Posts

Effective Customer Support System: Proactively Building on What Works

/0 Comments/in /by

Is customer support one of your business’s priorities? It’s the front-line response in many industries, but especially in retail, sales, and the service sectors. Successful businesses put a premium on their customers, from start-ups to conglomerates. It’s no surprise, considering the pull social media and feedback platforms have on public perception.

An effective customer support system anticipates concerns and complaints, resolves these, and prevents potential backlash caused by insufficient or inefficient response. In any case, your customer support team should have these key attitudes by default, if you want to maintain positive feedback and reputation:

1. Be Available – is your support team available to respond to customers 24/7, across different time zones? How about on holidays? What’s the current response rate of your customer support teams, across the categories of user concerns (billing, refund, replacement, cancellations)? If you can maintain immediate (lightning-fast) response rates to concerns, your team will likely be on the good side of customers, reassuring even the most irate person you’re on their side. You want the matter resolved as much as they do.

2. Be Proactive – this can save you a lot of potential trouble! Negative feedback can spread like wildfire, especially if the flak comes from an influencer in the community. Evaluate the bulk of concerns handled so far, shortlist the most pressing issues, and anticipate these moving forward. This improves the quality of your resolutions, and may even spare you lawsuits and settlements caused by warranted complaints.

3. Treat All Customers as Priorities – it’s true you’ll eventually see patterns as you resolve customer concerns, but it’s best to think of each complaint and inquiry unique from the rest. You’ll be more attentive to specifics of concerns, when you resolve emails or phone calls like you would if you met customers in person. Custom messages are more personal, even for canned and automated responses. Recipients will also know the difference between lip and excellent service.

4. Build on What Works – if you’ve determined what aspects and processes work, by all means capitalize and build on these, make the process more efficient. It might involve schedules, queuing, quality control, or delegation; you can improve on weak areas once your strengths are defined and developed.

Prevention is better than damage control, but hopefully you won’t have to choose either of these. With an efficient, accurate customer support system, you’ll have fewer doubts of having rogue customers ruining your company’s reputation. In any case, you’ll at least able to fend off complaints with airtight, documented processes and resolutions.

Outsourced Quality Assurance, As Customized Service Outsourcing Package

Outsourced Quality Assurance, As Customized Service Outsourcing Package

/0 Comments/in , , /by

A customized service outsourcing package ensures development of a system or a service. This is very appealing to companies who want their products ready and launched on the market, as soon as possible. This also applies to office operations, in an effort to achieve improved and efficient work flow. Quality assurance (QA) is the best way to ensure products or services are meeting the specified standards; the process is supervised by a professional quality analyst.

It’s only understandable that a dedicated team of QAs should be a part of the company. The dilemma is choosing between an in-house or outsource team. As much as there are benefits to keeping quality assurance operations in-house (such as confidentiality and easy monitoring), outsourcing a QA team is no doubt the cost-effective option to take.

Going beyond the usual reasoning of outsourcing a certain business operation (e.g. a cut in overhead costs, no need for additional training, etc.), outsourcing the QA can offer the company additional benefits, such as objectivity, a high level of expertise, and complete resources/infrastructure to get the job done. A customized service outsourcing package, develop the quality of production and processes; it also frees up work hours of an in-house team. There’s more resources you can focus on other aspects of improving the business.

Objectivity

In most companies, an in-house QA team is commonly the same ones who have created the product or service itself. By employing an outsourced QA team, the business can perform unbiased testing, spot errors or defects that an in-house QA team may unconsciously miss out on.

An outsourced QA team can also offer a new perspective on how to better improve the product or service, as well as suggest possible routes to advance the process.

High Level of Expertise

An outsourced QA team is already professional in their own right. They have gained enough experience to enable them to easily answer any task given. The company would no longer need to worry about lack of professionalism, capability, or quality of service either.

With short-term projects, a customized service outsourcing package is able to complete the goals more effectively and efficiently, given their greater competence and mastery of the field. A skillful QA team can also do better in handling large volumes of workload more quickly. This is a better investment, compared to training full-time, in-house team (to reach that same level of productivity) from scratch.

A Customized Service Outsourcing Package Comes With Complete Infrastructure

In companies that cannot house or facilitate the needed resources or infrastructure for certain testing systems, an outsourced QA team is the perfect solution to address the problem. Dedicated outsourced QA teams would naturally have all the tools and systems at hand, so they can readily meet the objectives of a project.

