3 Popular Misconceptions of Outsourcing Customer Service

Outsourcing may have been an option not long ago, but now, it is the norm that businesses, whether large or small, have adopted in their respective organisations.

 One of the popularly outsourced processes these days is customer service, and the benefits of doing so just keeps on pouring. Examples of the benefits of customer service outsourcing are:

• Immediate customer service round the clock
• Increased efficiency and productivity
• English competency can be guaranteed 
• Inexpensive form to show that you care
• Reduces your workload to half or even more

Despite these benefits of customer service outsourcing, there are still quite a few misconceptions that surround the practice. And in this article, popular misconceptions will be discussed and a short explanation will be included as well to debunk it. 

1. Language barrier: While it is true that language skills are embarrassing problems in some outsourcing destinations, there are also countries that boast their language skills as their pride and glory. In the Philippines, for instance, customer service agents' strong command of the English language is their selling point as evidenced by many companies that choose to have their customer service needs filled up by Filipinos. You will be surprised at the number of Filipinos who appear to be native Americans or native Australians on the phone. The resemblance can be uncanny.
2. Quality is compromised: It is important to note that just because outsourcing customer service worked for other companies, it does not mean that you can expect the same for your own organisation. Like any process or transaction you engage in for your business, your time for training is an investment that you should not underestimate. Invest in good training so that the quality of the calls will not be compromised. Either you conduct the training yourself by visiting your outsourced destination or entrusting the training in the hands of the contact centre who will be managing your offshore site. At the end of the day, the quality of the call is highly controllable.  
3. Training will never end: For business owners, it is important that their employees get their rhythm. While there are skills and knowledge that are generic, there are specific details about their skills and knowledge that they want their employees to be trained in, and this goes to both in-house and offshore employees. The truth is, business owners need to spend only on the initial training provided that they hire the best agents their contact centre of choice can find. And this is not hard to do considering recruitment and screening can seamlessly filter out the best candidates from their long list of confident hopefuls and so-so applicants. Also, investing on training documents that can be replicated for the use of your offshore employees is not that big of a price tag to pay. 

Outsourcing customer service may have its own hits and misses, but that should not be a reason for you not to consider outsourcing as part of your business plan. And by debunking these misconceptions, it is hoped that outsourcing your customer service needs will be put in a more favourable light. 

Tips on How to Get Hired in a Philippine Call Centre

Call centres are ubiquitous in the Philippines. Considered as an outsourcing capital because of the cost advantage and the overflow of talent, it is more than enough reason for foreign companies to invest their call centre and back office operations in the said country.

If you are fresh out of college and looking for a job, consider starting a career in the corporate world as a customer service representative. How should you prepare and compose yourself for this kind of job title?

First, you should have high computer IQ. Since the job requires you to use the computer for processing and documenting your calls, you need to be knowledgeable about computers and not just the phone. Know the basics of how to operate a computer and how to use applications that will be used for documentation. You do not have to possess mad computer skills like programming and coding. The basics suffice.

If you need to sharpen your computer skills, there are a variety of tools that you can use online for free. Some call centre Philippines conduct a typing speed test also so prepare for it with free tools that you can find online.

Second, you need to sharpen your communication skills. Since you will be talking to customers located on the other side of the globe, you need to be fluent and comfortable communicating in their language, English. Practice your fluency, grammar and intonation. While mimicking an accent is not required in some call centers, it can be plus points for you when you apply for the job.

Below are suggestions that can help you sharpen your communication skills for the interview and before you start working on the floor. 

• Look for training tools online. It can teach you how good communication sounds like. These tools also provide tests that will assess how your communication skills fare and pointers to help you improve.
• Watch the news. You can pick up a few pointers by watching news anchors deliver the news. Notice how they enunciate their words and the tone their voice takes. 
• Listen to podcasts. 
• Read English books and magazines. 

Third, understand what customer service entails. Since you have no experience yet working as a customer service representative, you need to know what this kind of industry will require you to do. 

The principles of customer service delivered physically are quite similar when delivered over the phone. What are examples of these principles?

Customer service is making sure your customers are satisfied when they request an answer or assistance from you.

• Customer service is having that friendly, courteous and helpful demeanour. These traits can be translated over the phone through voice modulation and tone of approach.
• Customer service is doing everything you can so the customer does not leave or put down the phone dissatisfied with the absence of answers. 
• Customer service is an extension of the company. The way the call is managed is representative of the company as a whole.

Definitely, there will be training conducted once you get hired, but it does not mean that you should not do any form of preparation on your end. 

Being a call centre representative can open a lot of doors for you in the future and it is worth considering if you are starting out as part of the workforce. Perform well and you can inch your way up the corporate ladder, take up a managerial position and flourish your career even further.

Outsourced Loved Life: The Pros and Cons of Online Dating

Even if the actual figures aren't in, more and more people are outsourcing their love lives from online dating websites. With so many dating websites and the fact that a lot of people are connected to the internet on their mobile phones or whatever device is convenient for them to use, it is not surprising how easy it is now for people to find romance and their love match digitally.

