to Americans and other people from Anglo cultures, the music should be pleasant and laid back too. Be careful of picking uptight music. You might live to regret it.

Phone etiquette for outsourcing companies

January 13, 2013 by 123outsource
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It was a long night, and my assistant and I called 55 outsourcing companies on our directory by hand. To our dismay, only one company out of 55 answered their phone professionally.

What does it mean to answer your phone professionally?
You need to announce who you are at a minimum, and also state your company name. Otherwise people will doubt you as a professional, and also not know if they dialed the correct number. Answering the phone professionally means that ALL of the people at your company need to be trained on how to answer the phone. If someone dials your cell number after hours, you never know who that is. It is safer to answer that professionally as well.

Why bother answering professionally?
If you are an outsourcing company in India or the Philippines, you are up against an enemy called “Doubt”. Americans, Australians, British, and other westerns are suspicious about giving work to companies overseas. The first question is — will they cheat me? The next question is — will they be reliable in their work? My personal experience is that outsourcing companies are more likely to give you trouble than an American company, however, American companies give a lot of trouble, and charge five times as much — which in most cases they are not worth! Putting experience aside, to eliminate all of the various types of DOUBT, you need to make a good impression.

How do outsourcing companies typically answer their phone?
Most companies we call answer with a dull “Hullo”. They sound like very low energy, low brainpower people to me. We have to ask one, twice, or thrice what company we called. Many of them act perplexed when we want to know what company they are with. If you are in a foreign country, do you want to hire a company who doesn’t know what their name is? How will they handle complicated outsourcing tasks if they don’t even know their own name?

Answering machines and phone systems?
Ideally you need a phone system that announces your company name, and perhaps has a menu with departments to select. If the person you want to reach is not there, there should be a personalized message box that clearly announces the person’s name who you are leaving a message for. Typically, when we make calls, we get standardized messages such as, “The person you called is not available, please call back later”. That is very unprofessional, and no foreigner will want to hire you with this type of non-answering machine.

Cell Phones?
Cell phones are a good back up number in case you are out of the office. But, your main number needs to be a reliable land line. In India it takes time and money to get a land line, and that proves how professional you are if you use one.

Changing numbers and web addresses is bad.
Most companies in India are constantly changing their mobile numbers and web addresses. They even change their companyname repeatedly. Companies gain trust based on LONGEVITY. So, if you change your company name every two years, you will come across as being a fly-by-night, and nobody overseas will trust you. We want to hire stable and reliable companies. Mobile phones in India are based on SIM cards which can be lost or rendered disfunctional. Therefor, your main number should be a landline which will not be disconnected.

Call me back on Skype?
If someone is calling about business, and you tell them you don’t want to talk, or you ask them to call you back on Skype so you can save a few rupees, you might miss out on a million dollar deal. Why should a big company who wants to use you have to call you again? If it were me — I would call again — but, not YOU — I would call ANOTHER company and deal with them. My effort for making the extra call will get more return calling someone else.

Tweets:
(1) If we know more about your company than the person who answers your phone: it’s time to learn phone etiquette.
(2) When you pick up the phone, are you so out of it that you sound like you are in your own time zone? #outsourcing #ust+24
(3) Unless your company name is “Hello”, don’t answer the phone with a dull “Hello”.
(4) Most overseas phone lines are so muddy, your chance for attracting prospects is over by the 3rd “What?”
(5) There is something to be said for continuity & changing your # every six months isn’t one of them!

(6) Professional US companies keep the same phone # for decades. How long have you had your #?
(7) Change is good, but not if it means changing your number every 6 months.
(8) How will former clients find you if you change your # every six months? Think about it!

You might also like:

Are you tired of outsourcing to India?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/03/05/are-you-tired-of-outsourcing-to-india/

Are your callers annoying?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/05/14/are-your-callers-annoying/

I’m busy — please send me an email = a lost contract worth US$10,000 per month?

January 10, 2013 by 123outsource
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My assistant and I have been calling companies in India recently. We find that less than 10% of the companies on our directory had satisfactory communication skills. People were not answering the phone in a professional way. There was just a dull, “Hullo” at host of the companies we called. It is our practice to put the companies with better communication skills towards the top of the list.

But, what about the people who DID answer their phone, and even might have been professional the way they answered? Many people were too busy to talk to us. We understand that you might be busy, and might have 20 things going on simultaneously. We are busy too. However, if you do what Americans call “Blowing people off” (making some excuse not to talk to someone, show up someplace, or do something), you might lose critical clients.

Your success as a business depends on CATCHING new clients. New clients don’t grow on trees. They call when they feel like calling, and if you don’t have someone who can not only answer the phone, but also speak intelligently for a few minutes; you will lose business. What if were were offering a one million dollar contract to an Indian BPO company, and the 1st ten companies either didn’t answer their phone or told us to “send us an email, we are too busy to talk to you”. Do you think that I would send them an email? Or, do you think that I would move on to the next company down the line who would actually engage us in a conversation?

