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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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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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US Downgrade and Its’ Effect on BPO

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

The historic US credit downgrade is unlikely to impact heavily on local investments, according to President Aquino. He also said that the value of investments in this country will not change with what is transpiring in America and if it’s profitable to do business here, it will remain to be profitable.

 

Noynoy, in turn, was immediately in the news supposedly “scrambling” his economic officials to prepare for the impact of the credit downgrade. S&P’s downgrade, while unprecedented, has been a long time in coming. The US economy appears to have yet to rise from the 2007 financial turmoil and its consequent effect of a global crisis that hit most of the big European economies. But the worried question is how does this affect the outsourcing industry of the country? For an industry where the peso-dollar exchange rate plays a huge role, business process outsourcing (BPO) players will definitely see the effect of the US downgrade. Western companies may be a little bit more cautious when it comes to spending due to the current global economic situation. Since the US is the largest market of the Philippine outsourcing industry, this downgrade will surely be felt in one way or the other. However, the industry remains confident and optimistic and growth is still projected in the next few years.

 

For one of the poorest economies in the region, the Philippines’ strength remains in its labor force, something that Noynoy, like his predecessor, had failed to recognize in terms of policies to stimulate employment. It had taken the recognition of other countries for Filipinos to find dignity in work, be it on commercial sea vessels of the world that are manned mostly by Filipinos to business process outsource (BPO) businesses that mostly now value Filipino skills over any other nationalities.

 

 


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Call Center in the Philippines: Green Office Tips

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Many Philippine call centers talk about social responsibility but how many of them actually understand that? Unfortunately, when it comes to deciding profits and the environment, the last is often loses.  But, despite this, a few call centers in the Philippines are proving that eco-friendliness and profitability do go hand in hand. Going green at the office can be very effective in demonstrating practical benefits of being environmentally friendly as well as saving business money.

 

Say it through e-mail. E-mail and instant messaging make interoffice communications quicker and easier than distributing paper memos. E-mail newsletter distribution means your customers receive information about your business sooner. Your company can use social media similarly, by offering promo codes and discounts for mentioning tweets and other messages from your business.

 

Making paper cuts. Print and copy on both sides of the paper whenever possible, and post instructions near the copy machine and printers to eliminate excuses. Or consider making this the default option on office equipment. Use a smaller font to print documents when possible. Reduce junk mail in a variety of ways.

 

Use it again. In situations where maintaining your corporate image is not necessary, re-use envelopes. Cover your address with a mailing label, or buy specially designed labels that identify the envelope as “recycled.” This habit may even boost your image as a “green company”. When you receive packages, keep bubble wrap and other packing materials for re-use.

 

Think before you buy. Ask inbound and telemarketing agents to bring in their own mugs instead of stocking the break room with styrofoam cups. Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible, and buy recycled printer ink. Bulk purchases can save your business money, but wasting supplies is never an efficient use of your company’s funds.

 


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Posted in Call Center Articles, Call Center News and Events, green call center, Inbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | 1 Comment »




Philippines as the “Next Asian Dragon” in BPO Industry

Saturday, July 16th, 2011

As the IT-BPO industry in the Philippines is experiencing rapid growth at 25 per cent per annum, investors have begun to see this island nation as the ‘next Asian dragon’. According to the Commission on ITC (CICT) chief Ivan John Enrile Uy, several of the major companies in the world are now operating their largest service centers in the Philippines resulting in the rapid growth of the IT-BPO industry in the country.

 

Quoting Uy, a recent website report says that the IT-BPO industry in the Philippines employed approximately 525,000 workforces in 2010 and had earned over $9.1 billion in terms of revenues. Uy emphasized that the objective of CICT was to reinforce the preparedness of these cities as well as the districts outside Metro Manila to emerge as favorite destinations for investors in the IT-BPO industry. According to him, this plan would help to decongest Metro Manila and, at the same time, widen the opportunities for economic growth to other regions of the country capitalizing on the plentiful and internationally competitive employees available in the Philippines. He said that currently, about 20 per cent of the country’s IT and BPO firms are located outside the core metropolitan regions of Manila and Cebu and this leaning is likely to continue. As cities outside Metro Manila are emerging as new bubs for IT and BPO industry or the Next Wave Cities, the Philippines is presently witnessing the influence of this sector on the rural communities.

 

Uy mentioned that the leading global research and outsourcing advisory firm Tholons has ranked Manila as fourth and Cebu as ninth in the Top 100 cities in the World for Outsourcing in its 2010 list. In addition, a number of Next Wave Cities of the country, including Davo (69); Sta. Rosa (Laguna) (88); Iloilo (98) and Bacolod (100), were included in Tholons Top 100 cities list for 2010.

 

 


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The Growing Interest of Australia in Philippine BPO Services

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Philippine BPO services are the best in Asia solely because Filipinos are comfortable with the use of the English language. With a culture that is closest to western influence, the Philippines is a continually growing back-office sector, that has now expanded its outsourcing partnerships with countries like Canada, U.K., France, Spain, and most especially Australia. The Philippine BPO partnership provides a highly skilled workforce with individuals whose educational attainment is unmatched in the rest of Asia. The country provides a better climate for business as well as great opportunity for growth. Outsourcing in the Philippines is a thriving business because of its proactive government, which encourages businesses to plant their roots within their country. Most of all, the Filipino himself is the greatest human capital asset.