Availing a customized service outsourcing package in QA, the company can expect a boost in productivity—both in the QA sector and in overall operations. And by letting the experts of the field manage the quality assurance of the company’s product or service, they gain not only a better sense of how to improve their operations, they also reduce risks of losses for the business.

Five Mindsets Young Entrepreneurs Should Possess

Five Mindsets Young Entrepreneurs Should Possess

/0 Comments/in , /by

Most Millennials strive to be successful as soon as possible. To be your own boss, handle your own schedules, and meet new connections in the BPO industry. As is often the case with things worth having, there are roadblocks to overcome: the uncertainties of risk, failure, and the pressure to be successful even at great cost. Making it big in business is definitely difficult from the start, but it will be easy once with the right mindset.

Who doesn’t want to be rich and famous? Famous CEOs offer advice to startups, guidance and cautions against mistakes previously committed. Listening to these pieces of advice isn’t half bad because it comes from tried and tested experiences.

1. Find Your Passion And Run With It – No Matter What Happens

This decision might be hard. Thinking of what you want for the rest of your life will conjure ideas like becoming an online marketer, starting a small advertising firm, or staking claim in the BPO industry. The secret to lasting success is to know discover what you’re good at? Are you good at translating languages, teaching math, teaching Adobe Photoshop. Consult your friends and colleagues; if they agree you’re reliable in one skill or expertise, develop it.

2. Risk It until you Reach It

Taking a huge risk for your business will be challenging, but it comes with the territory. Don’t quit even if you fail at first. Real failure happens when you don’t try, so keep at it, or fake it until you make it.

3. Don’t Care What Other People Think

Along the way, there will be people who will say that your idea is stupid or it will not achieve great heights. Take negative comments in stride. If you have to listen to criticism, consult feedback from people you trust.

4. Plan Everything Down To A T

Before starting your business, set your mind in the direction you are going, and plan as much as you can beforehand. A complete understanding of your product is your starting point in knowing where to go, who to approach, and how to promote, especially in the BPO industry.

5. Manage Your Money

Everything you do for the business has a price, like ads, promoting, employees, inventory, bills, payroll, and more. Manage your money wisely to avoid unnecessary expenses, especially if your business is new, and tight on overhead costs.

Managing Your Contact Center BPO: 4 Steps To Ensuring A Happy Work Environment

Managing Your Contact Center BPO: 4 Steps To Ensuring A Happy Work Environment

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Every CEO surely prefers an outstanding work culture, but it’s better if this also includes a pleasant Contact Center BPO environment. Ample space, good ambience and lighting, and ergonomic facilities are among the necessities. As statistics have shown, happy employees are also productive and successful in their jobs. However, it’s safe to assume that not every employee is happy or contented. Unsettled, (even disgruntled) employees are expected, for a variety of reasons. Whatever the case may be, a satisfactory, conducive workplace is high priority. Here are four reliable ways to achieve this:

1. Identify, then engage unhappy employees.

In ensuring a happy Contact Center BPO environment, you must first identify which employees are unhappy or discontented. However, you can’t just ask anyone and get the answer you expect. This requires discernment, a knack for reading between the lines, observing employees’ body language. Facial and eye expressions can convey more information than what is verbalized in conversation. Sharpen your instinct for social cues and focus on context.

2. Ask questions.

Once you have already found out who the unhappy employees are, get to the root of the concern with conversation: ask questions. You cannot jump to conclusions on why they are feeling such. You have to spend time with in-depth question-and-answer moments so that you can find out what is really going on. If they have problems with the office administration, you at least know where you can proceed in finding solutions.

3. Establish, maintain a peaceful work environment.

Employee conflicts are unavoidable when you have people with different personalities working together. Conflict resolution is still your reliable solution in Contact Center BPO, ensuring peaceful environment in the shared workspace.

4. Foster confidence for and within the workforce.

Employees who don’t have confidence in tasks might have internal doubts and anxieties, affecting the quality of output. To avoid this affecting your business, foster a positive work culture, with solid trust in your employees. Positive emotions are invigotating – if your employees are confident enough, your business will surely benefit.

Being a CEO is not an easy task – schedule is always busy and demands priorities; meeting with clients, business development, supervision. However, remember to always make time for your employees, consider their needs as crucial to the success of Contact Center BPO operations.

