Better Customer Service through Updates

Updates and alerts about the progress of problem solving at the customer service desk increase the loyalty of the consumers. When a caller calls up with some problem that needs to be fixed over a period of time, the call center must provide the caller with regular updates. It may be that the BPO is not wasting a moment in working towards a possible solution, but unless you inform the caller about your progress, the caller will think that you are sitting on it without doing anything. This will increase the caller’s impatience and invite more calls to the inbound call center desk. That way, you are handling a higher call volume without any productive purpose.

The BPO unit must put together a framework to update the customers and callers. A call from the outbound call center desk would be ideal. An email would be adequate as well. Callers feel paranoid when you are completely out of touch. The problem may be one of many that your call center handles in a day. But for the caller, the problem is one that occupies the mind every waking moment. The caller cannot be at peace unless the issue is resolved. Hearing from your end assures them that they are in good hands.

Wanted Telemarketing Calls!

Most know telemarketing calls to be something that you avoid and sometimes learn to tolerate as you would accept nightmares! What if the customers actually wanted those lead generation calls? Then the BPO agents would have more ground to make a sales pitch. They would also have better listeners on the other end of the receiver. But can that really happen? If you can create the right buzz through call center services and brand promotion, it is possible. You have to find out what makes the customers curious. You can go online and create something of a positive impact through social media channels and discussion boards. When you are popular among the netizens, you will be noted and the aura around your brand will attract them.

The cardinal rule of marketing is that when you push something under the nose of people, they tend to reject it. However, when call center services tease the users into believing that your brand can actually provide them something unique, they will surely come to you. They will call your customer service department and ask questions. They will write emails and leave comments on your client’s website. It will be a different ball game when you will be leading the way. The impact will be more significant and the consumers you are telemarketing too will be willing participants in the loop.

Healthcare Bloom for BPO

President Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms can spell good revenue for the BPO sector. That is the buzz from the healthcare sector at present. It learnt that the volume of business in this sector will shoot up sharply when Obama extends his healthcare facilities to about 2 million Americans. However, the call centers that are vying for the job have to careful about the licenses and certifications that they will need from the health department. A call center cannot just barge in and demand a healthcare project! You need to have expertise, training and permission from concerned authorities.

Healthcare is tricky domain, too. Call centers have to extremely careful about the kind of agents that they have on board. Your BPO agents have to skilled in medical matters if they want to work on such projects. The call center has to be vigilant about their data because people are generally paranoid about their medical details. They flip the moment they come to know that some answering service unit outside the country is working on their medical data. Libels and trust issues are not uncommon. But the main thrust area is the expertise. Agents cannot transcribe nor do other kinds of work unless they are well-versed in the medical aspects of the job. Extensive training is needed and the BPO service providers have to ensure that first.

Telemarketing Agents’ Safety

The safety of the telemarketing agent is function of the BPO unit’s responsibility. Though you cannot directly take the call center to task for safety lapses, the firm has to be accountable for the issues related to getting the agent back home. Keeping this need in mind, several call centers have beefed up their security regime in the recent past. Countries like India are a cauldron for nefarious activities when it comes to travelling at night. For women telemarketing agents, it is a nightmare unless there are some stringent actions taken. Sensing this dire need, BPO units have boosted up their security cordon.

Some simple steps taken by the call center can eradicate several niggling concerns. To begin with, the BPO units are arming the drivers of the pool cars with GPS cards. These cards will help the call centers to monitor the movement of the cars at all times. They can immediately wave a red flag when they find that the car has changed routes. Telemarketing agents are also provided with plastic cards that they can swipe with the driver. This will allow the security experts to find out when the agent was dropped off. Many BPO service firms also advise their agents to call up the phone answering desk and report when they reach home. Such steps doesn’t just ensure safety, they also make the agent feel good about working in the company.

Picking the Right BPO

Picking the right BPO is often a challenge for the clients. These days, a lot is riding on the decision about which call center you pick as your business partner. Services like answering service and telemarketing can make or break a business. If you are a small business firm, these tie-ups matter a lot in the long run. This also involves a lot of money. For small business firms, assimilating the funds for this meet can be really a daunting task. That raises the concerns even higher. If they are picking the wrong call center services provider, they are wasting their money at a time when they should be using the same to consolidate their position in the market.

Let’s take a quick look at what you need to keep in mind while picking the right BPO. First up, check up for the body of telemarketing work they have done. If they have worked in diverse categories and domains, they will be able to provide variety in the call center services that they offer. In a similar vein, if the call center has been around for some time, they will have the required stability and market expertise. The financial aspect of the BPO service provider should be under the scanner as well. Without finances in the kitty, the telemarketing services provider cannot buy the required technology and manpower.

