Business Process Outsourcing | Call Center | BPO

How To Make A Customer Delighted?

2011-11-30T03:02:00.000-08:00

A delighted customer differs from a satisfied customer in many ways.
Satisfaction comes when the customer’s expectations are fulfilled, while delight tales plan from something unexpected. Call center services should exceed average level of customer satisfaction to preserve customers as well as attract fresh ones. It could be done anytime and everywhere, hotel, restaurant, hospital, store or even a customer care call center. For the inbound call centers, there are more chances of going beyond clients’ expectations. Do this by truly taking care for the customers. In telemarketing services, be easy in your approach. Don’t simply opt for selling a product or service, but try to provide the customers with proper solutions. You need to understand customer’s need and provide him or her with the best possible solution. If you get complaints, react optimistically and promptly and also thank them for calling you. Be in touch with your clients and check whether the service or product, they have purchased from you are good.

Market research and survey by BPOs

2011-11-29T01:29:00.001-08:00

Any well-known call center service provider these days offer quality market research and market survey services. This is directed to gather as much information as possible.

Coming to what all you can gather from a typical market intelligence service:

• To collect information and data
• To get acquainted with the latest market trends and developments
• To know the customer tastes and preferences
• To collect customer feedback, this is done through customer satisfaction surveys
Why do you need market surveys and research at all?

• Information and data are important for maintaining a valid database. In today’s time a valid database is pretty significant in carrying out business particularly conducting the direct and indirect marketing campaigns. With a database at hand identifying and setting the target becomes easier. Call centers have the technical support to procure and maintain flawless data.
• Keeping a track of the latest market trends and developments is important. Modern day market tests on your innovative skills. The success of your business to quite some extent depends on adaptability skills, the ability to changes and on the ability to upgrade.
• Knowing the customers taste and preferences is a must. Why? So that the business can present rather offer its products and services exactly the way in which the buyers want.
• Collecting customers’ feedback is important. Based on such info the future marketing and other business strategies are decided upon.

Lead Management Software for Businesses that Want Leads to Rain

2011-11-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

When businesses want leads to rain, they must make efforts in using software for lead generation and lead management. There are a number of factors that businesses must think about, and it is best to hire the services of a lead generation call center, so that leads can be generated fast and are of the highest quality. The software used by the b2b lead generation companies should be one that is customizable, so that it well fits the unique needs of the businesses and their customer relationship management (CRM) needs.

Lead generation contact centers use software that is flexible enough to accumulate data on the prospects and then respond to lead information in a manner that is sensible for the businesses and organizations. The lead management software provides all comprehensive solutions to the businesses; the b2b lead generation software is used to best fit the needs of the businesses and for this the staff strength of the call center is first measured, as well as the structure to account for the many software access points.

The lead panel is also designed by the lead generation call center, so that the software can incorporate any unique functionality requirement of the business. The software also helps to optimize the core functions for the main website of the client and also his/her micro sites. The use of the lead panel is also notified to the businesses by the call centers; the training is also imparted to the new agents who join the center. The lead panel can be modified according to the changing needs of the businesses.

Software for Tracking and Managing Leads

2011-11-24T22:28:00.001-08:00

A business always look for ways to increase their sales, customer base and return on investment (ROI); for this to happen, it is crucial to integrate the efforts that go into lead generation. The businesses hire call centers for generating qualified leads in good numbers, and the lead generation contact centers in turn use advanced software to help them do this. The software helps to drive a huge number of visitors to the client’s website, land page submissions, as well as gain leads to through emails and other efforts.

The lead management software used by the outbound call centers track the sales leads all through the sales cycle from lead generation all the way to closing the sales. The software helps the businesses understand what efforts are working, and which kind of customers are usually buying with a click of the mouse.

The software can also be used by the call centers for automating the lead management procedure, and for this the task management and workflow automation activities work greatly. The right software for tracking and managing leads helps a company make a lot of sales to a huge number of people in a short time. The software enables to capture leads, track them and also follow them up, helping the sales and profits of the businesses boost up. The online lead tracking and lead management software has to be one that is user-friendly, so that the agents do not take a long time in learning how it has to be used.

Telemarketing Still Works

2011-11-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

If you think that telemarketing services are not being sought by the businesses any more, you are wrong. The telemarketing call center companies are still in vogue; if telemarketing activities are handled using the right techniques and armed with advanced software, it can benefit the businesses to a great extent. The advanced software helps the agents at the contact centers make a lot of calls in a short time. It is known that the more calls the agents are able to make, the better opportunities they have for convincing the customers to make a purchase from the businesses.

The telemarketing call center agents use auto dialers and predictive dialers and several other technologies for offering high quality services to the businesses. With these tools at hand, the agents are able to make calls to the prospects that respond, and make many calls on an hourly basis. The technologies help the agents know which prospects can be called for cold calling and telemarketing. The agents do not have to waste time in calls which go unanswered. These technologies enable the agents to spend time on calls to which the customers have answered.

Telemarketing is a great way to educate the prospects on the uses of the products and services that are offered by the business. The telemarketing companies must make sure that they utilize all the technologies and software appropriately; this helps the telemarketing process to click. Otherwise, telemarketers are considered by the customers to be annoying individuals and a waste of time.

Appointment Setting in Contact Centers

2011-11-22T21:27:00.001-08:00

Appointment setting is a non-core business activity for conducting which businesses hire call center services. The agents offering this service make calls to as many consumers as possible and try to transform those consumers into prospects for the business. The aim of the agents at the contact center call center is to convince the consumers into setting an appointment with a representative from the business or a sales person. This is quite a challenging role, as usually consumers are not interested in taking calls from businesses when they are not expecting them.

The appointment setting call center services make cold calls with the help of predictive dialer and auto dialer systems at the contact centers. These technologies help them to make several calls to different contacts in a short time, which is not possible when done manually. The dialer systems also help to transform only the calls that have been responded to by the consumers; this way the agents are in better position to get them heard.

The skills that cold calling specialists or appointment setting agents in call center services must have include friendliness, perseverance, as well as persuasiveness in the right way. Objections from the consumers must be handled by the contact center call center agents in an effective fashion. Appointment setting when done the right way can generate a good number of hot leads.

Reducing Call Center Shrinkage

2011-11-16T21:25:00.001-08:00

There are many organizations that do not realize the worth of shrinkage and also tend to underestimate the sheer volume of shrinkage. The offshore call centers must make sure that the shrinkage is decreased to considerable extents in the contact center companies. It would be better if the outsourcing call center agents can come up with ideas on enhancing the scheduling and forecasting accuracy taking care to include all operations in the schedule. The call scheduling involves managing well all the time that is spent in breaks and lunch, meetings, training, absenteeism, correspondence, research, inbound and outbound calls, emails, and other unproductive time spent in the work place.

The outsourcing call center managers must also monitor the way agents adhere to the schedule and must work together with the agents to improve over time. The managers must take the initiative to monitor the schedule adherence levels in real time and then run the reports as well as share the reports with the entire outsourcing call center team members. When the contact center managers and supervisors can ensure that the agents are adhering to the schedules and everything is being done to make sure that the call center operations are of high quality, and then it can be ensured that the contact center shrinkage is reduced to a considerable extent.

The managers must try to incorporate flexible shifts in the center, so that the agents get a chance to bid for shifts after knowing each other’s shift timings. This will help them adhere to the schedule better.

What is the process of getting customer satisfaction reports through their feedback in a BPO?

2011-11-10T01:51:00.001-08:00

Customer is king. Before moving into any business, you are supposed to keep this in mind that the satisfaction of the consumers of your product matters the most. This pleasing effect helps you to develop your business later on in the future. The Customer Care section of any BPO is thus the most effective team that plays the most vital role to promote your product to the exact target audience. They are also dedicated enough to collect the feedbacks of the customers through emails, website blogs, or through online chat.

Internationally acclaimed BPOs before starting any important project through call center services, they sketch out a plan and follow exactly that route to reach the perfect goal and accelerate your business by calling up the perfect target audience. To negotiate with the target audience and even to figure out the exact clients is also a major consequence of the call center service. Through email surveys, websites, blogs, and even by answering services, the BPOs come across with the feed back of the products they are launching and selling through their eloquence of outstanding professionalism.

Things to remember while aiming to satisfy a client:

o The use of techniques like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) for mechanized data entry is necessary.

o To find out innovative solutions to make the consumers happy.

o The customer’s benefit is important while you are selling your brand.

The answering services of the call centers throughout the world are one of the vital methods of business expansion. Hence to make a better team with proper expertise is necessary.

Answering Service in Times of Medical Emergencies

2011-11-02T02:26:00.001-07:00

There are several businesses taking the help of a live answering service for taking the calls of customers all through the day, offering solutions to customer issues, taking down their orders and offering other assistance. One of the most important usages of the answering service call centers is answering on behalf of doctors, medical centers, hospitals and health care facilities. When the doctors or hospitals hire medical answering services, the life and death of individuals will depend on the operations of the answering service.
When people call a number provided by a hospital or a health care facility, they usually are very upset and hysterical, and the situation is actually an emergency. It is not child’s play to handle an emergency, especially when it involves the question of life and death. The agents offering medical answering services must be efficient, experienced and skilled enough to deal with the customers. The solutions that the agents offer must be offered instantly and they must also try to calm down the people who have called.

It is also required that the representatives offering medical answering services must be medical or science graduates and should be aware of medical terms and names of medicines. The job will require them to fix appointments with the physicians, explain the doctor’s prescription to the patients, and also offer them some medical information in the absence of the doctor. This way, the patients will know they have access to the doctor or the health care facility whenever they want to.

Easy Ways to Generate Sales Lead

2011-07-08T03:08:00.000-07:00

A key factor to determine the success of a business is its sales. Thus a company should mainly focus on sales lead generation. In fact, every company pays a lot of attention to its marketing and advertisements only to improve its sales leads. Except this the major factors are customer services, quality of product and after sales services.Some of these factors are countable only after sales but the presales factors are most important. The first part of any business is to set the target people and once this is set the next step is to convert the audience into permanent customer, i.e generating sales leads.

There are many ways to generate sales leads but here we will discuss only online lead generation methods. The few important online lead generation techniques are:

* Use of Phones :- If you want to generate online sales leads then a 24 hour answering service is a must. You have to convert the people come to you through internet into your customer using phone answering system.

* Videos and Podcast :- Using videos and podcast is also an efficient way to genarate online leads.

* Social Media :- You may take the advantage of social media in order to generate sales online. Because now a day social media is a place where you found numerous global visitors who are interested in your business.

Except this you have to use your own website to find your target visitor and covert them to your permanent customers.

Customer Service Needs Speech Analysis

2011-06-27T23:36:00.001-07:00

The customer service call centers can make a better impact on their service when they study the behavior and speech patterns of the callers. The way a caller interacts with the call center agents speak a lot about their mindset and how they are looking at their association with your brand. There are some give-away words and phrases that the experts term as ‘closure triggers’. These triggers have to be identified by the agents as expressions of dissent against the brand – something that can be interpreted as early signs of the customer deciding to terminate their association and look for some other brand.

What can customer service call centers do to identify and then deal with the closure triggers? To identify them, the inbound call center has to look at the calls carefully during training sessions. Record the calls and listen to them carefully. Train your call center agents to recognize the words and phrases that can be classified as closure triggers. The best way to deal with them is to make call center services a much better experience for them. You have to treat them specially so that they may understand how much you are interested in continuing to do business with them.

The Concept of Self-service at Call Centers

2011-06-20T04:59:00.001-07:00

The use of self-service at the call centers is a growing phenomenon. In this mode of call center services, the consumer makes use of the automated services to get their issues resolved without talking to the inbound call center agents. The use of these automated services, like the IVRS, is helpful for the consumers because they can save a lot of time when they dial up. The callers can easily get to what they are looking for and there is no time wasted in the process of filling out information with the agents.

