What should US companies be aware of when doing business with call centers in the RP?

[HoYaSaXa]

Hello everyone,

I work for a US multinational that has recently signed a series of deals to have Philippine call centers do customer service for our clients in the States. I'm Pinoy but have never worked back home, so I need a little help in getting answers to a few questions.

What are the common issues that US companies face when contracting a Filipino vendor to handle their customer service calls? I am thinking they would fall into one of three categories: reliability of infrastructure, political/economic stability, and cultural differences. Any insights on specific things we need to watch out for? Any ideas on how we can be prepared for common problems or misunderstandings, and solve them as they arise??

I've been reading some of the posts on call centers, and there seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people here. Pwede bang humingi ng tulong? Salamat! :D

[roadrage23]

HoYaSaXa: By having signed a series of deals with Philippine call centers to do customer service for your clients, I guess your company already considered the issues that you enumerated (i.e., reliability of infrastructure, political/economic stability, and cultural differences) and concluded that these are manageable.

[KuyaDanny]

If I may suggest something. It's always good to remember that...

"People do what you inspect, not what you expect."

[HoYaSaXa]

...roadrage, actually I have been assigned by the company to research this. While it's true that we're in this deal to stay, and are willing to take the risks, we still want to make implementation proceed as smoothly as possible.

I guess the environment/cultural aspect is where the company has the most trouble with...a bunch of Americans trying to understand, assimilate and operate in the local culture. Any opinions on this? There have already been some misunderstandings but I'm not entirely sure that "cultural differences" are the cause and not individual personalities.

Thanks for any input! :)

[DarthScully]

Originally posted by HoYaSaXa
I guess the environment/cultural aspect is where the company has the most trouble with...a bunch of Americans trying to understand, assimilate and operate in the local culture. Any opinions on this? There have already been some misunderstandings but I'm not entirely sure that "cultural differences" are the cause and not individual personalities.

Thanks for any input! :)

hmm, HoYaSaXa, i might be able to help you on this, giving some insight etc since i work in a call center, but the subject matter is still too big. if you want you can post specific questions and everybody here can do their best to answer them, deal?

[sapatosh]

Hello DarthScully, which call center do you work in?



Originally posted by DarthScully


hmm, HoYaSaXa, i might be able to help you on this, giving some insight etc since i work in a call center, but the subject matter is still too big. if you want you can post specific questions and everybody here can do their best to answer them, deal?

[HoYaSaXa]

..OK, I guess here are the main questions I need answered:

1. How do call center employees over there deal with American customers? As we all know, some of them can be quite rude...:o

2. How do they do at "cross-selling" i.e. while you have them on the phone, try to sell another product/service for the same co. Has this been done? What kinda results?

MOST IMPORTANT:
3. Why should we move US volume to the Philippines instead of India? What are the specific advantages?

If you have opinions, knowledge, or experience, please share! All comments welcome :)

[ching]

The Philippines has a lot of talented people -- particularly for IT -- who speak English well. And the educational system is relatively good, when you look at the top schools.

This is good for call centers and also for any kind of IT services-related company that wants to set up shop here.

Why should we move US volume to the Philippines instead of India? What are the specific advantages?

Can't answer for India, but here's one more plus for Manila:

The Philippines, compared to most other Asian countries, has a lot of exposure to American culture. Glorietta mall alone has a host of American restaurants -- TGI Friday's, Hard Rock, California Pizza Kitchen, you name it. Not to mention the TV shows and movies.

That's a plus when dealing with American customers because the person on the line can relate to the chitchat that surrounds the actual call being handled.

Yes, this can be taught by placing the call center staff in an artificial environment. But it's an advantage to have people who already know it. :)

Things to watch out for? You already know this: telecoms infrastructure isn't as well developed, political instability, currency instability. Although I believe the infrastructure in India may need some work too.

[DarthScully]

Originally posted by HoYaSaXa
..OK, I guess here are the main questions I need answered:

1. How do call center employees over there deal with American customers? As we all know, some of them can be quite rude...:o

~well first of all, the HR will weed out applicants who seem to be highly volatile (i think the psych term is choleric?) cuz you cant have an agent who are argumentative by nature. then there is training involved. now this depends on the company itself, it can range from just several days to months at a time. in that there are techniques to keeping one's cool despite an abusive caller-- cuz its a major no no to slam the phone down at a caller-- we don't want to have that (remember the customer is always right? uhm riiight). and basically just be trained to be nice and polite from the beginning because if the caller hears that, it sets the mood for the conversation, and the callers will be nice and polite too. a bit off topic, but i experience the difference talking to customer service whose agents are based in the US, i mean a few seconds into the conversation and i dont want to talk to her anymore! lol! anyway going back....

2. How do they do at "cross-selling" i.e. while you have them on the phone, try to sell another product/service for the same co. Has this been done? What kinda results?

~hmm... that's telemarketing. yes its being done here and there are techniques to that again. i believe there are spiels involved. i'm sorry but my experience made me an expert in cusotmer service and a complete zero in telemarketing (i don't like selling anyway but that's beside the point) there are people i know who works for SVI Connect Phil, i can ask them. or if anyone reading this knows the answer to this, please feel free to post.

MOST IMPORTANT:
3. Why should we move US volume to the Philippines instead of India? What are the specific advantages?

~well, what is the first thing you notice when you talk to an Indian? the accent right? well you and i both know that Filipinos can carry off that "American accent" very well, making the interaction between customers, company and agent more seamless-- like callers are talking to an agent based in the US. second the communications infrastructure is better in the Philippines, i think that satellite technology or something like that is still being used in India, thus resulting in poor line quality and performance. if educational level and competency of Indians are high, then more so among Filipinos, can't get a job unless one is a college graduate. culturally, the Philippines have always been an extension of the US, so Filipinos can easily relate to their American counterparts. i don't know if you've ever come home HoYaSaXa, but you'll be surprised at how some places in Manila actually resemble the US (heck even "smell" like the US :D)

well i hope i was able to answer your questions. if you have anymore, feel free to post ok? :)

[roadrage23]

HoYaSaXa:

1. How do call center employees over there deal with American customers? As we all know, some of them can be quite rude...

As already mentioned by DarthScully, Philippine call center agents have been trained or are naturally inclined to deal properly with rude customers. You can credit this to the Filipino's trait of being more service-oriented (as opposed to other Asian cultures that are more polemic).

2. How do they do at "cross-selling" i.e. while you have them on the phone, try to sell another product/service for the same co. Has this been done? What kinda results?

From what I've seen so far, Philippine call center companies either do exclusive inbound or outbound service or are restricted to offer only one product class or service. I believe this can be attributed to a lot of factors, i.e., nature of service agreement, regulatory restrictions (especially for financial services products) among others. Also, though it's quite ideal to have a dynamic customer service model, i.e., combine both inbound and outbound service, for a client, it would take more training and experience for a call center agent to upsell following a client inquiry or complaint.

MOST IMPORTANT:
3. Why should we move US volume to the Philippines instead of India? What are the specific advantages?

Again, as already mentioned by DarthScully, there is a greater affinity among Filipinos to the US culture as opposed to India. Also, with respect to voice-based service, Indians are likely to be argumentative and require more intensive speech training (for accent and comprehension). Moreover, in terms of telecommunications, the Philippines has a relative cost and redundancy advantage. And lastly, the Philippine government offers a host of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to export-oriented call center companies to locate their operations in the Philippines.