Tag Archives: Call Centers

A Filipino Call Center gets a 250 seater job from 123outsource.net!

November 5, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Philippines | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A company just called me from the Philiipines about their call center. They said they had a listing on 123outsource.net and just was offered a huge job. The job was from a huge company who is going to test them out with a sixty day job for ten seats. If all goes well, then they will be needing 250 call center representatives from this company to help them out. The call center in Manila who got this job is going to be purchasing multiple listings from us now that they know our directory attracts serious business. This particular assignment is a multi-million dollar contract and I am proud to say it derived from the hard work I put into my online directory over the past several years! Many call centers advertise with us, but this is the best story so far.

If you want to get more business to your call center or call centers, contact us at info@123notary.com and we can discuss your options. “Regular” positions are US$200 per year and show up above the free listings on our site. If you are serious about any type of outsourcing profession and want to advertise, we would love to hear from you!

Using Linked In to network for your BPO or Call Center

September 29, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Marketing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

It is not easy to promote your call center and gain clients. You can cold call companies, promote a web site or use social media. There are so many social media sites out there it is hard to know which one is the right one. For business, LinkedIn has some definitive advantages.

The average LinkedIn member has an average yearly household income of $109,000
50% of LinkedIn members have decision-making authority for their companies.

But, how do you use LinkedIn for your call centers?

Create a profile
You need to create a LinkedIn company page. Make sure you fill the page in very completely with all of your background professional information and every pertinent fact about your company.

Post regular updates
You can post regular updates on your profile about what you are working on at the moment.

Connect by Networking
One way to gain new contacts on LinkedIn is to contact relevant people who follow your contacts. It’s easier to make a new contact if you have some common ground.

Participate in Groups
You can join up to fifty LinkedIn groups and participate in call center discussions. You can also provide good answers to other people’s questions. Being regularly seen helps, but being seen as a reliable source of intelligent commentary and knowledge helps even more.

LinkedIn Advertising
We tried LinkedIn Advertising for my discussion group. We did get new followers, but the cost was not cheap. It was $2 per click and we got a new follower for every $12-14 we spent which was not terrible, but not really cost effective.

Paid Memberships
LinkedIn limits the quantity of professionals that you can contact in a month. So, unless you have twenty profiles you use together, you can’t contact that many people. Paid memberships let you contact more people to network with.

Start a Group
In outsourcing, most of the groups have job postings. Our LinkedIn group has a lot of interesting outsourcing and business discussions.

What is a follower on LinkedIn worth comparatively?
I run 17 social media campaigns and I am constantly trying to figure out what a follower is worth. I can measure click patterns and see how many of them like particular blog articles. However, the actual human beings doing the clicks from LinkedIn are much more influential and hence could be considered to be of a higher value than perhaps a Twitter click to my site. How much more valuable is a LinkedIn click than a Twitter or Facebook click? I would tend to say more, but how much more is hard to say. If you compare various social networks, compare the costs of developing a group that will give you 1000 clicks a month to your blog or site. It might take a much higher quantity of followers to get the same result on Twitter, but might be easier to attain those followers. The math is complicated. But, if you want to get ahead in networking, you need to be able to identify the most time effective methods and avenues of promoting your call centers!

LinkedIn is not big on outsourcing
Keep in mind that there are not many outsourcers using LinkedIn and they are not at all interactive. To market your call center or BPO you need to find regular business owners who could be in any field that might need your services. Get to know them and see if they have an interest in trying you out.

Putting clients on hold at a call center is a big problem

June 3, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Management | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Call centers operate for their own profitability. If you have agents sitting around with nothing to do, you’re losing money, right? Not exactly. If you have too few agents, then when a caller calls at a busy time, you will have to put them on hold. Customers really don’t like being put on hold. It tries their patience, and wastes their time. You might be paying a certain rate for call center workers, but the time of your client calling in might be worth $100 per hour. Each minute you keep them waiting is close to $2 in lost productivity. First of all, your client’s time is worth more than your agents’ time. Second, if your client fires you as their call center, you could stand to lose tens of thousands per month! I am amazed that when I personally call call centers, it is almost impossible to reach a competent manager. They just never seem to be at their desk. Where are they hiding? Do they want to avoid getting new clients?

I often joke that the difference between India and the USA, is that in India, service waits for you while in America, we wait for service. Of course, the quality of the service from coolies, rickshaw drivers, and other people in their category is very far from being polished or pleasant. But, at least they are usually there, and waiting. If you could combine quality and considerate service with the, “They wait for you instead of you waiting for them” principle, you might have a call center that is more popular than you think.

Sit down and think about it. Do you run your call center for your personal pleasure, or for the pleasure of those who call in needing help? I created a business proverb a year or two ago.

If in a conflict between a customer and a substandard worker, you side with the worker, you’ll end up with more bad workers and fewer customers.

If you operate your business for the benefit of your customers, you will end up with more customers, and fewer you’s, if that is possible. Think about it!

