Archive for March, 2011

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Critical Factors for a Successful Lead Generation Campaign

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Companies often engage an outsourced telemarketing call center to generate leads before they have developed an overall marketing strategy, sharpened up on a clear value proposition or created essential sales tools and processes. The following are the critical factors needed for success in any lead generation program.

 

Well-developed Lead Generation Plans. Lead generation isn’t about instant fulfillment, but rather requires constant effort to succeed, often over a relatively long period of time. Its goal is to evolve relationships between people through conversation that positions the lead generation effort as a way to identify, initiate and nurture productive selling situations.

 

Sales and Marketing as a Team. Lead generation, consistently the most significant touch point between sales and marketing, offers a variety of opportunities for improving teamwork. However, the work flow of both departments is linear and seems determined to go only in one direction.

 

Ideal Customer Profile. It uses the unique attributes of prime customers to help pre-screen potential opportunities. The goal of this profile is to focus on prospective companies with the greatest likelihood of becoming profitable customers.

 

Effective Lead Management Program. It implements and enforces standard, universal lead scoring definitions and establishes a clear process for handling and distributing inquiries and leads.

 

Foundational Database. Your database is a valuable asset. The properly designed and well-maintained database is the hub of all lead generation activity and communication. It is the gathering point for collaboration between marketing and sales and promotes a spirit of cooperation among other diverse corporate groups.

 

Consistent Lead Nurturing. Lead nurturing is not a single marketing campaign, but rather a series of steps and communication tactics with the objective of developing and building a relationship with the potential customer. The relationship will result in conversations that may convert to sales.


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Philippine Call Center: Career Planning II

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Career planning will help maximize your potential and satisfaction in your work. Suppose you want to step up from an inbound call center agent to an operations manager.  Before you do anything further, ask yourself “Why do I want to achieve this goal?”  You may say, “I want to achieve this goal because I want to have more status” or “I want to increase my salary” or “I believe I can be a good leader and this can help me achieve my long term goal of becoming a top executive in my present company or another company.”

 

Now ask yourself “Why is this important to me?” You may say, “It’s important to me because I want to go as high up the corporate ladder as my talents and abilities will carry me.” Then ask yourself, “Why is this important to me?”  You might say, “Because I want to prove to myself and to others I’m an achiever and I want to have the prestige and status of a corporate executive.”

 

Ask yourself again, “Why is this important to me?”  Try doing this for as long as you can.  What you are attempting to do is get to the core reason of why you want to do something.  This exercise will help you to clarify your intentions and goals.  It will help you determine your motives and it may actually cause you to say, “Now I know what I truly want, which is status and prestige.”  By doing this you may see that there are other ways of achieving your goal besides being a corporate executive.


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Philippine Call Center: Career Planning I

Monday, March 28th, 2011

A career goal helps you focus and make decisions on what you want to do for a living. It directs you, motivates you and helps you to accomplish what you want. It may help you discover your talent, skills and abilities and possibilities that you wouldn’t have thought of.  Many possibilities exist with any career you choose. Having a career goal can guide you to doing what you want to do in your life—rather than just aimlessly drifting from job to job.

 

On the other hand, career planning is simply goal planning with the intention of setting goals for jobs and career. In order to remain competitive you need to be as flexible as you can and continually increase your skills.  Some things you can do are take workshops or seminars, keep up with trade journals and talk to people who are knowledgeable in the field.  Today, it’s almost mandatory for us to take some form of training all through our career to keep up with the times. Let’s suppose you choose a field in customer service.  Career planning is not planning for that field on a one-time only basis, but it’s a continuing process; in fact, you can call it a lifetime process.  We are always learning and growing, and as we do, our interests and needs also change. It is not just making plans to obtain your “perfect” job or career, but to help you make the many adjustments there will be along the way as you learn about you and your world or work.

 


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Exceptional Customer Service Experience

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

It was summer and my birthday as well so I decided to take a vacation with my family in a nice resort hotel. Before I go there, all I was expecting were nice room, beautiful beach and great weather.  When I arrived at the airport, a good looking hotel representative approached me with a warmth smile. He then carried our luggage and escorted us in the ferry boat. Upon entering that nice ferry, a beautiful young lady greeted and offered us cold towels, bottled waters and snacks. I said to myself, I never expected this kind of treatment. After that five minute ride, we were guided inside the van for a ten minute ride to the hotel. When we got there, we were welcomed again by a beautiful guest relation staff and she led us directly in the room. In the room, I was even more surprised because there was a birthday banner, a nice birthday cake, a welcome dessert platter and a cupcake that had my son’s name on it. I almost cried in surprise because I never thought about that. I was really speechless that time because those small things brought me so much happiness, that I must say was an exceptional customer service which I could never forget. I was treated like a queen for once in my life and I wanted to keep on coming back to that place.

