Tag Archives: Call Centre

How to get a process for a call centre

July 8, 2016 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center | Tagged Call Centre, Call Centre Business, Get a process for a call centre | 1 Comment

There are many startups in India who want to be in the call centre business. They rent an office with 20 seats, and want to know how to get processes from clients. If you want to know how to get a process for a call centre, there are several ways to go about this.

1. Get an agent
There are agents that can get you clients for your call center. However, many call centre agents demand up front fees and might not deliver. So, you need to find a way to pay by the lead. If you lack experience in the industry and lack any track record, no established agent will want to deal with you, so you will be forced to deal with scam artists.

2. Start slowly as a freelancer
I think it makes more sense to start from the ground up in outsourcing. There is a lot to know about the outsourcing process, management, work, metrics, finance, etc. You might have an easier time if you start off as a freelancer, and get your own clients. Then after some time, you can hire one or two additional people to help you with the work. You can build up slowly which is good, because those who rise too fast in this business fall the hardest and can lose everything!

3. Advertise on 123outsource.net
People get a lot of jobs from advertising their call centre on 123outsource.net. You probably will not get enough work to fill your call center, but it is a nice way to get some extra leads that can add up to some hefty projects. One of our clients got a contract for 250 seats from our directory. It is not expensive to advertise with us, but the benefits can be huge!

4. Get a website
If you don’t have a website for your call center, create a nice one. If you make a good impression, people will be more likely to hire you than other call centers.

Additional Reading

How to start an outsourcing company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/12/29/how-to-start-an-outsourcing-company-2016/

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

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

How to get more clients for your BPO or Call Center (Compilation)

August 20, 2015 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center, Compilations, Popular on Twitter, Semi-Popular | Tagged bpo, call center, Call Center Marketing, Call Center Outsourcing, Call Centre, Outsourcing | Leave a comment

We wrote many blog articles about outsource marketing that were so popular, we were not able to top them. However, many of these articles are from long time back and they never resurface to the top of the feed of our blog. So, we are going to bring them back in the form of a compilation to give you a choice of many articles!

How to attract more clients to your call center part 1
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/05/05/getting-more-clients-for-your-call-center/
Relationships are the key to success. How well do you get to know people and nurture the relationship? It might all start with a cold call, so get your fingers ready to dial.

How to attract more clients to your call center part 2
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/05/19/how-to-attract-more-clients-to-your-call-center-part-2/
Hiring the right staff and training them meticulously is part of the secret. You need to mentor them, coach them, and keep metrics on them. Experienced workers will keep your clients happy, so don’t deliver any novices or you’ll all be sorry.

How to find clients for call centers — good salespeople
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/08/how-to-find-clients-for-call-centers-good-salespeople/
You could have the best call center in the world, but without the right salespeople, getting new clients might not be so easy. Having well trained salespeople is key, and having a few extras around might not be such a bad idea either.

How to get clients for call centers — contracts!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/05/how-to-get-clients-for-call-centers-contracts/
Getting clients is just half the battle. Once they agree to do business with you, what type of contract should you use? Should it be rigid and long term, or a more relaxed month to month contract that is more “friendly?”

How to acquire clients for call centers — presentation!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/03/29/how-to-acquire-clients-for-call-centers-presentation/
If you provide a good service, that is half the battle. But, how you present yourself online and over the phone can mean the difference between gaining that new clients and losing them.

How to gain 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/
There are many ways to get clients for your call center, but attracting people using PPC can be one of the fastest. You’ll need to know all of your keyword variations inside out and how the Google Adwords and other systems work. After that it is all systems go!

How to acquire call center clients — looking like a big company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/20/how-to-acquire-call-center-clients-looking-like-a-big-company/
Some people are comfortable hiring a small company. But, larger clients prefer to play ball with larger companies. So, how to you appear to be large when you are not?

Is an English accent important? Just do your job!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/01/call-centers-in-india-is-an-english-accent-important-just-do-your-job/
Some call centers in India like to have agents with seemingly perfect English accents. But, the key to getting ahead lies more in quality work than in flashy accents.

Gaining new clients and nurturing them correctly
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/04/17/gaining-new-clients-and-nurturing-them-correctly/
We all have our hands out for new clients. However, how often are we there to solve their problems or just ask them how things are going? Do we woo them the right way? And how is our credibility?

5 important things call center agents must do

July 19, 2015 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center | Tagged call center, Call Center Agents, Call Centre | Leave a comment

Five Important Tips the Call Centre Agents Need To Use To Improve Their Customer Services
Your customer service call centre is generally considered to be the heart of your business and has a direct effect on your customer’s interaction. When they experience long times or ineffective agents customers would then be unhappy with your organization and would begin to look for some other solutions. In a recent study conducted by customer service manager reports 91.5 percent of your customers are unlikely to recommend your company once they have had a bad customer experience. This is why it is important that you improve your call centre operations. Given below are 10 important tips on how you could improve your customer services in the organization.