For the call center as well, the use of self-service will be crucial to streamline the processes and also cut down on costs. If an automated answering service is deployed, the call centers can cut down on deploying manpower for the phone lines. The inbound call center will be able to attend and respond to more calls in the process. Because the whole process will be computer-generated, there will be little room for error. Of course, the customer service call center must provide the caller with an option to speak with a live voice anytime during the course of the call.

Some Questions at the Call Center

2011-06-10T03:45:00.000-07:00

There are some typical questions that call centers need to ask themselves. The answers to these questions will allow the call center unit to understand and realize the situation in which they are in. The first question to ask is: are the call center services following the right processes? Different projects have separate demands. That is why the telemarketing unit has to improvise and innovate. A simple way of modifying the phone answering service is to make it automated. The list of options will be crucial for the customers as they save time when they make use of IVRS.

The key to a successful evaluation of a call center is to ask the most relevant question: why are you looking for an evaluation? Surely there have been some inconsistencies in the performance of the telemarketing services department. It could also be because the call center services are not following the track that you have drawn for them. This is probably the time to look at the metrics in a new way. Call center companies often stick to the same regulatory metrics that define performance. With the changing times, the yardsticks of measurement have to change as well.

Customer Service Needs Backup

2011-06-02T01:59:00.000-07:00

No wonder how efficient and qualified your answering service team is, that is not enough! Brands cannot expect their customer service to be known as among the best in the business unless they back up their customer care department with some consistent service. No one calls up the phone answering service number when they are happy and satisfied! It’s only when they are faced with a problem that they decide to pick up the phone and dial.

You cannot expect them to understand your technical glitches because they have not paid for excuses. You have to deliver what you promised during the lead generation stage. That is what the call center customer service department has to fine tune with the brand’s other departments. The problems have to be resolved and the products need to be better suited for the consumers.

If the core areas of the brand do not stand up and be counted, the inbound call center can do only as much. Consumers do not look for answers or explanations, they need solutions. A quality customer service will be able to do a better job if their assurances are backed up by the executives who handle the primary functions of the manufacturer.

Cold Calling in Call Centers

2011-02-04T00:50:00.000-08:00

Call centers follow the cold calling marketing strategy for calling up total strangers and informing them about the client’s products and services. This is not as easy as it appears, since people are not all ears when they understand that a call center agent is trying to make a sale. For grabbing the interest of people, the script has to be prepared well and edited in the right manner.

Firstly, the prospects and target audience have to be identified through the right market study. Talking in a conversational manner is an art that the call center agents need to master; people should be engaged in the conversation, and nothing should sound as if it has been rehearsed. It is to be kept in mind that time is precious, so avoid wasting time in beating about the bush and get straight to the point.

Once you are able to identify the need of your prospect and offer him/her something that he/she needs, your job will be a lot easier. The aim of cold calling should not be to make sales; rather it should aim for setting an appointment with the prospect. Making the sales comes at a later stage. Always clearly explain the prospect how the product or service would benefit them; this is the key to make a successful cold call.

Call Center Interview – The Right Way

2011-01-30T22:56:00.000-08:00

BPO jobs are very much in demand especially with the Asian youth. There are several young men and women fresh out of colleges opting for call center jobs for the attractive pay that is offered. There are certain tips that a BPO should look for when recruiting people for its call center.

First and foremost, the interviewer should look for experience related to call center among the candidates who appeared for the interview. The educational qualification is also important; most call centers have particular criteria for education, and that has to be met. If the candidate is experienced, it is necessary to know the job profile of the person in details and tell the person what the requirement is for post that is vacant.

Talk to the interviewee and try to understand if the candidate has the capability to talk politely and has a pleasant voice; this matters a lot when talking to customers over phone. You can ask the candidate to talk to you on any topic constantly for around 2 minutes; this will help you analyze how clearly the candidate can describe things and make you understand. This is a skill that is required when providing information to the customers.

The candidate may be nervous, which is quite natural, but your job will be to see if the candidate is trying to smile pleasantly from time to time. The call centers require agents who have a pleasant manner and lots of patience when interacting with clients and customers.

FTC Plugs Web-leads for BPO

2011-01-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has come down heavily on the business prospects of the BPO again. After pulling down reins on the telemarketing business by banning random calls from the outbound call center, the FTC is now thinking of doing something similar for the Internet business. The FTC is planning to ban the use of Internet cookies to store information that is useful for online shopping and makes it a more personal experience. Internet cookies are also used by call centers to track information about users and visitors that come to the clients’ websites. The information is used for lead generation through email marketing.

This new directive, though still in the nascent stages, is already giving worry creases to call center managers. Just when the BPO units were shifting from a lead generation method based entirely on telemarketing calls to the use of web leads and Internet tools, this bolt from the blue will hit the industry hard. Sales lead generation experts predict that if this new directive comes into play, a major chunk of the Internet revenue will shrink, causing a financial crunch for business process outsourcing units across the world. At present, the Internet users have the choice to disable Internet cookies before they surf online.

Call Center Resolutions

2011-01-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

There are some New Year resolutions that call centers need to take. These are necessary, not just for an improved call center services, but also to make it possible for the call center to grab telemarketing projects. Here are some resolutions that you can implement in your telemarketing unit:

• Monitor Quality: Stringent quality check is the only way to a future with improved telemarketing services. Your agents and employees, especially at the inbound call center team, have to pull up their socks and deliver quality work. The managers and team leads have to be careful about this so that the call center makes a favorable impression on the client.

• Increased Security: Call centers have to doubly careful with data. Clients are more particular about the data that they share with their BPO partner. Any leakage or misuse of data will result in a bad reputation for the call center unit. Data theft is extremely prevalent these days. Members of the outbound call center team have to be careful about the data that they are working with.

• Knowing Customers: Customer service agents have their task cut out in dealing with customers. The inbound call center team needs to ensure that there is little erosion from the customer databank. Proper answering service can solve this issue and also earn good feedback from clients/customers.

Money Talk at BPO

2011-01-10T03:56:00.001-08:00

Money plays an important part in the modern day call center. Without a steady capital, BPO companies cannot compete. They need the cash for various purposes. The technology used in business process outsourcing units are changing and upgrading every other day. To keep pace with the times, they have to continually invest in better technology. For example, call centers need to get web-enabled call center services for everything they do. Other than technology. they will need the money to hire superior quality manpower. Since quality will be the benchmark of outsourcing, you might as well start spending cash towards that end!

How to save money for the call center in this economy? That is the question that is baffling for BPO owners across the globe. You can start off by streamlining your call center services. Unproductive pockets consume resources without offering anything in return. The BPO managers will do well to conduct campaigns through methods that provide higher returns on investment. For example, deciding on your targeted customers before cold calling will save costs or scheduling the inbound call center resources will help you cover more in shorter period of time. You have to keep experimenting to check what works for you.

B2B Lead Generation through Professional Networks

2010-12-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

The use of professional networks is an up and coming tool for B2B lead generation. Professionals across the globe are steadily signing up for professional networking websites like LinkedIn and Xing. Their aim is to stay in touch with colleagues and co-workers from the past and also the present. The network helps them source for jobs, share ideas and also take part in meaningful discussions about their professional. Call center agents can interact with the decision makers of business firms. Talking strictly in a professional manner, they can convince them as to why they need the telemarketing services of the BPO unit.

B2B lead generation is a tad difficult than the usual sales lead generation that the outbound call center agents does. In this process, the call center agents have to be careful about what they are writing and talking about. Because they are dealing with top-notch business executives, any error in pitching for telemarketing projects can be the reason why you missed out on the deal. Trying too hard to seal it off will also come across as desperate. You have to strike a fine balance between being laid back and too aggressive. Follow up your emails with phone calls and keep the lead warm, advises experts.

BPO Companies and Mobile Applications

2010-12-13T02:57:00.000-08:00

Mobile applications development is not an option for most call centers. To build up a mobile app for a simple phone needs superior technology. For high-end phones like Smartphone and Android phones, the stakes get higher. BPO companies often shy away from investing that much into mobile advertisement and apps. The reason is very simple. These phones are used by top notch business executives and affluent income groups only. Lead generation campaigns don’t often include them in their target demographics. That is why the amount of money that they put in is not really justified at the end of the day.

However, the bigger BPO companies are using mobile apps for lead generation. Consumers like it when they are contacted in newer, unique ways. When the call center walks the straight path and go for telemarketing calls to get more customers in the kitty, consumers tend to be repelled. They don’t want to budge to the traditional ways of telemarketing services. The same customers would feel drawn to a brand when the call centers tap them through mobile advertisements or apps. To find out what mode of sales lead generation would be suitable for a campaign, the telemarketers have to study the market trends and make investments accordingly.

Call Center Software

2010-12-11T01:39:00.000-08:00

When you hire out your customer service department to a call center, you want your business partner to handle a high call volume with practiced efficiency. There is no doubt that the BPO company you have onboard should have the latest equipment and software to tackle your business calls and process them without any flaws. Primarily speaking, there are two different kinds of software used at call centers. One is the IVR, or the Interactive Voice Response software. Here, the callers are allowed to choose from a list of options. This cuts down on the call time because the callers can immediately go to the section they want information from. There is no need to speak to live agents, unless the caller insists on it.

The other type of call center software is the CTI, or the Computer Telephony Integration. In this system, the telemarketing calls are routed through a computer. When the calls come through, the BPO agents can check the required information about the caller on their computer screens. They can easily find out what kind of material they are looking for to answer those calls. The information bank is at their disposal. This helps the telemarketing services to be more precise and accurate in their information dissemination. It also reduces the hold time for the callers and they get their answers promptly.

Call Center Industry in 2011

2010-11-28T23:56:00.000-08:00

The call center industry has some interesting trends to show in the coming year. 2011 will be the year of cloud computing in the BPO sector. Clients and customers will be more comfortable at looking for Caas (Communication as a Service) rather than premise-based call center services. The key will be to get the best talent onboard. Whether they are working in a brick-mortar business process outsourcing unit or not comes second. Along with the cloud system, real-time monitoring and reports will find a lot of purchase in telemarketing services. Clients will prefer a web-based reporting structure as opposed to white papers that call centers send in to their clients.

A very interesting trend in lead generation services is the development of applications for Blackberry, I-Phone, Smartphone and I-PAD applications. These are new-age mobile devices that consumers are increasingly getting hooked to. Most consumers use these gadgets to check up on their emails and other Internet activities. To tap these upwardly mobile classes of consumers, BPO units have to adapt themselves to the way they like to connect. Along with the application, the question of security in call center services is another emerging trend for 2011. Call centers are more concerned about security, as they are about providing quicker solutions to telemarketing issues.

The Important of FCR in Customer Service

2010-11-19T23:11:00.000-08:00

FCR, or First Call Resolutions, is that part of customer service that records the number of calls that were resolved on the very first instance. Sometimes callers have to ring up the inbound call center desk more than once for a single problem. A call center that pays attention to the FCR percentage doesn’t allow a problem to lie. They make the best possible attempt to get it sorted out on the first attempt made by the caller. This has several advantages to it. Firstly, it reduces the operational cost at the answering service desk. Callers, when they find a solution to their problem, don’t call again with the same issue. So the BPO unit doesn’t have to pay for repeat calls.

Probably the best advantage of a high FCR is the customer satisfaction. Customers like your customer service when you manage to pin down your problem immediately. This attains two benefits for the telemarketing department. One is that the call center agent can build up on the customer’s good mood to cross sell and up sell. Another benefit is that because the callers are happy with your call center services, they will not think about moving over to some other brand. This keeps your clients happy and is fruitful for your business in the long run.

Customer Service Goes Virtual

2010-11-15T01:01:00.000-08:00

The customer service departments of various BPO companies are going virtual. The struggle to be there for the customers at all times has reached a new height. Call centers are now working out a schedule by which they are recruiting answering service agents who will work as a virtual team. The agents will ideally be located in different time zones so that they are able to cover the entire 24 hours. The idea is to keep phone answering agents on the call during the lean hours. The customers can be located anywhere across the world. They will call according to their convenience. So the call center has to be ready to receive them.