 

I got a nice room, the weather and the beach was beautiful and the best part of all, I experienced something that was very inspirational and I could share with my inbound call center agents, so they would know how important customer service is.


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Philippine BPO Success

Friday, March 25th, 2011

2010 has been a great year for the Business Process Outsourcing industry in the Philippines. Metro Cebu has finally landed a spot in Tholons’ Top 100 outsourcing cities for 2010, together with Metro Manila, which ranked fourth. Cebu has been one of emerging cities in the past two years and this is the first year that it has been recognized as an emerged destination. Four of our Next Wave Cities namely, Davao; Sta. Rosa, Laguna or Metro Laguna; Iloilo; and Bacolod were also part of the Top 100 cities tagged as emerging locations. In December of 2010, the Philippines overtook India as the call center capital of the world, and now employs over 350,000 employees in the local call center industry, compared to India’s 330,000, this according to data from the Call Center Association of the Philippines. Philippine call centers generated roughly $6.3 billion in revenues in the year 2010, with the association estimating a 15-20% increase by 2011, as more and more multinational companies continue to set-up outsourcing operations inside the country. Investments were poured into the construction of high-rise buildings and premium facilities to accommodate booming BPO businesses, not just in Metro Manila but in the Next Wave Cities as well. The recent growth spurt in the outsourcing industry in the Philippines has been fueled by the higher-end outsourcing or knowledge process outsourcing or KPO. Though call center in the Philippines still comprise the largest part of the BPO sector, it has begun leveraging its creative design talent pool, vast amount of lawyers, and its CPAs or general accountants. No wonder, the Sunshine industry will definitely shine even brighter this year.


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Philippine Call Center: Earthquake Safety Tips

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Earthquakes strike without warning and the major quake is usually followed by numerous aftershocks, which may last for weeks or months. In a country that is always prepared for earthquakes, the 8.9-magnitude brought the Japanese off guard. Yet for all the destruction and the prospect of a significant rise in the death toll, that quake also demonstrated how Japan’s high state of readiness likely prevented an even bigger catastrophe. Here in the Philippines, most Filipino spend time working in their office usually situated inside the buildings such as Philippine call center. So it is very important not just to know but to take seriously the earthquake safety tips.

 

Inside Buildings

• Get under a sturdy desk or table, or in an interior corner, face away from glass. If notebooks, jackets or pillows are handy, hold over your head for added protection.

• Stay away from windows, bookcases, heavy objects and other falling hazards.

• Drop to knees, clasp both hands behind neck, bury face in arms, make body as small as possible, close eyes and cover ears with forearms.

• Maintain position until shaking stops.

• Be alert and expect aftershocks.

 

Outside Buildings

• Assume drop and cover position in an open space away from wires, buildings and anything else that could fall and hurt you.

• Maintain position until shaking stops.

• Do not enter building until it is determined to be safe and authorized by police.

• Be alert and expect aftershocks.

 

In a Car

• Pull to the side of the road, stop and set the parking brake.

• Avoid bridges and overhead hazards.

• Stay inside the vehicle until the shaking stops.


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Appointment Setting Guidelines

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

As business activities become increasingly specialized, the outsourcing trend has taken on new significance for lean businesses. Many companies opt to outsource appointment scheduling to call center in the Philippines so that they can focus more on the internal functions of their business. In outbound call centers, telemarketing agents are responsible for setting appointments with potential clients.  They help you become more successful in your appointment setting campaign with some important guidelines.

 

Extensive prospect list. Making appointment setting calls is all about efficiency. It’s about the number of prospects being contacted for an appointment regardless of the outcome.

 

Best prospect profile. As you work on your prospect list, make sure that you do extensive due diligence. Study each name carefully and determine whether or not the prospect fits your product offering or service properly.

 

Well-organized call guide. Appointment setting requires a great deal of communication skills, but more importantly, it is the actual content of the message that can make or break a successfully scheduled appointment with your prospects.

 

Promotional effort. It’s like being in the shoes of your prospect. It is thinking outside the box, putting the interest of your prospects above your own, it is about helping and assisting your prospects and finally, it’s all about your prospects and not you.