Clarifying the complaints of your clients and customers:
Sometimes customers are never clear when they are reporting their problems. They would never be sure of their problems and would be frustrated about making a call affecting their communication. And in order to resolve the issues quickly and easily our own communication has to be very efficient. Open ended questions like who, what, where, when and how would always give you the right information while closed questions would deliver confirmation. So try and use closed questions that would help you control the conversation allowing you to proceed towards the right resolution.

Whatever you tell yourself its true:
I once heard someone that the more she told herself how lucky she was the luckier she turns out to be. This simple act of telling yourself something and believing it delivers the right result. And once we believe something it would manifest itself in the body language, the facial expression and voice. This would also mean that when you believe that your next call would result in disappointment then your body language and emotion would also express disappointment. Who would want to listen to someone who always sounds to be disappointed on the phone? No one so your customers here would refuse to listen to you and as a result would refuse your invitation to buy the products and services from you.

Smashing your negative beliefs:
Its quiet amazing of how someone could be positive about making an outbound sales call and as just we are about to dial there is a little voice which sits on our shoulder and says waste your time and they won’t be interested in buying anything from you. Within seconds our motivation tends to disappear and our brains go into overdrive to deliver reasons of not making the call. So rather than focusing on the negative beliefs train yourself and say that this could be the best deal of the day.

Being fast and consistent enough:
Consistency is the key when it comes to the call centre as no one would want to be consistently slow and bad. And not having simple, fast accurate and updated information is often the downfall of the agents especially when it comes to the two customer service blips. It generally stands for a reason that the call centre agents would require one common knowledge base that would work successfully across all the communication channels starting from phones, emails and social media.

Making sure that self-service does not turn out to be a poor service: Always every customer centric environment would have one self-centric form. Operations need to be very aware of the fact that how user friendly it is and how user friendly could it sound. Very basic but something that is vital to the customer satisfaction level.

So what do you think are the best ways of improving your customer service? Do leave your comments below.

Author Bio:
Abhishek Jain has over 10 years of experience within the BPO Industry and Finance and Accounting outsourcing services. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Services India delivers and manages various offshore/onsite projects in various technologies and domains

Six Problems That Only Individuals Working In A BPO Industry Would Understand

June 15, 2015 by 123outsource

Categories: BPO, Call Center, India, Popular Posts | Tagged Abhishek Jain, bpo, BPO Industry, call center, Call Centre, Outsourcing | Leave a comment

Six Problems That Only Individuals Working In A BPO Industry Would Understand
Anyone who has been working in a call centre, or has already worked there knows that there is no other psychological trauma quite like it, say for example hooked up on a phone call that would never end for the majority of your life, and is been subjected to the worst kinds of humanity.

Time is everything in a BPO Industry. We come across situations where you would have military walking in, your breaks being monitored, strict call length control, monitoring toilet breaks, etc. with each and everything being controlled and monitored. Welcome to the world of robots. Given below are some of the trials and tribulations one would have been experiencing in a call centre and lucky are the ones who escaped from it.

Being shouted at the entire day: You know what could make your clients angry for the things you are about to say. And things like it would take two weeks, or you do not have an account with us, or I would have to transfer your call, or my boiler has not been working and it’s definitely your fault. These are things that would sound like a red rag to a bull. So if you are lucky enough you would be getting a response like this I know it’s not your fault but before things go worse….and is something that’s unlikely to happen.

Being asked to work overtime: Each and every one of us have been doing this. We would have to work overtime in order to pull the given targets. We cannot let our customers down and would require someone who could answer their calls.

Taking up calls that you cannot deal with:These kind of things continue to happen a lot in the BPO Industry and is something that is never funny. Weeping people come forward and tell you their story whereas screaming customers would claim that they are going to come commit suicide with sexually inappropriate comments. And when such things happen you would here need to remember that you would have to wrap up the calls in 2 minutes or else would be fired.

Having to come up at 8.30 and starting your computer: You have been told that you need to be at your desk by sharp 8:30 am and it’s already 9.30. And it’s obvious that certain programme that you would need at your job would take half an hour of time to load. And off course you would not be paid for your extra half an hour then why would you choose to work for an extra hour.

Not wanting to be a part of clients call during day off: Do not try of contacting your customer success team during weekends, it would never ever happen. So try and use whats up, gmail, Viber, and Facebook instead.