By careful scheduling, the call center units can assign agents according to the time zones they are based in. It will be the BPO manager’s job to check up the peak hours at the inbound call center desk. Get the best agents on the job during this time. You can keep this thing with the customer service agents working from the call centers itself. During the weaker periods of time, get the virtual phone answering agents to come into the picture. Brief them about the telemarketing project and the requirements well in advance. You need the whole team to function as one unit.

Transformation in Customer Service

2010-11-12T03:06:00.000-08:00

Times have changed at the customer service department. You can no longer associate the inbound call center with just voice calls. Previously it used to be about optimizing the answering service process like bringing down the hold time or increasing the frequency of calls that are resolved on the first attempt itself. These days it is about transformation. Customer care has now transformed into something that spills over online. It’s not just about voice calls anymore. Customers are contacting the BPO agents through the websites of the clients, through emails or even through online chat options.

The inbound call center, therefore, has more to do than just answer calls. They have to answer emails and also respond to queries about the brand. The BPO units must deploy agents with standard writing skills so that they can personally respond to the email messages sent by clients. These are also wonderful opportunities for lead generation. The savvy telemarketing agent can convert the curiosity about the brand to sales. That is one area where the telemarketing services employees have to be vigilant. They have to spot the opportunities where they can cross-sell and up-sell.

Economic Support of BPO

2010-11-11T00:36:00.000-08:00

As opposed to what the general perception is, the BPO sector continues to contribute handsomely to the economic prosperity of the host country. The call center sector is known to be a prime contributor to the total earnings of a country, mainly so because of the foreign exchange that it brings in. However, skeptics have derided the contributions, of late. They declared that the telemarketing industry is about to fall apart. There are twin reasons why they think so. One is the growing impatience of people towards outbound call center calls, and another is the political machinations against telemarketing services.

But these threats seem valid only on paper and speculation. The call centers are generating millions of jobs across the world. The benefits of the BPO sector is most evident in the third world countries. The contributions of the telemarketing units towards the national earnings is also to the tune of several billion American dollars. The creation of jobs is such a prime focus for every country that they are developing their infrastructure to help accommodate call center services. Moreover, they are also keen on making it smooth for the investors to set up telemarketing units in their countries. If the industry was actually deemed to be past its prime, would they welcome investors with open arms?

Budgets in Lead Generation

2010-11-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

Budgets are important in lead generation. Before your outbound call center agents start working, you have to finalize what kind of money you are looking at. The cost per call has to be worked out according to that budget. The way things are, call centers have to be aware that shooting above the budget will not be welcome. Clients are also working on tight financial schedules. They cannot afford to pay extra. Recession-hit firms are not able to work out finances at the last minute. Like the BPO units, they have designated budgets for sales lead generation as well. If you fail to deliver within the stipulated budget, it’s counted as a discredit.

There are different ways in which the call center units ensure that they are sticking to the budget of lead generation. Assign small targets for yourself. Check how much you are spending during the different stages of the telemarketing project. If you see the outbound call center agents are working within the constraints of the budget, let things keep rolling. Otherwise you can bring some cost-saving measures into effect. Small targets help because you get the opportunity to rectify things before it’s too late. Keep your fingers on the pulse of the telemarketing services and respond immediately to any deflections.

Lead Generation Tip: Nurturing

2010-11-09T00:57:00.000-08:00

Lead generation comprises of a significant process called lead nurturing. That’s the process by which outbound call center agents follow up on the leads that they have generated through phone calls and emails. The process of lead nurturing is important for the BPO because customers and clients are busy professionals. They often forget about the telemarketing offer that they received last evening. They may have assured the sales lead generation agent that they will think about their offer, but when it comes to actually doing so, they come unhinged. It’s the task of the call centers to give them follow-up calls or emails.

The usual procedure of lead nurturing is to send across an email after 3 to 8 days in B2C lead generation. If the telemarketing project is about something to do with finances, the agent has to provide them some additional lead time to think it over. Call center agents have to be careful that they don’t send in the same emails as reminders. Vary the copy of the email to make it more progressive and interesting each time you send one. If you are using the same copy, the receiver may get frustrated and hit ‘Unsubscribe’! That, of course, closes down the sales lead generation process.

Offline and Online BPO

2010-11-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Offline and online BPO departments are about to come together! That is the picture that is emerging from the call centers across the world. Till very recently, you had the two different sections of the call center working as separate entities. They corresponded only through emails or reports. However, they had little or no cohesion as a team. As a result, there were plenty of loopholes that usually exist when there is lack of coordination between the two teams. The conversion of leads into sales was difficult to achieve because the online lead generation agents faced a sort of disconnect with the offline customer service.

In the new way of doing things, call center agents communicate with each other on a regular basis. This helps them understand what they are doing in the different corners of the BPO. Moreover, the integration of all call center services into a common platform has helped everyone in the team understand how things are going to be. They are now aware of the different functions that each of them has to play. With their individual roles well-etched out, they are more productive in the work that they do. In fact, they are surer of what they are contributing towards the BPO service.

Contractual Telemarketing Agents

2010-11-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

When you are using contracted telemarketing agents, you have to be careful about various aspects. You have to be careful about data security because these telemarketing agents are not part of the organization as such. They are not even on the direct payrolls of the BPO. However, you have to make sure that this fact is expressed only on paper. In spirit, you have to make them part of the call center services team. There may be a wealth of experience in the agents that you have hired on contract. They may know processes and methods which can take your telemarketing services to greater heights. They may also help you optimize and streamline your process.

However, none of this would come to fruition if the BPO managers don’t have the right kind of attitude towards them. It’s the job of the call center managers to make them feel part of the organization. It will only be with the right kind of approach that you can inculcate a sense of belonging in these short-term employees. That would make them work hard and do that extra bit for the call centers. As you know, BPO service is all about team work and you need every member of the team to contribute towards the project. That would include contractual workers as well. You may not be able to provide them the status of a full-time employee, but make sure you treat them like one.

Monetary Rewards for Call Centers

2010-11-03T03:43:00.000-07:00

Money is a major motivational factor. But when the financial strains begin to tell on the BPO, the employees are sure to feel the heat. Deferred raises, lack of perks and privileges are very much there when the telemarketing unit is hard pressed for cash. In a way, the call centers have to cope with some disgruntled voices on the floor. Incentives are good catalysts for motivation and the managers have to slog through some indifferent attitude from the employees. It’s an issue that most human resources manager would like to side-step. It’s obvious that they don’t have much to do here because they don’t have the purse strings with them.

What they can do here is boost the morale of the employees. Transparent talks with the call center agents are ways to do that. Explain them as to why they are not getting their raises and incentives. When you speak to the BPO agents as they are part of the organization, they are most likely to respond and understand the situation. You need their support in these trying times. Let them know that their effort in telemarketing services is being noted and they are up for monetary rewards the moment the call center services see some influx of cash.

BPO Question Out of Menu

2010-11-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

The controversial BPO question is finally dropped from the table laid out for President Barack Obama. The online registration form that the business contingent in India has to fill up to meet the President had a question on the explosive business process outsourcing subject. The candidates had to declare how much of call center outsourcing work they are doing for America. Businesspersons in India are not sure that they want to give away this information in the form. That is why they objected to this demand and finally it was struck off. The visit of the President will turn over a new leaf in telemarketing services between the two countries. Because the visit comes in the wake of the President’s declarations that he wants to curb the offshore call center market, this visit promises to build hype around it.

There was another hitch involved in this meet in Mumbai. The charges that the organizers demanded were stiff and against the convention of such meets. In the wake of protests, the charges were pulled back as well. President Barack Obama visits India on November 6. He will be meeting a clutch of businessmen in Mumbai and talk about the issue of offshore call center outsourcing. The Finance Minister of India has already assured the media and representatives of the BPO sector that the issues arising out of outsourcing will be solved in the way of dialogues.

Lead Generation Rules On!

2010-11-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

With the telemarketing sector shrinking because of the trouble with the telecom authorities, an alternate and stronger alternative is emerging. This is the online lead generation era! Call centers across the world are looking forward to generating leads online as compensation and also as bonus. There are some advantages of using the internet to get in touch with more customers. The reach is unimaginable! You can market local products in any market that you choose. The internet gives you access to any circuit that you want to target. The BPO unit has to study the search engines and make allowances so that their client’s page comes up before the rivals.

Customers like to buy in a certain way. If the call center services can provide them with their demands in the way they like it, the call center will definitely reap the benefits of being customer-friendly. Customers prefer to buy products/services online. They are aware that the system of delivering goods and processing payments has rapidly improved and become more responsible and transparent. They are not afraid of being duped by telemarketing agents because everything is in front of their eyes. They can even track the passage of their purchase from the manufacturer to their doorstep through online status updates.

Value to BPO Units

2010-10-29T02:28:00.000-07:00

Business firms are attaching more value to BPO units after noticing their significant contribution towards their bottom line. The call center services was always been a distant business partner, handling non-core business work. But these non-core business aspects have become money spinners in the modern day context. Consider customer service as an example. In the initial stages, the answering service was considered unproductive and very few brands actually made an effort to offer quality phone answering facilities to the customers. However, now you cannot expect to retain customers or even acquire new ones unless you are very adept in customer care. These are small ways in which call centers are now part of the core business network.

The rise in the importance of the BPO units has added to the responsibility. Call centers are now aware that they have duties towards the brand that they are representing. The stakes are high and so are the chances of committing an error. Call center services are now pushing towards an important phase. They have a chance to make better contributions and also earn long-term projects. Call center units would prefer stronger partnerships with their telemarketing clients. There is much sense is making these partnerships to get a steady flow of projects in this rather dynamic market.

Call Centers Go Green

2010-10-28T02:14:00.000-07:00

The environment is one issue that every individual and corporate establishment should be particular about. Call centers are not free from this obligation, either. There are a number of ways in which BPO units can conserve power and make an impact on the planet. Power is a major concern for eco-friendly initiatives. Telemarketing units can conserve power by making small efforts like switching off fans and ACs when not needed. They can encourage their employees and agents to turn off their computers when going out for lunch breaks or leaving for the day.

Small efforts count big. Call center units can save so much of paper if you try out digital reports and business correspondence through emails. It also makes the process of BPO reporting more efficient. Another way in which telemarketing units can make a difference is ensuring that the dead computers and peripherals are disposed in the eco-friendly way. There is plastic waste in these trash items. They can cause soil pollution and can also be considered industrial waste. The management of the customer service unit should contact the right people and have them treat these wastes with chemicals to render them harmless.

Call Center Supervisors Need Training

2010-10-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

Call center supervisors need to be trained and updated at regular intervals. It is the responsibility of the BPO management to find out where they are lacking and how their knowledge banks can be replenished. The telemarketing world is moving very fast. Unless you have a pulse on the key changes happening in the sector, you cannot keep yourself working on the same page as your competitors. Clients pay more importance to the methods you will use for telemarketing services than on how much work experience you have. Training cannot always be in-house. You will need to make provisions for them to go out and attend conferences and seminars.

Call center units often expect team leads to take the team on the right track. But it cannot be so unless the BPO unit is making allowances for the team leaders to get themselves trained. There so many innovations taking place in call center services these days. There is a continuous strive towards better streamlining and optimization. By studying the trends and the processes of other call centers and customer service units, your team leads can pick and use what will be most beneficial to you. When they know what you need, your team can be suitably trained and the plans can be successfully implemented.

Rise of Cloud Call Centers

2010-10-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

The rise of the cloud call centers is an important phase in the history of the BPO sector. Cloud call center units can be run without a proper brick and mortar office space. You can have telemarketing agents working from home or other personal spheres. They coordinate with the team leaders and supervisors so that they are always working in sync with them. They receive their work through online CRM software and work on them under the strict digital supervision of their superior. If they are going wrong anywhere, the supervisor can step in and correct them instantly. They can also whisper some words of advice when the call is active.

