I just got done talking with a friend that owns a call center here and he talked about the CCAP seminar which he said was really good! He talked about the VP of etelecare and how he said the Philippines was very different from the States but they can still be trained on how to change there culture.
Here are some of his stories that he talked about in his seminar about Philippines call centers.
First he was walking into a mall here in the Philippines and when you are going to a mall the have guard office pat you down to make sure that you don’t have any guns on you and he got up set about it because in the States there is no guards patting you down, you just walk right in no problems. So being upset that he got padded down be went back out to have a smoke to clam him down but then remembering that he is going to have to go through it all again no matter what. That’s the first one, here in the Philippines every one is already us est to guards at the mall from when they were born so that’s the Philippines norm.
Next one
He is looking for a store so he asks his wife to ask the guard were it is at and he say its straight and then take a left and there it is. So he goes straight and takes a left but its not there, so his wife ask another guard and he says not it’s down on the next floor, you go straight and then take a left. So they go to the next floor and they go straight and then go left but the same thing no store, so his wife asks another guard and he says no no it’s on the 3rd floor then you go straight and then go left. So the finally founds it but it took him all that long to find this place which made him up set which is not customer services, that’s the Philippines Norm, if you where in the States most times the person would tell you where it is and then most times say tell you what I have some free time how about I show you, now that is customer service.
Next one
He gets to the store and he is looking for a serge protector for his 42″ LCD TV because he heard that the Philippines power can go up and down and he wanted to protect his 3,000 dollar tv. So he walks into the store and there are 9 guys just standing around pretty much doing nothing, he looks at one of the sergue protectors which there are 50 different kinds and he points at one and one of the sales guys comes over to him and says that it’s the best one that they have and he asked why? The sales rep said because it has a five minute delay if the power ever surges or shuts off, he asked why is this five minute delay so important and the sales rep could only tell him that it had a five minute delay and the parts are made in Japan. So now he is not sure what to buy so he goes to a TV stop and he sees some thing like what he is looking for and he said, hey I need some thing like that and he asks them if it has a five minute delay and the sales rep did not have any idea about what he was talking about and said all I know this is what we used, it’s called Panther. So he goes back to the other shop and tells the sales rep I want a Panther that is the best one but the rep says we don’t sale Panther but this one I was telling you about is the best and he says tell you what, if you buy this I will come and install it for you. Now the VP of etelecare says now that is customer service!
So now the sales rep has installed this at his house to his TV and everything is good to go, DONE but he has no real way to test it out to see what happens? So he calls the build admin and ask them about his TV and surge protector to see if it would work, the build admin just laughed at him and said sir, the whole build is set up with back up generators and surge protectors so no matter what if the power every surged or system would cover it.
Here is his point on this one, the sales rep did not ask him enough question to figure out why he needed this surge protector. When you are dealing with sales or customer service you need to define what the customer is asking and how you can help them, the Philippines norm is just sale and you need to know about the products that you are selling.
The seminar end good and he said that you need to train your people well on how that the States acted and what they want, kind out what they are looking for and why they need the product they are selling.
Who every did this seminar from what it sounds like they did a very good job, I would love to meet them.
I hope I got the story right.
CCAP sounds like the real deal, I will be at the nest one.
I just passed by this video through you tube and its great, I think that any one that is working in the outsourcing industry would get a kick out of it.
There has been a huge amount of large call centers in the Philippines that have been down sizing their staff or retrenchment agent because of the economic crisis in the US and through out the world, there has been some lay offs as much as 200, 400 and 600 at a time.
A funny thing is that there has been a boost in outsourcing for the small Philippines call centers, I’m not sure why but we are seeing a lot of the smaller call centers that might have been scared back when everyone thought the sky was falling but even at Unique Interaction we have seen about two new clients coming in every month for the last three months.
I’m not sure what the out look looks like for the bigger call centers as companies around the world are laying people off like crazy but it looks like the small call centers are going to be alright.
