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Why Outsource to the Philippines?

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A few years back, when you talk about outsourcing, Philippines was not the first destination that comes into mind. When foreign investors look for stable countries to build their call center, the Philippines was not the first choice either. But there were bold ones who tried outsourcing to the country and are now enjoying the success from the risk they have taken.

While India still remains as the top destination for IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing (BPO), Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are also making big progress. But on top of all the popular Asian countries for outsourcing, the most headway has consistently been the Philippines.

Government Support

As the country continues to excel in BPO, the government of the Philippines has been helping foreign investors in order to attract more. Like what former Fidel V. Ramos did when he help improved the country’s power supply infrastructure and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who implemented a number of tax exemptions (CCAP, 2012).

The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (BIPAP) even created a 2011-2016 roadmap to promote the competitive advantages and the growth potential of the Philippines outsourcing industry and forecasted to generate a revenue of $25 billion in 2016 which is 10% of the global market share.

The Board of Investments (BOI) has developed incentive schemes which include an income tax holiday of 6 years for pioneer enterprises and 4 years for non-pioneers, and a deduction of 50% from taxable income of labour expenses.

While the Department of Education (DepEd) continuously develop new strategies to improve the education and training of students in order to produce qualified graduates for the labour market.

Technology and Culture Compatibility

Outsourcing in the Philippines also grants investors with employees who are culturally aware and updated with the latest technologies and trends. Filipinos are natural adopters of what’s new in the market and their environment not just for personal gain but also for career leverage.

Reduced Management Responsibilities

Because BPO companies in the country also compete with each other, more and more outsourcing firms in the Philippine are developing new and wider solutions for their clients like offering a free supervisor or manager to each of their clients. Plus, the administrative responsibilities fall under the care of the service provider allowing their clients to focus more on the core competencies of their business.

Language Barrier is Not an Issue

The Philippines has adapted English as its second language, including English as a subject as early as elementary. It even attracted other Asian counties like Korea, China and Japan to study English in the Philippines because of the quality of education. It even caught the attention of countries like Iran, Libya, Brazil and Russia because learning English in the Philippines is cheaper compared to the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

The Filipino’s fluent American accent may have been influenced by the US when they colonized the country, but it’s the country itself that dedicated its resources and attention to retain the English language after the Americans had left.

Highly Skilled and Readily Available Workforce

Outsourcing companies in the Philippines have developed specific training programs to help their countrymen qualify for job openings in the BPO industry and simultaneously supply manpower demands from their foreign clients. Colleges and Universities in the country also provide courses for jobs that are in demand today such as creative design, animation, multimedia arts and many more. It eliminates the time and money for training new employees.

Cost Savings

Due to conversion rates, dollar to peso, Philippines outsourcing has become more attractive to foreign investors. The internet infrastructure of the country may still need a lot of work but between salaries, benefits and operational overhead costs Filipino workers are still cheaper compared to their western counterparts. A business owner can easily build a team of call center agents or data entry specialists in the Philippines without having to invest a lot.

When to Outsource Your Help Desk?

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In any way you look at it, outsourcing your help desk is not an easy task, considering to outsource it is even harder. So every time you ask yourself when is the time to outsource, make sure you are going to do it for the right reasons.

Some companies have complex business models wherein their help desk agents can grow big only during peak seasons. While some companies only need a handful of help desk agents but do not want to build their own call center, they want to focus more on the quality of their products and services, therefore outsource them to the experts.

When the Cost Is Way Too High For Your Business to Support

New office space, equipments, chairs, tables or cubicles and even software are needed when expanding, and it can cause a lot of strain in your budget. It even cost more when customer service needs to be around the clock 24/7. Outsourcing your help desk agents erases all of that.

Outsourcing firms also thrives to be the best in their field; therefore they are always equipped with the latest technologies available in the market. Hardware and software upgrades will never be an issue.

