Archive for the ‘BPO’ Category

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Reasons to take your Philippine call center job seriously

Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

Being an outbound call center agent is one of the most sought after positions in the Philippine BPO industry as well as being an inbound call center agent. Although the attrition rate is reportedly said to be high, the number of applicants who apply for a Philippine call center job has never declined.

 

On a typical weekday, over a hundred job applicants that include students, new graduates, career shifters and the unemployed line up early to try their luck at applying in a call center facility and start their new career through the initial step which is the recruitment process. But sadly, not everyone passes even the first stage. There are many factors to remember when applying for a Philippine call center job and the most important thing to keep in mind is that a call center facility is not a place to look for temporary employment and wait out time.

 

For most job applicants, seeking employment at a BPO facility is only transitory as they wait for nursing board exam results, an opportunity abroad that may or might not arrive and all the wrong reasons that will never include career growth and development. If you think about it, there is so much more than just momentarily working as a call center agent; when taken seriously, a career in the call center can bring you more than just employment but as well as financial growth, opportunities and even managerial positions that you can never seek elsewhere given your occupancy and age. So before you plan on going through the long recruitment process and plotting out your tenure at only six months, you might seriously want to consider these reasons on why you should take your call center job seriously.

 

  • The Philippine call center is only a very small percentage of  industries that can start you off with more than the minimum wage even if you only completed two years of college regardless of your academic course. Your salary doesn’t also depend on your connections (unlike many Philippine offices) with the management since legitimate call centers are based in the United States and have standardized pay.

 

  • Your promotion, evaluation and overall career growth will depend on your work performance. So it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, trendy or timid and what your gender orientation is; everything will be calculated accordingly by how you work. If you do not strive hard, you will never earn your bonuses and what not regardless of how good looking you are or how long you’ve been working there. In fact, there are many new call center agents that earn higher than those that have long been tenured because they perform better.

 

These are only few of the many reasons why working at a call center in the Philippines is better and should be taken seriously. Because if you don’t, you will end up applying and working at every facility which eventually makes you lose all your credibility. So step up and work hard at where you are.

 

 

 


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Philippine BPO: Positivity to Relieve Stress at Work

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

The Philippines is the acknowledged global leader in the BPO industry, a fact attributed to Filipinos possessing the qualities needed to deal with a job as demanding as being an inbound call center agent or outbound call center agent. Frequently, Philippine call center employees experience role stress as a result of the conflicting demands of the company, supervisors, and customers.  One way of relieving stress is by having fun and a positive outlook towards work.

 

As everyone knows, laughter is the best medicine. It is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. According to a study, people who have fun on the job are more creative,  productive, better decision-makers and more likely to get along better with co-workers. They also have fewer absents, tardiness, and sick days than people who are not having fun. Nowadays, companies realize that if they want to survive in the global market place, they have no choice but to be able to adapt quickly. They need to fine-tune employee recognition and engagement through effective programs that can spread positive energy within the organization and may lead to increased profit margins, customer retention, productivity and more.

 

Making work fun helps employees maintain performance and consistently provide quality, because it serves an outlet for tension and stress and makes work more enjoyable. Employees learn that they can lighten up on the job, and continue to be competent and professional. The key is taking your work seriously, while taking yourself lightly in doing that work. Enjoy what you do and do it well to make room for improvement and none for failure; that way, everyone wins.

 

 

 

 


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Defining success in the Philippine Call Center

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

How do you define success? Success means different things to different people. For some, monetary reward is a measure of success; it only seems to be credited if one’s efforts have generated wealth.  But for others, it’s a journey. They’re designing a life that both reaches the destination and enjoys the trip. Meaning to say, being happy with what you have today, as you are pursuing what you want for the future.

 

One of the most inspiring stories that has been told is by Manuel V. Pangilinan, also known as Manny Pangilinan and MVP. The CEO of Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company or PLDT, the Philippine’s pioneer in telecommunications. His story is from rags to riches; from being a student to eventually becoming a corporate tycoon. He was born poor but being poor didn’t stop him from reaching his dreams. Perhaps it became the source of his passion and drive. According to him, “whatever we may wish to do with our future, we can make it because it gets dark sometimes, but morning comes always”. These are the words from a man who believes that lifelong learning and exploring are key factors in moving towards success.

 

So whether you’re a student, hotelier, an inbound call center agent in a Philippine call center, a small business owner or whatever it is that you do, never stop learning. If you have a goal in mind that will bring you the happiness you’ve been wanting, don’t hesitate to start the journey to achieve it. Start your path today and act out your dreams.  And if you’ve already begun, consistently re-connect with your dream and make sure you strive hard toward your goals until you reach your destination and believe in yourself and do not let anybody stop you from reaching them.


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Setting your goals in a Philippine Call Center environment

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Do you remember the days when you were still in school? And your parents used to ask you, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” you may have mentioned several profession titles like being a lawyer, a teacher, a hotelier, an engineer or even a doctor. But these days, there are more options as to being a licensed professional since there are a lot of BPO companies available.

