Category Archives: Semi-Popular

Attracting clientele via 123outsource.net – the 1st step

January 26, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

There are lots of businesses in the U.S. and elsewhere that would like to outsource to India or the Philippines and hire your company. But first, they want to be able to talk with you. Whether you seek work in data entry or accounting outsourcing, run a call center in India, or do web design, getting work with a U.S. company all begins with how you answer the phone. Business people need to feel you are professional and can communicate well in English on the phone–well enough so that they feel confident giving you their business records and other data. Since we would like to help your company, let’s talk about how to make a good impression.

People calling your company from the U.S. will be disappointed if you just answer “Hello” and do not mention a business name. For example, of the many professional accounting outsourcing companies listed on 123outsource that we called recently, only about 3% answered with a business name or had any kind of phone answering system or protocol. Yes: we do call your company to see how you handle yourself on the phone. U.S. businesses that might outsource to India expect a bright, pleasant, professional man’s or woman’s voice on the phone at the outset, ensuring them that this could be the start of a friendly and stress-free business relationship. They are also expecting someone to answer the phone using a company name. If we have to repeat your business name several times before you acknowledge the name and say, “Yes, this is XYZ Company,” it does not create a good first impression. It sounds funny, but in some cases, the person we talked to on the phone did not seem to know that the number was listed as a business; it’s as if they had forgotten who they were! Even if you are doing accounting outsourcing and you have the very best accountants, you need to be able to speak to us. How you answer the phone is important.

U.S. clients want to hire confident professionals, whether this means a call center in India or another group of workers. When a business plans to outsource to India, the managers are very interested in the quality of your work, what software you use, how long you have been in business, and any stories about the first project you took on and how your company has continued to improve. If your expertise is data entry, accounting outsourcing, or managing a successful call center in India, being able to tell us a bit about your company and your attitude toward your work–being able to talk on the phone and tell a brief story about your company–will show that you are personable and that you are able to engage in a long-term business relationship.

We at 123outsource.net have traveled and lived in other countries, and we understand that life is different in India or the Philippines. In many ways it is more relaxed, and that is a benefit to those of us who want to outsource to India, or hire a call center in India or a company to do data entry. We know and appreciate your culture and your views about life and work, and we would like to be able to have a brief conversation with you about your company and your experience so that we may recommend you to companies seeking to hire you.

How you answer the phone will distinguish you from other companies that are just starting out. There is a lot of work in the U.S. for companies who do data entry, have a call center in India, or do accounting outsourcing in India, but U.S. business owners who speak English would like to be able to have a 3-minute conversation with someone who speaks English and is confident, enthusiastic, and articulate about your company’s work. We would like to encourage U.S. businesses to outsource to India, but we need to be sure you have the skills companies need. People in the U.S. want to have a conversation with you. They will not make a decision to hire you simply on the basis of your website.

Email and Skype are very helpful, but businesses are interested in how you answer the phone and how you sound on the phone. If you understand us and can talk with us for a few minutes about your background and specific accomplishments, and can tell us something inspiring or educational, we will have a better idea of who you are and how you relate to people. If a U.S. business can have a brief intelligent conversation with you, that company will feel good about moving to the next step in any business relationship.

Here are a few questions for you. We would love to hear from you (really!) :

1) Can you commit to answering the phone with your business name?
2) Please provide us with business hours: when can people call your company and have a live person answer the phone in a professional manner?
3) Is there someone at your company who speaks English and is able to have a conversation about your company’s achievements? Who?
4) Is there an interesting story about how your company was started, or about the owner’s background? Let us know and we can call you. (:

Tweets:
(1) Your personal knowledge about your company will always trump info you posted on your website!
(2) People will not hire you purely on how good your website is. Learn to orally introduce your company.
(3) Is there an interesting story about how your company was started, or about the owner’s background? Let us know and we can call you.

You might also like:

Understanding crowdsourcing segments
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/07/understanding-crowdsourcing-segments-for-twitter/

How to attract more software business
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2010/12/10/how-to-attract-more-software-business/

Marketing your outsourcing company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2010/11/24/marketing-your-outsourcing-company/

Hiring people with great personalities?

September 17, 2012 by admin
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Outsourcing Articles, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Hiring people with great personalities?

Most companies follow the same hiring strategy. Hire anti-social geeks to do technical work, hire a people person to do customer service, and those are the basics.  But, you tend to create large divides in companies that are built like this.