Cloud call centers have certain advantages over their land-based ones. Because the telemarketing agents are working from home, they are more suited to work for longer hours. They can put in extra amounts of work also because they are less stressed. On the call center floor, there are other agents and peers working on similar lead generation projects. The target becomes a palpable reality then. On the other hand, these BPO agents working from home can schedule their work according to their time preference. Because they are working alone, they don’t need to be worried about them falling back. They can always bounce back and hit their target.

Call Centers That Bring Change

2010-10-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

The popular belief that the large BPO firms are the ones that lead the industry on the path of change is a wrong notion. The innovations and experiments actually come from the midlevel companies. These call centers are the ones that bring about changes in the call center services through some careful planning and research. They are the ones who innovate on traditional methods and come up with suggestions to streamline and optimize. Experts say that these BPO service units are capable of doing that because their work ethic is very flexible. They can afford to walk out of the beaten track and make some different noise.

The call center units working on a medium level have the money and the resources to invest in experiments. This cannot be said about the small scale BPO units. They are more concerned about being good in whatever they are doing. As for the large scale call centers, they are too tied up in their rigid call center services to make room for innovation. They are focused on working on set rules and processes. They know they have a lot at stake and their brand name could be tainted if the innovation doesn’t come up with the required results. As a matter of fact, the midlevel telemarketing units are also into diversification in their telemarketing services. They incorporate changes and modifications during the course of a project as well.

New BPO Players Increase Traction

2010-10-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

New players in the market have increased the traction in the BPO sector. There is more competition and the new movers have succeeded in filling up the gaps left behind by their larger counterparts. In terms of business, this has both negatives and positives. Among the positives, new players will be able to inject fresh ideas into telemarketing. They will bring in a perspective that will give birth to some concepts that were not around. As a result of their constant drive for innovation, telemarketing services will be benefited immensely. This is surely one of the more exciting news that has emerged from the call center sector in the recent times.

If you count the negatives, the new players in the BPO sector have pushed up the competition. This is surely going to bring down the prices of call center services. That is not good news for the call center sector that is already reeling under the influence of the inflated cost of technology, equipment and manpower. In a way, call centers across the globe are making sure that they are optimizing their resources to make everything count. Their aim is to cut down the cost of production, so that they can be able to make some profit.

About Redundant Telemarketing Agents

2010-10-20T03:08:00.000-07:00

If you are a team leader or a HR manager with a call center, you will be able to relate to this. If you are not working in the BPO sector in any capacity, you can still learn some lessons from this. There are those times when you are saddled with the thankless task of handing over the pink slip to an employee who has contributed immensely to your telemarketing unit. The person has been an asset all along and now you have to let him go because of some reasons. It could be you are upgrading your call center services and the person is not skilled in the new task. It could be that you have run out of projects and want to shed some weight in the manpower department.

There can never be an easy way to do it. But you can make the task lighter if you are transparent. Explain to the telemarketing agent why he is being laid off. Be clear about the vision of the call center and clarify that you appreciate his contribution to the BPO unit. You can offer to recommend the person professionally so that he can find it easier to find a job elsewhere. It’s always a better idea to communicate in unambiguous terms. Keep the bridge open for future contacts so that you can keep the option open about working again in the future.

Importance of Strategic Planning in Call Center

2010-10-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

There is a direct need for strategic planning in call center units. Without the assistance of a proper plan, BPO units tend to deviate from the path that they want to take. The advantages of strategic planning are many and disparate. Planning helps to keep the budget under check. Budget can become an issue of debate between clients and the call centers. Because the budgets that clients set aside for call center services is limited and often not very deep, they want to be additionally careful with the money that they put on the table. Coming from the perspective of a financer in the recession hit market, their paranoia about money is understood.

If the call center wants to optimize the budget and means that they have on hand, they can do so well. They have to be careful about keeping a tab on things. The planning stage in call centers begins when the telemarketing project comes on board. The hiring on agents, the decision on what kind of technology that will be used, along with how things are going to pan out – all these need to be chalked out with care and a practical eye for detail. It’s always advisable to make provisions for those factors that are not strictly within your control.

When Answering Service is Busy

2010-10-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

A pet peeve at the answering service desk is finding the number busy. It happens so often that you feel scared of calling the phone answering desk unless there’s a dire emergency! That’s not a healthy sign for a brand that wants to be popular with the customers. Having a functional and efficient inbound call center team is important for brand value. Customers thrive on brand value and that comes chiefly from customer service and customer care. If you are taking good care of your customers even after you have made the sale, you are earning some brownie points for yourself and your brand.

We have all experienced the frustration of finding the customer care number to be busy. Repeated calls to the number fail to elicit a different response. That’s where BPO firms need to work. They have to use specialized tools and probably interactive voice response system (IVRS) to tackle the clutter at the inbound call center. The right kind of technological investment, like depending on web enable call center services can solve a lot of your worries. You can route the traffic of customers to a website. This will take the pressure off telemarketing agents and yet bring you leads. Online lead generation will also ensure that the customers contact you through emails and queries addressed through the website. They will seldom call and you will have your phone lines free.

Watch the Time, Telemarketing Agents!

2010-10-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

The time of the telemarketing call has a lot to do with its success ratio. This is even truer for B2B lead generation calls. You cannot expect your agents to hit the bull’s eye if you call a business head first thing in the morning when he is just in his office. Important business executives will never entertain calls from a BPO when they have plenty of other work waiting them to start off. It’s difficult to have them on the line, and even when you do, they are more likely to hear you out and disconnect. Then forget all about it in the course of their daily schedule. To increase your chances of making every call count, you have to keep an eye on the clock.

Time zones are a problem for call centers working out of offshore destinations. Such set-ups need to be extra vigilant to check what the time is on the watch of the customer that they are calling. Schedule business telemarketing calls to the latter half of the day. Allow the business heads to settle down and get their routine sorted out. Then you have better chances of making an impact. The same goes for any emails and business correspondence that you want to mail across. Keep them for the time of the day when your contact will have the leisure to read what you have written. Unless it’s a follow-up email that your contact asked for, keep them for the afternoons.

Some Call Center Peeves

2010-10-11T04:03:00.000-07:00

There are some call center peeves that haunt the customers even to this day, after all the revamping that was done in the answering service department. Everything seems to boil down to the fact that the phone answering desk isn’t really responsive to the degree needed. There are some pockets of delay, some protocols and lots of redundant practices that need to be eradicated. The inbound call center department has to shed some of the weight that it carries around to make it smooth and agile. Coming into the modern business that is prevalent across the globe, you have to ensure that there are better ways of handling customers than there are today.

Other call center peeves would be the huge lack of accountability in call center services. The inbound call center department is where agents like to pass the calls when they don’t know the answer. While it is perfectly okay to have the call passed to someone who knows the answer, passing it to a peer, who is in as much knowledge level does not make sense. Keying in the personal information every time the BPO agent passes the call around frustrates the customer, even if the number is toll free. That is one pet peeve that the BPO service needs to fix before they can put themselves on the customer care map.

Incentives Motivate Call Center Agents

2010-10-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

There has to be some reason why your call center agents will push themselves beyond their usual limits. The motivation could come from any aspect of their job: the challenges of telemarketing, the targets need to hit in lead generation, or simply the satisfaction of solving the problems of customers at the answering service desk. Job related motivations are always a major moving force. But beyond a certain point, BPO agents want to be rewarded monetarily as well. This stems from the growing belief that they are instrumental in getting more profit for the BPO service unit. So, they are entitled to a share of the spoils. If the sales lead generation achieves more than what was targeted, the agents working on the project would want their efforts to be appreciated.

Nothing works better than incentives in these matters. Call center agents are not always expecting a rise in salary at premature times. They know that the BPO unit will evaluate their performance and give them a hike every 6 months or a year. For short term gains that they help the call centers to achieve, they would like to be rewarded with incentives. The practice of offering incentives to high performing agents has always existed in telemarketing. It’s just that in the present scenario, it has become a necessity. Incentives keep your agents on their toes, breed healthy competition and also pull down the attrition rate.

Online Lead Generation Methods: What Works

2010-09-30T02:30:00.000-07:00

Lead generation experts across the world are trying to figure out ways in which they can generate more leads. Some are of the opinion that they can translate the growing dependence of customers on online methods into sales lead generation through search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, SEO ranks first among the online methods that are used for generating leads. SEO is closely followed by the email marketing process. Emails are used more regularly and effectively for B2B projects. Business heads and entrepreneurs don’t like to talk business through telemarketing calls. They prefer to receive emails outlining the services and offers. They base their decision on these emails.

The pay per click (PPC) method comes third mainly because of the revenue that it earns for the client websites. Advertisements through Google and other internet companies are popular means of making money by selling the website, in addition to the products/services. Social media marketing ranks fourth. If you go by the hype, you will be expecting this form of online marketing to rank higher up the pecking order. However, the discomfort that call centers face when conducting social media is a primary reason why this form has not been able to make itself very popular. The other methods, like posting marketing literature and link exchange come in lower down.

Cold Calling for Lead Generation

2010-09-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

Cold calling is the traditional way of conducting lead generation. However, with the times, the other alternative methods, like online sales lead generation and direct market methods like radio and TV ads have come up strongly. This has prompted many of the experts at call centers to feel that they do not need the cold calling process in an active way. Such ideas can only be considered erroneous. Telemarketing calls continue to be an effective way of handling customers and projecting sales. If you get down to the numbers and the data on your hand, you will find out that telemarketing services through phone calls got more customers on board than any other method that you have tried out.

What makes cold calling such an effective lead generation process? It’s the reach of the telecom medium. Customers are more receptive and proactive when they are answering phone calls from call center agents. They are more willing to make an action when they provide a verbal commitment. They may look for their requirements online, but when it comes to purchasing, they want to speak to a live telemarketing agent. That’s where the gap exists between the online and offline sales lead generation methods. In a way, phone calls also allow the customers to be dealt with in a way that depends on their reactions and responses. That is just not possible online.

Answering Service: Order Taking

2010-09-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

Order taking is one of the more up and coming call center services. It has been around for quite some time, but it’s only recently that it claimed its place under the sun. With the kind of takeaway and fast food networks that are coming up, the concept of ordering for your food on the phone is catching wind. The upwardly mobile want their pizzas and burgers on the dot. They like them with the characteristic idiosyncrasies, like the right kind of topping and flavor. If your business is into the fast food chain, you will quickly feel that the receptionist is not really the ideal person to take your orders. You need a specialized team of phone answering agents to handle your customers and process their orders. That’s when you need to hire a BPO unit.

Handing out the answering service work to the BPO unit will help you get in more customers. Once your professional order taking services hit the market, you will get positive feedback from all the customers you have. They will refer your fast food network before there are too many outlets out there who mess up orders! The call center agents who man your phone can process the orders in a prompt and professional way. They are skilled and trained to ensure that each order reaches the person concerned and there are no mix-ups. Moreover, the BPO service agents can hike up your sales through telemarketing methods like cross selling and up selling.

Unified Call Center Reporting

2010-09-27T03:30:00.000-07:00

The advantages of having a single report for the call center services can be extremely handy. It’s not a very productive idea for the call center departments to work as separate units. Since their tasks often overlap and correlate, they need to know what their peers are doing. For example, the lead generation agents should know how much they are being supported by the answering service department and vice versa. After all, it’s only a team effort that can finally see off a successful project. Come to think of it, bringing all of these departments on a single sheet of paper will make it possible for them to know where they stand individually and also as a team. This will help them support each other and work together.

Bringing the call center services on a single platform eradicates the chances of miscommunication. There has to be some leaks when you are working as isolated units. When you pool your BPO resources together and go in for division of labor according to the needs, you are also optimizing your technology and manpower. Clients often hire more than one BPO service for their business. Having all your cards on the same table helps keep a tab on how the entire project is going on. It does make a lot of difference when things are transparent and everyone is aware of their work.

Lead Generation for Finances

2010-09-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

Generating leads for the telemarketing projects that deal with finances is not a walk in the park. There are many considerations that the BPO must think over. People are protective, defensive and paranoid about their financial details. The call center agents who call them to sort out their debt problems have to be careful about the questions they ask, the approach they take and the way they go about the sales lead generation process. In a way, they have to also follow certain protocols when they are doing financial projects. They cannot violate the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules. Very recently, the FTC has declared that the call centers offering financial services cannot charge the customers unless they actually provide the services.