I have learned that people who can interact nicely with people are much more likely to catch new clients — especially if their firm has the technical skills to handle the job. If you tell someone to sent you and email — you are telling them that you don’t value their business.

On the other hand, if you have an existing client who is bothering you about a small thing, then you can ask them to send an email. Or, if your company’s reputation is so amazing that people would rather wait for you than go to a comparable firm that answers their phone — then, you are in business. But, for calls from strangers (cold calls), you can not afford to be too busy to talk to them. Hire someone good to answer your phone! Preferably one that speaks good English, and Hindi, and perhaps a few other languages on the side.

Offshoring & Outsourcin​g — which country is right for your company to offshore to?

January 7, 2013 by 123outsource
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The world of outsourcing is baffling. So many of these companies out there are unprofessional and fly-by-nights. If you look at outsourcing directories, many host companies with disconnected phone numbers, or companies whose websites are long gone. It is a scary world, and is like a jungle. So, how do you play the game? First, find stable companies that have longevity and you will be safer. Get to know the company bosses who you will be dealing with as well. Visit these companies in person if the work you are giving them matters a lot. But, what country should you target?

India – My personal experience has been with India.
I live in Los Angeles where we have boatloads of people from all over Asia and Latin America. I am familiar with all of their cultures since I’m amongst them on a daily basis. But, I have not sampled life in their countries except for Taiwan which does more electronics and manufacturing and doesn’t engage much in the type of outsourcing tasks that we promote on 123outsource.net. India has more companies doing the type of outsourcing tasks that we promote than any other country, and they seek work more agressively than other countries as well.

Honestly, India is a very sloppy country where there is a hair raising incompetent way of doing everything. There are no doors on the inner city trains, so people can fall out and die (and they frequently do). Instead of picking a number at a hospital, you sit in a row of 50 chairs and play leap frog everytime the person in the front of the line is picked. All 49 of the remaning people move over one seat. At the airport, they always inspect my passport and then lose it under a bunch of papers — or drop it on the floor and then can’t find it (as a matter of practice). I always get diarrhea, food poisening or dyssentary almost every trip to India — otherwise I start asking why I didn’t experience any gastro-intestinal disorders. It is common for the sidewalk repair people to just abandon a large pile of dirt or bricks for months at a time on the sidewalk. The only traffic rule that exists outside of Mumbai is that you bribe the cop if pulled over. No other rules apply — not even driving on the left which is merely a recommendation and not a hard fast rule (or so it seems). 70% of rick shaw drivers either try to cheat me or proudly announce that their meter is broken.

If you hire companies in India, you will be dealing with people who grew up in this mess that I began to describe. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. I’m not saying don’t offshore to India. The cost benefit is definately there, but you will be putting up with a lot more nonsense than in most other places. More than 90% of companies in India do not even announce their company name when answering the phone — how unprofessional. Workers in India usually have some technical skills (varying degrees of competency), but lack people skills. The owners have good people skills, but those are not the people who will be doing the actual work.

Philippines
The Filipinos are catching up in the technical outsourcing professions. There are more programming and internet marketing companies in the Philippines than before. They are known for call centers and they just overtook India as being #1 in the call center industry a year or two ago. Medical transcriptions are another profession that is popular in the Philippines. Filipinos have very good people skills, and there are many who have excellent English skills. For jobs that require communication, you could start your search here.

South Africa
There are many types of outsourcing companies in South Africa. We have found many web design companies, and companies that do a lot of translations, editing and writing. There are many high end people who will do very professional work for you for a great price in South Africa.

Kenya
There are some call centers sprouting up in Kenya. These are popular with British clients since the Kenyans speak British sounding English. You will find a large work force with great people skills in Kenya.

Costa Rica
Known for its cultural affinity with the west, many companies find it easier to do business with call centers and web design companies in Costa Rica. They are swimming distance (well, not quite) from Florida, and on a similar time zone as the Eastern United States. Once again, just like the Philippines, Costa Ricans have comparatively good communication skills and there are many with supurb artistic abilities too.

Argentina
This is a country that we found to not be very businesslike. However, the artistic skills seem to be the best in the world, and at bargain basement prices. Web design or any other type of design should be done in Argentina — at least they should be the 1st on your list.

Vietnam
I am about to try out a company who has one leg in the United States and another in Vietnam. I have no experience or knowledge about outsourcing to Vietnam. There are many programmers there, but English skills are somewhat limited based on what I have heard and experienced with Vietnamese living in California. I do not know how their technical skills typically compare to those at smaller companies in India. Is Vietnam a hidden outsourcing gem that few ever think about? We shall soon find out!

Outsourcing can save you 60-90% of costs

January 1, 2013 by 123outsource
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We all know that you can save a boatload of cash by outsourcing.  But, outsourcing is scary and risky because you have to deal with overseas companies who you have never met.  Only god knows what they will go to you — or if they will leave you high and dry.  The truth is that companies in America are very likely to cheat you and leave you high and dry. You might be able to sue them here, but getting taken for a ride is no fun on any side of the Pacific!  Outsourcing involves more skill when managing work and choosing companies.  There are cultural differences, geographical differences, and time differences.  It is harder to meet with your overseas counterparts in person, and harder to talk to them on the phone.  So, is it worth it to do offshoring, nearshoring or outsourcing?  If you plan on mastering the skill, you will save 69-90% on related expenses and I say — JUST DO IT!