Management of Labor Disputes at Call Centers

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

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

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

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

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

Call centers in the Philippines are getting more expensive than India

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

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

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

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

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

You might also like:

How to gain traffic for your call center using pay-per-click
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/01/how-to-gain-clients-for-your-call-center-pay-per-click/

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

Call Centers in India: Is an English Accent Important? Just do Your Job

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

Necessity–or Prejudice?

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

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

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

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You might also like:

How to get more clients for your BPO or Call Center (compilation)
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/08/20/how-to-get-more-clients-for-your-bpo-or-call-center-compilation/

18 ways to boost your social media marketing in 10 minutes per day!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/05/05/18-ways-to-boost-your-social-media-marketing-in-10-minutes-day/

New Startups on the Techstars accellerator
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/05/12/new-startups-on-the-techstars-accellerator/

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English is The Cat’s Pajamas

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

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

Listen to the Information, Not the Accent

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

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

Just Do Your Job

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

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

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

You might also like:

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

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

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

Call Center Blues: Does Credibility Matter?

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

What is Credibility Anyway?

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

Here are three simple steps that actually create credibility:

The people you are calling need to hear that…

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

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

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

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

Two Known Facts:

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

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

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

You might also like:

Credibility = having a great voice?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/02/08/indian-call-centers-credibility-a-great-voice/

7 habits of successful salespeople
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/12/01/7-habits-of-successful-salespeople/

Indian Call Centers: Credibility = a Great Voice

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

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

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

Allure provides a certain type of credibility

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

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

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

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

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

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

You might also like:

Half a million Filipino call center workers are on American Time
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/29/half-a-million-filipino-call-center-workers-are-on-american-time/

How to get more clients with a good salesperson
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/08/how-to-find-clients-for-call-centers-good-salespeople

From 100 Indian call centers down to 1

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

From 100 call centers down to 1

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

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

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

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

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

You might also like:

How to get clients for your call center – get an agent!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/14/how-to-get-more-clients-for-your-call-center-get-an-agent/

How to get clients for your call center: Pay-per-click!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/01/how-to-gain-clients-for-your-call-center-pay-per-click/

How to attract clients to your Call Center — Linked In

August 13, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I get dumb sounding emails daily from web design companies, web developers, call centers, BPO outfits, data entry companies, and especially from SEO companies. But, these dumb emails lack any type of knowledge of my name, needs, wants, or anything about me. Dumb emails don’t get people business with any good ratio. But, smart emails could. I would be so impressed if someone sent a smart email and actually knew something about me. Emailing is one way to attract potential clients, but what about social media?

Linked In was recommended to me by a call center professional in Calcutta. He says that he has 8000 contacts on his profile and has an easy time reaching decision makers. Please keep in mind, that being on the right medium is only part of the battle. You have to present yourself well. But, at least this is an efficient way to find companies. Can you imagine using the phone and calling people’s secretaries all day long getting nowhere? Using linked in you could probably find dozens of decision makers per day.

But, there is more. When you communicate with professional business people, they will not appreciate it if you come across as someone with the sensibilities of a teenager.

(1) Don’t use text language: i.e. “How r u”.
(2) Don’t ask what they are “into”. We are not in the 8th grade anymore. India seems to be permanently in the 8th grade in their usage of the word into not to mention certain irresponsible business practices.
(3) Don’t try to convince someone that your name is Sam Jones when you are Ramesh Ramachandra. Try to pick a nickname that sounds like your real name.
(4) Keep your conversations real and professional.
(5) Don’t make offers that are too good to be true, too cheap, or crazy sounding.

The key on Linked In as with any other medium is to get to know people before you ask for anything. To bombard a stranger with requests for contracts is sort of spamming them. Learn the art of chit-chat. Get to know people, make small talk, ask them what they do, and what their needs and aspirations are long before you try to sell them. There is no formula for how long you gossip before you introduce your services. But, I would suggest selling them on your knowledge before you sell them on your services. These days people want to buy from someone that they can trust for reliable sounding information and solutions. If you don’t know how to be like that, then learn. There is a lot of money to be made if you can be an information guru!

Remember — the difference between a 5 million dollar a year salesperson and the 5 rupee per hour salesperson is that the high priced one is cool, sociable, and is an infinite source of knowledge and confidence. His inexpensive counterpart is just an annoying jerk. Be knowledgeable, helpful and find your call center clients on Linked In.

You might also like

How to attract clients to your call center — contracts!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/05/how-to-get-clients-for-call-centers-contracts/

How to acquire call center clients — looking like a big company

June 20, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Getting respect
Many small companies feel that they can’t get any respect unless people think they are a big company. If you live in a 3rd world country, it is hard to get past these narrow-minded opinions. 3rd worlders have nonsensical and narrow-minded opinions about almost everything. In America, we don’t think that bigger is better. The coolest companies in America are small companies. Small companies often don’t want to become bigger companies.

