Call Center Etiquette

By Roberto Bacasong
Company Writer
Call Center in the Philippines
Unique Interaction

The outsourcing industry is kicking and alive in the Philippines. There are so many reasons why this industry continues to gain reputation in which the Filipino excellent in customer service is a plus factor.

If you talk on the phone, the first thing you need to observe is your etiquette. If you defined this word from the dictionary refers to the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life. No matter what we do we need to show respect to people we encounter every day. We need to show dignity to our family, friends, coworkers, and acquainted individuals.

Good breeding in talking to customers especially in the voice account (or call center) is the reason why outsourcing industry is famous in the Philippines. The industry rapidly grown and the number of employment reach to thousands of opportunities to every Filipino. Perhaps, a call center in the Philippines cannot survive without partnership with the customers. The smooth relationship between the agents and the customers will bring success and development to every contact centers operating in any parts of the world.

If you own a contact center, you need to make sure that you are monitoring the way your agents deal your customers over the phone. A simple expression of happiness when your agent is talking to your customers is a way that he or she deals accordingly with their clients. Establishing rapport to your customers can express in so many ways like saying: "Thank you for calling...", "You have a great day..." "May I put you on hold for a quick sec..." and many other rapport your agents build.

Saying these simple lines when talking to customer is paying great respect, and how important are they in your business. The tone of your agents' voice should be calm and well balance when they start receiving calls from the customers. Call center managers, team leaders, and quality analysts see to it that they monitor the calls coming in everyday. Customers are usually upset because they'd been on the phone for 30 minutes and worst to one-hour of waiting. Sometimes we can't avoid that we will be receiving volume of calls in just a day including number of call waiting. As much as possible, imposed the policy of call handling time which is minimum to 10 minutes per customer.

Customers who are showing expression of irate on the phone is not a good indication from start talking to the customer up to the end. This is a stressful situation especially to a new agent. However, in due time your agent will going to learn effective way of giving solution to every customer they encounter. We oftentimes received negative comment from the customers that the agents did not help them because of language or accent problem. Clarity on the phone is also a plus factor. The agents should speak clearly, as they could to avoid negative remarks from the customers.

If your agent cannot handle the situation, better call the attention of the supervisor to let the call handle properly. Showing sensitive care like empathy and putting yourself on their shoes will lessen the tension between you and the customer. Customers like to be pleased because they are frustrated with the product or they discovered overcharged in their billing. They need explanation and solution to the problem they have. Attention and better approach will cause fantastic resolution to the conflict.

Treating your customers above the rest will always put your business up and running. Proper etiquette will build trust to your customers that your customer service people are the best in the world. Valuing your career in contact centers is very important. An ideal contact center is a model in solving the communication barrier between your skilled people and your customers.

Teach your people to smile all the time whenever they are on the phone. Encourage them to avoid slacking off on the floor, instead make them useful and effective at the end of the day.*

Choosing The Best Clients In The Outsourcing Business

By Roberto Bacasong
Company Writer
Call Center in the Philippines
Unique Interaction

ANY type of business is weak without the support of the customers or your clients. The customers or the clients are the lifeblood for your company's to survive in the high demand of competition. At the same time, your business is ineffective if you have a hard time dealing with your clients.

Because outsourcing is word of mouth today, as a company owner you need to have a client whom you can deal smoothly in terms of business proposals, planning and development. There should be a symbiotic relationship between the owner, the lessees, and the employees.

If you own a small type of outsourcing offering flexible services like seat leasing, inbound and outbound, chat support, and web content writing, you need to have a primordial plan in which your clients will able to understand the terms and conditions if they're interested to use your facilities. A lot of outsourcing companies are suffering tremendously because they partnered to weak clients.

In the Philippines, for instance, several outsourcing companies are providing services to their clients in a way of helping their account to survive. In choosing for the clients, every businessman who has call Center Company must do a strict background check on the type of client you have.

It means that it is important that the owner should ask for the locator's type of account whether it is genuine and really existing. Avoid dealing with clients who refused to cooperate with you in terms of asking some important documents that you need to look over. This is only to make sure that you are dealing with the right client.

If you're done verifying the information of your customer, it's time for you to explain to your client about the type of services you have. Give the website of your company and let your client browse it and if he or she has question, explain it to make it clear and understanding.

As a businessman, you need to be sensitive with the needs of your clients. Don't forget to conduct follow-up report on the proposal and the update of your clients need. Making a business deal is not a joke, it entails serious effort and deeper analysis especially on the policies that your clients to understand. You also need to bring your clients to your company and let them discover for themselves that you have great facilities and equipment needed in their call center business. Do your best to convince you clients that your services are one of a kind and operating better.