However, it is important to take the concept of online dating and digital love matches with a grain of salt as these have their respective pros and cons too.

Pros	Cons
A lot of single Australians have tried online dating and have found love digitally. According to a July 2013 report by RSVP.com.au, an Australian dating website, at least 51% of Australians have tried online dating or at least have considered getting on a dating website.	With 51% of Australians online, online dating websites can be one of the most crowded places you can go to find love. With 'competition' getting stronger, it can be an exhausting experience for hopefuls to find that match they are looking for.
It is not just about getting on board dating websites. It is possible to find love in social media too such as Facebook or Twitter. Having an appealing profile page is enough to attract a potential mate online.	There is that tendency to 'over package' oneself. There is also the tendency to lie about one's age, one's actual image, weight, height and marital status. Deception can go to extremely high levels in online dating.
Finding love online means you get to meet people outside your geographical limitation. You can meet a potential mate from around the world. You can meet a lot of people also to whom you share the same interests with.	Meeting up with your love match physically can be a tad dangerous as well. You can never be so sure what their intentions will be after a face-to-face encounter. Also for some, meeting someone online can be addicting and they may not even be the type who would want to take the relationship to the next level by meeting up.

What other pros and cons can you think of about outsourcing love life?

What Happens Inside an Outbound Call Centre Facility?

The general idea we have about call centre facilities is that calls are mostly received than sent out. With customer service hotlines given, it becomes a bit instinctual that if a consumer needs to report an issue or require an answer to a technical question, he or she needs to reach out to the company and not the other way around. However, this is not the case with outbound calls.

An outbound call centre facility is one where call centre agents call current customers and prospective ones on behalf of the company they are working for. Outbound call activities are usually enabled using a predictive dialer that allows a large number of phone numbers to be called per hour.

A variety of outbound call activities happen which can include outbound sales or telemarketing, customer service, lead generation or customer acquisition and survey.

With outbound sales or telemarketing, agents call a prospective list of customers and introduce a product or a service that they are offering. A team of outbound telemarketers can monetise campaigns and bring in revenues for the business. With a skilled, engaging and persuasive team of telemarketers, they can cross-sell and up-sell products and services that a company offers and even introduce current promos and price slashes to entice consumers into shelling out money.

Although the majority of customer service is inbound such as when consumers call the customer service hotline for help, it can also be done outbound. When agents call your current customers, they can generate feedbacks, opinion and address complaints. If you want to show that you care about your customers, why not reach out to them, request for a few minutes of their time and hear them out on what they have to say? 

Lead generation is also an important feature of an outbound call centre facility. In a sales-driven environment, leads are essential to establish and expand your market base. While essential, lead generation may be one of the aspects of your business that you need to spend for, but provided that it is managed by skilled outbound agents who knows the demographic of customers you are looking for, you can reap the benefits of lead generation in no time.

Surveys also work like outbound customer service. Doing surveys for your business is a good way to gauge just how you are faring in the eyes of your existing customers. You can learn about their personal opinion about your product or service and in the same vein, make improvements based on their feedback. 

With surveys, you can also improve your image and ensure brand longevity. Moreover, surveys also encourage an open dialogue where existing customers can voice out their concerns and the outbound call centre agent, acting as the representative of the company or the business, listens intently. There’s just so much that businesses can learn from their customers. And surveys can definitely help in that effort. 

With outbound calls, it becomes easy to reach out to your base and know what the current pulse is. And with so many opportunities to partner with call centre outsourcing companies, you can even hire call centre agents overseas while meeting efficiency and cutting down on your call centre operational costs both at the same time.

Is it Possible to Outsource Your Life?

Outsourcing a segment of your business? Yes. Outsourcing your entire company? Probably. Outsourcing your whole life? Maybe, but can you really?

Outsourcing will always be around for as long as there are efficiency and productivity goals to meet. However, is it truly possible to outsource your whole life? 

Did you know that aside from customer care and IT services, you can now outsource personal assistants? Today, personal assistants can be hired from the Philippines and India and have them do all the tasks you need to finish in a day from mundane personal errands to the credible and official ones you need to accomplish before the day ends. With an outsourced personal assistant, you can have someone book your plane ticket for the holidays, answer calls and emails for you, take messages when you are not available to speak, transcribe your meetings, interview applicants, buy an anniversary present for your significant other, manage your personal or your business' social media presence and so much more.

With the possibility of having a remote personal assistant work for you and get things mundane and official tasks completed, it only goes to show that our lives are so digitally embedded. You can have someone improve your day and take away some of your daily stresses virtually. 

Aside from outsourcing your entire life from a remote personal assistant, you can do so by judging the gadgets and pieces of technology that you use every day. 