I always realize the vast difference in the feeling when I leave the room with the sales, marketing, and customer service people and go into the room with the technical people.  It goes from friendly to  depressing in only seconds.  My question is, what would happen if you employed a new strategy — a strategy where you create a work culture that is really friendly.

Employees choose where to apply to, and good employees have many choices.  India’s economy has a labor shortage (for the first time in recorded history), and good workers have many choices as to where to work.  So, if you have a company that has a reputation of being fun to work for, then you might be able to attract the best workers even if you don’t pay the most.  Remember — job satisfaction is high on people’s lists these days.

So, what if you had an attractive office, and hired people with great personalities — even the computer nerds would have colorful and engaging personalities (if that is possible — there is a first for everything).  You would be really mastering the art of attraction here.  You would attract great workers, and your workers would quit less, because they liked working there.  You would also attract more clients.

Some clients interact a lot with the employees at particular companies, while others interact mostly by email.  For the clients who talk with people, imagine how they will feel if YOUR company has personal people at every level of the company. Most companies won’t let you talk directly with a programmer, but what if YOUR company has friendly programmers who actually don’t run for cover when a client is around?

In today’s business world, people often ignore the personal aspect of business, and this is the worst mistake they could make. Deals are won and lost, often because someone doesn’t like someone else!  Sure, they want someone who can get the job done, but they might also want to feel comfortable with the people involved.

I wish someone would try this experiment and get back to me — but, someone already has. Cliff Bar hired gung ho and enthusiastic people to run their energy bar company.  For those of you overseas, Cliff Bar makes health bars that have oats, chocolate, and fruit flavors, and they use brown rice syrup and other ingredients to hold the bars together. Hikers and outdoor enthusiasts typically love to eat Cliff Bars (me included).  The result was that they had a company where everyone was happy and felt good coming to work, even if they only made minimum wage!  Can you create this atmosphere at your company? It is worth a try.

You might also like:

The 2 minute contact rule

Confidence verses skills

How to sell like a pro

Are Indians too uptight in business interactions?

September 8, 2012 by admin
Categories: India, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Are Indians too uptight in business interactions?

Each region of the world has a different culture or blend of cultures.  India is no exception. India has a vast variety of people, religions, cultures, subcultures, and personalities.  But, what makes India different is that there are a lot of people who are uptight or what we might call socially ungraceful. If you are conducting a business, you need to be very smooth, otherwise others will feel less enticed to have any type of dealings with you at all. In short — being uptight will lose you a lot of business.

Examples of ungraceful behavior

I noticed that at restaurants in India, they warn me with a sense of terror if the dish I am ordering is DRY and has no sauce.  It is like they think the world will come to an end because the dish is dry.  Americans love dry food while Indians would rather perish than eat one bite of something dry.  The problem is NOT the culture difference, but how the situation is handled.  The problem for me is that the waiters are systematically extremely uptight.    Either I am ignored, or I am “uptightly” escorted to a table of THEIR choice.  Then, I am “uptightly” warned that there is a threat of having dry food.  Last, but not least, I am intruded upon by people who insist on pouring my water from MY water bottle which is sitting next to me on the table — without my consent which is very socially ungraceful behavior.    Of course, you are in the BPO, KPO, Call Center, or Programming outsource business, and not in the restaurant business, but the cultural issues are identical across these verticals.

So, what is the solution?

The polished way to handle the rough interactions in the last paragraph are as follows.  A calm, friendly and welcoming welcome are step one in any restaurant meal.  A restaurant that has no host is ignoring their clients which is bad manners even in the simplest of restaurants. It is nice to offer your patrons a choice of tables.  “Would you like a table in the center or a window seat?”.  When I order the Jammu-Kabob combination plate, rather than warning me about the dryness, the waiter could calmly say, “Would you like this dish dry, or would you prefer some masala sauce on the side?”.   Cultural knowledge is important for the water pouring point I made earlier . India is a society with a rigid class system where it is socially unacceptable for the upper classes to pour their own water or even tie their own shoes.  But, Americans of all classes are used to doing things for themselves, and I prefer to pour my own water for cultural reasons.  If someone else wants to pour my water (which is my property which you should touch), then you could at least have the courtesy to ask,”May I pour some more water for you?”

