The Edge of Philippine Call Centers

The BPO industry is one of the most profitable business ventures in the Philippines. While the rest of the world is experiencing the pinch of the recession, Philippine call centers continue to flourish. In fact, in a recent business survey, the call center industry in the country has shown a 22% to 30% increase in terms of growth and expansion rate.

Philippine call centers have learned to capitalize on flexibility to keep the industry alive. By implementing higher standards on service quality and marketing strategies to acquire new clients and keep existing clients, call centers have been getting by the economic downturn unscathed. The growth is coming from the flux of new client referrals and existing clients.

The industry also remains a good standing in the global business arena because of its strong professional workforce. Known in Asia as the one of the leading nations in terms of English proficiency, Filipinos are fit for the telemarketing profession. It is also a lot easier for Filipinos to adopt an American accent compared to other call center workforce in Asia. Aside from skills, Filipino agents also have commendable work ethics that clients appreciate.

Working with Philippine call centers gives investing companies the edge of global quality and this is irreplaceable. There is no substitute for excellent customer service so it is not a surprise that many companies in the US, Australia, and other parts of Europe outsource their telemarketing business functions from the Philippines. They get global quality for a competitive price, something that all businesses need at this time of the economic downturn.

Business experts are saying that the future is bright for the Philippine call center industry. Through the help of the government and private business sectors, the industry is expected to generate more revenues and bring more sophisticated call center solutions to companies around the world.

Call Center in the Philippines: The Worst Types of Callers

There are many annoying callers. When you work at a call center in the Philippines, you get to meet them all. But there are annoying customer callers, and then there are really bad callers. These are the types that you would dread to have.

The time Consumers
In every call center in the Philippines or anywhere else, there will always be a time limit set for the call center agent. Generally, each call should just amount to five to ten minutes each. When an agent takes to long to close calls that consumes time and money. It also means that the agent might not be that capable of handling explanations and what-not. But there are time consumers out there that just break one’s track record. Those callers who ask about everything, who are too chatty, or who are clueless and undecided are usually the culprits.

Lost in Translation
There are people who are lost in translation. This means that they either have very incomprehensibly thick accents, or they have very bad English, or both. This is one tough challenge for anybody who works in a call center. There is just almost no chance for an agent to make this call go smoothly.

Angry
This perhaps needs no explanation. A lot of callers call angry because those who are having problems with their product or service are the ones with the most reason to call.

Angry and Irrational
This is the deadliest combination of them all. This is very different from people who are merely angry. The angry people, you know have some reason why they are angry. However, those who are angry and irrational are just enough to make any agent from call center in the Philippines or anywhere else to want talk back. Imagine if a person yells and cusses you on the phone while spouting irrational statements. It is truly the worst type of caller.

Moving from India to the Philippines: Asian Call Center

Our company was one of the first of those who first ventured into the call center industry. At first we set up one of the first call centers in India way back in 1997. Indian call centers were very busy. I did however never get used to the bad smell. It was everywhere, the body odor was overpowering. And the streets also smelled because they had a lot of cows and animals using the streets. Then our company noticed a change in the scene. Several large companies were closing down their Indian operations and were moving to the Philippines. Then all major companies started moving half or more than half of their operations to the Philippines for some reason.

This exodus was followed by our company. We then set up our own contact center operations in the newest fastest growing Asian call center location in the business. The Philippines was a very good choice. For one thing, the horrible body odor-like smell that permeated the whole of India including its cuisine was gone. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Filipinos it seems love to take baths. They take two baths a day in fact. And everyone was very courteous and friendly as opposed to India where you can’t walk in the streets without getting pissed of at some rude passerby giving you the look. It is a cultural thing. Filipinos are known internationally for their warmth and hospitality. I definitely prefer setting up shop there. Eventually we erected two buildings in a couple of the business parks in Manila.

The best part in having a contact center in the Philippines is that the agents were all so easy to train. They teach English there from kindergarten to college. No Filipino graduates without having an intimate knowledge of the English language. This is the edge of the country. Also, they have such a close cultural affinity with the U.S.