Frustrations are common in all types of business. Sometimes this happen if the owner of the company failed to assist and help their clients. Always stay open communication with your clients and ask them if they have concerns. If the business is officially sealed, make sure that your clients should understand that they have obligations like paying the services they are using.

Your company should always serve as model to your clients. By implementing effective policies and regulations will serve as backbone in strengthening your company. The relationship between you and your client must only deal with business only and not involve private matters.

If you are searching for clients to work in your company, you can advertise it in your website using effective advertising strategy to allow your potential clients arrange a business proposal.*

You Have A Problem? Dial Customer Service Hotline Number

By Roberto Bacasong
Company Writer
Call Center in the Philippines
Unique Interaction

TODAY, the simple and effective way of solving problems of the customers is through telephoning system. People are now aware of the importance of a particular customer service hotline number. If you have complained about defective products, the best way to approach is to call the customer hotline number and get connected with the friendly customer service representative.

The hotline number is a toll free and operates 24 hours to allow clients access it anytime. Because of the demand of customer service, outsourcing companies depend mostly on their clients. They can't live without their clients. They can't survive from the competition without the support of their customers. If you purchase a product online, or prefer to update your billings such as your credit cards, cable television, and other support services, dialing the customer service airing your concerns are the meaningful step to do.

The American consumers are very vocal in complaining if they found out they purchased defective products. They pissed because they bought the product and paid huge amount of dollars but in return the products failed to meet their expectations. This is the reason why a lot of customer service representatives are receiving American callers handling different concerns, and almost 90 percent of these customers are irate. Off-shoring business through the lucrative BPO (business process outsourcing) provides highly affordable services. The high rate in the United States prompted international investors to prefer off-shoring their company in different country.

The Philippines is the preferred target of the investors because of the viable facilities with talented pool of people to cater the concerns of the customers. The ability of every Filipino to blend with the angry customers received recommendable approval from the investors.

Training to speak like American way is not a problem. Filipinos can speak English fluently. English is the first language in the country and preferred to be as priority language in every school institutions in the Philippines. A call center in the Philippines provides the best in the world of outsourcing. The agents are trained on handling friendly and difficult customers anytime.

As a client, they'll experience the treatment they want. Their concerned is always put on priority list no matter what happen. Customers from all walks of life value the importance of a contact center because it gives them the opportunity to be heard right away. Even in a very simple case to case problem, Filipino agents are polite, courteous and know how to empathize with their customer they encountered.

Talking and giving feedback to every customer is no joke. This is a job which the agents must equip with values and respect to his or her customer. In the span of few years, the outsourcing industry in the Philippines is now fast developing with billions of pesos revenue contributed to the country's revenue. The supports from the Philippine government also help the investors and contact center companies expand their businesses in the country. The growth of the customer service is attributed to wonderful use of advanced technology, the agents, and the strong guidance from the government agencies.

The next time you have a problem. Get your telephone and dial the hotline numbers of a certain company and let your information be heard and given fair solution. Customer service oriented people are reachable anytime with no hassle and waste of time.*

Call Center 101 - How To Be Effective Telemarketers

By Roberto Bacasong
Company Writer
Call Center in the Philippines
Unique Interaction

The success of your outbound company will not only depend in your customers, but a great portion of it will depend on how effective your telemarketers in selling and promoting your business.

The company is weak if your agents are incompetent in handling their customers. At the end of the day, there's no potential sales reach by your agents this may lead to the termination of your account. There's lot of outbound companies survived from strong competition despite the ups and downs of the business.

Outbound call center companies should provide proper training to their hired applicants. Products knowledge is very important in helping your trainees evaluate their skills. Since telemarketers are entirely depending on the script, you need to make a script which is very reliable including active rebuttals which allow your agents to reply with their customers immediately.

If you'd been working in call center both inbound and outbound, you then have the potentials because you have substantial idea about the ins and outs of the industry. You have the edge from the other applicants because you can speak fluently with good intonation, accent, and sentence construction.

As a telemarketer, you need to be polite with your customers. Try to deliver your sweetest "hi" and "hello" as part of your delightful opening pitch. Get their attention with your strong communication skills combined with respectful intonation. In talking to your customers, be sure to introduce yourself first and address them in their first name or last name and not calling them "sir" or "ma'am."

Proper timing is necessary in building rapport with your customers. It is unpleasant to hear that your agents are hunger to get sales during their shift. Their performance depend mostly on how effective are they in promoting the products of your company. If they failed to get sales within a week, contact centers usually end their terms of service.