Getting Back Home and Noticing That Your Friends Have Been On Facebook The Entire Day: Most of the times we come across situations where we did not have much work to do. And you could just read articles online with a limited access to internet like the fact of the day been written by your manager and your weekly column where your CEO would be describing the holiday he would be going on.
Author Bio:

Abhishek Jain has over 10 years of experience within the BPO Industry and Finance and Accounting outsourcing services. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Services India delivers and manages various offshore/onsite projects in various technologies and domains

You might also like:

Marketing your BPO outsourcing firm from A to Z
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/05/22/marketing-your-bpo-outsourcing-firm-from-a-to-z/

Is it time to Uber-size your outsourcing business?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/05/10/is-it-time-to-uber-size-your-outsourcing-business/

How to start an outsourcing company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/12/29/how-to-start-an-outsourcing-company-2016/

If you invested in training your BPO employees, what skills would you teach them?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/03/28/if-you-invested-in-training-your-bpo-employees-what-types-of-skills-would-you-teach-them/

How to get call center clients by monitoring better!

June 28, 2014 by 123outsource

Categories: Uncategorized | Tagged call center, Call Center Agent, Call Center Clerk, Call Center Worker, Call Centre, Calling Techniques | Leave a comment

The title of this entry should really be about how to keep your clients, but our readers are more concerned with getting clients, so we’ll leave it as is. Those who succeeded in the call center industry insist that trained managers and intricate monitoring systems win the game in the competitive call center industry. Nothing is better than a call center clerk who is being constantly watched and improved upon!

Training
Just for the record, training and coaching needs to happen regularly for all call center agents, no matter what level they are at. Monitoring can key management in to see what individual callers need customized coaching at! Training programs also need to be modified and evolve over time to meet the needs of your staff. Keep track of what parts of the training program worked well, and what needs to be developed upon or changed.

Send them home…
One company I heard of watches their call center workers all day long. The minute they start slipping, they get sent home. You lose your company’s reputation the minute your phone staff starts getting cranky. I know this because I am sometimes forced to work long hours, and we get lots of complaints when I started getting upset with people who are rude to me (which happens regularly.)

Stop bad habits before they start!
Regular monitoring makes it easy to spot bad habits as they are being formed. The minute your call center worker starts getting off on the wrong foot, it’s coaching time! Stop that bad habit right away!

Keep track any way you can
You can track worker performance on paper, on an online database, but don’t do it in your head even if you have a good memory. Technology is not the goal here — keeping top-notch performance through worker tracking is the goal!

Give daily feedback
Workers like feedback if it is genuine and helpful. Be careful with negative comments. Try to phrase things in a way that praises people for what they did right, and makes suggestions for what they could do better!

Not everyone can do monitoring
Someone who is good at calls might not be good at monitoring and vice versa. You need someone anal who likes nit-picking everyone else, and who has the grace and suave to be well received when they start giving commentary. Monitoring is an art that is refined over time, but regardless of how good your training program is, you need to start with the right personality for the job!

Regular rewards boost morale
The call centers that do well have regular rewards. There is the worker of the month reward, and other creative awards that imaginative companies think of. Those who just have their grunt workers clock in and clock out lack the enthusiasm and quality of work that the more thoughtful companies have. This is what top-notch expert call center managers told me in private interviews. Happy workers are born out of a fun and stimulating environment!

Review examples of high quality interactions on tape
If you have an experienced rep who handles themselves gracefully, use particular calls they did as case studies. Sure, this is not Harvard Business School, but case studies can help with studying many subjects at any type of skill level, plus it is fun to see real experts engaged in what they are good at. Personally, I would like to see Donald Trump in action, since I do business for a living!

Have a system for checking on people
Yes, you need the right person to do the checking. But, you also need the right manager managing the monitor. You need a methodical system for checking up on your call center workers. You need to decide how often to check up on people, how often to give feedback to them, and how to handle every common type of difficulty or issue that props up.

Customer feedback is imperative
If you have your customers give any type of feedback on your callers, that can be very helpful. Customers are wary of long and drawn out forms which take a long time to fill out. But, if you can have them answer a few questions over the phone for you, or write a few quick comments in an email, that might be enough to get some insight as to how your call center agents are doing!

Keep score
If you award your callers scores for how good their calls are, they will be able to compare themselves to others, and compare their progress over time. Nothing motivates better than seeing yourself improve in a big way over the course of a few months.

Group meetings are helpful
If a bunch of callers get together with a manager and discuss calling techniques for particular situations, that can be meaningful and helpful as multiple points of view will arise. Callers who regularly attend group meetings do measurably better than those who don’t according to the experts!

Self-assessment is also useful
Many callers find that assessing their own calls is helpful. When they analyze what they did right, and what they had trouble with, it becomes a learning process with good long-term results.

Good luck, and make your BPO call center a learning environment where self-growth and fun is a daily occurrence!

Are callers in India more sincere?

