Search Engine Optimization, better known as SEO is the newest marketing techniques used by most business these days. And this technique has become genuinely popular and one of the most preferred in no time. And it is a call center service provider who is entrusted with the SEO projects.

First and foremost it is important to understand what is SEO all about? The core idea here is impressive lead generation. How to do that? Well!!! Knowing the potential of internet these days most business are opting for conducting e-business. And when it is e-business a website is a must. Merely having a website is not going to work. It is equally important to ensure that your website is visited by potential customers. Attracting increased web traffic is the aim of SEO projects.

How the concerned BPO agents work in this case?

♦ Focus on the keywords :  BPO agents rather SEO specialists have a thorough knowledge of the keywords and phrase that are going to grab the attention of more number of people. A proper knowledge of the prevailing market trends, the target audience makes it possible for the SEO executives to generate warm leads for the business.

♦ Importance of a fresh content :  it is the trained call center SEO experts who know the importance of fresh and unique content in order to avoid the problem of content spamming. They know all the intricacies and complicacies of SEO and can do the job best.

♦ Exchanging web links is also another way of doing it.

Process risks in call center companies are by far the most comprehensive set should be well managed to ensure minimal operational problems. Each business process has its own set of parameters that are important to the buyer and seller of these 24 hour call center services. Perspectives of clients and BPO service providers with regard to risk are interesting. BPO services to the buyer, usually a high customer satisfaction is the goal of the client process. Other risks may be important, but subordinate to the goals of customer satisfaction.

A general classification of risks in call center companies is a process of qualitative and quantitative risks. Qualitative risk to cope with problems and customer satisfaction is measured primarily by the BPO customer using customer satisfaction surveys, where the customer-oriented process. Among non-clients facing processes such as the achievement of financial accounts, the risks associated with a qualitative assessment of how services were provided.

Quantitative risks are largely against the effectiveness and risks effectively. They can be solved by careful selection and rational use of appropriate metrics. Efficiency metrics generally focus on aspects related to time of a company. Average processing time and average waiting time are good examples of efficiency measures that deal with phone support. The statistics of efficiency, issues such as the number of bond issues by the hour or the number of applications processed per hour.

Landing pages play a major role in online lead generation. The call center employees who are entrusted with the responsibility of getting web leads create landing pages that act as bases for sales lead generation. The landing pages could be linked to content that is published online or from Pay-per-Click (PPC) advertisements. There are some immediate advantages that BPO units can derive by using landing pages:

1. Landing pages can be attractive, unique and effective. A properly designed landing page can pull up the lead conversion rate for a call center. Users directed to the landing page have to be treated to visual delight. The web designers at the BPO have a real challenge when it comes to creating a landing page. The design must not be heavy to upload and yet it must capture the attention of the user. A smartly designed landing page can be an asset in the sales lead generation scenario.

2. Landing pages can act as an information bank. Because there is just one page, call centers have to think over how they can utilize the space. Cramping in too much will only dilute the effect and distract the user. It’s a wiser idea to cut out the frills and make it easy on the eye.

Call centers have to pitch for telemarketing projects. They have to create presentations and showcase what they are capable of. That decides whether the call center will bag the project. No matter how efficient or reputed you are as a BPO unit, you will have to do a good job of highlighting your achievements. There has to be careful balance between what you can do and what you have already done. Many call center solutions make the mistake of talking too much about their past laurels. As a result, the client feels that the customer service call center is not really interested in pushing their boundaries.

There are other points that the call center has to keep in mind. Data and statistics play an important role in pitching for telemarketing services. However, they must not be allowed to wander about without interpretative analysis. Clients don’t have the time or the inclination towards crunching those numbers to find out what they signify. The outbound call center has to draw the conclusions and present them to the clients. Competitor analysis is a must-have for any customer service call center. Most clients are interested in call center pricing. While informing clients about the cost structure make sure that you have a competitive analysis.

Lead generation teams of call centers can make use of contests to expand their popularity. Contests bring about a buzz about the brand. Users in the network participate because of the prizes, the discounts and the freebies. They also bring in their friends and acquaintances because they are excited about the contest. This is the ideal opportunity for the call center to get some quality leads in the bag. The outbound call center department can make the participants fill out a form that records their names, phone numbers and locations. The data can be used for sales lead generation calls in the future.

Contests also help the lead generation team speak about their brand’s products and services. The contest must closely resemble the brand itself. For example, if you’re selling a health drink, you can arrange for an adventurous contest. The ideal platform for the call centers to conduct contests is the social media network, especially Facebook. Create an event page and make the users interact with each other. This initiative will enrich your database and you will be able to reach out your product or service to a completely new and fresh set of consumers.