 

You may have once thought of a clear and bright future but all you ever did was plan for your career. Most job seekers all want the same things; a job that pays well that allows you to earn loads of money so you can settle down in the big city, with a lifestyle that makes a statement to family and friends. But as you all know, it’s not that easy to attain unless you work hard.

 

Attaining success and making your job the right career requires hard work and sacrifice. You should spend some time to make sure that you are crystal clear about what you want in your working life. In addition to that, your career goal should be one that you truly want and not what others want for you. This is important because you will not be truly happy and fulfilled if you are doing it just to please somebody else. Most importantly, you should have a convincing reason why you must achieve this career goal. However, there may be times that you find yourself striving to move forward but getting nowhere instead. Remember, whatever your personal barriers to career growth and development, you can overcome these obstacles. Anyone who sets goals, creates a timeline for success, has adequate support, and strives for excellence can prevail over these barriers to achieve the success that all people deserve. Like your goals, only you can decide which ones to believe in and pursue.


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Posted in BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Agent Articles, Call Center Articles | 7 Comments »




Philippine BPO: Meeting the Challenges of Non-Voice Sectors

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

It was the year 1992 when the first Business Process Outsourcing was first introduced in the Philippines. From then on, a lot of call center companies have grown on major cities in the Philippines. The BPO in Philippines was even named “Sunshine Industry” because of the rampant establishment of BPO firms in this country. And now, the Philippines has overtaken India as the number one BPO service provider in the world.

 

But as we all know, it is a very competitive world out there, countries around the world are now seeking to challenge the Philippines’ dominance in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, especially in more high-value, non-voice services.  Non voice jobs involve table jobs such as transcription, insurance, finance and across industries like airlines and transportation, securities, human resources, litigation and financial services, insurance, data processing, e-publishing and healthcare. The new challenge is how to develop our own qualified workforce with the specialized skills required by the non-voice sectors such as scalability of entry-level talent; availability of specialized skills; availability and quality of managers; and migration of skilled talent. It is very essential for us to make sure our schools graduate young professionals who can fill in this human resource gap. Government, industry and institution of higher education are enhancing the regulations in training potential call center and other BPO workers and those engaged in non-voice BPO to make them more competitive and attractive to the industry. TESDA has even ramped up support for training and development of non-voice based skills in the BPO sector particularly in the Visayas to boost the region as a choice destination for investors.

 

It is very evident that our country is achieving another goal,  not just as the number one spot in the outsourcing industry but also as the haven for non-voice BPO services.


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Posted in BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Articles, Call Center News and Events | 3 Comments »




Philippine Telemarketing: Adapting to Night Shift Work

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

While everyone else calls it a day, Philippine call center agents are just starting theirs. This is how it is when you work in the inbound or outbound call center.  Working the night, or graveyard, shift can change your life in many ways; you need to learn to sleep in the day, find new ways to keep yourself alert, your body’s rhythms and hormones can begin to shift, and eating takes on a whole new set of challenges.

 

Sleep is one of the most important gifts you can give your body. But you are fighting your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle by staying up through the night, and sleep loss can be dangerous. Even if you are sleeping during the day instead of the night, you still need an average of eight hours to keep your body functioning properly. Go to sleep as soon as you can after work. Relax in a warm bath and then hit the bed. It’s also important to make your room as dark as possible and avoid the overuse of sleep aids.

 

Eating healthy when your timetable seems so backwards is difficult. To maintain a nourishing diet, it’s vital to adjust your meal routine around your schedule. Do not skip meals. To avoid pumping in empty calories from vending machines or fast food, plan ahead. It is easy to eat to pass the time, but you’ll gain weight this way. Bring a healthy meal with you to work. Drink lots of water. Sufficient water in the body improves alertness. Limit your consumption of caffeinated drinks. Consume no caffeine at least 4 hours before sleeping. Cut down on your alcohol intake, especially before sleep. Alcohol usually induces sleep, but it reduces the quality of sleep.

 

Proper sleep and a healthy diet are especially important for night shift workers. Treat your body right so you can withstand the challenges of working in call center.


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Posted in BPO, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | 4 Comments »




Happy Employees Provide Great Customer Service

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

In light of today’s economic setting, it’s more important for companies to have happy and productive employees. Your business is only as successful as its staff; therefore, it is of utmost importance that you develop a positive work culture in your business.

 

Happy employees are any business’ best asset. However, keeping them happy in any economy is hard work. If the workplace is stressful, employee production goes down. Happy employees are satisfied and feel a sense of accomplishment in their work. They like themselves and what they do, and find satisfaction from their work. The best employees prefer to work for companies that provide the type of exceptional value that creates customer loyalty, thus, creating loyalty has become the toughest test for leadership in Philippine call center. Great customer service depends on the people providing that service. They have to be willing to serve well. They have to be inspired to go beyond what is their responsibility, in other words, they have to be treated well.  When workers feel that they are a dynamic and essential part of the team, they are more productive and willing to go the extra mile for customers and co-workers. A positive work environment is critical no matter how many employees you have. Therefore, give praise openly, set goals appropriate to the work, and always take your employees’ needs seriously. It is management that fosters the work atmosphere so they are responsible for conducting things in a way that helps raise people’s spirits.

