Contractual Telemarketing Agents

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.

About Redundant Telemarketing Agents

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.

Watch the Time, Telemarketing Agents!

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.

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.