Direct Marketing for Lead Generation

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

More Power to Answering Service

The way ahead for answering service agents is one that is laced with excitement and greater responsibility. Several call centers across the world are trying out a new model that has been initiated by giants like the American Express. This makes BPO employees at the inbound call center desk take more responsibility in dealing with customers. The call center agents at the phone answering desk generally stick to a script, one that has a start and end protocol. However, the time has come for them to enrich the experience of the callers. And for that to happen, it’s important that they break away from the mould that has not taken the customer care department ahead like the other call center services.



BPO firms are allowing the answering service agents to take things in their stride. Agents find themselves with the power to bypass certain protocols to make things easier for the customers. A dynamic phone answering team is all that call centers need at this point in time. When the experimentations at the inbound call center team passes the acid test, others in the business process outsourcing world would join in too. BPO service agents in the units of American Express often hold conference calls to clear things out between the caller and the technicians. That’s a much better idea that just transferring the call to the tech team.

BPO Sector Needs Investment in Youth

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.