Uptightness in BPO companies

My restaurant example is fun and interesting, but BPO outfits often employ a lot of staff who appear very rigid on the phone.  Either companies need to hire staff members who are more suitable for interacting with overseas clients, or they need to be trained.  When I talk with people at Indian call centers, there is nothing specific that comes to my mind about what they are saying right or saying wrong. It is a general atmosphere of rigidity.  Part of the problem could be that they have a menacing manager looking over their shoulder who makes them feel fearful.  Part of the problem might be that they have to address certain points on a check list, and say certain words verbatum, or else they might get in trouble.  Yes — there needs to be structure in a call center job, but nobody in America wants to talk to someone uptight on the phone.

Solutions for uptight BPO workers…

The solution to uptight workers in BPO companies is to have management that understands what the overseas clients like to hear and how they like to be treated. If the manager only knows what is on a check list of things that need to be done, he will not understand the psychology of the client. This means more training not only for call center workers, but for managers as well — and that is expensive. The result is that you could win over some really large contracts if you do a good job training everyone. Large corporations can assign 1000 seats worth of work to a call center with the blink of an eye, but not if the call center does shoddy work.   The solution is to work on soft skills.  Sure, technical support workers need to be experts at their product knowledge, but understanding how to be graceful and nice in interactions is even MORE important when talking to Americans.  Americans will not want to talk to you no matter how helpful you are if you have the wrong vibe!  Understand our culture, and relax a bit!

Tweets:
(1) Each country has a different culture. What makes India different is the # of uptight or “socially ungraceful” people.
(2) Stay sharp in business, but, remain smooth in your interactions!
(3) If you’re uptight in business, your customers will become uptight too — if you still have any…
(4) Menacing Indian managers transmit tension; this makes workers fearful & rigid
(5) Which is more effective? Going down a checklist or smoothly having an interchange with a client?

(6) Is the manager’s checklist higher on the priority list than gracefully interacting with the client?
(7) The secret to BPO success is to understand how overseas clients like to be treated. Learn our culture & relax a bit.
(8) Work on your soft skills. Americans appreciate grace & manners as much as technical skills

You might also like:

How do you teach interaction and smoothness?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/09/14/how-do-you-teach-interaction-and-smoothness/

Indians who ask a million questions
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/06/10/indians-who-ask-a-million-questions/

The 2 Minute Contact Rule!

June 22, 2012 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles, Popular on Google+, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | 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/

Handling Stress in a Call Center Office

May 22, 2012 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Handling stress in a call center office

It is really stressful to be on the phone all day going from call to call to call. I sometimes do 200 calls in a day and I am a wreck afterwords. Call center workers are routinely in a state of being frazzled, and have to recover from their demanding job. Many turn to alcohol, but too much hard alcohol damages your liver and arteries making you even more prone to stress. So, what is the solution? In my line of work / overworking, I have become somewhat of an expert on this subject. Here are some really effective techniques for relieving stress. Not all will be in your budget, or nearby you, but do your best.

(1) A glass of red wine per day
Scientists have learned that those who have a glass of red wine (red is better than white for your health), have lower stress, less heart attacks, and live considerably longer. Additionally, red wine has antioxidants that clean your arteries. Too much wine will damage your liver and make you groggy the next day. One glass or half a glass per day is like a magical medicine. Hard liquor and beer are horrible for your health. Avoid these no matter what your friends say!

(2) Visiting the beach
Many call center industries are near water. Manila and Mumbai are driving distance from the beach. Oceans have theraputic energies, and being near water for a few hours, taking a slow walk on the beach is one of the most effective ways to relax. Even some medical doctors tell their patients to take a drive down the coast sometimes!

(3) Spend relaxing time with friends and family
If your friends and family are annoying, then skip this tip. But, there needs to be a balance of work and leisure. Too much of one or the other creates an imbalance in life that can lead to emotional and even physical problems. Make sure you have a good relaxing day at least once a week.

(4) Forests and mountains are great!
Trees have mystical healing properties, and sleeping in a forest, or being around trees can do wonders for your psychological state. For one, there are no phones in forests which might make it appealing to a call center worker!

(5) Meditation
No!!! not medication… Meditation!!! Ohm… Ohm…. Meditation takes decades to master, but even a beginner can get immediate benefits. Scientests have learned that meditation changes your brain waves and can make you more peaceful. Try meditating a few minutes a day, or an hour per day. I try to do twice per day. Your life can gain a sense of balance when you integrate spirituality and peace into your life

(6) Acupuncture
The Philippines has many Chinese people, hence there will be good acupuncture practitioners. India has really awful acupuncturists practicing very careless and unprofessional acupuncture for the most part. I might skip acupuncture in India. But, REAL acupuncture is really good for your health, and can help you live in balance.