Outsourced Call Center Services: Market Research

Outsourced Call Center Services: Market Research

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Every entrepreneur knows starting a business can be an uphill climb. Outsourced call center services somehow ease the process. Nevertheless, you often hit the ground running; once you’re successful, sustaining momentum is also a challenge. Over the years, the business world has evolved so much with technology, most notably the emergence of internet and social media.

Competition amongst corporations became a close, even cutthroat, in a bid to cater to the general public’s taste and expectations. While it is true the evolution of modern technology has been a great breakthrough both for the consumers and business owners, its underlying effect (threat) to companies is also inevitable.

Keeping Up With Trends Is A Challenge

The question for big and small businesses alike: how are they supposed to keep up with fast-changing market trends? Outsourced call center services broadened possibilities, drastically changing the business landscape.

This is where market research comes in -a business strategy which allows corporations to gather and analyze updated information about consumers, and the current status of the market. This process provides business owners opportunity to study their target markets. Consumer needs, purchasing habits, characteristics, likes, and dislikes are good predictors of market behavior.

Outsourced Call Center Services

Outsourced call center services conduct market research by gathering, processing, and interpreting primary data. It involves conducting interviews, surveys, and feedback from existing and potential clients. Moreover, examining secondary data (published researches and reports by private and government agencies, media networks, etc.) also provides a more elaborate understanding of market trends.

In other words, it gives companies insight on how their current products/services stand or appeal to consumers. Potentially, conducting a market research allows businesses to adjust their marketing approach. The goal is to develop new services that would best suit the needs and preferences of their target buyers, to reach out to clients, and to understand the competition.

Outsourced call center services is crucial in business development. Market research serves as a how-to guide in ensuring the feasibility of the business. It indicates whether or not a product or service will reach and attract the attention of consumers. As an important business process, serving as a weighing scale that maintains corporal balance. It’s safe to say successful corporations that have strong marketing strategies rely on the function of effective research.

Customized Service In Marketing: 3 Effective Online Lead Generation Techniques

Customized Service In Marketing: 3 Effective Online Lead Generation Techniques

/0 Comments/in , , /by

There is a massive global market you can tap into for better yield in marketing and financial growth. Even with customized service, can you still make it work using traditional cold calls, or the usual sales campaigns? Stimulate and capture interest in your company’s services and products. There are at least three effective online lead generation techniques you can implement. Use various digital channels to your advantage, and move your business ahead of the others.

You may have tried going through conventional outbound sales techniques. You may have even started generating inbound sales, and there are still dozens of new outlets available online. Considering convenience, accessibility, and target market reach, here are new ways to gain customers: website and search engine optimization, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and social media.

Website and Search Engine Optimization

With growing dependence on technology, it’s no wonder you can easily reach your target clients through customized service. Your company website is the best place to start.

Use customer-focused navigation for better understanding of your site’s content. Then, provide various call-to-action options throughout the site to further engage the visitors. Add buttons to subscribe, download, contact, and other functions. Use engaging visuals for content variety. Think like a customer and find ways to make your site more accessible.

After this, evaluate and implement proper search engine optimization (SEO) as part of your primary lead generation strategy. With heavy competition on the world wide web, it’s important your content is more visible to consumers. Fill your site with properly constructed articles, easily accessible through organic web searches. Once you gain good rankings in search results, you are going to find more prospective customers checking and remembering your services.

Pay-per-Click (PPC) Advertising

This practice has been tried and tested throughout various business portals, as well as customized service. The pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns remain effective in generating highly targeted traffic. This technique also has a high chance for lead conversions. Mostly ideal for new business in the digital marketing world, PPC can easily yield good results. Even though there are many people who don’t like this practice of generating “buying visits” to the site, it is still a reliable source for lead generation. One of the most popular forms of this is the search engine advertising.

Social Media Practices

An active community of social media users is by far a remarkable factor, which helps any business find the most effective sources for lead generation. The variety of unique platforms helps engage and connect you to your targeted, desired audience. Options in social media platforms are also helpful in creating a new digital marketing culture that strongly impacts the consumers’ buying behavior.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others present a promising medium that different businesses can benefit from. However, customized service and social media exposure are necessary to effectively make an exponential advantage for any business.