One of the things that helps a lot of new companies that are coming into the call center game or offshoring there operation in order to get the best outsourcing price out in the market is to look at call center seat leasing. This has been around for a couple years, started by some companies like Callworx and Uniuqe Interaction. If you are new to the Philippines its best to start off seat leasing and getting used to the Philippines and how everything works here. You will see a lot of call centers here coming out and setting up first instead of seat leasing and running into a lot of problems or even going out of business. This mistake could have been prevented if you started with seat leasing, because it lowers some of the risks just like dipping your toe in the water before you jump in the lake.
One of the campaigns that is starting to make its way to the Philippines is non voice programs which is great because there Philippines is very good in doing such tasks and at rates 50% less than what the US and some other countries offer. The Philippines is said to a see big influx of non voice campaigns over the next couple of years but it still does not see a drop in outbound and inbound campaigns happening any time soon.
All agents have at least two years college education
Very well versed on computers and software
Can type 30 words or more a minute
Able to do live chat, send emails and data encoding
When you are working for an outsourced call center in the Philippines, it’s hard to deal if you are a foreign manager, because they where not brought up here and doesn’t know the culture. The life in the Philippines is close to the US and other countries, but its still not the same life style, slang and culture. Because Philippines were colonized by the Spaniards for around 300yrs & the Americans came here at the time of World War 2, that’s why our language is mixed with Spanish, English & Tagalog.
Talking to some Client’s can relate to you and understand on how they want your agents to communicate over the phone is very important, or the way that you want your reports done by just sending an email to make things easy without having to explain over the phone.
Clients have team leaders and managers that check their accounts, but most of the time they want to talk directly to the main Chief “Beau”, because they know I’m American & that I would quickly understand what info. or issue they want me to pass to the agents.
When you are in the Outsourcing Business, you want to make sure that you are working with someone that is going to give you everything that you need at the end of the day, but most would like to be able to talk to someone that understands your need. A man who is trained to his peak capacity will gain confidence. Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence and a customer will recognize it both.
Filipinos are a lot favored by foreign clients because of our neutral tone of voice or accent. Plus the fact, that we are more patient and very eager to recognize and understand the different effective telesales strategy.
One nice thing about call centers here in the Philippines, there is no discrimination. It doesn’t matter with regards to your gender, status in life, and even your height and weight. As long as you can explain well what you want to offer if you are on outbound sales, and you know how to give customer satisfaction if you are on the technical and inbound sales.
Call Center commission and spiffs that motivates the agents to work harder just like other company gives and supplying them with working materials like computer, headset, internet and air conditioned working environment. Not just that, the annual celebration of parties like for example, if it is Christmas season there are programs, games, bonuses and incentives that agents are very much awaited for.
Some companies also provide team building by doing it out of town for swimming or hiking, bar and restaurant hopping that helps their employees or agents to build healthy relationships between each other. They are conducting seminars on how to maintain proper telecommunication strategy, which helps them to develop more their skills.
Training centers are also available here in the Philippines, that help those who want to learn the fundamentals of call center job. I would say that the Philippines, is a more practical country compared to other countries by terms of employment availability, cultural adjustment and advanced technology know-how of the people here.
Outsourcing happens when the company purchases a product or service from other company. Successful outsourcing requires a strong understanding of the organization’s capabilities. Some company cannot afford to do it altogether. For instance, the call center firms here in the Philippines, outsourcing is an effective cost-saving strategy when used properly. It can provide you the things you will need in order for you to operate your business.
Companies need basic understanding on how to manage effectively. Of course they need to sustain all the materials or equipments and take it as considerations like functional agents, pleasant working area, helpful training materials as well as valuable management skills just like what we have here in Unique. Commercialized job like call center gives enchanting recommendations that would help agents motivate more to work further.
It is very important to maintain the welfare of the people in any kind of working field. Most especially they’re health and interest in order for them to work properly. Like any other companies they have human resource which helps the company to hire competitive agents who are flexible enough to go on with the ever changing world.
It is safe to say that, the longer you stay in this kind of job the more chances you will have to broaden your knowledge. Wise marketing and management strategies are both factors to be considered to get the natural success of any kind of profession.
So if you are looking forward to outsource your business that would provide you with those following factors, Unique can help to make your business to be one of the reliable and effective source of quality business.