September 18, 2013 by 123outsource

Categories: India | Tagged call center, Call Center in India, Call Center Worker, Call Centre, Customer Service, Sincere customer service | Leave a comment

Are callers at a call center in India more sincere than U.S. call center workers? Many of them are educated, and eager to please. They use false names if their call center asks them to, but many have a positive way of looking at it. “I think people in the U.S. are very busy, and they just want to make sure they get good customer service. If they hear someone with a foreign accent, they are not sure. If they have one problem with a caller from another company, they do not want to hear from another caller in India,” says one call center worker in Delhi. “I do not feel that I am being false. I am being myself, but with a name that people in the U.S. can relate to,” says Robin, whose real name is Lakshmi. “I am sincere about my work, and want to give great customer service.” Robin’s call center in India is one of the very best and most sought-after.

Call center workers at this call center in India are certainly less cynical about their lives than their U.S. counterparts, and they take work seriously. Having worked as a caller for high-end fundraising in the U.S., and having supervised numerous callers recently from time to time, I can tell you that American call center workers after a while will say almost anything to those they are calling. They will be friendly, get the credit card number, then hang up and at break time often complain about the people they called. Those who feel bad about themselves and do not like their jobs are not sincere. For example, they will sound like a Democrat on one call, and talk Republican on another, and generally try to fit in with what the caller chats about just to get along. If someone makes a comment on a presidential candidate, they will agree–not matter what they think–to make people think they are talking to a fellow American with the same values. Many are just so involved in the daily grind that they do not have any hope anymore about the political scene and life in the U.S. in general. Is this any better than using a false name?

However, U.S. callers communicate well. They provide reliable customer service, if that is the kind of call they are making. They are fluent in English, and compared to workers in a call center in India, they create a better impression that a situation will be resolved– whether they believe that or not. If call center workers in India do not know whether the situation will be resolved, they may not say that it will be.

Is this better or worse for the U.S. consumer? Is it bad customer service to be honest?

Maybe yes.

How to find clients for call centers — good salespeople

April 8, 2013 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged call center, Call Centre, Find clients for your call center, Get clients for call centers, How to acquire clients for call centers | Leave a comment

Bad salespeople are a curse
I talk to salespeople all day long. Honestly, I am sick of the dishonest ones. I am also sick of incompetent salespeople. Additionally, I can’t stand it when salespeople give me wrong information. I can’t tell who is a liar, and who is merely stupid. What kind of company image do you want? Do you want your prospects to think you are a bunch of liars, bums, or fools? My recommendation is to get honest and capable salespeople, and your company will have a great image and you will find clients for your call center!

Training is everything
Many times I call companies up, and talk to the salespeople. The only question I want to ask them is, “Who trained you?” Of course, both of us know that the answer is that NOBODY trained them. Your company image will look very foolish if you don’t train your sales staff well. If you want to know how to get clients for call centers — start with training your sales staff.

Have redundant salespeople
Most companies make it challenging to find a salesperson. They want to prevent you from buying something. That is a very interesting business strategy. I do not use that strategy at my company — but, if avoiding your prospects helps you succeed — then, all the more power to you! I think it makes sense to have more than enough salespeople at your company. Maybe you should have 20% more sales people than you need. That way, if a great prospect calls who wants to offer you a million dollar deal, you will not miss that opportunity because everyone is out to lunch, dinner, out sick, or talking to another prospective client.

Of all the companies I have talked to
I would honestly say, that with Indian companies, I am unhappy with them in almost all regards. The sloppiness is attrocious. If you wonder why you are not getting jobs, it is because of the sloppiness that goes on in India. Nobody will trust a company in India unless they know for sure that you are whatever the opposite of sloppy is. And most overseas companies will not give you a chance. But, with American companies, their salespeople are usually horrible. Perhaps only 10% of companies that I have dealt with have good salespeople. The companies that are growing and doing well, normally have either acceptable or high quality sales people. I suggest you look into improving your sales staff today!

So now, I hope you understand how to acquire clients for call centers by having great sales people.

You might also like:

How to acquire clients for call centers — presentation
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/03/29/how-to-acquire-clients-for-call-centers-presentation

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/

How often do you contact old prospects?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/05/19/how-often-do-you-contact-old-prospects/

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

How many salespeople is the right number?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/07/28/how-many-salespeople-is-the-perfect-number/

How to get more clients for your call center

March 17, 2013 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged 200 seat call center, call center, Call Centers, Call centers around the world, Call Centre, Get more clients for your call center | 2 Comments

We wrote dozens of articles for how call centers can market themselves and get more clients. Please click on the call center link on the right of our blog to see all of the other articles. This article will be unique.

Get more clients for your call center
There are numerous traditional marketing techniques. Having a great website makes a huge difference. Having great sales staff is also irreplaceable. But, what about networking?

Marketing doesn’t always have to cost
I know of companies who network with other companies to get business. They don’t pay for advertising — not that there is anything wrong with paying for effective advertising. If you are a little call center, what if you take the jobs that a bigger call center rejected for one reason or the next.