Call centers have to be particularly careful about the questions that they ask the customers. Most of the prospective callers are aware that they are not supposed to part with their financial details to the telemarketing agents. However, that little aspect makes them overtly cautious about the other details that are needed to process their services. The same goes for persuasive telemarketing services. Consumers feel paranoid when the agents are insisting that something in particular is good for them. Lastly, the call center agents must allow the customers to think over it. Hardly anyone decides on a financial service without thinking it over.

Voice Clarity on Answering Service

2010-09-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

A persistent problem at the answering service table is the quality of the voice calls. Telemarketing calls made to the callers often come across as clear but when the customers call up, things are totally different. The BPO units who have phone answering projects find themselves at their wit’s end because they cannot fix the problem. On the other hand, they cannot ignore it because they are losing customers who are fed up with the static noise in the calls. The fact that they are talking to an agent thousands of miles away to solve a local problem becomes more prominent when there is call drops. They feel irritated and often angry at the lack of voice clarity in the calls.

The going is tougher for the call centers that do tech support projects, or even the financial ones. In those telemarketing campaigns, it becomes important for the callers to listen to every instruction clearly. Failure to do so would result is complications later on. That is why customers calling the answering service system make mistakes in following instructions clearly. This is messy for the BPO units as well. If the callers are not getting what the agents tell them, it leads to situations where the BPO service has to bend their backs to clean things up. It also raises questions on the technological equipment that the firm uses.

Govt. Back-up for Call Centers

2010-09-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

Any industrial sector is boosted by the support of the government. The government helps out the business firms in a number of ways: from tax evasions, getting them land for setting up a factory to helping them with the infrastructure. The same can be said about the BPO sector. Call centers are always willing to allow governments to help them out with infrastructure. The authorities can help them out with telecommunication support, faster internet and other back-up. Call center services need sophisticated equipment for their work. Making these available to the investors at subsidized prices will definitely count as goodwill gestures that will attract other investors to the country.

Other than infrastructure for the call centers in terms of hardware, governments can help them get better manpower. The ruling powers in countries like the Philippines have set up institutes to teach enthusiastic students about the aspects of telemarketing. These students will be trained in a way that makes them industry-ready for telemarketing services. A steady flow of these students into the manpower will improve the quality of work that is being done now. The BPO units are looking forward to the efforts on the part of the government. In related assistance, transport and other facilities for the security of the call center agents is another government domain.

SMS Blocks for Telemarketing

2010-09-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

It’s time now for the BPO units to control the amount of bulk messages that they send out to prospective and existing customers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to cut short the honeymoon period of telemarketing firms that went on the rampage with text messages. The telemarketing services units were being severely fined for their continued insistence on calling customers who are registered with the national Do Not Call (DNC) list. Ignoring the DNC was no more possible and their lead generation calls would only attract heavy weather. SMS was the way out and the sales lead generation agents used the medium to full potential.

Blasting mass SMS is better than emails. Tapping cell phones for telemarketing was always essential to get in touch with the prospective customers. The advantage that these telemarketing services campaigns have over the email marketing procedure is that users cannot delete the texts without reading it. So with some careful composition of the text that will be sent out, the call centers can touch base and make an impact. If the users are interested in what they have to sell, they will surely respond. The lead generation in this regard is more effective. But the FTC has banned the use of texts to registered numbers as well!

Call Center Lesson: What Customers Think

2010-09-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

To find out how you can improve your call center services, you have to find out what the customers think of you. They are best judge of your customer service. BPO agents can find out about the work that they are doing and the impact that they have by tapping the customers who talk to them. Ask them about the experience of talking at your inbound call center desk. Find out what they think of your answering service. While some may be prejudiced or just cynical by nature, the majority of them will be willing to offer you an impartial view of things. You can use the feedback to rethink your strategy and include the suggestions that you receive from your customers.

It’s not just about call center services that you can find out from your customers. You can boost your telemarketing efforts by finding out about the customer’s buying patterns. It could be that with the feedback that you receive from the customers, you can actually position your products better than you are doing at present. Customers’ feedback can be beneficial for your clients as well. They can learn how they can improve their products to cater to a larger market. It may be that just by dipping the price a little they can achieve a bigger profit. Market surveys on customer feedback can be crucial for all concerned with telemarketing services.

Telemarketing Agents Offer More

2010-09-16T03:25:00.000-07:00

Telemarketing agents are learning the hard way about offering more to the customers. In the last few months, the ways of doing business in a BPO has changed considerably. Post recession the stakes have gone high and clients want the telemarketing services to offer more to the customers than they used to. Prior to this phase, the call center agents would decide how much they are going to offer the customers in terms of choice. They were allowed to pick only from a selected range of products/services. This was because the telemarketers would feel that offering the whole range would mean spending time on selling things that won’t sell. They had demarcated the consumers on certain parameters and stuck to them rigidly.

However, the recession opened up the market. The lack of business opportunities made the call center agents more aware of what the consumers want. The BPO agents were prepared to walk that extra bit so that they can get more consumers on board. The competition got tougher and the consumers’ tastes widened and became specialized. The consumers were more aware of their rights and if a certain telemarketing firm did not gave in to their demands they swiftly hung up the phone and signed up with another brand. Telemarketing services also felt that with more options, there were more opportunities to cross sell and up sell. All these factors combined to make consumers better off in terms of choice.

Unemployed USA Not Affecting BPO

2010-09-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

The rising unemployment rate in the USA is not going to affect the BPO sector. That is the verdict from call center service providers. A few days back there were reports that the two-digit unemployment percentage will be a factor in deciding the telemarketing projects that are outsourced to the offshore destinations like India and the Philippines. Many BPO service experts felt that the business firms in the USA could cringe from outsourcing their projects away would hurt their patriotic sentiments because the US citizens are not getting work to do. However, the business process outsourcing industry is still a long way off from turning tides. The cost factor still rules heavy on those business firms that want to outsource their answering service.

The rise of the non-voice call center services has offered a new lease of life to the call center units. It’s on the support provided by this section of the BPO service that BPO units are confident that rising unemployment won’t affect much. The telemarketing projects are still rolling for the offshore call centers because they are better placed to handle the non-voice work than the domestic ones. The expenditures of getting the help desk services and other non-voice services from these offshore units are way cheaper than in the American shores. It’s true that the American business process outsourcing workers are now ready to work at lesser pay, but they are still notches higher than what it will take to get the job done in a developing country.

Lead Generation Media Choices

2010-09-07T03:46:00.000-07:00

Gone are the days when you depended on the telephones for lead generation. These days you have so many media choices to conduct lead generation operations. The biggie is the Internet, of course. Websites and emails have changed the face of sales lead generation. Every B2B project is now conducted over the Internet instead of telemarketing calls. In fact, in some ways or the other, phone calls have side-stepped to allow these new methods of call center services to zoom into focus. Clients are approaching BPO firms to give them something better than just phone calls for generating leads. They demand the use of other media because competition and consumers demand so.

Other than the Internet, lead generation through mobile phones is another up and coming medium. The advantages of this medium are of great significance to call center units. And the BPO units have embraced this form of telemarketing in a big way. The use of SMS for sales lead generation has caught on like wildfire. Call center services are blasting text messages on cell phones to sell and promote their products/services. Their aim is simple. They want to get their message read by the consumers who do not want calls from the outbound call center desk. Since texts on cell phones have a considerably higher rate of being read than emails, BPO service units have picked this trend rather fast.

Volunteering for Emergency Answering Service

2010-09-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

The answering service system in several emergency call centers offers the do-gooder a chance to play the Good Samaritan. If you are a BPO employee who wants to get into a bit of social service, you can volunteer to be a phone answering agent at one of the emergency call center desks. This will be a nice way for you to do something for the society and helping out those who need your assistance. To be a good at the emergency inbound call center table, you have to be alert and extremely focused. Whatever you give out from this desk will be important for the callers on the other end of the phone. More often than not, you might be doing some life saving tasks as well.

There are plenty of challenges at the emergency call center desk. You have to cautious about what you say and how you say it. You have to firm when giving out bad news or informing relatives about the deceased. All of that comes with the emergency answering service job. It pays for these BPO agents to know a little first aid and other life-saving techniques. There is no saying when they might be called upon to help out someone. It takes time for help to reach. A proactive inbound call center agent can handle the emergency while help goes out to the caller.

Social Media for Quality Lead Generation

2010-09-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

Lead generation on social media networks can be done in a number of ways. The technique that call center units are using these days is one of monitoring. The BPO agents monitor the conversations on the social media platforms and trail the discussions in their domain of interest. When they find a conversation steering towards a possibility of a sale, they quickly step in and seal the deal. Consumers often share their worries with their friends and followers on the social networks. If the sales lead generation teams can keep a track of the discussions on the community walls and forums that pertain to their field of interest, they can provide the distressed consumer with the right support.

Such initiatives also make the others on the social networks aware of the excellent customer care service of your client. BPO agents can also keep a track on the conversations that deal with their rivals. Often you will find consumers venting their anger against brands. If that happens to be your rival brand, your call center agents can step in as goodwill ambassadors and win over the disgruntled customer on your side. Because they will be pretty sore with the services of your rival, your call center services need to fill in the void and before long, you may find the customer belonging to your database! Such procedures are common on Twitter these days.

Telemarketing Penalization Scores High

2010-09-02T02:54:00.000-07:00

The fines that telemarketing companies are paying are running into the millions now! Telecom authorities in the countries like USA and Canada are coming down heavily on call center units that make automated lead generation calls to citizens. A Chicago based BPO unit had to cough up some $2.3 million in order to settle the federal case registered against them. They were making sales lead generation calls for fake automated calls to sell auto warranties. The federal court decided to stamp a legal notice against the call center services in response to the high number of complaints that they were receiving. The money will be used to pay back all those citizens that have been ripped off in the telemarketing scam.

The business process outsourcing industry really looks up to these penalizations for a simple reason. The faster these fraudulent call center units are washed out, the better it is for the BPO sector. In fact, delegates who met the telecom authorities for leniency on the do not call lists, often mentioned exemplary punishment for the violators of the telemarketing laws. They rightly feel that for the survival of the genuine telemarketing services, these conmen have to leave the sector. And the best way to do that is to bring them to the book.

Any Philadelphia auto insurance agent worth his salt will be able to answer 90% of a customer’s questions without having to refer to a book, a website, a superior, etc. If you don’t feel confident about an agent, you should feel more than welcome to transfer out to another agent.

Making Customers Feel Special through BPO

2010-09-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

Just like you’d want your guests to feel special and your guests want to feel privileged, it’s the same with your customers. In the competitive market you are working in, unless you make your customers feel some strong tug with your business, they will not hesitate to stride over to your rivals. This erosion of the consumer database can be prevented by quality answering service that a BPO can provide. Call center agents are trained to receive and process the customer’s calls in a way that leaves them feeling good about their association with your company. Despite the bad flak that the inbound call center receives for poor customer service, it remains the reason why customer bases remain intact.

To run a successful answering service team, the call center must understand the basic psychology of the customers. When they dial a number to speak to someone in the company, they have this wish that they will be able to talk to someone who’s nothing short of the CEO! They are not willing to settle for anything less. Keeping this in mind, the phone answering agents must be allowed to talk with a certain amount of authority. They must be able to take decisions that make the customers feel that whatever be their worry, you are willing to solve that in a jiffy.

Direct Marketing for Lead Generation

2010-08-31T02:39:00.000-07:00

Lead generation is one call center area that always finds different ways of expressing itself. There are so many different ways in which you can do sales lead generation. And the vast number of these efforts is not dependent on telemarketing calls. Call centers these days are not able to make calls as freely as they used to. Direct marketing is one method where the expenses in the books of the client are a wee bit more. However, the results for direct marketing can bring in immediate results for the BPO. Direct marketing is the process of using radio and TV to generate leads. Advertisements are placed in these mass media vehicles so that the consumers can hear/see and react to them instantly. They may either be asked to call a number for details or check out a website.