 

In line with that, the Philippine IT/BPO industry has certainly caught Australian interest. Based on estimates by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), the share of the Australian market in the total revenue generated by the industry has grown from 1.5 percent in 2008 to 6 percent in 2010. The US remains the top market with 70 percent share, followed by the UK and Japan. The Australian Contact Centre Outsourcing Market Report 2011, published by callcentres.net, a leading Sydney-based research company, points to increasing outsourcing to the Philippines among Australian companies surveyed, compared to results of prior surveys. In previous years, while majority of Australian companies outsourced to service providers within Australia, India was the second most popular destination to outsource.

 

The Philippines has really defined professionalism in Business Process Outsourcing today. With the best technical support, IT-analysts, and customer service representatives, there is no doubt that the Philippines has succeeded in doing what it does best.

 

 


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Philippines BPO: One of the Leading Players in Services Exports

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

The World Bank has ranked the Philippines among the best performers in the services exports, particularly in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, but urged further reforms in the travel and tourism sector if the country intends to sustain growth moving forward.

 

Based on the past IT industry, while the development of service sectors was traditionally assumed to be confined to developed countries that have mature markets and industrial sectors, it has recently been found that with the appropriate educational and other supporting bases, developing countries like India and the Philippines can also take this path. Specifically, the rise of IT-enabled services (ITES) outsourcing or business process outsourcing (BPO) has allowed these countries to develop a new kind of export sector focused on business services. The principal strengths of the Philippine I.T. industry include a well-educated, price-competitive labor force, English proficiency, growing track record of successful I.T. work, fast-growing telecom infrastructure, government interest in the industry, less regulation than some neighbors, good capabilities for dealing with foreign partners, and strong entrepreneurship. This increasingly demand in such services made Philippines as the third largest player in BPO in the world, accounting for 15 percent of the global BPO market, after India (37%) and Canada (27%). Considered as a top offshore BPO destination, the country boasts one of the fastest growing outsourcing industries in the world. BPO sector currently employs close to 500,000 people and generated about $9 billion worth of exports in 2010. The industry’s target in terms of annual revenue is $25 billion by 2016 and a direct workforce of 1.3 million. It is with no doubt that the future of the country’s BPO industry has never looked brighter.

 


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Posted in BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Articles, Call Center News and Events | 2 Comments »




Philippine Call Center: Learning from Customers through Feedback

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Customer feedback is vital when determining a customer’s needs, particularly when a business introduces new products. It also allows companies to better understand how customers rate and use their products versus competitive products. It is important in determining where a company’s products and services excel or fall short compared to alternatives on the market. It can also manifest itself in evaluating how company employees treat customers.

 

We are all customers, and as customers, it is a fact that we love to give opinion about certain products or services that we receive. In our internet age today, it’s very easy to communicate with people even across the country. When customers mention a bad experience on a social networking site, such as Facebook or Twitter, that number grows exponentially. Every customer interaction is an opportunity for feedback. Monitoring customer complaints can tip you off months in advance to growing problems with products or services that might eventually hurt your bottom line. Instead of closing cases quickly, focus on understanding the needs of the customer and form a solution that addresses the entire problem. When a customer makes a complaint, there is always a reason; customer error, employee conduct, employee knowledge, product quality. Use that information to improve your customer service experience. But the most important thing is that the company must ensure that everyone in the company knows what customers are thinking by sharing customer feedback. When you make a customer feel good about doing business, he stays with you and will recommend you to his friends. It does not take much to get a reputation for bad customer service, and once you do it never really goes away.


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BPO News: Mahindra Opens Philippine BPO

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

IT firm Tech Mahindra has revealed that it has started business process outsourcing (BPO) operations in the Philippines and has recruited 600 associates locally for this new operation, reports Indian Express. According to Tech Mahindra President – Corporate Affairs and Business Process Outsourcing Sujit Baksi, the Philippines is not only a key market for them, but also a strategic location from where they plan to service their global clients. The announcement by the company comes in the wake of its recent deal roping in a Philippines-based telecommunications company as one of its BPO partners for strategic outsourcing. However, he indicated that the BPO will serve around 35 million customers of the Philippine telecom company. Through this new facility, Tech Mahindra will provide the client with contact centre support for sales and back office, customer care and technical support for their wireless postpaid, landline and broadband customers. Last year, Tech Mahindra started its operation in Africa and the company has opened centers in seven African countries to serve clients in the region. Its operations have already been commenced in Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, Ghana and Gabon, while operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo-Brazzaville are expected to start operations within the next few months, the statement said.

 

This is great news for the Philippines in strengthening our economy and providing opportunities for Filipino workers as well. It also implies that despite of overtaking India as the BPO capital of the world, the Philippines has still managed to create an excellent relationship with India for a stronger and better BPO industry.

 


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