Three Benefits Of Service Offshoring In Implementing Data Management

Three Benefits Of Service Offshoring In Implementing Data Management

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Data management is all about the acquisition, validation, storage, protection, and processing of data. To be sure, service offshoring companies offer accessible, reliable security that always leads to the satisfaction of the end users. This is crucial in businesses; data should always be secure, yet accessible to the right parties. When properly implemented, data management guarantees benefits that can even save your company in critical situations.

Data Security

Data security is the outright benefit of implementing data management. Unattended data to may lead to multiple problems, including overloaded servers. This leads to data loss, which may prove fatal to business. Data management avoids all these by consolidating data, simultaneously purging the redundant and obsolete. Information that remains is  organized and archived. Data loss is prevented, or at least minimized. Business mishaps are less likely to happen.

Citation

It’s important information is attributed to a reliable source. Your business’s internal may be solid, but, left mismanaged, important fragments stray and become inaccessible. You’re left with a bulk of useless, corrupted information. Service offshoring in data management remedies this, ensuring all relevant data are visible and easy to pull out. Important data is separated and prioritized, making these easier to cite and use.

Cost-Efficient (Especially With Service Offshoring)

Errors incurred in a business costs time and resources; this is especially true when data is concerned. Using erroneous data can be troublesome, fixing the damage can cost a lot of money. That won’t be a problem with data management, where data goes through thorough validation process. Misused data can be corrected, and corrupted data is deleted.

Data management is beneficial to small and big businesses. Regardless of the scale of your business, you need organized data to be efficient and useful. Fortunately, you have plenty of service offshoring companies ensure your information is constantly optimized, usable, and most importantly, secure.

Companies Use Call Centers To Streamline The Process; How To Make The Most Of BPO For Your Business

Companies Use Call Centers To Streamline The Process; How To Make The Most Of BPO For Your Business

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Most companies use call centers to handle external processes, and for good reason. Doing everything in-house may not always be feasible. In some cases, it can even be unproductive. Often you’ll look for specialized teams to handle dedicated, short-term tasks. Call centers fill this need by leasing their adaptable, capable agents at your service.

Outsourcing can be the best solution in business processing. Are you struggling which aspect of your business to outsource, and to what extent? Are you anxious to test the waters, anxious to enlist agents to handle part your business? Here are three basic guidelines to ensure you’ll get a good head start:

1. Prioritize the essentials.

This will depend on the nature and scale of your business. Some companies use call centers to handle customer support, others hire staff for back-office tasks. Anything that picks up the pace of operations is considered a viable task to outsource. However, your resources may determine which processes are best done in-house, and which are best outsourced.

Consider your company’s mission in choosing which tasks to outsource. If your mission is to have an engaging, responsive brand, it makes sense to invest in website development. If your current priority is to create a solid product, you may need more hands on deck in software development.

2. Companies use call centers to handle support; nothing beats good referrals when looking for providers.

Referrals spare you the hassle of screening and testing a long list of providers. If you’re well-networked in the industry, then referrals should be your first sourcing option. This shouldn’t discredit old-fashioned shortlisting, though. To be fair, there are plenty of new and small providers who can handle complex tasks, who can hold their own against big competition.

Trade conventions, colleague socials, even golfing buddies are good sources for referrals. You can never underestimate a good recommendation, especially if it comes from someone you trust.

3. Maximize the specializations of the provider you choose.

Companies use call centers for various tasks. This is common practice, because providers prefer to hire staff skilled and able to multitask. Unfortunately, you’ll never know the extent of your provider’s capabilities if you never ask. Inquire about the scope of your prospect’s services, the nature of its clientele. There’s bound to be a new specialization you can leverage to further enhance your processes.

Providers typically cater to various industries. Foundational processes are often shared among these industries (with custom tweaks). Take advantage of your providers’ versatility and hire a staff who can deliver beyond the job description.

Three Notorious Misconceptions About The BPO Process, DEBUNKED (Part 2 of 2)

Three Notorious Misconceptions About The BPO Process, DEBUNKED (Part 2 of 2)

/2 Comments/in , , /by

In a previous blog post, we covered three misconceptions that prevent small businesses and start-ups from considering BPO process as solution. Did you find this shortlist familiar? It’s likely you have hesitations grounded on different reasons. This supplement aims to debunk more notions in your list.

Many businesses now streamline operations through BPO solutions. You’ll notice the first advantage is in the leased/outsourced manpower. You also save on overhead costs (literally), since the lease service includes its own office facilities by default. If these savings don’t convince you to hire a BPO provider, maybe debunking these three myths will help:

Editor’s note: click here for part 1 of this list.