SEO for BPO: The Leak

SEO efforts conducted by BPO units have not always borne fruits. There are several reasons why the online lead generation pie doesn’t really offer rich dividends to call centers. There are these times when the amount of traffic coming in to the client’s website because of SEO don’t turn into that much of leads. The amount of resources spent in conducted SEO operations to get higher rankings on the search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, do not translate into successful sales lead generation. Call center managers would be doing a mistake if they assume that the online traffic is all they need to get better leads. A study of website statistics like Google Analytics or Stat Counter will show that users are coming to the website, but not sticking to it.

That’s when the call center needs to review their websites. Check for the content and the website design. Many BPO units often tend to clutter their website with too much on the head banner. White space is important for emphasis. Users may be repelled by the look of the website. Similarly, a lengthy lead generation form is another turn off! Online users pay for their internet time. They have no patience to fill up a form with information that has nothing to do with what they want. Make the forms crisp and the website navigation smooth. And keep studying the user trends to find out what work you need to do in the weaker areas.

Climate Decides Call Center Location

An unlikely factor is deciding the location of call center units these days! It’s the climate! Because of the dominance of hurricanes and hailstorms, BPO firms are ruling out several locations for their call centers. For example, Verizon was really concerned about their upcoming answering service unit in Wilmington because of the weather concerns. The weather plays an important role because the working of a telemarketing unit involves a lot of infrastructure and they have to function at the top of their game every day. If they do not work on a single day because of inclement weather, they will stand to lose quite a bit of money. In case of hurricanes and other natural calamities, they will end up losing a lot of working hours. They may even have to reconstruct things.

Modern business leaves nothing to chance. Setting up a call center is the question of a lot of money. And money is more valuable these days because of the recession and the inflation. BPO investors are not keen on investing money where they will have to be at the mercy of the weather to do their call center services. The way things are, places where the weather is not really supportive of business growth, will miss out on call centers and other answering service units because of the weather. When they have to no choice about the location, they take extra precautions and make stronger constructions to stand the vagaries of nature.

Back to School Delays Answering Service!

The children are getting back to school in USA and thanks to frenetic calls from parents the emergency answering service desks got blocked. Authorities manning the phone answering desks in the 911 call center units of different parts of the country faced the heat. The call volume shot up rapidly because of the parents trying to call the inbound call center to make enquiries about the long serpentine lines to pick their children up. Some are calling up because parents parked their car on private driveways to run and drop their children off to school. Though the state governments have separate call center services for the traffic cases, people still prefer to call 911.

The supervisors of the 911 call centers are appealing to the citizens to leave the emergency answering service free. Because of the call volumes generated at the inbound call center desk, callers who need the emergency phone answering agents cannot get through. There is an elongated hold time for the agents. And that is very dangerous if the phone number happens to be an emergency contact line. The authorities in charge are now requesting parents to call a different number for their needs related to schools. These cases again highlight the importance of the inbound call center teams in the context of smooth running of any system.

BPO Business Booms in Philippines

The BPO business in the Philippines is seeing some great days now. After successfully challenging the growth percentage of the BPO giant India and beating their growth rate convincingly, the call center industry in this country can only get better. The support of the government and the constant faith of them in the capabilities of their telemarketing manpower to generate enough business are the pillars of their progress. The telemarketing services of the country see their delegations as part of every major business process outsourcing conference. They like to place themselves in the thick of things. These representatives are also not wary of taking on the political legislations of a country like USA.

For those not in the loop, the BPO experts of the Philippines were in USA a couple of months back to protest against the anti-offshore call center outsourcing bill of New York Senator Charles E. Schumer. The delegates told the Senator that they expected better steps from an economic super power like USA because such legislations affected the economies of countries like theirs. Their argument was to allow telemarketing outsourcing to their country as usual. If there was something to be done, they requested for higher tax cuts. It remains to be seen if their efforts actually stalls the bill, but not every government would go to that extent to nurture the business process outsourcing industry.

Call Center for Entrepreneurs

Sensing that India continues to be the trusted choice of entrepreneurs when it comes to hiring call center services, the Ministry has decided to do something about it. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) board has decided to kick-start a BPO service that goes by the name ‘Udyami Helpline’. The purpose of this initiative is to provide entrepreneurs with an option to choose from the registered call centers across India. This will be a toll free answering service that the business heads can use at their convenience. They can compare and avail BPO service without having to scourge around for a suitable phone answering network. Such initiatives help the business process outsourcing sector as a whole. The country has to make certain allowances to woo investors into investing in the industries of the country.

The Udyami Helpline is the first of many initiatives that related ministries will take to bolster the BPO sector in the country. It would be no surprise if they have been inspired by the government back-up that the call center sector receives in countries like The Philippines. Though India has a long way to go when it comes to government initiatives to promote a particular industry, BPO or otherwise, the country continues to grab those cherry telemarketing projects. The Helpline is a good step forward. Entrepreneurs will be interested only if they find convenience. And such answering service can only mean that investors will know the ground reality of BPO service in India.

