Archive for the ‘Inbound Call Center’ Category
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Good customer service is the foundation of any business such as Philippine contact center. In today’s world, business competition is harder than ever and consumers are willing to spend more in exchange for excellent customer service. Most businesses realize the importance of being committed to customer service that’s why they outsource and make use of inbound call center services and outbound call center services.
A Philippine call center must know that they not only need to meet their customer’s expectations, but they must strive to exceed them. For inbound call center agents, there is more opportunity in exceeding customers’ expectations even when they’re complaining. The important thing is that you listen and don’t tell them that they’re wrong; then acknowledge the issue, try to reach an agreement, and do your best to keep them happy. They may not be right, but at least you listened to their point of view. Usually people just want to be heard. You must use this complaint as a positive thing to help you grow and improve.
In an outbound call center setting, you need to be flexible in your approach. Don’t just make a sale but rather, offer solutions in the best interest of your customer. You also need to let customers drive how you interact with them. Though you may not always be able to offer the type of communication channel your customers want, you can still be responsive to their behavior. Lastly, honor your word. If you tell someone you’ll follow-up with them by end of day, you have to do it. There’s nothing worse than having someone tell you they’ll contact you later, then having to track them down again. Keep in touch with customers and check if the products or services are good.
Good customer service results to repeat guests while bad customer service drives customers away taking their friends, family and workmates. It is very important to have a good customer service not just to make the customers happy but to attract potential customers.
Tags: call centers in the Philippines, inbound call center, outbound call center, Philippines call center
Posted in Call Center Agent Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Call Center | 2 Comments »
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.
Tags: inbound call center, Philippine call center, telemarketing
Posted in BPO, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | 4 Comments »
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.
Tags: customer service, inbound call center, Philippine call center
Posted in BPO, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
In this newly social online world, it can’t be denied that it’s the age of smarter consumers wherein customers are really challenging. They incorporate new technologies into their daily lives and their philosophy is they want to be served, listened to, known and empowered. They see consumption as far beyond a transaction with a more experiential view and seek through this experience to fulfill their needs.
All this has had a significant impact on how brands are now positioning themselves, and how they re approaching their customers. In this period of intense competition and fleeting customer loyalty, the ownership of the relationship is now with the customer. Companies need to strengthen customer relationships and optimize business outcomes by proactively engaging customers with the ideal customer service through any channel the customer favors. Interaction is an important factor. Every interaction with your company creates a lasting impression on the customer that’s why social media is providing an empowering platform for customers to very publicly discuss your company’s product and brand. In achieving your business goals, you also need to optimize your resources including inbound call center agents, business process outsourcing, back-office and automated systems. Legacy infrastructure and disparate hardware and application systems must be integrated to empower every employee responsible for customer service, sales, and support. Another is every customer interaction incorporates an underlying customer process to ensure that the back office achieves similar efficiencies as its contact center counterparts. Performance management and analytics will also increasingly play an important role in helping business executives determine customer engagement effectiveness and guide the decision-making process.
Customer engagement involves developing and fostering a sense of trust, emotional commitment and an ongoing involvement with your company. Your brand is not just viewed therefore as a functional benefit to be purchased for a price rather its a relationship partner in your customers life.
Tags: business process outsourcing, call center outsourcing, customer service, inbound call center, philippine telemarketing
Posted in Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | No Comments »
Friday, December 9th, 2011
Every Philippine call center is a relationship business. The quality and impact of your work, and the profitability of your business, depend upon relationships — with customers, co-workers, and competitors; with suppliers, distributors, and support services; with direct reports, senior managers, and boards. Being customer service and telemarketing agents is so tedious that in most cases, stress eventually takes its toll on them. That’s why it often affects an employee’s productivity and relationships at work. However, the way you manage key relationships with even the most difficult people will determine your level of success. Building strong relationships with others heightens your ability to gain support for your work and manage barriers that will inevitably come up along the way. There is also a personal benefit with effective relationships in that they can make you feel more engaged with your work which can lead to greater job fulfillment.
When you take the time to understand another’s’ feelings and positions you can create strength in relationships, both parties allow each other to communicate without being judged. Effective relationships require parties to openly express their feelings and positions on all matters pertinent on the level of the relationship. Respect is the key to relationships, you can show respect just by listening to the other party and by trying sincerely to understand what is important to them, you can also look at their communication style and personality to better understand what makes them tick, a person can also show respect by reinforcing the person when they are doing something well or offer to help when they are needing some extra help.
Respect, communication and working toward a win-win situation are the very foundation for a great relationship. When parties fail to express whatever is on their mind or their feelings, it can get in the way of building an effective relationship.
Tags: customer service, Philippine call center, telemarketing, work relationship
Posted in Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
Stress indeed has been regarded as a major threat to call centers in the Philippines. The cost of workplace stress is a serious matter in a company. How do inbound and telemarketing agents react to increased job stress? They are more likely to use sick time, have low morale and experience interpersonal conflict on the job, and this stress leads to decreased productivity, increased injuries, accidents and even workplace bullying and violence. Your employees are working longer hours and you need to take some steps to ensure they don’t burn out. Disengaged employees cost you even more when they leave. Philippine call centers that are sensitive to the importance of how stress can affect their workers as well as their workplace as a whole need to do what they can to be proactive in helping employees deal with stress, instead of waiting for problems to happen. Being pro-active rather than reactive is the key to having a healthy workplace. Promote a sense of justice and fairness. You need to convey to the employees that they have a place to turn to if they feel like they are not treated fairly, and this information will be confidential and handled without retaliation. Coaching is also a good way to inspire your employees. Effective workplaces offer coaching from either in-house or outside consultants to supervisors who need help in learning how to manage and lead effectively, thereby improving their communication skills.