The science behind the smart phone or the laptop that you use 24/7 may come from techno think tanks in the United States or in Europe, but the manufacture of its different parts and its assembly are all outsourced. China is an outsourcing capital for the manufacture and assembly of everyday technologies. Aside from the fact that labour costs are cheaper in China, this country also has far more updated technology in creating smart phones and laptops compared to to these techno think tanks. The irony is there, but it makes outsourcing in our lives essential nonetheless.

Truly, outsourcing your entire life is possible, and this fact of life becomes a revelation in terms of how our time costs and how we spend them especially when it comes to outsourcing personal assistants. Aside from the time factor, the issue of outsourcing is also a test or a testimony of the trust that can be established between 2 entities.

Brilliance or Laziness: A Story of Outsourcing With a Twist

No one can deny that outsourcing is an effective way to save money. It can cut a company’s operational costs down to a significant degree thus allowing them to appropriate saved capital to another aspect of their operations. It is just funny nay strange to think that there are people who use outsourcing simply for their personal advantage. Case in point? Bob.

January of this year, Newser published an article about a software engineer in the United States that outsourced his entire work to a software consultancy in China. Bob, the software engineer, had an entire Chinese subcontractor in Shenyang manage his daily programming responsibilities. While his Chinese subcontractor was doing all the heavy lifting, he immerses himself in Facebook, Reddit and a bunch of cat videos. He received a lot of commendation for the clean codes he submits before the day ends. He gives a fifth of his 6-figure salary to his Chinese subcontractor. 

Work was going smoothly not until the HR department where Bob works noticed that someone located in Shenyang was logged in the company’s system using his credentials. They had to hire investigators from Verizon to look into the matter closely. And no, the company was not being infiltrated. 

In this scenario, brilliance may not be an appropriate word. However, with the technology and the channels laid out in front of you, wouldn’t you act like Bob to make things life a little easy for you? However, since Bob is working for a software company, contract breaches on confidentiality and proprietary issues all come to the fore. It is understood that being part of a company means fostering value-laden ideas and keeping it within the walls of the office. If Bob has his own company, outsourcing his company’s work is a business strategy that he can legally (and morally!) get into. Since he is paying someone to do his job, that is definitely another story.

How does this impact those in the outsourcing industry? While the whole brouhaha was ingeniously creative, outsourcing becomes critical especially when systems and infrastructures that took years to build are at stake. Security is at risk just as it can be an issue when operations are done under clandestine conditions. Second, laziness and brilliance can never be synonymous especially when it is not foolproof and you get caught. Outsourcing in China, outsourcing in the Philippines and even in India are popular today, but the legalities of conducing business offshore definitely do not fly out the window. 

The Advantages and Disadvantages of BPO Companies in Developing Countries

In developing countries such as the Philippines, the presence of so many BPOs or Business Process Outsourcing companies is not new nay surprising anymore. Central business districts or CBDs are a conglomeration of local and foreign companies with BPOs forming a significant percentage of the latter.

BPOs have helped local economies rise, thus putting local trade and stock markets in healthy positions. However, even with its favourable reception, it pays to know what the different advantages and disadvantages are of BPOs for developing countries.

Advantages of BPO Companies

First, it has to be the influx of local employment. Scarcity of jobs is common and it can be attributed to different factors. The rise in population is one. The lack of local investment is another. As more people exit schools with a college degree, the number of employment does not immediately commensurate to the number of job seekers. Especially if a lot of students graduate with almost the same range of specialisation, companies may not be ready to have them all on board due to the relatively limited resources companies have to hire. With BPOs, graduates who are not immediately accommodated by the companies they initially intend to work for can take them in instead. Since most BPOs are skills-based, for as long as you have the competency to be taught and to learn new things, you have the potential to make it big for your employer.

Second, with local employment from BPOs gaining momentum, the quality of life of employed individuals are generally improved. It is true that one can earn more by working for a BPO company compared to working for a local company. Compensation is higher and benefits are better, which can include health insurances, transportation allowances and other refundable expenditures. Moreover, for call centre agents who are in sales, they are also entitled to commissions for every deal that they close. It is not surprising why there are people who leave their relatively low-paying jobs and enter the call centre or contact centre industry to work. Much more can be earned and be put in the bank if one manages to save whatever he or she is earning from a BPO company.

Disadvantages of BPO Companies

Many of the disadvantages thrown at countries where BPOs are is that it drains out local employment in the originating country of companies that choose to outsource. For US MNCs or multinational companies, for instance, Americans are competing at very few employment opportunities because most MNCs would instead invest in the Philippines or in India for its operations. After all, if MNCs can be as productive, but with little cost on manpower and infrastructures, it would be natural for them to shift operations offshore.

Also, with the way BPOs shoot their success to the top, they can go down as fast and easy if they are not careful. Maybe there was a glitch in the managerial process that caused them to lose a lot of money. Should that unfortunate event happen, the brunt of it will be received first by those in the front line – the outsourced employees. It is for this reason why redundancies and mass unemployment are natural occurrences in BPO companies. Redundiated employees simply look for new opportunities in another BPO company or in another industry to be able to work again.