The need for good directories is no joke. I run several online directories. I see how other directories often have outdated information, dead links, and incomplete information. It is hard to have all of your listings be dynamic, but at least the ones near the top of the list should have some redeeming features. At any rate, to boost the level of content on my directories, I venture out into the world of google to see if I can find new companies in the categories that I cover. For the last few days, I hae been trying to find call centers (call centres) in various Latin American countries. I tried to find BPO, KPO, LPO, Medical Transcription, and other types of outsourcing companies too. What I found, was not what I was expecting.
The search results on google seem to focus on news, blogs, job offerings, and just about everything EXCEPT what I was looking for. I wanted to find sites for companies who actually wanted to provide services. The next sad reality I learned was that the companies that I did find, were often huge international companies that were not exclusive to the country I was looking for. These companies typically specialized in … well … just about everything in the outsourcing world. It was not uncommon to see a MNC have thirty or so specialties ranging from call center, to business analysis, data conversion, medical transcription, and much more! The next type of information I found was company web sites that made it impossible to find contact information for them. It is a cultural trait in Latin America to make it a challenge to contact them. It’s more fun to make your prospective clients have a hard time reaching you. To me it’s madness, but in Eastern Europe, and much of Latin America, it is a business strategy to effectively hide from your clients so they have no way of knowing where you are or how to reach you. Site’s typically have no email address, no phone number, and an impersonal contact form. Contact forms are actually helpful. Clients have a tendency to ramble, and beat around the bush instead of telling you what you need to know to help them. Contact forms herd them in a channel just like you would herd cattle, hence forcing them to tell you all of the pertinent information you need to know. On 123outsource.net, the email field is a required field, so I can not create a listing for someone without an email. So, I have to guess the email. I’ll guess info@nameofsite.com for example. I hope I’m correct. A directory that doesn’t list email addresses is a sad state of affairs. The saddest thing I saw was a brand new contact center in Panama who’s contact us page said, “coming soon”. I guess they were not so serious about doing business. Everywhere I looked there was my blog, other people’s blogs, and other “less-than-helpful” information. I kept reading that call centers were sprouting up like weeds in central america, but try finding them on google. They seem to not exist. Once in a while, one of them will contact us to get listed, but I think we already have all of the good ones!