The business firms that have outsourced their call center services to offshore call centers are thinking again about the poor customer satisfaction they are getting. Many of these firms are considering pulling back their projects to onshore BPO units in the hope of better service. They are missing a vital point here. The projects that are outsourced to these offshore BPO units often lack the planning that is necessary. As a result of the lack of insight, they end up doing poor work on the customer service. The solution lies in the ability of the project planners to make a productive work flow.
Call centers are what they become because of planning and management. Geographical location has little to do with it. Yes, that plays a role in getting quality technology and manpower. But those factors remaining standard, call center services can improve or slide down according to the capability of the top brass to train. If they can motivate and inspire the agents into doing some quality BPO service, just because they are working out of India or Latin America wouldn’t make much of a difference. Every call center needs correct technology, quality manpower and optimum use of resources.
The call center units have to be careful about improving their performances as they move into a more competitive sphere. Experts of the BPO industry are asking firms to use a central database for their work. This method not just makes the process smoother and more transparent, but also identifies the weak links. Checking on the chinks in call center services is important to plug them in. You can also use this central platform to track performances. The end-users need to be given something special if you want to retain them. Call centers have to continuously keep that purpose ahead of the others.
There are some intangible BPO service aspects that call centers units have to particular about. For example, when it comes to customer service satisfaction, you will have to depend on the soft skills of the agents rather than on numbers and technology. You can monitor your call centers, of course. There are three ways of doing so. One, the supervisor can sit in with the agent taking the call and provide immediate assistance. Two, the supervisor can listen in on the calls remotely at a different workstation. Three, the calls can be recorded for the supervisor to check them through later on and suggest ways of improvement.
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The value of BPO service has gone up among the prospective job seekers as it continues to make better revenues. The faster rate of growth that the call center industry has seen in the recent times is symbolic of the interest that people are showing in this sector. The non-linear growth of the telemarketing industry is supported by the better availability of quality manpower. In fact, Fusion BPO Services has noted that in the present day, the best talent comes to telemarketing services. They may not be working as agents, but they are definitely there at the mid-level of the organization or at the upper echelons. Experts who have observed the business process outsourcing sector from close quarters have seen that the mid-level management is the most difficult to fill up.
The increase in the revenue earnings of the BPO has changed the scenario. Earlier, the young job seekers would look at call centers as stop-gap arrangements. It meant some quick money till they completed their education and passed on to better jobs. But the seriousness of telemarketing services as a career began to grow as other industries crumpled under the weight of the recession. This is a common story for all third world countries doing customer service. The contribution of the telemarketing sector towards the national income has increased manifold as well, prompting the government to make provisions for business process outsourcing.
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The Labor Minister of the Philippines has asked the youth of the country to quit waiting for jobs abroad and take up work with BPO units. Many young educated people of the Philippines strive to go out of the country and work at places like Thailand and maybe even America. But the visa and other related problems often stall their move. The Labor Minister appealed to such people to join the telemarketing services industry. The telemarketing sector is always running short of problems related to manpower. There is never enough back-up for the steady stream of projects that keeps coming in. The Philippines is the preferred destination for many call center investors.
Fusion BPO Services has stakes in the Filipino telemarketing scene. Our call center there is doing very well for itself. The words of the Labor Minister have pointed out two different aspects of telemarketing services. One is the obvious patronage to the BPO sector as an industry important enough to employ educated youngsters who can find job elsewhere. Another is the belief that the telemarketing sector holds enough promise for the career of these individuals. He also acknowledged the fact that the call center services have more jobs than what the country can provide for. This is a clear indication of how much the BPO service industry has improved over there.
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