Get more clients for your call center by networking
Picture the reality of a big call center. They have 200 seats to fill, and they want big clients only — ones that will sign big contracts and long contracts. What if little clients approach these giants? What will happen? Imagine that they could refer those little clients to your call center. They might want to know if you are any good before ruining their reputation referring clients to you. But, what if your call center service IS good? Or, perhaps they might want a finders fee if they get you a client. It is worth it to pay a small up front fee and residuals for good clients.

You could network with call centers around the world. Trying to get end users to hiring you by calling them is one way of marketing. But, OTHER call centers already have those end users, but might not want them. Perhaps those clients won’t pay enough, or won’t agree to rigid terms. That is perfect for you, because you have liberal terms, so you can get your business moving, right?

I’ll assume that you said, “Right”.

Tweets:
(1) Big call centers eat little call centers
BUT, little call centers can eat the left overs the big #callcenters didn’t eat
(2) 1 big #callcenter has 250 branches in 57 countries.
You’d better be very professional to compete with them for business!

You might also like:

Call centers who don’t answer their phone!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/08/call-centers-who-dont-answer-their-phone/

How to get more clients for your call center — better training!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/05/how-to-get-more-business-for-your-call-center-better-training/

How to attract more clients to your call center part 2

May 19, 2011 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged attracting clients, call center, Call Center Companies, Call Center Employee, Call Centre | 2 Comments

How to get more clients for your call center part 2

Part 1 of this series about marketing your call center was very nuts and bolts. Basically, you contact companies who might need your services, be receptive to their questions and needs, and offer them a few hours sample of your work if you think they are serious about a long term relationship. The several hundred dollars you lose giving a free sample could come back to you 1000 fold in the long run with repeat business and referrals.

Hiring the right staff
There is a spiritual law that says that if you have the right people, business will naturally come to you. Isn’t it funny how some businesses grow without putting a dime, a peso, riyal, or rupee into advertising? This always frustrated me as a child while I put endless hours in sweat equity marketing my lawn mowing business while other people just got the business while they were sipping iced tea. Although, I eventually got referrals, and was good at certain tasks concerning the manual labor that I used to do, I did not have the refinement necessary to be someone’s first choice. I also didn’t have a marketing system for getting referrals. Its much easier to build your business through referrals than it is by getting clients through advertising. What I learned later in life, is that it is not a crime to spend a fortune on advertising, but it is a crime not to have a good “offering”, and a good system for gettting referrals.

Hiring the right staff that comprises the perfect blend of personalities to handle your clients and future clients is imperative. If you have a call center with a bunch of pushy salespeople, and customer service reps who mumble, you are going to have a hard time growing at any price. Remember, that the cost to a company for losing them a client is much greater than whatever they are paying you! Outsourcing is a great way for companies to save money, but let them save money without the headaches that are associated with outsourcing. Give them the best service in town and a great experience that they will remember

Can you imagine if XYZ company hires a call center, and the service was mediocre, but dealing with them was a pain in the neck? The manager at XYZ will have a bitter taste in his mouth with all of the bad memories of XYZ company. It is a far better plan to give companies who work with you as wonderful an experience as you can while still maintaining a good price. When all is said and done, and all of the numbers are crunched (analyzed), giving people a pleasant experience counts for 50% of their decision of whether they are going to use you again, even if your actual work is not the best.

Having polished staff members
There are call center companies where the employees speak clearly, are patient, polite, and explain things well. These are the call centers that are going to get the repeat business. I spoke to a call center rep who was the most polite person I have ever encountered. He worked for a fancy bank, and it is no surprize that they value that individual, as he brings professionalism to their already very professional organization. On the other hand, there are nightmare call center staff members who hang up on clients, lose their temper, or are always transfering them to someone else who may or may not be there. You could lose a million dollar account with behavior like that. The quality of your staff = the security of your future success in business!

Training and mentoring
Nobody starts out perfect, except perhaps today’s call center rep from Well’s Fargo. Most call center emplyees just don’t have their act perfected. It is critical to spend more money on middle level management who walks around and moniters people. You have to make sure people are performing at an optimal level. If someone is not answering questions clearly enough, give them a coaching session. If someone is too quiet, or rough, give them a mentoring session. If someone has a pronunciation problem, give them a training session in clear speech. Nobody is perfect, but through molding, amazing improvements can be made. If you do not start out with assets, you can turn someone into an asset in a few months!

It’s the experience
My favorite experience with a call center employee was a young lady I talked to many years ago. She was working for a credit card company and she was located in the Philippines. She solved my credit card issue quickly and efficiently, but she also had a nice personality too. We talked about my flight to India. She commented, “Oh, you flew right over me.. next time you fly over the Philippines, say hi, okay?”. I’ll never forget her. If you have staff members who are so charming and pleasant that people would actually like to meet them and get to know them, then you are in business. You will be discovered soon enough. You can have the best marketing department in the world, but a charming staff member is much more potent than the best salesman on earth! Remember, you only talk to the salesperson at the BEGINNING of your relationshp with a company. After the sale is made, you see the regular employees. If they make your day, you will stay with the company forever!

