Posts Tagged ‘inbound call center’

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Customer Service 101

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.


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Posted in Call Center Agent Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Call Center | 2 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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Posted in BPO, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center | 1 Comment »




Inbound Call Center : Understanding Customer Engagement

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.


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Posted in Business Process Outsourcing, Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | No Comments »




Philippine Call Center: Keeping your New Year’s Resolution

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

It is the fresh start of a new year, new chapter and a great time to reflect on the past and sketch a better future. With the coming of a brand new year, people always strive hard to have a good beginning. Every year, most of us make unique and new resolutions. We plan it well and stay determined to fulfill those resolutions.

 

Losing weight, getting organized, saving money and quitting smoking may be among the most popular New Year’s resolutions for Philippine call center agents. Most of us set these goals and undoubtedly break them within a few weeks of real physical and emotional torture while some do not make resolutions at all because they have never attained them. No matter how persistent a habit you’ve developed, there are ways to break those negative patterns and keep resolutions throughout the New Year. The trick is to keep everything in perspective and focus on realistic goals with measurable results. It is also important to create bite-sized jobs for yourself that you’ll be able to accomplish because if your goal is too big, you’ll feel defeated before you even get started. Keep in mind also that action precedes motivation. People often think that they should wait until they are motivated to start doing something good for themselves. Instead of waiting for inspiration to act on your goals, you need to take action first and inspiration will follow. Your initial action doesn’t have to be anything big. Once you initiate an action, even the smallest of actions, you pick up drive and you will realize that it becomes a lot easier to keep moving forward and to stay motivated.


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Posted in Call Center Agent Articles, Call Center Articles | 1 Comment »




Importance of Self-Care in a Hectic World of Call Center

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.


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Improving Productivity in Philippine Call Centers

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.


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Inbound Call Center: Strengthening Customer Relationship

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Retaining customer is as important as obtaining new business. In Philippine call center, maintaining customers drives revenue and enhances your brand and position against your competition. By using strong strategies to build customer relationships, you can retain repeat business while creating new revenue streams with existing clients.

 

Communicate frequently. Every time you interact with a customer, in person or over the phone, initiate a quick discussion to gauge how they are feeling. And as you begin to build a relationship with a customer, consider doing a quick survey or comment card. This will easily demonstrate to customers, employees and competitors alike, that you intend to continually improve on your service.

 

Build two-way communication. When it comes to customer relations, “listening” can be every bit as important as “telling.” Use every tool and opportunity to create interaction, including asking for feedback through your web site and e-newsletters, sending customer surveys and providing online message boards or blogs. Customers instantly feel a rapport and a relationship with your company when they know that they’re heard.

 

Enhance your customer service. Customers often make choices between parity products and services based on the perceived customer experience. This is what they can expect to receive in the way of support from your inbound call center after a sale is closed. Top-flight customer service on all sales will help you build repeat business, create positive word-of-mouth and increase sales from new customers as a result.

 

Provide special. Customers remember your great customer service, and they also remember the great time they had at your annual customer appreciation gathering. Whenever possible, offer in-kind rewards that remind your customers of your company and its products or services, they help the client reduce his office supply costs and act as constant marketing tools for your company. Hold special events for clients such as golf outings, parties and family picnics that will allow the client to feel appreciated.


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Philippine Telemarketing: Lead Management

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Lead generation is as important as driving good sales for the company but now the most critical challenge for many organizations is ensuring sales resources are focused on qualified, sales-ready leads in order to maximize sales results. Your sales pipeline and your ability to hit revenue targets all begin with good lead management.

 

Establish an effective CRM tool. This can lead to enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that your good reputation in the marketplace continues to grow and improved profitability by focusing on the most profitable customers and dealing with the unprofitable in more cost effective ways.

 

Define a qualified lead.  For better sales effectiveness, your sales staff and the rest of the company need a more granular definition of when a prospect becomes an actual lead that should be forwarded to sales.

 

Nurture your leads.  The point being that with a good potential customer, you would be able to make an effort to get to know him or her so the next time you make an offer it would be worth it. You can be sure to keep a business relationship if you continue to stay in contact with your leads.

 

Track the source. It’s important to capture the source of each intervening event so you can determine such things as how many times you need to touch a customer or what order of touches work best.

 

Motivate your staff about each prospect. The best inbound call center agents focus on detailed qualifying. The more information you have about a prospect, the more excited your salespeople will be about the lead.

 

Measure everything. You need to decide what you want to measure and why. Then you can capture the correct information upfront. And once you have the right information, you can determine the return on investment of your campaigns and focus on the campaigns and prospects that will increase your sales pipeline.


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Posted in Call Center Articles, Outbound Call Center, Philippine Telemarketing | No Comments »




Philippine Call Center: Delighted Customers

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

How does a delighted customer differ from the satisfied one? Let me give you an example. A customer went to a coffee shop and ordered for a cup of cappuccino. After few minutes, her coffee was served to her table. Definitely, she expected it to be hot. Then she was satisfied. The next day, she tried to get a coffee from a famous coffee shop in their town. When she got there, she was greeted with a warmth smile by the staff. She ordered her favorite coffee and was served to her after a few minutes. But this time, she was surprised because she got a piece of cookie along with the coffee and the server also offered her newspapers and magazines. From then on, she kept on coming back to that coffee shop.

 

Definitely, the customer was not just satisfied but was delighted. Satisfaction is based on fulfilling the expected while delight occurs from the unexpected. Companies need to go beyond simple satisfaction to retain customers and attract new ones. This can be done in many ways and everywhere, restaurant, hotel, store or even Philippines call center. For inbound call center, there is more opportunity in exceeding customers’ expectations.  You can do this by ‘going extra mile’ and truly care for your customers. In telemarketing, be flexible in your approach. Don’t just make a sale but offer solutions in the best interest of your customer. You also have to listen to your customers and know what’s important to them. If you received complaints, respond positively and quickly and thank them for their involvement. Use this complaint as a positive thing to help you grow and improve. Keep in touch with customers and check if the products or services are good.

 

Delighted customers will be more loyal and a business can create create customers for life.  The key for businesses is to determine the right customer experience for a great return.

 

 


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Posted in Call Center Articles, Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center | 2 Comments »




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