Call Center Employees Go Cheap

Call center employees in the USA are ready to work at slashed pays. The percentage of unemployment is so high that the BPO agents who have been given the pink slip during the recession sees no other option but to take up a job with whatever pay they get. Call centers in the country cannot afford to pay them high wages because they have to contend with the BPO service units of the developing countries. If the domestic telemarketing units cannot keep their prices low, they will lose their projects to the offshore business process outsourcing destinations. They have to keep their prices at par with the global rate. Hitting that rate despite being in an expensive economy is not working out for them, yet they have no choice.

The situation is not too bleak as well. There are high chances that the domestic call centers will gain from the model of cutting down on prices. Call center units in developing countries brought down their prices to get more projects. It worked for them. Business firms, just out of recession, decided to try cheaper BPO units because they couldn’t afford the expensive ones. The quality of these call center services has become infinitely better because of all the training and quality control that is being done these days. The pay cuts of the employees are just a fall-out of their attempt to bring down the cost of production so that they meet the price tags that are globally accepted.

Call Center Monitoring

Call center firms are guarded in their approach these days. Reports and online alerts keep telling us about incidents involving data theft and other malpractices in the BPO firms. That makes you be careful about your agents and the processes at all times. You must have an integrated monitoring system that keeps a close tab on your call center services, your telemarketing agents who make and receive calls and also on the use of resources. The monitoring system isn’t something that makes the employees claustrophobic or keeps things too tight. It’s just that you must have it in place to prevent any misuse of your call centers. You have a reputation to protect in the business process outsourcing sector.

In your answering service department, you must have some monitoring going on as well. You need to have technology to keep track on all the calls that are being made or received in the call center. Sometimes you can have BPO supervisors listening on the calls while they are in progress. If the floor agent is not getting something right, the supervisor can whisper in some words of advice. It’s entirely on how you take the call center services monitoring. If you take a positive view of it, there’s nothing better. And if you feel that it chokes innovation, then it will only be a fallacy in thinking so.

Disadvantages of In-house Call Center

Several business firms are considering the idea of moving their call center unit in-house. While this may seem like a convenient option for them, the convenience is only apparent. There are several advantages of hiring a BPO and not getting your in-house team to do the work. The main disadvantage is the lack of trained expertise. Call centers have trained agents carrying out lead generation, answering service and telemarketing. To set up an in-house team, you will have to hire and train employees. That will be a time-consuming effort. Moreover, before your trained employees can take the floor and start off work, you will have lost a lot of time that could have been advantageous for call center services.

Call center agents have the knowledge of the market and what BPO process will be best suited for the needs of the hour. To get the kind of knowledge base that you can have at your disposal in call centers, you will need to be in the telemarketing sector for some time. Since that is not something with these business firms, they are at a disadvantage. It is important to be adept in the art of supporting a business firm through call center services. It ensures that the business firm gets the required back-up to take giant leaps in the sales department. Blend the BPO service with the business processes and ethics of the firm you tie up with.

Social Media for Call Center

The marketing scenario is fast changing. The monopoly enjoyed by voice calls from call center agents is being challenged by the social media and other online marketing tools. Among them social media marketing has emerged as the most talked about marketing vehicle for BPO firms. Call center services have integrated social media into their range of services, thereby paving the way for more use of Facebook, Twitter and others. The leverage provided by the social media networks have come in handy for call centers. They have been able to drive home targeted lead generation services through audience interactions and participation.

The biggest advantage of social media is that it is a public platform. When a call center agent makes a voice call, there is only one person who receives the message. However, if the BPO agent writes something on the prospective customer’s social media profile page, many can see it. The message becomes a sort of public broadcast for the call center. This helps in reaching out to larger sections of the target demographics. Moreover, if your customer base is happy with you, they will do a positive word-of-mouth publicity for you online. That, I assure you, will be better than any amount of telemarketing that you can do!

Web Marketing Services from BPO

To tweak an ancient proverb, spare the website, spoil the business! Small business firms that want to keep their head above water have their work cut out. Their only hope of survival in a ruthlessly competitive world dominated by large corporate houses is to hire a call center for web marketing service. Search engines don’t rank companies according to their net worth. They rank according to their online presence. Here you are at par with a multimillion company if you have the right SEO team backing you. BPO firms provide web marketing services that may include creating and designing a website. Your website is your online shop cum information center. The help desk services team handles the web marketing work.

Web marketing is new to the call center world. But they have made quick strides. Now you have BPO agents marketing and promoting websites on search engines without breaking a sweat. They are more aware of the online tools available that can fine-tune their marketing methods. Working smart is the online mantra. With the right technique, the help desk services team can optimize their efforts for greater results. The client company needs to be branded online so that existing and potential customers can reach over to connect base at any time. Accessibility helps, especially when your competitors are breathing down your neck to step in and replace you any second.