(7) Reading a good book?
Television is not a good way to relax, because it is too stimulating, and doesn’t engage your mind as much as a book. Reading a book can leave you feeling fulfilled and it can transport you to a different reality — one with no phones!

(8) Me time
Sometimes I do this — but generally I don’t have time. Even on my days off, I am in a hurry to get to my favorite hiking spot, or meet up with a friend. There is still stress. But, having a “me time day” is great. Plan your day with activities that you are going to do slowly. Have an ice cream — very slowly… but,eat it before it melts, so don’t go too slow. After that, perhaps have a slow meal, and intentionally eat slowly, and spend lots of time staring into space (I’m really good at that and so is my cat). Make idle conversation with strangers talking about relaxing things. Take a slow walk. Being in nature is perfect, but even in a dense city, you can find internal peace as you breathe in toxic fumes. Movies are good too, since they take you out of your reality.

(9) Walking and running.
Any type of physical exercise is wonderful for the body as long as you don’t injure yourself or over do it. Exercise helps the body balance itself chemically, and gets the blood flowing so that all of the cells in your body can detoxify and get the nutrients and oxygen they need from the blood. I suggest walking for an hour per day at a minimum. It is wonderful for your heart and your whole body.

Summary
Destressing is an art and a science. Part of it is to create mental balance. Another part is learning to remove your mind from “where” it normally is. But, physical health is a huge counterpart of being able to be relaxed. If you work all day at a call center and never take a long walk, and then drink too much like so many call center workers do — then, you will be a wreck and will probably die early. Fried chicken is the food of choice for Filipino Call Center workers. That is a suicide diet, especially when you combine it with hard alcohol. When people are under stress, they gravitate towards comfort foods like ice cream and fried chicken. I get the same cravings too when I am overworked. The only solution is to learn ways to relax, so that you can neutralize these tendencies.

Tweets:
(1) Drinking beer with a friend might not be good for your health, but if you put the glasses together you’ll get clicks which matters in my business!
(2) As for your plan to avoid alcohol — Put a cork in it! A daily glass of red wine will keep your arteries clean & has antioxidants.
(3) Resveratrol is found in the skins and seeds of grapes: found in red wine: good for your heart and raising good cholesterol.
(4) A polyphenol in red wine called Resveratrol is good for your heart and lowers stress levels.
(5) When was the last time you saw a stressed wino? Drink a glass of red wine a day!

(6) Stressed on the job? Try having some red wine with lunch. If you don’t get fired, your stress will be demoted!
(7) Drinking on the job? Switch to red wine! It will reduce your stress, clean arteries & help you live longer!
(8) Want to make waves in the #outsourcing #callcenter world? Reduce stress by visiting the beach!
(9) Is your #outsourcing #callcenter career just coasting along? Reduce stress by visiting the beach!
(10) Even God needed to rest after his creation. Reduce stress & Relax w/your family!

(11) Is your #outsourcing job so stressful that you can’t see the forest through the trees. Relax in the woods!
(12) What’s in YOUR mantra? Stressed out? Learn to meditate!
(13) Stop saying, “Um”, and start saying, “Ohm”. Reduce your #outsourcing stress — learn to meditate today!
(14) Read any good tweets lately? Don’t judge a tweet by its hash tags! Reduce stress by reading!

You might also like:

Visit our Call Center Search page

How to get more clients for your call center
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/05/05/getting-more-clients-for-your-call-center/

Firing people for being angry
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/07/31/firing-people-for-being-angry/

Balancing work and recreation
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/10/02/balancing-work-and-recreation/

Are your callers annoying?

May 14, 2012 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Are Your Callers Annoying?

Sales is a difficult field, and so is marketing. Many try to succeed, but most fail. So, what is the secret? Understanding a few basic principles is the secret.  If you are calling prospects or existing clients, you are dead in the water if you are pushy or annoying.  There are exceptions to this rule, and I will elaborate on this.

Beginning a sales relationship
Imagine that you are enjoying a Monday afternoon at work and the phone rings.  Let’s say a very pushy salesman who you have never met before tries to push a sale on you while talking in a nasal mono-tone. Are you going to buy his product? No way! It doesn’t matter how good his product is, or how good his deal is, you will be offended by him and avoid his company’s future contacts as well.  So, when you begin a sales call, being gentle and charismatic is the key.

