It took some time for the call center units across the globe to find their faith in online methods! They were wary about this new way of doing their traditional telemarketing business. But some of the BPO units dared to be different and were instantly rewarded with some handsome profits. Search engine optimization (SEO) success introduced them to a new breed of customers who looked and bought products and services online. Fusion BPO Services was one of those. We achieved good results in a short period of time, primarily because of our skilled SEO team. We developed a two-prong sales lead generation attack: one offline, through telemarketing services and one online, through websites, email marketing and social media marketing.
While we spread out our online lead generation network, we look at interest at how the attitude of the clients has changed. Previously, they were not willing to invest much on online methods of sales lead generation. BPO units had to spend considerable time in convincing the clients that this form of marketing will be an able back-up for telemarketing services. In fact, we were also able to assure many of them that online methods will drive the telemarketing campaign forward. Finally, the situation is changing. A report says clients have hiked their online budget from 59% last year to 65% this year.
BPO agents have to be motivated on a daily basis. This is a fact known to the supervisors and team leaders. Recent studies have shown that it’s not motivational exercises that can keep call center agents tied down. They will always be looking out for greener pastures unless they are monetarily happy. Money is one factor that is often used as a lure by your rival call centers to get your best agents on their team. If you can compensate them monetarily for being loyal to your firm, you will have to evaluate their salaries at frequent intervals. Since raising their salaries is not really an option always because you cannot add costs to the telemarketing project, incentives can solve the problem for you.
More incentive money for telemarketing excellence is the way forward. When agents are happy about the sum of money they will get for doing well in telemarketing services, they will be enthused to hike up their work. They will be motivated to give their best so that they earn the incentive that is up for grabs. Call center managers have another responsibility to withhold. They have to make the process of performance appraisal free from bias and transparent. Agents don’t like it when their good work is buried under preferential treatment. If you evaluate them in a transparent way, with fixed and rigid parameters, they will find credibility in your process.
Jobs at the call center have better chances of proliferating that any jobs in any other sector. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the Philippines has listed BPO jobs as being the most in demand. Fusion BPO Services, as reported in yesterday’s post, has a call center services unit in this country. It’s a new unit and so we are excited about any good news that happens on the horizon of the Philippines business process outsourcing sector. This announcement by DOLE has reinstated our faith of investing in this country. We appreciate the interest that the workforce shows in working at telemarketing units.
Workers in the call centers of Philippines are keen, enthusiastic and committed about telemarketing services, as opposed to other locations where youngsters view it as a compromised career option. This makes a whole lot of difference in how they perceive their jobs. There can be nothing on the table if the call center agents are not willing to dedicate all they have in picking up the nuances of the trade. That’s something that we have noticed in Philippines. The employees here are willing to go and make a difference for themselves and for the company they work for. We have a lot of hope in terms of quality call center services from our unit here. And they are doing well!
It’s a simple philosophy that can be drawn from the world of gardening. If you want the good plants to grow, you will have to pick out and throw away the weeds. You cannot have them growing because they are plants, too. As the telecom boards across the world tighten the noose around call centers for making unwanted telemarketing calls, it’s time now for the bad ones to be dumped on the sideways. You cannot walk ahead with the burden of having unscrupulous BPO units that will prey on the law till the law enforcers sit up and charge back. However, the problem is, when they do that, the genuine BPO service units have to share the brunt. Their databases shrink because of the swelling Do Not Call list. The telemarketing services sector has to pay the price for some unethical units.
For the well being of the business process outsourcing industry, it’s important that the fraudulent and guilty call centers be handed exemplary punishments. The telemarketing sector provides a livelihood to thousands of employees and agents across the world. If the telecom boards continue to pull them out of business and make it tougher for them to generate leads, it won’t be long before the business starts to dip. We cannot allow that to happen because of some BPO units that wouldn’t mend their ways. It remains to be seen how the BPO service forums and world bodies react to this. But as for us, we want the guilty to be punished but the industry to be spared.