You might also like:

Part 1 of how to get more clients for your call center

Finding a lucky feng shui spot for my office

How to get more clients for your call center

May 5, 2011 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged bpo, call center, Call Center Business, Call Centers, Call Centre, clients | 21 Comments

Getting more clients for your call center part 1

Call centers are everywhere!
There are many call centers throughout the world. The United States and Canada are filled with them. The Philippines is the most popular outsourcing location for call centers, while Kenya and South Africa offer a good command of British English and are in the same time zone as Europeans. But… not all call centers are created equal. Many new companies want more clients, but they don’t know where to start.

It’s about relationships!
BPO Companies typically get business because they have the right contacts. No contacts; No contracts; But, how do you get connections when you don’t know anyone? A call center might know a potential client, or could be referred to a client from someone who knows them. Often, they will know other people in the business, who give them their overflow or take a commission on BPO business sent their way. But, what if you are sitting in a building in Navi Mumbai, or Cebu, and you see others succeeding in the call center business when your phone is not ringing with interested prospective clients?

How do you get to know people when you don’t know anyone?
We all start out with empty Rolodexes in this life unless we are born into the right family.
But, how many of us are born into a well connected family? I’m from America which is a meritocracy. Your success is still based heavily on “who you know”, but we generally are not born with good connections like the upper class British or Indian families might have. We make it based on merit and hustling — otherwise we don’t make it. Some of us are talented, while others are average but work harder than our competitors. In America, many of my friends were from affluent families, but didn’t have the drive or dedication to achieve, and they are working for minimum wage in many cases. By the same token, many people who were raised in slums are now prospering. So, get out there and hustle and get to know people. You can meet prospects through cold calling, Linked In, networking meetings, or through existing contacts.

Getting to know people
If you want to drum up BPO business, you have to contact companies who might be able to use your service, as well as contacting competitors. Competitors might be able to refer you jobs that they don’t want or don’t have time for. They might charge a commission for offering you work. You could get to know agents and brokers as well, but be careful as many of them charge up front and don’t deliver! You can get listed on outsourcing directories and have a broad social media presence as well. In terms of contacting prospective clients, who do you call, when, and where? Pounding the payment is on my perpetual to do list — my company contacts 400 new companies per month every month, on schedule at the beginning of the month whether we need new clients or not, just to keep the momentum going.

Email
Email is a wonderful tool, and it has its place in society. It’s a very practical way to contact people who already know you and are happy (smiley face or not) to hear from you. However, if you send emails to strangers that are trying to sell them something, you will get ignored. If you use email to contact people, you might get a 0-1% return rate if you offer them some sort of free trial period. If it is just an introduction to your company, you will be ignored 9999 out of 10,000 emails which makes the whole process futile. Writing to a specific contact person and perceptively addressing their unique needs increases the chance of you getting noticed 100 fold!

Cold Calling
Calling companies is a royal pain in the neck. It’s often like pulling teeth to reach the decision maker, and each phone call can carve 10 minutes out of your day only to be put on hold and then ultimately rejected. Phone calls are tedious, so plan on having someone who is patient and dedicated to manning this essential lifeline. On a brighter note, a dedicated caller can realistically reach up to 30 decision makers on a busy day of cold calling.

Meeting people’s needs
The mentality that separates a salesman from a pest is their ability to anticipate their prospective client’s needs. If you call someone trying to force your service down their unwilling throat, you will have wasted your call. Even if they need your service, they won’t like your style. If you are polite, make nice conversation, and ask them about their needs, you will get your foot in the door. My experience has shown that a female with a nice voice, an even nicer personality, and a good technical understanding of call center work will excel at this type of cold-calling. Gentleness and suave are the keys that open the doors. On the other hand, my personal experience running my own call operations is that a man with a very feminine voice is just as effective as a girl. My best caller was a guy with a folksy high voice, and everyone liked “her”. I hired him to offer free listings on one of my directories, and he got seven listings per hour, while the other male caller averaged only four! Of course — everybody thought that he was a she!!!

Smoothness and getting to know people
People hire other people they know. Its not about what BPO company you work for, or even what company they work for. If a person at a particular company likes a person at another company and gets to know them, you establish trust. Trust = Sales or at least has the potential to lead to sales. People entrust their money to people they like and trust. If your salesgirl cannot only sell, but makes great chit-chat with the decision makers, they will develop a type of relationship with your company. In five minutes, you went from a non-relationship, to having a warm and fuzzy relationship. You are no longer doing a cold-sell now. You are working in a warm market. Your sales girl melted the proverbial ice!!! One sales lady conveys such charm, that clients who have never laid eyes on her are regularly sending her flowers. When you interview your salesgirl, ask how many flowers her clients sent her on her last job. There’s your clue as to how successful she will be!