When You Lose Sight of Your Main Goal

Customer care is important for your business but sometimes it can make you lose your focus and steer you away from the right path. It can also take so much of your time which you could have spent improving your products. Newbie entrepreneurs tend to lose valuable time because they try to manage everything, thinking they can. Outsourcing your help desk to the right third party provider can help you overcome this issue.

When Customer Service Isn’t Helping At All

You want to make a better product for consumers and a better service for your clients, but managing a help desk department is not your expertise. Hiring a third party provider, an outsourcing firm that specializes in call support, can be a wise decision if done right. They can provide you with highly skilled help desk agents who had real experience in helping customers through the phone.

When you have finally decided to outsource, do consider partnering with the right outsourcing firm that can help you improve customer satisfaction. Don’t just hire someone outside to take calls for you, establish metrics so you can determine if the partnership is successful or not.

Hiring Your First Offshore Employee – Outsourcing Tips for Beginners

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Outsourcing may sound easier to set-up compared to offshore outsourcing, but really, both share the same patterns of success and failure. What’s important is that you must have a well thought out plan.

After all the tiring research and canvassing you’ve done on all the offshore outsourcing partners that pique your interest, there’s still one more thing to do before you can hire your first offshore employee; signing the contract.

The Agreement

Offshore outsourcing companies will present you their contract for review and approval. They might offer you two types of services; staff leasing or project-based. Choose one and if everything in it goes well with your plan, sign it! But if you’re striking a deal with an offshore freelancer, you must remember to deal only with the one who has the highest probability of delivering what you asked for. That’s why prior research and a bit of investigation are important.

Here are some of the common problems with offshore freelancers you might encounter.

  1.  No contract that binds him to his responsibilities;
  2. Skill level on prospects’ online resume isn’t always what it seems;
  3. The risk of data security – your offshore employee might not have the best protection system in place;
  4. How you’re going to send him your payment if he doesn’t have a Paypal account; and
  5. Not 100% committed to your project due to multiple clients – for some, it depends on how much you’re paying him.

Take note of the above if none of those ever crossed your mind before!

Getting Started

Now that you have an offshore employee, you can get started.

The most important part of getting your projects done right is communication. If you chose offshore staff leasing or project-based with a third party company, expect that communication will be smooth because they will be the ones to contact you regularly. But if you opted for the offshore freelancer; there’s Email, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and even Facebook, use all tools available if those will get the job done correct and on time!

Assigning the Project. It will be very helpful if you list down all the projects for your offshore employee, sit down with him on a live chat or Skype video call so you can do a bit of demonstration yourself.

Daily Reports. It is also important that you require him to send you daily updates at the end of his shift, a summary of the progress will do. Get daily reports via DropBox or any other online tool you feel comfortable using.

Provide Positive Reinforcement. Every now and then problems will occur during the development of your project, you will get sad and angry, but do not hurdle the tension and frustration to your offshore employee. Instead, provide yourself with positive reinforcement. Your employee is also human, he gets hurt and the work he does for you might get affected if you pressure him too much. If the problem is too big to handle, take a break and discuss the solution with your offshore employee.

Be Always Available. Accidents happen and most of the time without a warning. So be sure you can easily be reached.

Payment for the Services. You can have your offshore employee work for you full-time or part-time, depends on how much is the work load. But when it comes to payment, I would suggest that you do not to pay in advance for offshore freelancers. You may pay in advance to third party outsourcing companies if you feel comfortable about it, they’re easier to locate and contact compared to a freelancer who has no physical address.

Over-all, offshore outsourcing is really a matter of choice, for most businesses today, it’s a matter of cutting down costs. You may find equally competent professionals in your own country, you may hire them or not, it truly depends on your decision. But if you do decide to outsource parts of your business, make sure you do it the right way. Take time in reading success stories of businesses that have outsourced to the country you’re interested in. While online, take down important notes and digest the tips provided to you by others, never pass the chance of learning more about offshore outsourcing even if you think you’ve already gone through all the nooks.