Costs are deceptive – willingness to work is  a factor
It is baffling comparing costs when outsourcing tasks.  I have seen programming companies that charge $15 per hour and others that charge $180.  The irony is that the company that charged $180 refused to do business with me, and the company that charged $15 per hour took me on, and then refused to finish projects.  Those who say, “You get what you pay for” are simply wrong.  The reality is that you get people who either refuse to function or can’t function unless you shop around and find people who actually do function.  A rate of $15 per hour is not a real rate if you refuse to complete work — or if you say that the work is complete when you never started.  A rate of $180 per hour is equally meaningless when you refuse to take on new clients.

Definition – A REAL RATE is a rate that someone charges who is actually willing to work on a regular basis for that rate without putting you on hold for two months while they are busy with another project. Don’t compare rates unless it is a REAL RATE! And there is no way to tell what a real rate is unless you have tried out a company for 3 months and seen how they function.

Hour padding – adjust for slugginness and dishonesty

Many employees and bosses do hour padding. They will add on hidden costs, or say that something took longer than it did.  Koreans do “Reverse hour padding”.  In Korean culture, you lose face if it took you too long to do a simple task.  Koreans are notorious for learning to be the fastest and the best at whatever they try to do. My experience is that if a Korean does one hour of work, they will charge you for 45 minutes.  While, someone in India might take 2 hours to do the same task and then bill you for four.  The Korean might charge $125 per hour and accomplish the work relatively error free.  Hour bill would be $100 for 45 minutes from the Korean in my imaginary example.  Meanwhile in Hyderabad, your Indian counterpart will be finishing their samosa and finishing the two hours which they will bill four hours for and submit a bill of $60 for work that is far from being up to specifications.  So, after all is said and done, the Koreans are still more expensive  on a “by the job” basis. But, the error rate will probably be less which saves you management time.  Therefor, your total expenses including management time are EQUAL when you compare a $15 per hour company and a $125 per hour company in this silly example — make sense?

If you work with companies and have a sense of how long particular tasks should take, you can guess how much hour padding they do, and you can keep a log book of what their REAL hourly rate is.  Additionally, you can consider various factors to give them an OVERALL SCORE

Example.
                                Hourly Rate  Adj Rate       Follows directions          Page speed         Consistancy  
Sun Myung & Co           125                100            80% rate                         Fast pages             A                

Chakrapati & Co              15                  60            40% rate                           Slow                      D        

Krishna Infosystems        25                  40            70% rate                        Medium speed     B+

AKA Infosystems           150                  120          80% rate                         Great                   A          

In my example above, Krishna Infosystems (a fictional company) doesn’t have the lowest published price.  But, their work is more efficient and less “padded” than their other Indian counterpart.  Additionally, they do a better job following directions. When all is said and done, they would be your ideal company to hire.  Their rate is cheap, they don’t cheat in any detectable way, and they follow directions relatively well.  No programmer that I have ever met has a 100% rate of following clear written directions

Mistakes are costly

If you hire a programmign company to do a task, and they do it in a way where pages load slowly. You might have to have them recode much of the work.  This is very costly, not to mention the lost revenue that you encounter as a result of your slow pages.  If you hire companies that make mistakes, you are looking at very big costs.

What to look for first when hiring an offshore company to attain cost effectiveness.

I tend to have a “what does it really mean” attitude when people quote their prices.  If they quote too low I will think they are incompetent. If they quote too high, I will wonder if they are really, “all that”.  What I am looking for is much more involving questions that effect overall cost efficiency:

(1) How hard do I have to crack the whip to get you working.  Do you start on your own, or do you ignore me?

(2) How fast do the pages you create load. If it is too slow, then the work is almost useless.

(3) How consistant are you about getting work done?  If you have a competing big project, do you put me on hold?

(4) What is your rate of following directions.  I have seen 20% to 70% in real life.. 40% being the minimum to not get fired.

(5) How much do you pad your hours or cheat? (at this point it is actually a much smaller concern than points 1, 2, and 3)

(6) How much work do you get done per hour?  Do you do 30 minutes worth of work in an hour?  It is all relative to my past experience how I define how much an “hours worth of work” really means.

(7) Do you return calls… ever?  If you do, then I don’t believe that you are a real computer programmer.

(8) Is there a project manager involved? Is he/she/it a complete fool, or a competent professional who is, “on the money”.

(9) Can you handle really complicated and sensitive tasks?

There is a lot to analyze when trying out new companies.  I would try out a handful on a small project, each for three months to see how cost effective they really are.  Remember — if a company refuses to lift a finger, then they are not cost effective, and they are not EFFECTIVE at all.