Misconception #4: BPO Process Is Not For Start-ups

There’s the assumption start-ups are as streamlined as businesses get. Why consider BPO when you only have a skeleton crew to work with? It turns out many of the typical start-up’s tasks are routine, low priority, or repetitive. You have a lot to gain by delegating these tasks to a dedicated team, for a feasible cost.

It’s true larger companies outsource and lease business processes as regular practice, and with good reason. There are so many moving pieces in large operations, it’s more convenient to just hire a third-party to handle the routine tasks. Start-ups and small businesses are also staffed by core personnel, so they have goals and priorities down to pat. They know which processes to outsource, how to delegate, and how to keep the business lean.

Misconception #5: Leased Teams Are Unreliable

The reason behind this myth: leased staff often operate remotely. There’s also the saying that if you want anything done right, you should do it yourself. This is where it’s all the more important you choose the right BPO process provider to handle your campaign. Scout for the best handful of third-party providers, shortlist, and narrow these down to the competent few.

Visit your handpicked provider at their home office as formality, if you can. This is an advantage because you have opportunity to meet the leased team in person. You also get to meet with the supervisor assigned to the campaign. Even though all these are doable via teleconference, nothing beats spending time with your team in the same physical space.

Misconception #6: The Language And Culture Barrier

Offshore staff leasing often (if not always) involves working with teams based abroad. Often this also involves different culture and time zones. Sometimes, language is an obstacle. These need not prevent you from availing BPO process as solution, though. In countries where BPO is booming, competent, capable workforce is the default.

There’s expectation the team you’re hiring can adapt to the language requirement. Timezone is hardly ever a concern when you have staff rotating round the clock. Culture is also secondary to having a professional work ethic, which is requirement regardless of culture or location.

Hiring a BPO process provider can be the best way to streamline your small business or start-up. The advantages are too numerous, and you have everything to gain from lean and cost-effective operations.

Your BPO Process Destination: 5 Strengths of PH Business Sector

Your BPO Process Destination: 5 Strengths of PH Business Sector

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Research was published on dict.gov.ph, “Philippine Roadmap for Digital Startups: 2015 and Beyond.” This aims to generate BPO process providers that will greatly help the country’s economic growth. One of the points mentioned in the research is the SWOT analysis of the Philippines. This is used in measuring the growth and development of country’s economy.

“Philippine Roadmap for Digital Startups: 2015 and Beyond” stated these five strengths of the Philippine business sector:

1.Strong Tourism Initiatives

In 2012, the Department of Tourism in 2012 launched its campaign “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.” This aimed to immerse tourists in Filipino culture, in the form of destinations, people, and experiences. The campaign brought 10% growth in total earnings of US$4.84 billion, exceeding previous year’s earning of US$4.40 billion.

2. Proficiency in the English Language

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores in 2010 showed that the Philippines ranked 35th out of 163 countries worldwide. This is according to the Educational Testing Services Report. The Philippines also ranked first in Business English Proficiency, based on a study by the Global English Corporation. This language proficiency allows Filipinos to attain jobs that need strong proficiency in English language, especially in BPO process.

3. This Generation’s Population

As of 2014, the Philippines has one of the youngest populations in Southeast Asia. 60% of this population range 15-64 years old. This rate indicates that with young working population and fewer dependents, household income devoted for consumer spending and investments can increase.

4. Competitiveness in BPO Industry

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry contributes 4% to the Philippines’ GDP for its sustainable growth, in terms of industry size of at least 17% every year from 2006-2011. The Philippines also ranked 2nd among other countries in BPO process, next to India. According to the latest Tholons’ Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations for 2015, Philippines now has eight Next Wave Cities location from which Manila and Cebu City remained in the top 10. Other Philippine spots in the Top 100 are Davao, Santa Rosa (Laguna), Bacolod, Iloilo, Baguio, and Metro Clark.

5. Business Climate Best for BPO Process

According to the ASEAN Business Outlook Survey of 2015, the Philippines’ business climate has greatly improved over the past five years. American firms that were surveyed say low cost of labor, laws and regulations, personal security, and tax structure are among the satisfactory considerations.

Considering these five strengths, BPO process in the country will only progress in the coming years. The Philippines possesses developed hubs, as well as professionals who are always available as sourcing prospects.