Free samples
Many people are stingy and selfish and don’t want to give away even a minute of their time for free. But, if you are starting out, you have to establish a reputation. If nobody knows you, then the only fast way to GET people to know you is to offer a few hours of work at either no cost, or at a reduced cost if the person will commit to a contract once they are satisfied. If you have a star employee who will impress your potential clients, you will gain many others from offering free work. Not all of them will hire you. But, always remember that business is about relationships, ideally long term ones. If you sacrificed a few hours of a star employee’s time, but got a client who stuck with you for twenty years and referred you to ten other companies who used you, do you feel that your sacrifice was worth it? You give away a penny, and get a million in return. I like that exchange very much.

Have a professional web site
People judge a book by its cover and a web site by its professionalism. A professional web site that clearly states all of your specialties and contact information will attract business, especially if it is easy to find on Google. Please see our article about having a professional web site for your business.

Pay-Per-Click
An astute web marketer will be an expert at using pay-per-click programs. Google’s adwords is the most effective in this category. Pick the keywords and keyword variations that are well targeted to your business and geographical terms mixed with professional terms, i.e. “Bangalore Web Design”. Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-In also have PPC programs that can help you grow your social media presence quickly and effectively providing that you have popular content. Going to a $100 party wearing a $3 shirt is the equivalent of spending hundreds promoting poorly written blogs or web pages. Write good content and promote it using PPC. However, you should track your results and terminate promotions that don’t yield positive results. Using PPC involves a lot of trial and error, so try many approaches and keep your eyes open. Please read our article on Pay-Per-Click promotion of call centers.

Summary
Hire a nice girl who makes smooth conversation, knows her technical stuff, and can anticipate her prospective client’s needs. Get to know companies and offer them a certain amount of free work if you think they are serious. That way, they will be confident about working with you in the future since they had a good experience with your company. On the other hand, if you hire the worst staff, your free sample will just be a waste, because nobody wants to work with a rotten bunch of employees!!

Stay tuned for part 2 of getting call center work. You will see a completely different point of view on marketing in that blog entry.

You might also like:

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

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

Marketing your BPO from A to Z
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/05/22/marketing-your-bpo-outsourcing-firm-from-a-to-z/

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

How to get more 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 more clients 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/

Tweets:
(a) When it comes to business, it is about who you know.
How well do you know yourself?
(b) In business it is about who you know. How well do you hustle to get to know new people?
(c) In business, it is not who you know — it is who knows you and thinks highly of you.
(d) Get to know prospective clients by calling them.
Interact with existing clients by emailing them.
(e) Emailing prospective clients has a really low response rate. Ask your Nigerian uncle. Try cold-calling prospects.

(f) Hire the right girl to talk to decision makers & they will develop a warm & fuzzy relationship w/your company.
(g) 1 sales lady conveys such charm: clients who’ve never seen her regularly send her flowers.
(h) When u interview a salesgirl, ask how many flowers her clients sent her on her last job. There’s your clue as to how successful she will be!
(i) The best things in life are free. Give a free sample to a prospect, do great work, and win a client!

Casual day at a call center in India!

March 31, 2011 by 123outsource

Categories: Call Center, Humor | Tagged call center, Call Center Workers, Call Center Workers in India, Call Centre, casual, humor, Indian Call Center, Outsourced | 1 Comment

Casual Day in an Indian Call Center

This is my sense of humor I guess. My favorite show is Outsourced which takes a deeper look at the many issues effecting the lives of call center workers in India as well as Americans living in India. I relate to this because I have spent many months in India and have gone through all of the cultural issues, dyssentary, monsoons, etc.

My skit idea is that the manager of an Indian call center named John wants his employees to become more comfortable with the American culture, so he calls America and asks his manager what to do. The senior manager, Chuck in California says that they should do things like Americans do. Have an office party once in a while, have casual Friday, have personal days, and do as many things as they can like people do in America.

So, John decides to have casual Friday. I am thinking of Rajiv Gidwani from Outsourced reluctantly saying, “Okay workers, listen up… today we will be having casual Friday, I personally don’t like the idea, but I was talked into it by our senior manager”. The real life Rajiv hates anything casual and loves the corporate power image with suits and formality. So, John tells the workers, that they can dress how they like: in jeans or casual clothing, and that they can even bring their animals to work, since thats what many companies in California allow! In California, in some of the film industry offices, people will bring dogs to work for example.

Finally, casual Friday comes after a long 96 hours of waiting!
Anita brings her Chihuahua. Naren brings his pet rat. Girish brings a baby cat. Manish brings a peacock. Sanjiv brings a monkey. Santosh brings a cow. And Nuntheny brings the baby elephant from aunty’s temple down the street. John says, I’m so happy that you are adapting to our American ways. It makes much more relaxing atmosphere when you bring your pets, doesn’t it? The workers agree.