The duty of the call center unit begins then. The number that is injected in the ad copy will definitely generate many calls for the inbound call center team. The BPO unit has to tackle these calls for lead generation. The challenge for the answering service team is the high volume of traffic that comes in. Callers are instantaneous in their reaction to an advertisement. As a result of this, they want to speak to a brand representative at the earliest. If the phone answering team is not alert enough, they may lose some opportunities to generate leads.

BPO Rivals Crowd Market

2010-08-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

The BPO circuit is now flush with competition. The recession has proved the stability of the business process outsourcing sector like never before. While numerous firms and industries got hit badly enough not to recover till date, the call center sector has progressed with bold strides. Now the Indian telemarketing sector is being challenged by their neighbor Sri Lanka. The emerald country is known to have the same type of resources that has made India the superpower in the telemarketing services industry. Sri Lanka has an integrated amount of English-speaking people who can be successfully inducted in the call centers. As any investor would tell you, the ease with which you get manpower is primary to the cost-effective utilization of an industry.

Other than the manpower, Sri Lanka provides call center investors with the right infrastructure and telecommunication set-up for an industry of this stature. The BPO sector is something that the government of Sri Lanka is serious about. They want the telemarketing industry to grow because they want to earn those foreign currencies, along with providing the employment to the educated youth of the country. They realize that their main competition in the business process outsourcing sector is with India. They also know that they started late and have a lot of ground to cover. With the right direction and the big projects, they will be right up there soon!

BPO Jobs Return to American Homes!

2010-08-27T03:53:00.000-07:00

In a bizarre turn of events, the outsourced BPO jobs that the Americans wanted back badly is returning to their homes! Yes, that’s the current scenario for the call center industry in USA. The jobs are coming back for sure, but not to the call centers. Answering service agents working from home are being hired to do the work. There are certain advantages of working from home. For example, the agent can work extra hours because they are saving up on the time of commuting. Similarly, they can work without the stress and tension associated with the BPO service work floor. They don’t have the typical peer pressure to tackle as well!

From the perspective of the hiring BPO firms, this is a fairly money-saving deal. They don’t need to set up a call center, with all the infrastructure and office space. They don’t have to pay for the electricity or for the establishment costs. And as for the work, they can always monitor the answering service done through online reports and other statistics. The biggie for the hiring call center services is that they can hire these agents at lesser pays. The state of unemployment is such that laid-off telemarketing agents are willing to work for thinner pay packets than what they used to make before they got the pink slip.

Growth Fueled by Complete Call Center Services

2010-08-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

BPO experts predict exciting times for the industry in the recent future. Much of the euphoria is based on the hope that the use of all the call center services will be the pivot for the growth. In the previous times, it was just the voice calls that were being used for telemarketing and lead generation. Nowadays, business firms are using other non-voice methods as well. Help desk services and web marketing services are coming up thick and fast in the BPO service segment. This has prompted much of the growth in the earnings of the call centers. And it is on this growth prospect that the experts are hopeful of a considerable growth percentage in the years leading up to 2014.

The call center industry is bolstered by the emergence of BPO service in the form of better lead generation methods. Up selling and cross selling is being redefined to make way for better telemarketing growths for the clients. If the clients are happy with the call center services that they are receiving, there will be more lucrative projects for the call centers. The experts predict that there will be a 31.1% growth in the business process outsourcing revenue and the mark will touch $1.6 billion by the year 2014. With the economy slowly emerging from the throes of the recession, the growth will definitely be something that the industry can look forward to.

Politicians Akin to Telemarketing Agents!

2010-08-25T04:24:00.000-07:00

In a bizarre turn of events, the frustration that citizens have in receiving unwanted telemarketing calls is now being turned on to the politicians. As the country heads for mid-term elections in November, US citizens are being bulldozed with robotic calls made from the outbound call center desk of the politicians. The masses are angry and the fact that even the Do Not Call list cannot protect them makes the whole process frustrating. Citizens are feeling helpless against this tirade of almost lead generation calls by the call centers manned by politicians. These telephone calls have been part of the American electoral process for decades and each time they bring the demons with them: the breach of privacy. As the citizens toil under this barrage of calls, BPO service agents can allow themselves a smile!

And why won’t they? The American telecom watchdogs have practically made it impossible for telemarketing firms to operate in the country. The shrinking telemarketing services sector needed the support of the government. Instead, political and executive laws have strangled the call center industry. While the projects continue to dry up, more people are losing their jobs at the call centers. Apathetic to the cause of privacy which they are using in this case, politicians continue to violate the same laws because the law itself allows them the right! The citizens are looking for someone who will deliver them from this evil.

Lead Generation through SEO and Social Media

2010-08-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

The process of lead generation through online methods can be sharply divided into two prongs: search engine optimization and social media marketing. Call center units are trying to make the client’s websites more visible to the consumers online. Similarly they are trying to promote the client’s business through social media networking. BPO managers have divided the two on the basis of the function that they serve. SEO is more about sales lead generation through tangible methods that yield hard results. You get a list of generated leads and also have an idea of how much you have sold. SEO is also backed up by the telemarketing team. Consumers prefer calling the inbound call center desk for more information and clarifications.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, is for branding and PR. The BPO firms need to understand that you cannot have much of lead generation here in the conventional sense. Social media interactions by the call center agents change the perceptions that people have about the client’s brand or company. They will feel privileged to have a direct contact with the brand that they buy products from. This helps the call centers retain customers. In this age of competition, customers can be tempted to leave the client’s fold and move over to a rival. The social media interactions and other activities, including personal interactions, stop this erosion of the customer base.

Telemarketing Identity Inflates

2010-08-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

What makes a telemarketing agent or company? Someone or some firm that sells products/services through the telephone – is what you might say. That definition is about to change. If you listen to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of USA or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), they are including advisors and advertisers as telemarketers. Call center agents cannot call registered numbers on the Do Not Call (DNC) list because they call themselves advisors or advertisers. Financial advisors, as all other sectors of counseling, will come under the telemarketing services act. In the same vein, violations of the DNC list will land the responsible BPO agents in a lot of soup.

The decisions of both the bodies stem from their commitment to protect the privacy of the citizens from telemarketing calls. Despite their best efforts, they are not able to cut the flow of call center agents tapping into the market, ignoring the DNC list completely. The CRTC admitted that financial and insurance agents have the right to communicate to their customers, but there was no such thing that they have to use the telephone. Moreover, such a right doesn’t allow them access to the customers at hours when the DNC forbids BPO agents to call. The CRTC wants the call centers to respect the request of the customers when they don’t want the telemarketing services that they have to offer.

New York Updates Telemarketing Law

2010-08-20T04:03:00.000-07:00

The Government of New York is updating its telemarketing laws. According to the new update, automated lead generation calls will be treated as violations of the law, if they happen to be made at numbers registered with the Do Not Call list. The call center units, who make robotic calls in place of outbound call center agents making voice calls, have been warned against carrying out such practices. The BPO agents cannot leave voice mails on these registered numbers as well. The time specifications for sales lead generation calls have been fixed. Call center agents cannot call a person before 8am and after 9pm. This was something that the citizens really wanted because you had calls coming in late at night or early morning. That was clearly frustrating.

Now things are going to get tough for the domestic call centers in New York as well. Just when the telemarketing sector in the country is looking up, the telecommunication authorities have come down heavily with their restrictions. This will be a body blow to the BPO industry. But all is not lost. The outbound call center agents can find out new ways to go around this problem and carry on with their telemarketing services. When it’s the question of finding out a solution to the problems that they are facing, BPO service agents have proved time and again that they are experts. The restrictions on voice calls and telephone numbers will see a rise in online lead generation.

Labor Rights for Filipino Telemarketing Agents

2010-08-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

The Filipino government is faced with a bill that ensures the protection of the labor rights of the call center employees. BPO is the preferred sector of most workers in the Philippines. With the growth of the telemarketing sector, the number of workers associated with the industry has also swelled. So the time is ripe for the regularization and protection of the right of the manpower engaged in the telemarketing services sector. The bill has been re-filed in the Filipino House of Representatives. The Philippine Consulate General in New York has already confirmed that the business process outsourcing sector will see further growth in Philippines despite threats on the contrary.

The salient features of the BPO bill provide regularization of the call center employees upon completion of their probationary period. That would mean confirming their employment of extending their probationary period in call center services, according to the need of the hour. The bill means medical benefit for the telemarketing agent, even if his employment has not been regularized. The bill makes allowances for comfort breaks for the telemarketing services agents of duration not shorter than five minutes, along with intervals of at least a couple of hours between their work shifts. The business process outsourcing employees will also have the right to bargaining and democratic associations, if the bill is passed by the House of Representatives.

Answering Service Upgrades: How Necessary

2010-08-18T03:07:00.000-07:00

How necessary is upgrading an answering service? That is the question that many call center investors ask. They feel contented to find that their inbound call center desk is working according to the demands of the industry. They don’t see any need why they must invest in sophisticated phone answering equipment and devices. There lies the catch. The BPO firm may not feel the need of upgrading, but the clients will like to see some new methods being applied. They will like to see their call center services being done using the latest technology and with expert professionalism. You have to score there to bag the telemarketing project. Clients don’t like to invest in firms if they don’t find the presence of modern business process outsourcing technology.

The process of answering service upgrading involves web-enabled call center services. Using the internet as the medium of communication means that there will smoother phone answering operations. The hold time of the employees will be reduced while the inbound call center can attend to an increased number of calls. Call centers are also trying to ensure that the calls are transferred between agents without the caller having to repeat the information. BPO firms must also take into account that callers are more likely to use mobile phones while calling and that means they would hate to wait it out for someone to come and solve their problem. They will lose patience and hang up.

BPO Use Social Media for CRM

2010-08-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

Social media networks are fulfilling the needs of the BPO in more ways than one. Firms are increasingly using Facebook and Twitter for lead generation. Call center agents have used these platforms to promote products and services. Now, there is another function that social media is being used for: Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Answering service agents are not exactly passé, but BPO service agents are creating profiles to interact and maintain proper relationships with their customers through social media, blogs and websites. It’s a conscious effort on the part of the call center services to reach out and make some personal connections with the consumer base.

This is an age of abrupt change of loyalties. Consumers may change over to subscribe with a rival firm any point in time. The call center firm has to prevent that or their lead generation efforts would amount to nothing. Eroding databases can be fixed through effective CRM. On the social media networks, BPO agents engage in a one on one tête-à-tête with the consumers. It’s a wonderful trend to touch base with people who are the building blocks of a business. The consumers can also get their queries sorted out and they like interacting with an insider. This BPO service effort builds up user loyalty and also builds a formidable brand image.

BPO Sector Needs Investment in Youth

2010-08-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

The topic of discussion at several BPO seminars is the dip in the quality of call center services. Representatives from different countries talk about it, so you can safely conclude that the situation is pretty similar in almost all the call centers across the world. The talks that these experts often have to do with how they can uplift the standard of call center services and make them more suitable for the competitive business environment in the future. The conclusion that they have is that the business process outsourcing sector needs to invest strongly in the youth. Training institutes must be set up so that the young guns can be trained for the work floor.

Several countries need an active, revenue-churning call center industry. The prominence of the BPO sector means more foreign currencies for the developing countries. The government must pay attention to investing in the young people of the country. Take a leaf out of the Philippines government. They have set up training school to offer free call center services to the youth of the country. They want the younger people of the country to get themselves trained in BPO service. They have realized that this sector is their big chance of hitting a stable economy and they have grabbed it with both hands.

FTC Still Struggles with Telemarketing

2010-08-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

The Federal Trade Commission admitted that despite their best efforts, viral emails asking consumers to register their cell phone numbers with the Do Not Call list is still doing the rounds! Calling the emails that has been circulating since 2005 an “urban myth”, the authorities clarified that the government does not intend to give out cell phone numbers to telemarketing companies. According to the rules, call center agents cannot call cell phones to offer telemarketing services. The numbers of the DNC list are out of limits for any outbound call center agent, but it’s more so for cell phone users. There is a law against BPO agents calling cell phones, they need not sign up with the DNC to get themselves off the hook.

