Any motivational speaker will talk about long term goals. It is common knowledge that if you write your long terms down, you are 41 times as likely to reach your goal. I made up that number, but statistically, there is documentation that proves that you are much much much more likely to achieve your goal if you write your goals down. If you strive daily to attain a goal, that helps too. If you change your goals daily, that is a deal breaker in the goal game.
But, what are your goals? What I have learned is that call center professionals know their game, and know what to do. They have been in the call center game for years, and keep doing what they are doing and might keep growing. Sometimes they might move their operation from Bangalore to Noida to save on costs. Or they might abandon India and move operations to Cebu in the Philippines. Perhaps they might try a place with high unemployment like Assam in the Northeast Corner of India. But, the game is the same. Find good clients, find good workers, have a good facility, put it all together and make it work.
Young Indians who want to start call centers typically do not have the business skills to pull off having a full fledged call center. They might have managerial experience at a call center (or not), but it takes a lot more than that to have a real call center. To those guys I suggest starting small, and getting your experience while small so you don’t lose any large sum of money or ruin your reputation too much.
But, what should your long term goals be in a call center? To have a 100-seater overnight? That is insanity, not a goal. How about to think small and have a 20-seater? That is still small. You have to choose your workers, find contracts, train people, monitor people. It is a lot of work unless you have a manager. Plus, how do you even select a good manager if you have no experience owning a business? It is not that easy. That is why you start small.
If I were mentoring you — and I sort of am — many young Indians read my blog for inspiration, and I hope they get lots of inspiration without feeling too discouraged by me — I would give you this long term goal chopped up into smaller goals.
(1) Start your business in a tiny office or at home. Get top notch equipment so that people can hear you properly.
(2) Acquire small clients. They are easier to get, and easier to keep if you treat them right. Your goal should be to see if you can RETAIN your clients for a long time and get referrals from them. If you give them really good service at a reasonable price you might achieve this goal.
(3) Only hire a few people. Train them well, and keep an eye on them. If you are not experienced, you will not know how to train others. If you are so busy you can not see straight, you won’t have time to train others. To keep clients, you need good service, and there is no good service without well manicured employees.
(4) Once you have been maintaining a very stable client base, and have retrained your employees, then it is time to expand. Slowly. Remember, that having new clients is more work. The new ones are uncertain and need more time negotiating deals. Existing clients might need a little more or a little less at certain times, but they are more stable. Hiring new workers is also time consuming. You have to interview many to find one acceptable worker, and then you have to train them and watch them to make sure they are reliable. If your people quit often, you have to repeat this process which gets in the way of what your real business is — doing call center work for your clients.
Your philosophical long term goal should not be about money. Money comes on it’s own (or it doesn’t). Focus on finding out what your clients want (or think they want) and giving that to them as masterfully as you can. If you get a reputation of taking care of people better than anyone else, then your business will grow on its own. You might not even need to advertise. I have heard stories of people with huge businesses who never spent a penny on advertising in your life. Expecting not to need to advertise is not realistic, but keep the thought of its possibility alive. Focus on helping others and then they will help you with money. The world works like this.
Don’t think big… think small, and grow as fast as the forces of nature let you grow.
You can become a millionaire — just don’t try to do it overnight. let it happen naturally over time as you provide great value to the universe!!!