 

Well-trained appointment setter. The appointment setter is your most valuable resource in relationship building. He or she can establish trust in you at the onset and later on your product or service offering.

 

Follow through on the progress of the campaign. Keeping yourself engaged with the appointment setting effort allows you to make immediate adjustments necessary to achieve the results you want.


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Reasons to Outsource Telemarketing Company

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Business-to-business telemarketing services are an essential part of modern business marketing. They are an extremely cost-effective route to market that should be a vital part of your overall marketing strategy. Choosing the right telemarketing lead generation agency is all about getting the right fit with your specific campaign requirements.

 

Cost. One of the most compelling reasons to outsource your telemarketing requirements is the cost associated with setting up your own telemarketing. Cost comes in two forms, time and money. Consider the HR cost in hiring and training new staff in telemarketing techniques; the cost of equipment such as dialers and software; scripts and finally the cost of the calls.

 

Equipment. First off, you need a good working environment so the outbound agents can work productively. Furthermore, you need computers, software, automated dialers, additional phone lines, call monitoring equipment, cables, telephones, headsets – these have the double cost of first purchase and then the constant updating required to keep up with the speed of telemarketing technology. Equipment also requires maintenance, technical support, care and hygienic cleaning.

 

Data Supply. A professional telemarketing company provides leads that are based on strategically selected data. Developing your own data supply is costly, both in terms of money and time.

 

Effective Scripts. Effective talk guides or scripts are essential to strategically turning leads into sales. Telemarketing scripts should be professionally researched and written, weak scripts lead to loopholes, silences, and closed questioning.

 

Flexibility. Truly effective telemarketing requires the flexibility to change your volume of approach from hour to hour, day to day or project to project. You need to be able to use your telemarketers at hours that might not suit your own staff.


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Professional Telemarketing Agents

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

Lead generation is the lifeblood of any business, without which no business can continue to exist for long. This is especially true for new businesses, because there will be no existing leads for the business, thus lead generation must be expedited to bring in the most needed resource of any company, cash flow. Considering hiring Philippine telemarketing, sales lead generation is the primary objective for most businesses. Of course, there are many outbound call center providing lead generation services, so understanding which telemarketing agency is right for your business is the key to success of any lead generation campaign.

 

The risk of using your current staff to perform your telemarketing is usually placing an inexperienced individual into a stressful and demoralizing position. Inexperienced staff, often working without a script or well-written guide, quickly becomes ineffective and even counterproductive. By outsourcing to professionals, you receive the support of dedicated and experienced telemarketing staff that effectively incorporates their own skills with your company’s message, products and services. Philippine telemarketing uses seasoned lead generation professionals who have many years working on outbound campaigns.  It’s not just about having a good script or talk guide, it’s about being able to express yourself clearly, confidently and persuasively under pressure. Experienced telemarketers improvise based on the direction the call recipient takes. The very words that professional telemarketers use are directly related to the needs of your potential customers. Rather than selling a product, they offer the recipient solutions, chances and opportunities that encourage the customer to connect without the traditional fear of telemarketing callers.


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Philippine Call Center: Dress for Success for Women

Friday, March 18th, 2011

In call center job interview, first impressions are critical. You first impression is greatly influenced not just by your manner of speaking and your intellect but with your dressing style. When you go for an interview, the first thing noticed by the interviewer is your appearance and your dressing style. For most applicants who want to be inbound or outbound call center agents, they may ask this question to themselves,   “Should I be judged by what I wear? Perhaps not, but the reality is, of course, that you are judged. Dressing properly will not automatically get you the job but it will give you a competitive edge and a positive first impression. With the job interview, its how you’re dressed that sets the tone of the interview. Remember, its just like telemarketing, you are marketing a product — yourself — to a potential employer; thus, you must make every effort to have the proper dress for the type of job you are seeking.

 

Dressing conservatively is the safest option as it brings the attention of the interviewer on your skills rather than attracting too much attention on your clothes. You can choose from a range of formals. Suits look professional and elegant for an interview. Avoid skirts with high slits, team it up with a formal shirt with puffed sleeves. The dress color is very important as well. Hues of black, gray, navy blue and peach are apt for the purpose of an interview. An elegant watch along with small earrings gives a professional look. You can pick close-toe pumps as well. Minimal make-up is also necessary. Remember, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on clothes for interviewing for as long as you keep your dressing simple yet elegant.


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