A workplace that is proactive at recognizing employees at risk, and not turning their heads when problematic behavior occurs, will be more effective at limiting workplace stress. Find out what’s eating your team, and figure out how you can make changes to re-inspire and re-energize them so they can contribute their fullest to your business.
Tags: call centers in the Philippines, inbound customer service, Philippine call center, telemarketing
Posted in Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Leadership qualities in professionals at all levels of the management hierarchy play a key role in success of Philippine call centers. It is not something with which you are born, it is not inherited–it is something you decide to do. Leaders are those who are bold enough to make a decision when they are faced with a defining moment. To build a successful business, you have to be a leader and being a leader implies you must be a coach. Leadership coaching therefore; is the art and science of helping individuals to develop the necessary traits and skills required to become a good leader.
Be a good listener. Good listening skills are critical to the coaching process. Being a good listener and being an active learner go hand in hand. Ideal candidates understand that listening is like throwing a ball back and forth. One person listens while the other talks and vice versa.
Trust yourself. Your behavior as a leader can either change or inspire it. To guide your team successfully, you have to follow your intuition and practice fundamental leadership skills. If you trust yourself, you can be a better leader whether you’re an inbound or outbound agent.
Empowering people. A great leadership coach should know how to empower other individuals and as well raise high performance individuals and consequently high performance teams. A good leadership coach must have confidence in other players in the organization, so that they become empowered to unleash their true potential.
Taking Responsibility. Leadership begins by setting a direction and developing a vision for the distant future. Leadership is much more strategic and looks toward what could be. Leaders focus on aligning the right people against their vision. You must ensure that you clearly communicate your vision and that it is understood and that people are committed to it.
Tags: call center in the Philippines, call center services, inbound call center agent, outbound service
Posted in Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Many Philippine call center transactions are doomed from the outset as the agents are just as stressed as the people calling to complain. If you have ever worked as a customer service representative, then you know that stress simply comes with the job. In addition to that, inbound call center agents usually encounter pressure from working schedules, company policies and procedures and quotas. Well, it is simply the nature of the business.
That’s why it’s so important to take time to do nice things for yourself. Self-pampering is not about being selfish. It’s about taking proper care of yourself and treating yourself as kindly as you treat others. You need to make caring for yourself a priority, otherwise you will continue to put it off. Set an appointment with yourself every day, or at least once a week. Block the time out in your calendar and do not let anything interfere. As much as you do for others, you deserve this time for yourself. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of time, even an hour or two will do. Here are some self-pampering ideas. Treat yourself to lunch or dinner at a nice restaurant. Take a bubble bath by candle light. Spend time in nature. Get a manicure or pedicure. Have a massage. Listen to soothing music or nature sounds. Go window shopping. Relax with a cup of calming chamomile tea. Watch a comedy or read something funny. Go for a quiet stroll in the evening, or early morning. Buy yourself something new. Get a new hairdo. Visit a spa and have a facial. See a new movie. Dance. Take a nap. Curl up with a good book.
Keep in mind, there is nothing more important than your well-being. The better you feel the more you can do the things you need to do and the more you can live the life you want to live.
Tags: customer service, inbound call center, Philippine call center
Posted in Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center | No Comments »
Monday, October 24th, 2011
If you notice, most jobs featured in a jobs listing website are positions for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. Among these jobs are customer service assistants and Philippine call center agents which are in fact, high paying jobs. That’s why it’s very important for job seekers to understand and prepare for job interviews because this maybe the beginning of your career path. You might be one of hundreds of people who respond to a job opening. However, most of the people who respond won’t get interviewed. They’ll get screened out through a process of elimination by an individual or committee which will determine the final candidates. Typically, this is how you’ll be scored during interviews:
Good chemistry. Can you “fit” into the organization? This can be shown by your grooming; if you communicate and listen well with co-workers, customers and management; if you have personal interests and beliefs consistent with the company’s goals and objectives; if you have leadership potential and has a positive and upbeat with a can-do attitude, follows directions and accepts criticism.
Competence and ability. Can you do the job? This implies your technical skills; expertise or if you have the background and experience to do the job and education or if you have the required knowledge.
Willingness and enthusiasm. How willing are you to have that job? This signifies your ambition or if you have the desire to learn, grow and excel and your being motivated, energetic and team player.
It is also important to understand the employer’s perspective, to make a good impression and focus on what you can do for the company. Remember, your value is what makes an employer want to hire you.
Tags: business process outsourcing, call center career, customer service, outbound call center, Philippines BPO
Posted in BPO, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center | No Comments »
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
It is definitely the people are the greatest assets of a company and they are the moving force behind call centers in the Philippines. It doesn’t make any difference whether the company’s inbound our outbound. A call centre is only as good as the people it keeps.
As we all know, business nowadays is all about productivity. The place of work is not just a setup where people get paid for their presence and attendance of a few hours. The salary is in return for work done and the amount of work completed reflects the worker’s productivity; which in turn is determined by a series of factors besides qualifications and experience. The level of the employee’s productivity in any organization is largely responsible for the profit making ability of the organization and its survival in the long run. There are many ways to increase productivity in a company. You need to set clear goals with your team members. Assign each member with specific duty to identify their capabilities and weaknesses. It is also important to follow up with them about progress at various stages. Develop a system where each member needs to document his or her steps on a progress map. Stay responsive and open to new suggestions that may come from team members. Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self esteem of their employees. It makes an employee feel important and that employee will strive to do better each day. You also need to encourage team work for better results. You must teach your employees the importance of inspiring each other even in your absence. And best of all, make sure that people enjoy their work and are happy to come to work every day. In fact, make your working environment a happy environment and influence enthusiasm among your Philippine call center agents.
Tags: call center in the Philippines, inbound call center, outbound agent, Philippine call center
Posted in Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center | No Comments »
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