The viral emails also mention that the government has put up a time limit by which they can register on the DNC list. The truth is, to get rid of telemarketing calls you need not hurry because there is no time frame. As it is, call center units are not going that alley anymore! There has been quite some financial loss in the violation of the rules and telemarketing services were fined heavily. There is no point in the outbound call center agents tapping the unwilling consumers anyway. The telecom authority also mentioned in their disclaimer that the call center services have no access to their numbers and it does not intend to make the cell phone numbers public at any point in time.

Answering Service Challenged by Help Desk!

2010-08-10T04:31:00.000-07:00

The answering service of call center units has an unlikely adversary in its own backyard! Yes, help desk services has thrown its hat into the ring and is gearing up for a tough challenge to beat phone answering service as the main revenue earner for the BPO unit. That’s the trend that is coming to light in the recent past. The trend is stronger for the rural BPO services where the local agents are not conversant with the English language and therefore unsuitable for the inbound call center work. However, they are more than making up for it through their help desk work. Help desk work comprises of call center services like billing and product information and web marketing services.

At a skeletal level, the non-voice part of the call center is coming up strongly to make their presence felt. Even for something like lead generation, BPO agents are not relying on voice calls anymore. They are making better use of emails and websites to drive up the sales lead generation efforts. The aim is to ensure that the BPO service puts forward a multi-prong attack to get what they want: consumers or users or subscribers. Answering service stands threatened as the primary revenue earner for the call centers. Though help desk services still have a long way to go, the start has already been made.

Telemarketing Defines Life!

2010-08-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

The working hours in the telemarketing sector have redefined the life led by the call center agents. The awkward shifts of work have put them in a situation where they have no choice but to adjust to the ways of the call centers. But they have not made a bad job of it. They have adapted to the BPO way of life in their own way. The body clock may have gone for a toss! The health hazards may have increased. But a good day at the telemarketing services desk is all it takes to put them firmly back in place. The call center services agents have decided to take the not-so-comfortable timings in their stride as some demand of their professional life.

It’s not just at the individual level that the BPO firms have changed perceptions. In various developing countries, the concept of working nights was very foreign and alien. The coming of call centers has changed that. The people and the society at large are more comfortable with the graveyard shifts of the telemarketing services than they were a couple of years back. This means a lot to the telemarketing sector employees who had to face quite some resistance at home and in the social fabric. And it’s also changed the way you hang out with friends who are not part of the business process outsourcing industry. You cannot be with your friends during the day (sleeping) or night (working)!

Slack after Spike in Telemarketing Growth

2010-08-06T04:49:00.000-07:00

The surveys conducted on the growth of the telemarketing unit have indicated signs of a slack after a sharp spike in the first quarter of 2010. The total worth of the BPO market fell from being $2.8 billion in March to only $1.5 billion in June. The reason why there is a decline is that the number of call center deals sealed in the March quarter was higher than in the next one. The value of the deals clinched in the June quarter was less because the business firms depended more on offshore outsourcing to destinations like Africa and Latin America where the call center services do not cost as much. The end of the recession immediately prompted the companies to offshore their telemarketing services of these destinations.

A clearer picture about the telemarketing industry will emerge in the present quarter. Will this quarter stabilize the call center growth and take it forward? Or will it signal the start of a dip in call center services? The answers can be available only when the quarter comes to a close. The insiders of the industry feel that the graph will shoot up because of increased expansions of call centers and telemarketing services. The industry is also looking forward to some deals being inked after the lackluster period between March and June. India continues to be at the forefront of this change, with a market share of 60-65%.

Global BPO Contracts Rise, Price Falls

2010-08-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

The number of contracts between business firms and BPO units shot up by 12% in the recent months, more specifically in the last quarter of April to June. However, the money that changed hands in the process because of the call center dealings was only $3.03 billion. That’s 22% less than what it was in the quarter prior to that. The reason that business process outsourcing insiders give is that because of offshore BPO service, the amount of money is not high enough. Companies have extensively used call centers in the developing countries to get their work done. As a result, they had the benefit of cost cuts. This is why the call center services didn’t see much of money being generated in the industry.

The BPO trends that can be seen here is indicative of the future as well. It’s common knowledge that the call center units working out of offshore destinations will continue to bag the telemarketing projects. The advantage of cost is not something that is forfeited easily. Moreover, sensing the amount of money in the BPO service sector, the call centers in these countries are improving their telemarketing services quality. This is making the task even more difficult for the domestic business process outsourcing units. And true to expectations, they are sitting idle with the major chunk of the projects making their way out of the country.

Latin America Beckons BPO

2010-08-04T04:09:00.000-07:00

Latin America as a call center destination is in the spotlight now. Many top notch BPO firms from countries like USA and UK are now looking for destinations in Latin America to house their call centers. The advantages of being in this region are plenty, not to mention the big one of being the first movers. The region has promising prospects in terms of infrastructure, manpower and availability of space to set up BPO hubs. The biggest draw seems to be the fact that people in these regions are more in tune with the lifestyle of the consumers living in USA and UK and generally over Europe. This makes them better suited for telemarketing services as opposed to what people thought initially.

Telemarketing, like any other form of marketing, requires some sort of understanding about the customer and his/her needs. When the call center agents have an understanding of the lifestyle led by the consumers, they can present their case in a better way. It also helps the outbound call center agents to recognize the dormant requirements in the consumers and make sales pitches accordingly. In a way, it makes the job easier for the call centers that take up the task of doing their BPO work from Latin America. As the industry of BPO service grows in these parts, the bigger players of the sector would definitely show an interest. But as I wrote, the first movers’ advantage would be crucial in the long run.

Telemarketing Laws Amended for User’s Benefit

2010-08-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Federal Trade Commission has amended the telemarketing laws in USA. According to the new laws, a call center offering debt recovery facilities and debt consolidation services cannot charge from people unless they actually provide the services. The FTC amended the telemarketing services law in a sort of knee-jerk reaction after several call centers were found to be duping the citizens in fraudulent call center services. They were getting the users to pay up to initiate services and then disappeared off the face of earth. The FTC feels that such practices burn a deeper hole in the already burnt pockets of the debt-ridden. The law applies for all firms that are registered as ‘for profit’ organizations.

The rules are a little relaxed for the non-profit ones. However, the FTC has put in stringent rules for call center units to pass off as non-profits. There are some call centers out there that are not registered as non-profits. Yet, when they are into telemarketing, they promote themselves as non-profits to bypass the rules of telemarketing services that they will be otherwise subjected to. Though the rules will not be a problem for the bona fide call center units, the ones up to some mischief will be in some sort of a bother. The law also forbidding BPO units from charging any fees for services that they have not provided comes into effect from October 27.

Telemarketing Sector Proliferates

2010-08-02T05:11:00.000-07:00

The telemarketing sector in India is showing the inevitable signs of growth. The top 10 call center companies in the country have grown by 15% in their combined earnings in this fiscal year. The amount of money that they were making in the BPO business touched $6.1 billion. If you consider the rest of the companies in the fray, the growth in the telemarketing services is definitely something of substance. That the BPO service unit in India was growing at this break-neck speed was mentioned in the report published by the International Labor Organization (ILO). However, the ILO also wrote that the answering service industry was growing at a faster rate, almost double, in the Philippines.

The Indian BPO scene has always been the yardstick to measure growth in the call center industry. If the Indian telemarketing scene has a good percentage of growth, it’s no wonder that the telemarketing services sector as a whole looks promising. The inverse is true as well. With continued threats that rock the call centers in India, leading them to keep contingency plans always at hand, the growth of 15% is nothing short of phenomenal. Other reports have already proved that the Indian business process outsourcing industry is already larger than the IT sector.

BPO Hub in Indian Hinterland

2010-07-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

A back of the beyond hinterland in Karnataka, known as Shimoga, is going to be the site for a BPO hub. The announcement was made by the British Prime Minister on his recent visit to the country. The UK call center giant Xchanging will be setting up the BPO service unit in this town, which happens to be the home town of many significant political luminaries.

The business process outsourcing hub will come into existence soon. The training center to make local talent fit for answering service will start off as well. Initially, the call centers here will concentrate on getting back office functions. The phone answering part will come later, when the agents are trained in receiving and making telemarketing calls.

There is no doubt that the BPO firm has picked up a 3-tier location for their hub. This is probably the first time an MNC has chosen such a location to expand their call center business. It remains to be seen how the BPO service kick-starts. There is a capacity of housing about 1000 employees in the call centers.

The number can be scaled up to 2000 seats in the near future. A project of this magnitude will put any city-bred call center services firm to shame! The CEO of the telemarketing firm has pledged his commitment to the project and also thanked the government for their cooperation and support.

Telemarketing Woes Increase to 200m

2010-07-29T03:18:00.000-07:00

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that the number of citizens signing up for the national Do Not Call (DNC) list has touched 200m. That mean, the telemarketing teams cannot call 200m consumers without violating the telecommunication law. This is a big blow for the call center industry. When the DNC list was being talked about being put into use in 2002, the telemarketing services were threatened.

However, that did not prevent the call centers from violating the DNC list at will, setting themselves up for fines and penalties. Nothing prevented the outbound call center agents from calling up the numbers listed on the DNC! Officially speaking, call centers are not supposed to call up the citizens on this list.

The 200m numbers being out of the telemarketing circuit, the call center managers have to think of something new and different. Lead generation has to take a new turn and the outbound call center agents have to be conservative in their approach. There are some who do not support the DNC list on the ground that telemarketing services add to the revenue of the country and such measures only harm the earning potential of the country.

However, on closer inspection you would find that protecting the privacy of the citizens is also the duty of the government. To prevent misuse of call centers, a DNC list is necessary. Surely there are other ways of conducting sales lead generation that cutting rudely into someone’s routine of work and family.

BPO Part of University Course!

2010-07-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

After making headways into the most covert economies, the BPO sector is steamrolling its way into universities! In a landmark decision, the Delhi University has inked a MoU with NASSCOM to provide BPO service information to the undergraduates of the university. The course will help the young guns know about this extremely challenging career path. The call center training will help the students to get out of university and focus on pursuing a career in business process outsourcing.

A job in the traditional sections of the industry looks tough, what with the economy in the shape that it is at present. In this sort of a situation, the call centers are the only places where hiring continues undeterred.

The BPO sector as a whole has a lot to gain from this alliance. It’s not everyday that a prestigious university opens its doors to welcome the presence of BPO service among its students. The exposure of the call center sector will only strengthen their recruitment drives. In the course of the call center services training, they are sure to come up with some talented telemarketing and answering service recruits.

Fresh influx of talent is always something that the telemarketing companies are looking at. With a defined structure to impart business process outsourcing training, the students will be most definitely benefited.

UK PM Brings Rural BPO Scheme

2010-07-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

The Prime Minister of Britain David Cameron will be taking along a rural BPO scheme for India when he visits the country this week. The call center deal with be sealed with the Karnataka government. According to the deal, the interior heartlands of India will be brought on to the business process outsourcing map.

The business outsourcing firm that will sign the deal for UK is Xchanging Plc. The company will also provide training to the call center agents who will be recruited through the process. This will be the first MNC BPO service to be taken to the rural areas of India.

The deal will see Xchanging building up a 2000-seat call center unit in Shimoga, a hinterland in Karnataka. The area will be included in the special economic zone (SEZ) of the state. This is part of the ongoing process to bring more quality call center services out of the country. UK has many BPO units working for their business outsourcing work.

The BPO service company will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The experiment will be beneficial for the other projects as well. If this is goes off well, the success of this initiative can be replicated by other call centers in the UK. While they have the cost cut benefit, the Indian areas will be benefiting greatly from these tie-ups.