Remember — a cold sale is a hard thing to do, but a warm sale is much easier.  If you don’t know a prospect, either get introduced to them, or get to know them.  The act of getting to know a prospect is the biggest part of the sale and is much more important than your sales pitch.  Learning how to develop rapport is key here. Becoming liked and trusted is life or death in your profession!

During the call – try to feel out the prospect, and find out what they need, or what they like.  Try to gently appeal to their wants and needs, plus their comfort level.  A smooth salesperson can do all of this without a hard sell or any arm twisting.

Schmoozing? What does that mean?
Jewish business people love this Yiddish word.  They love to schmooze, and they love schmaltz, or anything with a “sch” at the beginning for that matter.  Nothing works better in business than schmoozing and adding a little schmaltz (grease normally from a chicken) to a business deal.  The schmaltz makes everything much smoother. Arabs are the only ones who like schmoozing more than Jews although Arabs have a different word for it.  Many people think that sales is about being pushy and meeting quotas, looking at graphs, and identifying salient features of your product verses the competition’s.  In some cases that could be the case. However, if you pay attention (and I always do), and look at the low paid sales people, you will notice that they look at the clock more, are very anal about quotas and numbers and annoying factors that cause stress.  These novices are poorly paid and under a lot of stress.

 
The gentlemen of the business
If you meet the gentlemen of the business — seasoned older professionals who are making $150,000 or more per year, you will see that they have a very different style.   Although some might be really cool, while others might be really busy, they will know how to make good conversation and are often masters of interpersonal skills.  The trick here with Schmoozing is to create a connection with others and to get comfortable with each other before talking about any deal.  Talking about the deal comes LATER.  In Arabia, they will talk for hours about Schmoozing type topics long before even beginning to talk about business — and this is after arriving three hours late to begin with.  The business talk doesn’t begin until 7pm if everyone is running early (7pm solar time — Arabs look at the sun to figure out when to go to their meetings). I know a man who speaks five different languages and can talk about any topic known to mankind.  He is very personable, interesting, and fun.  He makes millions of dollars in sales per year as well.

 
Study from the professionals
If you hire call center staff members, realize that they can make you or ruin your name altogether.  Training and proper selection is life and death. Your workers have to master the art of interaction before you even begin to think about sales.

 

Once you are done with small talk
Once everyone has gotten to know each other, and identified the other person’s needs, it is time to talk business.  Now that you have been gentle and personable, it is time to introduce the deal.  The key is NOT to explain why the deal is good. The key is to explain HOW the deal is perfect for solving the prospects particular problems and meeting their particular needs.  If you are not tuned in to their needs, and just ramble on using a script speaking in a nasal monotone, and don’t listen to the prospect, you are dead in the water.  Once the prospect is sold on how good the deal is for them, then you can put a little time pressure on them if your pricing offer has an expiration date, or if your availability might decrease later on.  High pressure techniques have their time and place, and if you use them in the wrong time or place, then you not only blow a deal, but you blow your whole company’s reputation with a prospect forever!

Tweets:
(1) Are your callers annoying? Clients won’t buy products if they don’t buy the callers personality!
(2) Becoming liked and trusted is life or death in the call center profession!
(3) During the call – try to feel out the prospect, and find out what they need, or what they like.
(4) A smooth salesperson gently appeals to the clients’ wants & needs w/o any arm twisting
(5) Many people think that sales is about being pushy & looking at graphs, but it’s really about schmoozing
(6) Higher level sales-people make small talk before making the “big-talk” and closing the sale.
(7) High pressure sales techniques have their time & place. Use it at the wrong time & lose the prospect!

You might also like:

Are you aware in business?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/18/are-you-aware-in-business/

How do you teach interaction and smoothness?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/09/14/how-do-you-teach-interaction-and-smoothness/

How to sell like a pro, what exactly do they do?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/06/25/how-to-sell-like-a-pro-what-do-the-pros-do/

Evaluating the work of outsourcing companies

March 23, 2012 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Evaluating the work of outsourcing companies
 
People who do analytics analyze various metrics, and might come up with formulas to evaluate market performance, or perhaps the performance of people’s work.  It is sometimes easy to evaluate the work done by a particular company, but there are so many variables, that it is not easy.
 