But, John becomes disturbed at the type of animals that were brought in. They don’t seem like “pets”.
John: Anita, I love your little dog, he is so cute…., but Naren.. a rat? A rat is not a pet.
Naren: For me its a pet. We have so many of them in India and they are so cute with their little beady eyes.
John: A peacock? Don’t those belong outside? Don’t they make this loud hooping sound any time there is noise?
Manish: Oh, he is our family pet, and after all, today is casual Friday, so we must bring our pets. I love Sally my peacock. Sally… don’t listen to what John has to say, he doesn’t understand you!
John: Sanjiv, I love your monkey, but monkeys are mischevious animals.
Sanjiv: No, not my monkey, he is wonderful. He never misbehaves. By the way John? That banana on your desk? Its not going to last long, better put it in a drawer.
John: Nuntheny, I love your mini elephant. He is so….
Nuntheny: He? He… is NOT a he… its a She
John: Oh, I’m sorry.
Nuntheny: You should be! How would you like it if people mistook you for a lady? There there Laxmi, John didn’t really mean what he said. You’re a real lady… here…have a banana… Good girl.
John: Hmmm, this attempt at learning American culture is not working out as I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of dogs and maybe a cat here or there. Perhaps a hampster.
Nuntheny: Well, in India we have different types of pets.
John: Anyway, break is over its time for work.
—— TRUMPET sound…. MOOOOOO…. woof ..woof…woof. hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo…

John calling Chuck: Chuck… these Americanization ideas like casual Friday?
Chuck: How is it going? I love casual Friday
John: It’s not working as planned. When they are making calls, they can’t hear the customers with all the trumpeting sounds of the elephant, the moo sounds, and the peacock starts hooting every time there is a sudden sound.
Chuck: Oh my god, it sounds like a zoo!
John: Yes, thats the word I was looking for.
Chuck: Hmmm. Lets change the plan a bit. We’ll have Sari Thursdays and Jeans Fridays. That way we can have the best of both cultures without all of the sound effects.
John: Yes Chuck (trumpet sound of elephant), I am hearing you (bark bark)… trying to hear you…I’m not sure how good I would look in a sari though. Thats my only concern.
Chuck: Don’t worry John, ONE SIZE FITS ALL!!!!

You might also like:

News about Delhi BPO companies

News about Indian Call Centers

Finding a lucky Vaastu Shastra / Feng Shui Office

Creating an online museum for your company

September 18, 2010 by 123outsource

Categories: Of Interest | Tagged call center, Call Center Museum, Call Centre, Outsourcing Companies | Leave a comment

I wrote about a sort of a show and tell idea in another blog entry. I was inspired after seeing how Ford Motor Company built its cars. Suddently, I thought that outsourcing companies could do the same on a smaller scale. They could show the inner mechanics of how things got done at their company.

The #1 reason why people don’t hire you is TRUST. Rather than having fast talking salespeople, brightly decorated websites, and great promotional materials, try to gain trust. The fastest way to evoke trust is to share knowledge — and customized knowledge that particular prospects want to hear. Telling people all about your company and having FAQ’s about your industry is great. The more information the better, especially if it is well organized and well written. But, what about an online presentation of what your company is really like?

Some people have slide shows, others have sales literature, a few even have a museum. If you had an online museum about how your company works, don’t you think that people would want to do business with you? It would be really cool, and fun, and draw people in. You might even attract people who are not even interested in your industry who think it is really nifty that you created such an intruiging production!

Imagine that you have a call center (call centre). Imagine that your museum starts with a huge photo of your call center and some text explaining that this is a museum of the XYZ call center in Gurgaon, India. Explain that you are a real call center that is accepting new clients today. You are not just a museum, but a real live functioning call center. Have an ENTER link on the page somewhere. Or have a web site with a smaller section that introduces the call center museum.

Show pictures of your staff doing what they do. Explain what you do for various clients and how you fulfill their orders. Have a slide show for explaining what you do in the new customer acquisition process step by step. Show how you train your people step by step. Explain the hiring and firing process, including surge hiring when you get a new large client on board. You could even show your employees carpooling to work in rick-shaws or cabs.

You could joke about how you require each employee to ingest exactly the right amount of pollution on Ganapati Blvd. East as a job requirement, and show them breathing in the air — fulfilling their job requirements to a tee.

Next, it is time for a break, so show your gruntled employees having their samosa break in the lunch room, or at their desks. Next, it is time for personal get-to-know-you sessions with your staff. Each selected member could have a one-minute introduction, and maybe a longer one with your CEO.

Then, have a summary about what the company does, and sum yourself up.
Good luck and have fun

Tag Archives: Call Centre

How to get a process for a call centre

How to get more clients for your BPO or Call Center (Compilation)

5 important things call center agents must do

How to get call center clients by monitoring better!

Are callers in India more sincere?

Casual day at a call center in India!

Creating an online museum for your company

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