Call center units across the globe are exploring the social media networks. In our earlier posts on this blog, we had reported how BPO units are dealing with social media networks. We have always maintained that the route to social media nirvana is interaction and user participation. But call centers engaging in these campaigns have it hard to bring about those interactions. The moment users find out that your profile has been designed with marketing as the main aim, they tend to stay away unless they are serious customers. The lead generation team has to think out something special and out of the box to clinch it.

An effective way to do that for a call center would be to offer freebies and discounts to users to participate in social media discussions. You can get them to comment and reward the best one with an additional 5% rebate on the cost price. These methods will get more people into your network. The BPO will find that the existing users will be tempted to bring in their cronies into your profile. Very few can resist something for nothing! That is the marketing mantra that sales lead generation teams can build up on.

The problem faced by the customer service department is a two-sided coin. On one side is the perspective of the customers. The callers who dial up the inbound call center number don’t have the time to wait for a call center agent to answer their call. That is truer for potential customers. We have noted in various surveys that among the callers who do not get the response immediately, 40% do not come back after they leave.

In other words, the BPO unit loses that much of revenue. In times like these, that amounts to a considerable sum of money on a daily basis. As we have reported in earlier posts, longer hold times also complicate the issue.

The other side of the coin is from the call center’s point of view. The inbound call center department is often flooded with calls from bogus callers. The BPO call protection software is not always able to keep these calls away. They take up the bandwidth on the incoming calls and bona fide callers cannot get through. These callers also increase the hold time on the calls. To put is simply, the call centers have to screen these callers more effectively. They are great hindrances to optimization and better utilization of resources.

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Local employees can add value to the BPO. The only hitch in this equation is that many call centers cannot take in local talent because the talent pool is not rich. It could be that the standard of skills is inferior or the locals are not really keyed into the different world of telemarketing services. More than the soft skills, what a call center agent needs is the attitude. You need the desire to learn and grow as an individual and also contribute to the growth of the company they are working in. Local talent has a lot of advantages over getting someone from other cities.

First, the local person would not add much to the expenditure side of the call center ledger. Second, because the person has not worked in any BPO before, you can train the employee according to the need of the project. Telemarketing projects are entirely different from each other. A fresh mind will be able to pick up the nuances of the project better than someone who’s already been trained in a patchy way. Third, by looking into the local talent pool, you will be able to pick and choose the kind of talent you want for your call center.

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The online form that Indian businessmen had to submit to meet President Barack Obama has done away with the controversial BPO question. The American President is scheduled to visit India on November 6. He will be attending a meeting of Indian corporate honchos in Mumbai and take part in discussions on the Indo-American business ties. However, the online registration form contained a question that asks interested candidates to fill in how much of BPO work they have outsourced from America and how many Americans they are employing in their business process outsourcing business. This has set off a spark of protest among the Indian businessmen. They feel that such an unpleasant question will deter many from attending.

Plus, the meeting could be attended only after paying a hefty fee. According to the new rules, the payment has been canceled. The call center industry is waiting with baited breath about the outcome of this meeting. Many telemarketing units in India are relying on President Obama’s approach to the BPO question. The protectionist measures of the President have threatened the business ties between the two countries. With the unemployment percentage of USA still hovering over 10%, the Indian telemarketing services is not too sure about taking back anything significant from this meeting. Still, it promises to be an interesting one! Watch this space for more updates.

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As the telemarketing sector faces the wide bans of telecom authorities, it’s time now to try something different. While call centers had primarily done push marketing, this is the time to go for pull marketing. Marketing and promotional campaigns have to be aimed at arousing the curiosity of the customers and making them come to you. Online methods like social media and the use of websites are some ways in which pull marketing can be used. When the prospective consumers are interested in knowing about your products and brands, you can make telemarketing calls to seal the deal. Since they are the ones initiating the contact, they will be speaking to you on business terms and cut out the irritation.

Opt-in telemarketing services will steer clear of the national Do Not Call lists. The consumers receiving the telemarketing calls will be more open to listening to the marketing pitch offered by the agents. Since they have already shown an interest in your brand, you are more likely to be able to convince them. It’s a lot easier to sell something to someone with an open mind. When a customer is writing to your company, the BPO unit must answer those emails. The emails can be precursors to phone calls and also serve as references. The more professional you are in your dealings, the more headway you are likely to make.

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