Quantity is an easy metric to concern yourself with. If the average employee working on your project at a particular call center can do 30 calls per hour, that is a metric you can use to see how valuable they are.  You might find that one employee averages 25 calls while the other averages 40.  Is one being lazy, or are they more thorough?  Do they spend too much time chatting with clients when they need to move on to the next  customer?  Or is it good to spend a little time being personal.  In this busy world, many people are in such a hurry, that they don’t have time to get to know others or to make small talk.  Many discipline themselves not to make any small talk, but to frantically move on to the next call.
 
Quality is not such as easy metric to look at.  If you hire a call center (call centre), and they do many calls for you, you have to listen in on their calls, or get feedback from clients as to how good they are. Call center work is actually quite involving.  There is the way a clerk speaks which might be clear, too quiet, or they might have poor pronunciation.  Some clerks don’t answer questions clearly. It is common for call center employees to show empathy if a client has suffered at the hands of the company, while other call center employees behave like they couldn’t care less.  Some employees might suggest solutions to problems, or even be able to talk a client into making an additional purchase.  If you made an evaluation check list, the list might get longer and longer the more you look into these types of issues.
 
Flexibility — is the company you hired able to adequately handle your changing workload or are they rigid? Do they nickel and dime you too much with hidden charges, or are they accomodating and working for your convenience instead of theirs?
 
Reliability — Many companies have a very “fluid” workforce. People are being hired and fired regularly, so you are always having to deal with new employees. You might have an old worker you learned to trust, but then they might disappear.  Or, the boss, might allocate his workers to another project leaving your project on the back burner going slowly.  Are there strange things that happen to your account from time to time, or is it always steady?
 
There are other metrics to think about, but these are some basic ones.  Good luck figuring out how to assess the strength of your outsourcing partners!

Tweets:
(1) Measure the quality & quantity of work done at various outsourcing co’s to compare!
(2) Flexibility & reliability are metrics that are even more important than quality & quantity!
(3) 1 way to compare outsourcing companies is to see how long they keep the same workers!

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How good are you at estimating jobs?
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Hybrid binational companies – the way of the future?

January 31, 2012 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hybrid bi-national companies — the way of the future?
 
Many American IT companies have a partner company, or an office in India, Vietnam, or some Asian country.  It only makes sense. It is hard to find IT workers here, and they are expensive, and often uncooperative.  It is not worth a managers time to always be trying to overcome insubordination, when you can find able and willing workers in India or elsewhere. One big problem is that many American software companies are tricky, and don’t inform their clients that they use overseas labor.  But, putting honesty aside, many outsourcing companies that are able to grow and succeed, use what I call the hybrid model.
 
Hybrid bi-national businesses
India has great labor resources for medical billing, programming and all types of back office BPO type tasks. I feel that it is foolish not to take advantage of this willing and able workforce.  Setting up an office in India requires a lot of travel and time spent, but in the long run, it seems worth it.  It makes it easy and flexible to get lots of work done as it is needed.  I know many people who work at bi-national companies with one office in America and the other in India.  Or a front end office in Singapore, and a back office in Hyderabad, etc.  
 
Problems with bi-national work relationships.
There are always difficulties in any type of business set up.  In America, the crushing costs of rent, labor, accounting, and taxes put many out of business or drain their cash away, especially if you are located on a coast where everything is sky high!  Try renting an office in California.  You might be paying $2000 for a modest sized room in a high rise that can fit three people.  The problems in a hybrid company are dealing with communication issues between America and India.  Communication styles are different in different countries.  People are in different time zones, and some people answer questions faster than others.  Some people communicate faster than others, and others have a different sense of how long things should take.    But, if you have people in America who enjoy working at night, a relationship with India becomes perfect, and easier than a relationship with an American partner who leaves work at 5pm right when you are warming up!
 
Marketing and management in America?
It is more effective to have your management and marketing in America.  We have more of a command of middle management than India does.  For some reason, I have seen hardly any middle level in Indian companies. You are either the boss or the worker, but customer service reps are only for large companies in my limited experience.  If you have your intermediaries in the states, who are a go-between for the workers and the clients, you might do very well in business if you hire the right people.  In India, it would be much harder to find such people, and they wouldn’t be that cheap either if they were any good!  It seems that different countries have their niches and specialties.  Argentina is good at art and dance.  India is great at programming.  While America and the Philippines are good at interaction — or at least we think we are!!!