 

A company will have strong customer service if it has strong leadership, and the commitment that this leadership conveys. When you have a happy and productive workforce that is eager to contribute, your company can weather any storm.


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Philippine BPO: US and Global Trade Benefit from Outsourcing

Friday, January 20th, 2012

A proposed US law that discourages the outsourcing of jobs to overseas markets like the Philippines has got local businessmen worried. And they have reason to bother. This statement from the US president will undoubtedly have an impact on the business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industries, as well as the information and communication technology (ICT) industry of countries outside the United States. President Obama’s statement is aimed at encouraging US companies to create jobs within the country and hire locals instead of outsourcing core and non-core services abroad – a practice that fuels BPO, KPO and ICT industries in many other countries such as Philippines.

 

The Philippines after all is the biggest beneficiary of America’s call center business wherein recently, it has surpassed India’s as the largest in the world. The Philippine BPO industry alone is targeting a 26% growth in 2010 to outdo its 20% revenue growth the preceding year. However, President Benigno Aquino still has a positive view on this matter. He said that the issue hasn’t changed since it was brought up four years ago and it seems related to the upcoming elections, and may well fall by the edge. In addition to this, there was a study that shows the effects of the outsourcing industry in the US economy and world trades in general are very positive. The report also indicates that the US economy is experiencing revival in profits in the global trade market because of its broad program of outsourcing.

 

In conclusion, US firms become more competitive when they outsource and so the practice should be supported for it enables US companies to sell the world. And for as long as BPO and knowledge process outsourcing companies deliver quality performance and cost savings, American firms will prefer to take their business to offshore BPO and KPO destinations like the Philippines.


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2012 BPO Trends

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Competition in the business processing outsourcing in the region is likely to take shape this year as firms gear up for huge opportunities that have come with advanced technology. Today, the country is seen as one of the fastest growing BPO centres in the world. According to Datamark, Inc., one of the biggest process outsourcing companies in the U.S., advancements in technology will drastically change how the BPO industry works and new outsourcing options will be reviewed. Apart from that, the company also released a roster of the hottest trends in the industry next year.

 

Increase in mobile apps. With the easy access to tablets and smart phones, mobile apps will continue to increase next year. Expect BPO providers to provide clients with mobile apps for monitoring and auditing outsourced processes. Features will incorporate business intelligence, dashboards, analytics and instant messaging with the provider.

 

The “social” contact center. Utilizing Facebook, Google+, and Twitter for customer service will increase, as well as using chat on social networks, therefore decreasing the use of phone calls and emails.

 

The rise of gamification. Business process engineers will apply game theory to more and more business processes as a way of driving innovation into the enterprise. Using gamification makes tedious and repetitive tasks more fun so more of it will come forth

 

Latin America will become more popular as a nearshore destination. With a 20 to 40 percent labor differential, an excellent BPO workforce, and a good deal of those who are bi-lingual, Latin America will see more action.

 

Technology proving grounds will clear up the clutter. Technologies such as robotics, embedded sensors, QR codes and language recognition will all be part of a toolkit to lower costs and increase efficiency and reliability. BPOs will pilot-program many of these products, either with their own internal processes, or with clients’ processes to meet a demand for innovation.


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Philippine BPO: Essentials of Internet Marketing

Monday, December 19th, 2011

As the internet has expanded, so have the opportunities for marketing online. The internet is redefining the relationship between businesses and consumers, company now can reach all over the globe to share information about its products and services. Just like Philippine call centers, your businesses image is shared 24 hours a day 7 days a week. And there are many benefits to having fully executable internet marketing such as measurability, flexibility and affordability. That’s why it’s very important to develop and implement a strategic plan for your business success which includes a great product and website as well as a killer marketing strategy.

 

Product. It’s important to find out exactly what people want and develop your product accordingly. Keep in mind, the internet is a global marketplace. Develop a product with a large geographic target and a wide appeal. A great product will fulfill a need or desire and provide instant gratification. You must also have to consider quality for customers’ satisfaction.

 

Website. Everything within your web site should have one purpose — getting your visitor to take action. When you start a new online business, one of the most important steps is the keywords research. This can be done through search engine optimization or SEO. This is all about understanding the process of improving not just quantity but quality of web traffic. Knowing this helps in placing your site in higher rankings at the top of search engine pages which gives prime access to customers.

 

Strategy. Short term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporary boost in traffic such as purchasing advertising, participating in forums and search engines. On the other hand, long term strategies are those that bring you a steady stream of targeted traffic over time which includes opt-in lists, blogging, social networking sites and article marketing. By creating and implementing a balanced marketing strategy, using both short-term and long-term strategies, you will drive a steady stream of targeted traffic to your web site.


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Posted in BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Articles | 1 Comment »




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