Keeping your roots
Some larger American companies still maintain a lot of the charm that they had when they were smaller companies. Some people think that you can’t get ahead without the big company image, but charm sells — and don’t you forget that!

Small time call centers
Many small time call centers feel that they can not get clients unless they look like a big company. Nothing could be further from the truth. Often, the reps at these companies will be very impersonal and distant to maintain their big company image. However, when you ask them anything about their company and workers — they can not produce any content — it is always private. The bigger question is, how can you acquire call center clients if you don’t answer any of their questions? People don’t want big companies, they want answers! So, start giving them.

Being helpful — not being big
Indian call centers are famous for having people with typical thick Indian accents pretending to be in America, and having a fake American name. They think that the only way to be liked is to be American. This is not true. The way to be liked is not to be American, and is also NOT to be a big company. Being HELPFUL is the way to be liked. At my company, clients don’t like it when we are NICE to them. They don’t want NICE, they want HELP. This is why I succeed in my business — I am not nice — But, I am helpful.

Skills — not size
When I interview call centers, I don’t care if they are big or small. I want to know if they have employees who can do my work the way I want it done. If they have 100 workers of various skill levels, but refuse to give me one who has the skill set that I want, I will not be happy. I would be better off with a call center with 1 seat, that has the worker that I want. It is about skills — not size.

The moral of the story
What you should learn from this blog entry is: Don’t pretend to be a glamorous large company (unless you are). Rather, pretend to be a small, helpful, and skillful company that answers all of the client’s questions. Then, you will impress people. You should be flexible and nice too if you want to attract call center clients!

Why your sitar & tabla lessons are the most important training for business

June 9, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Outsourcing Articles, Popular Posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I am always being asked how to get more clients for call centers, data entry, and software houses. But, the type of answers people want are what I call, “immediate gratification” type answers. How can I get something now that I may or may not deserve or merit. If I were writing to a Western audience, I would talk about piano or violin lessons, but most of my readers are in India, so let’s talk about the veena, sitar, tabla and tambouras.

When you take music lessons, you learn a whole lot more than just music. You learn discipline (essential for any profession), impeccable timing, listening skills, sensitivity, and how to coordinate with others — especially if playing a raga with a tabla player.

Many times when we call Call centers, we get people who can hardly communicate, if they answer the phone at all. If we email them, the email doesn’t get returned. If you want clients so badly, what prevents you from answering your email? That might be the only medium for communication that someone could use to communicate with you. Additionally, we get the “hard sell” types who want to immediately lock you into a very constrictive contract without evening listening to what your needs are.

Listening skills
Then, the staff at these call centers sometimes speak too softly, or too loudly. If you had a musical background, you would realize right away that their pitch was off tune. Some of them have a pleasant or unpleasant tone. Anybody can notice this, but with a musical background, your brain becomes very much more sensitized to noise. A call center worker might put words together in ways that are hard for the client to understand as well. You will pick up on this much better with a musical background. As I stated earlier, the management also doesn’t always listen to what the client wants. Listening is critical to success in business and you will have a much better listening skills if you took sitar lessons.

Timing
In music, you have to play a sequence of notes, with sensitivity in a particular rhythm. Emails are similar. They need to be answered in a time sensitive way. You can not wait three weeks to get back to someone about a time sensitive issue and then say, “oh sorry”. If the tabla player plays 12 beats and then you have to play a few notes immediately afterwards — this is very similar to what happens in the world of business. Your client might send you a process that has to be begun on Tuesday morning at 5am. What if three hours after a process is started, you need to inspect a critical piece of work to see if the project is going as planned, and you miss that precise window of time? If you are not paying attention, you miss critical deadlines and get lose your clients. A few veena lessons will teach you about timing!

Sensitivity
In business, analytics is very important. Knowing what the most important task to do at a particular time when you have limited resources. Sensitivity can help you notice more, and a lot faster. You will also notice a lot more details about what you are doing, and what is flawed and what needs to be fixed. Higher level business-people are much more refined in all aspects of their work.

Most companies have managers who are either unavailable, or who have trouble giving accurate answers to questions. In music, if there is even one flaw, the entire song, piece or raga can be ruined. In business, if you give wrong answers, your sale can be ruined. This type of accuracy training or discipline is irreplaceable and comes from studying music. Sure, business school can teach you a lot of principles, but tabla lessons teach you a sense of accuracy that can be transposed into any profession!

Clasically trained musicians make higher incomes!
If you look at people who are classical musicians in the United States, their average income is in the top 1-5%. They average around US$120,000 per year in income. People who just want quick bucks generally make around 15-40% of that amount. The discipline of classical music translates into good study skills which once again translates into higher level jobs and higher sensitivity in business skills. Sensitivity training is everything and your tamboura lessons will really help with this.

The moral of this blog is — think of your clients as tabla players. After they play their beats, you have to chime in!

Tweets:
(1) Classically trained musicians make higher incomes if they pursue professions
(2) The discipline of classical music translates into better study skills = higher income

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