Tweets:
(1) Many American IT companies have a partner company, or an office in India, or some Asian country
(2) If you’re a night owl, working w/India is better than a US partner who leaves just when you are warming up.
(3) Binational companies capitalize on American expertise & an Asian labor pool. The best of both world(s).
(4) Having a binational company has its advantages. Office space in Bangladesh is a lot cheaper!
(5) A happy marriage of American management & Indian labor leads to optimal efficiency

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The 2% rule; Only 2% of companies are worth hiring
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Are you tired of outsourcing to India?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/03/05/are-you-tired-of-outsourcing-to-india/

6 ways to be more in control of your business!
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Is it easier for bigger companies to do outsourcing?

January 19, 2012 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged | Leave a comment

Is it easier for a big company to outsource or a smaller company?
 
I run a tiny company, and I find it easy to outsource. I am old fashioned and want to meet everybody in person who I work with.  In America, nobody wants to meet you in person anymore which I find to be a deal breaker.  What are they hiding that they don’t want to meet me?  If there is something wrong with someone, it is easier to find out if you are with them regularly.  On the other hand, a person can be very pleasant in person, and then later on you find out that they don’t keep promises.  Putting my personal issues aside, it is easy to get on a plane to India and interview a dozen companies for a particular task to outsource.
 
But, what about larger companies?  My company has two full time people and a few others who do outsourced work like social media, programming, etc.   But, what about a company with 12 employees, or a hundred.  Is it easier for them to outsource?    If you are a manager who has 12 employees, you will have a problem leaving them alone for ten days while you fly to India.  Or perhaps you could hire one of them to fly to India themselves and set up a deal if they are smart and reliable enough.  The question is, would you outsource to another company, or set up your own office in India?  This is a difficult question to answer. If you want to be able to control who works for you, then hire your own staff.  If you want someone else to deal with hiring and firing, and always having people ready to work, then outsourcing to an existing company is perfect.  Or, you could outsource, but ask the boss if they can hire special people according to your specifications. There are many possibilities.   One key factor is that Indians want to work, and are eager to please foreign clients, while American companies are often extremely rigid, and often will not even return your calls or emails!
 
Huge companies seem to have refined outsourcing to a set routine.  They have a standardized method of sending the right people to India to have huge offices built that are  dedicated exclusively to their corporation.  They know how to do market research and find out how to attract the best employees.  Everything is refined to a science for the big guys.
 
My blog is more oriented towards small and medium companies, so my suggestion is to poke your head around and see if you can find the right people to work with overseas.  Be prepared to visit them once or twice a year, or perhaps more!  Whether you are a small or medium sized company, it is time consuming and tiring to fly to India.  Jet lag is terrible, and stomach disorders that you get in India really take their toll.  I feel that it is worth it in the end, but not without it’s price.  If you have a larger company, then your trip to India might get more accomplished in one trip making it more efficient.  But, the bigger issue to me, is learning to refine your travel and business plans so you get the most out of any investment in travel.

Tweets:
(1) It is easier for big companies to outsource because they can create their own office overseas
(2) Bigger companies get more favorable treatment from outsourcing companies purely based on their size!

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Knowledge Process Outsourcing – Facts of Interest

December 30, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: KPO, Outsourcing Articles, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Knowledge Process Outsourcing – Facts of Interest
 
KPO
KPO means knowledge process outsourcing and is a more sophisticated type of BPO.  KPO generally refers to accounting, legal, software, and outsourcing that involves research and good analytical skills.
 
History of BPO & KPO
The history of the Business Process Outsourcing industry dates back to the 1980’s when a handful of European airlines started using Delhi as a location for their back office operations.   Later, American Express consolidated its Japan and Asia Pacific back office operations also to Delhi and the NCR region (which is near Delhi).  In the 1990’s, General Electric was next to follow suit and start back office operations in Gurgaon, which is a satellite city of Delhi.  These initial BPO operations were done using a business model that consisted of parent companies and “captives” which are companies that have an exclusive relationship with the parent company.  Independent BPO operations didn’t start until the 1990’s although the industry didn’t have much strength until after 2000.
 
IT outsourcing
In 2002, all major Indian software companies were involved in the BPO industry including Infosys, Inforlinx, HCL, Stayam, and Patni..  Spectramind was bought by Wipro, and the team that started Specramind, created Quatrro in 2006.  Daksh got bought by IBM, and MphasiS was acquired by EDS.  Accenture, IBM, Hewlett Parkard and Dell, Convergys and Sitel also created venues in India which created a lot of high paying jobs.  These new high paying jobs in India are the reason why the phenonimon of the reverse brain drain from America to India started accelerating from 2004-2009.
 