BPO Hiring 3,600 More in Philippines

2010-07-26T03:05:00.000-07:00

BPO giants Convergys Corp. is on a hiring spree again! It’s taking in some 3,600 call center agents for their call centers across Philippines. The current workforce for Convergys is already more than a whopping 20,000. However, the company is looking for telemarketing agents for some 12 call center services units across the country.

To be specific, they will be hiring 2,800 in Metro Manila, 2000 in Cebu City and some 600 in Bacolod City. The expansion plans are necessary for the conduction of their BPO services in the country. This is a time for these business outsourcing companies to stand up and expand their empire.

The BPO giant took this opportunity to thank their call center employees for providing them with the impetus for growth. That is something that is highly recommended for other call center providers as well. Call center services is the only way these companies can grow and expand their territories. Being cash-rich acts as a secondary factor in this expansion drive because no company, however high on money, will invest if they find that their BPO services are not earning them enough ROI.

Another fact that earned them these growth prospects is that they have clients in a variety of fields. So if one of these fields does badly, it doesn’t affect the income of the call answering services firm.

Using Emails for Lead Generation

2010-07-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

Lead generation in the B2B sector is a virtual impossibility if you take out emails. Emails are the modern modes of business communication. Entrepreneurs and business leaders will scarcely sit around answering telemarketing calls. Moreover, it takes a lot of convincing to get a business owner to invest the amount of money that changes hands in business to business transactions.

It always makes sense to send over an email outlining all your business strategies, your sales lead generation methods and the processes that you have followed in business lead generation in the past. These things are important because generalized sales pitches won’t impress business honchos.

Emails have a way of their own. B2B lead generation through emails smell of professionalism and practiced efficiency. You have to make the business head realize that you are capable of handling their projects effectively and with minimum resources. How can you do that when you are spending resources waywardly in business lead generation?

That is the idea that will come across if you keep making telemarketing calls all over the place! The lead generation companies have to be careful about these little aspects. The email that you send should be like your brochure, with all the salient details, along with contact information. The more professional you keep it, the more effective it would be.

BPO Jobs Offer More

2010-07-22T03:06:00.000-07:00

Human resource managers who handle the recruitment of BPO agents feel that jobs at the call center offer more than just what their job profile says. It may be that the person is being recruited for the inbound call center team or for telemarketing services. Whatever be the designation, the person is trained in the basic tenets of marketing that encompasses telemarketing, client relationships and other soft skills.

No other industry has such an integrated training module that pays so much attention to the development of new recruit as a consummate professional. The marketing skills that you pick up at call centers stay with you for a life time, even if you move out of the business process outsourcing industry.

BPO jobs don’t just bail you out of a possible financial crunch while you are still finishing school. The timings of the call center jobs offer these young ones the opportunity to study in the morning and work at night. They can do some complimentary courses during the day to add to their educational qualification. The biggest gain, probably, is the experience of working in the telemarketing sector.

After doing telemarketing services, you are well trained to handle any sort of a marketing profile at call centers or in hard-core marketing industries. The career options split up wide open for those who try it early in a business outsourcing industry.

Investing in Lead Generation Technology

2010-07-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

Investing in lead generation technology makes for a sensible and safe choice. Lead generation companies plan budgets to make sure that they are cutting down on other costs that are not primarily important for their business. Several call centers have cut down on the perks and other privileges that the employees are used to.

All this money that they are saving should ideally be used to get better technology for sales lead generation. Clients, who will want to hire you for telemarketing leads, will check what technology you are going to use. If you show them some obsolete methods of marketing lead generation, they will swiftly bypass you to some other call center that has better technology.

Don’t get me wrong here! I’m not saying the importance of lead generation employees come second to the required technology. But frankly speaking, the era of telemarketing leads through hard work, is over. Now the lead generation companies need web-enabled equipments, data interpretation tools and various other telecommunication devices for telemarketing leads.

A team of dedicated call center agents is definitely needed for sales lead generation, but what really works for the clients is technology. Once you have that in place, they will feel more secure about hiring you for telemarketing business.

Bogus Telemarketing Calls Bother Citizens

2010-07-20T02:43:00.000-07:00

Citizens all over the USA and Canada are bothered by incidences of bogus telemarketing calls. The authorities of telecommunication in these two countries, along with several others across the globe, are noticing a sharp rise in the incidences of fake telemarketing calls calling on people for donations to charity and non-profits. These calls tug on the heart of the people and successfully appeal to the good nature in human beings.

People donate money with the help of the telemarketing company. But this money does not reach the needy. Instead the funds are embezzled. On most occasions, you find that the telemarketing services offer products and services that do not exist in the first place!

The problem has reached its zenith in the recent months. There are regular instances of telemarketing calls being made in fake campaigns. Many of these telemarketing campaigns call up numbers on the do-not-call list in complete and direct violations of the telecommunication rules.

The problems catapult to greater heights when some disaster comes to town. Then people are more willing to donate money and do their bit. The telemarketing company often swindles people with the help of their credit card details. The authorities are also making people aware about numbers where they can complain against the fraudulent telemarketing services.

Why McKinley Hill Cyberpark as BPO Hub

2010-07-19T02:20:00.000-07:00

The world has a new BPO hub in Fort Bonifacio, Philippines: The McKinley Hill Cyberpark. The call center hub has been in the news for quite some time lately because heavyweights of the business outsourcing world, like HP and Accenture, chose this place as their hotbed. So what’s special about this call center outsourcing place that is beating the others as the preferred BPO services location? There are some very specific reasons.

One, the infrastructure on this cyber park is par excellent. The electricity, the internet, the phone lines, all of these are on their best possible. Companies hiring out this space have no problems working because of the high-end operational back-up.

Two, the buildings at the McKinley Hill Cyberpark are ideal for a BPO house. The lay-out and the impeccable planning make it easier to be the site for many call centers at the same time, without one feeding on another’s space.

Three, the call center units can name the roads and spaces according to their convenience. The authorities give them that unique right. Business outsourcing units are able to promote and advertise without encroaching on public property.

Four, the authorities offer tax cuts and other rebates to the call center outsourcing units who house their offices here. The call center BPO has the privilege of duty-free importation of office equipments and gadgets for their offices.

Answering Service Agents Share Disdain

2010-07-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

You are not the only who has a bad experience in the answering service calls. If you go by the ILO report, the ones answering your call doesn’t have a good time either! Yes, the dissatisfaction among the phone answering agents is as much as the callers who they talk to.

The inbound call center is always under pressure to perform. In fact, if you interpret the data on hand, you will know that the erratic call center services are not the faults of the call center agent alone. They have to answer a designated number of calls on a daily basis. Failure to meet the target is considered incompetence and lower appreciation for the employees.

The targets for the inbound call center team are not moderate, by any sense of the term. They are steep and require continued efforts on the part of the answering service agent to hit home. They have to jump from one call to another with very little respite in between. The stress of the workplace gets reflected in the calls that they receive.

Moreover, the need to keep reiterating the same drill on all the calls that they receive gets to them. No one likes to work routine and it’s no different for BPO agents. Innovation in phone answering is a strict no-no because the managers are not willing to cut the agents loose.

Call Center Employees Get Back to Jobs

2010-07-14T03:53:00.000-07:00

The domestic call centers are hiring call center agents again. That’s the silver lining in otherwise gloomy prospects for the business process outsourcing industry. Several BPO agents who had lost jobs during the bad phases of recession are coming back to join the workforce. After months of staying at home or working freelance projects at home, these answering service agents are now heading back to the commuter trains and buses that take them back to the cubicles.

It’s a happy journey back to work for every one of them. The layoffs had been cruel and the financial crises they faced are still fresh as a traumatic experience. But it’s time for these call center agents to put those all behind and come back to the desk, effervescent and ebullient.

Take the example of Megan Flockhart. She was laid off from her BPO job when the company decided to cut down their employee strength. After five months of working on freelance projects, she is finally headed to a call center this summer! It’s a case of achievement for this answering service agent. She says, “There are plenty like me! And it’s been a suffocating wait!”

Surely, Megan Flockhart’s vote would go to Senator Charles Schumer for his anti-offshore business outsourcing bill! When you see people like her striving for an opportunity to get to work, somehow you don’t feel nonchalant about your own business process outsourcing job, do you?

Offshore BPO Receives Boost Post Recession

2010-07-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

Contrary to the predictions, offshore BPO outsourcing is growing in terms of business volume after the end of the recession. Everest Research Institute has predicted that business process outsourcing will continue to grow in the coming months. Companies that had gone into hibernation during the tough times of the downturn have started coming up to the surface again.

Stalled projects have started taking off, making enough work for the business outsourcing sector. Business firms are looking for call centers that can tackle their projects at competitive prices and also get their work done at shorter deadlines.

The downturn has sucked the financial cushion out of these business firms. So there is no surprise as to why they are looking at the offshore BPO scene. They want to get their call center services done at cheap rates that countries like India and the Philippines have to offer. It remains to be seen how they would react to the anti-offshore business process outsourcing bill proposed by the senators in USA.

As of now, these business firms are actively involved in expanding their empires through the use of offshore call centers. The credibility of the call center services in the developing countries have shot up because other than throw-away prices, these telemarketing units are also offering quality service.

Call Center for the Disabled

2010-07-12T04:16:00.000-07:00

After accommodating the fringe manpower like housewives and retired professionals, call centers are now on their way to bring the disabled into the BPO sector. This unique drive has been taken up by several telemarketing firms. However, these new entrants in the business process outsourcing units are being drafted into call center services according to their strengths.

Some are working at the help desk solutions, some are working as data entry operators while some are also into telemarketing services. The ability of the individual decides which business outsourcing function that person can take up. It’s all a question of selecting the right candidate for the right job.

Taking up employment in a call center is probably the best thing that could have happened to these disables. They are now in the mainstream workforce, with a paycheck coming their way at the end of the month. This does wonders to their self-confidence and sense of dignity. Many of them had given up hope of making it to the workforce because of their disability to work in regular offices.

The BPO sector has changed all of that on its head. They are as much a part of the call center services as any other able-bodied person. The way the business process outsourcing units have welcomed the disabled is something that other industries should take a leaf out from.

Call Center to Close Down but Economy Healthy

2010-07-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

The Manhattan call center unit of BPO firm Alorica is about to shut shop this September. But the Vice President of Economic Development in Manhattan does not want people to get the wrong views about the economic health of the city. The answering service department of Alorica had to be shut down because business was on a dip. They could not afford to maintain a phone answering service unit in Manhattan if there were not enough projects to keep the cash coming in. Any shutdown is now being seen as representative of the economic health of the area. Probably that is what prompted the VP to come clear about the economic strength of Manhattan.

John Pagen, the VP, clarified that the closing down of the Manhattan call center unit was characteristic of the BPO industry. He cited instances of several answering service units closing down over the country. Pagen pointed out that it was something that was confined to the business process outsourcing industry only. Alorica looks strong on the other frontiers. Their Topeka phone answering service unit is more than 500 strong and still hiring. Many of the laid-off employees of the Manhattan business outsourcing unit have been advised to be up for recruitment in Topeka.

BPO Aborts Contract; Sheds 200

2010-07-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

A BPO unit in Corpus Christi aborted a contract with its business partner because the call center was not being able to justify the cost of running the outfit. As a consequence of that, the customer call center had to let go of 200 of its employees. The strength of the customer service call center was 800.

It dealt with customers who had problems with their credit cards, debt and payment. They had their own network of ATM and debit. They also verified and guaranteed the checks that were issued to the customers. The laying off of the employees will start in September. The spokesperson of the BPO outfit clarified that the employees were entitled to severance packages.

This is not the first instance of this call center losing some of their trained agents. In the early months of 2009, the company had shed 1% of its 850-strong workforce. This is the latest addition to the sad plight of the domestic answering service units in the USA. A sharp decline in the number of projects has prompted these customer call center units to pull down their shutters.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that the senators proposing the anti-offshore BPO bill are so insistent about getting it passed! Without the support of the administration, there is no way in which these customer service call center units can spring back from their path to doom.