KPO Services
Investment research, Business research, Data Analytics, Market research, Valuation, Legal research are the main core of what are considered to be specialties in the KPO business.  IT, Software, and Web services can also be considered to be KPO services, although research oriented jobs better reflect how many think of KPOs. LPO means legal process outsourcing which includes a wide variety of legal back office services.  An LPO is a type of KPO as well.  The distinctions between the various outsourcing terms can get blurry, and terms can have definitions that overlap with other related terms as well.  Putting distinctions aside, KPO is a dream come true for India, where they can get a nice market share of higher paying skilled labor and have evolved past the stage of only getting grunt work and software labor.
 
Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Research
Indian companies are now engaged in more and more biotechnology, and pharmaceutical analytical work. This is one of India’s most rapidly growing industries in the KPO sector. Israel is also very prominent in KPO as they have many companies who are very advanced in medical research.
 
Where are KPO’s typically located?
To run successful KPO companies, you need a good skilled labor pool.  India dominates roughly 70% of the world KPO market, and each metro in India has a different focus. Delhi is more oriented towards legal, accounting, and call center work.  Bombay is more oriented towards business.  Hyderabad and  Chennai gravitate towards IT, Data, and Transcriptions, while Bangalore is India’s hub for any type of highly skilled technical or analytical work.  Bangalore has the highest amount of highly skilled workers of any Indian metro and the majority of higher paying KPO jobs are in Bangalore.  Visit our Bangalore KPO page to see search results for KPO companies in Bangalore.

Tweets:
(1) KPO means knowledge process outsourcing and is a more sophisticated type of BPO.
(2) KPO generally refers to accounting, legal, software & outsourcing that involves research and good analytical skills.
(3) The HISTORY of KPO, BPO, and LPO
(4) Looking at a long list of KPO services, what defines them as KPO vs. BPO services?
(5) How do you distinguish what would be classified as a KPO vs. a BPO service?
(6) India dominates roughly 70% of the world KPO market, and each metro in India has a different focus.

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How to find great offshore companies to do your back-office work!
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Roadblocks in the BPO outsourcing profession
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Diary of a Night Owl Who Enjoys Outsourcing

December 18, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Diary of a Night Owl Who Enjoys Outsourcing
 
The night is young from a night owls perspective and the Indian programmers have already finished installing ten new pages with meta-tags, meta-titles and links.  The night owl says, “Wow, this is the way to do business — I didn’t even go to bed yet, and the work is done…. lets assign more”.  A feeling of relief that the Indian Software company in Pune is so fast on the draw, that the entire stack of emails that have the information for five dozen new pages will be done soon.
 
I’ve been writing customized SEO pages for dozens of pages for my new site for a few weeks now.  They are going online one by one, and google is responding generously to my hard work.  But, its so nice that with my odd schedule, I can find companies that are in full function, when I am in full function with my Leo schedule.  Its hard doing business with Americans.  By the time I get out of bed, have my mocha, finish my emails and other pressing matters, its too late to call the East Coast, and the West Coast only has a few hours to go. 
 
India is perfect.  If only we could move it to Australia, then it would have the perfect time zone for my schedule, but I’m not complaining, its excellent already. If only all companies could be like Indian Software companies!   Emails are the way I communicate these days.  Sure, a phone call is easier if there is a lot of back and forth in the communication.  But, emails are best for straight instructions and perhaps one or two quick questions for what the work entails.  Its amazing for me to get back and forth at 10pm when I’m in full swing, and America is unconscious.
 
My schedule is only normal when I take my break and go into the redwoods.  Its a six hour drive to Santa Cruz from here and the various state parts are waiting for me.  There is a feeling of peace there in any of the redwood forests, especially when there is a slight drizzle.  The earth is so soft as its composed of disintegrating pine needles.  Thats the only time I wake up as a civilized hour.  Last trip up North I woke up at 6am the last day and went hiking near Felton, CA at Henry Cowell state park.  I save all of my hundreds of business calls to the East coast for when I go on my trips.  Thats the only time I’m not a night owl.  Its up North that I do my welcome calls for new clients, and reminder calls for existing clients.  I wouldn’t be able to call India from there because I fall asleep at 10pm when India has just gotten to work since its +13.5 hours.
 
If you are a night owl who is in a software business, Indian Software companies are a dream to work with.  Try it!