However, we need to acknowledge that the goal of the outbound which is synonymous to telemarketing is not only selling the value of their product. Contact center companies offering outbound should see to it that they have great line qualities, equipment, and good leads all the time. No matter they've got the best agents but the operation will be affected due to the poor communication barrier.

The agents should know how to explain to their customers on the benefits of the products their customers are going to avail. Avoid giving them false information because it will lead to serious dilemma and affects the welfare of your company. No more customers will listen to your agents if this horrible negative information will not be resolved right away.

Explain to your customers that they're going to enjoy the products they'll purchase from your company. If your company is offering vacation package, tell your customers nicely that exploring the paradise in Caribbean regions, Paris, Las Vegas, Mexico and other destinations are the best in the world. People born to be a marketer enjoy the privilege that they receive from working in a call center.

Meanwhile, not all customers will like the package you offer. Sometimes despite you give your best foot forward in convincing your customers, they're bit apprehensive, as they need to consult their wife or husband for the approval. If the scenario goes like this, you may approach your customers if when would be the best time for you to call back. As an agent, you need to listen very carefully while your customers are talking to you.

Active listening is very important in a telephoning technology. The common problem of the agents is their failure to listen to the welfare of their customers. Be sensitive enough in dealing with your customers all the time. If they declined your call, you can still wait for the next row of your customers. Don't throw invective words and berate your customers if they refused to receive your service. Always maintain your politeness by saying "Thank you for taking my call", and also, you can include "have nice day!"

Further, don't forget to smile and exercise your energetic voice because a lot of customers out there are waiting for you. You need to be positive all the time in achieving your goal. Avoid slacking off, instead try to handle your customers as if you're just talking with them in a face to face basis.*

Outbound Outsourcing In The Philippines

By Roberto Bacasong
Company Writer
Call Center in the Philippines
Unique Interaction

Aside from inbound call center, the best effective way of promoting your product on the phone is using the technology of outbound call center, which is widely operational in the Philippines outsourcing industry. Outbound calling may refers to phone calls made by a contact center company to a specified list of contacts. This dimensional telephoning system is commonly used in selling, telemarketing, and other wonderful benefits using the state-of-the-art technology.

In the Philippines BPO (business process outsourcing) sectors, contact center companies are offering outbound services to help people across the world choosing the best products in the convenient and easiest way without hassle. How is this usually done? Some homeowners as far as the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and Canada are receiving unexpected calls wondering how their home phone numbers included to a certain contact list of the telemarketing companies.

Basically, your number usually included in the list once it was placed to numerous phone directories. Numerous phone books are generated by the telemarketing companies getting the names of the possible customers. There are also called Internet-based phone directories in which contains private numbers of the customers. And also, some customers provide their phone numbers on a subscription form or mail order coupon, which in return their number is classified as future leads.

Telemarketing is the fastest technology offering online services to the customers. The trained and qualified outbound agents are responsible for convincing the customers to purchase the products. Usually if the customers are interested to the offer, the conversation will be intimately sealed to a deal, which is referred as legitimate sale. Outbound agents are offering different types of services such as travel package, mobile phones, mortgage, medical assistance, financial processing, home securities, and a lot more.

The persons hired as agents are placed in cocoon training for a week, or maybe a month before they deployed to take calls. Selling on the phone requires magical effort. Oftentimes, homeowners are pissed off because they are not interested in the products they offered to them. However, effective rebuttals and conversationalist agents got the customers positive thumbs up sign.

According to Kristine Yvette Jocson, team leader of an outbound Australian mortgage account disclosed that language barrier is the common problem why the customers are not interested in purchasing the products.

The 20-year-old Jocson is one of the top sellers in their account before she was promoted for the position. "Communications skills of the agents are very important in getting the interest of the customers. Many potential customers turned down the offer because they have a hard time understanding the accents of the agents." In order to achieve our target, we explain to the customers about the benefits of our product which are not offered in their current mortgage. We help them (customers) understand that our mortgage is much better compared to their current one, Ms. Jocson. She further said that they respect the welfare of the customers once they are not interested in the product they offered.

Aside from the basic salary, the agents are receiving spiffs if the agents got the first sale from the start of the shift. Bigger commissions which are sometimes higher to their basic pay are the most beneficial things offered to the agents. Some companies provide freebies and awards by recognizing the best telemarketers in a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, largest contact centers prefer to employ Filipino telemarketers because of their etiquette and good accent in dealing with the customers. To date, thousands of outbound call centers transformed this industry into cost-saving promotional sales using telephoning communication. Filipino agents are the best customer service in the world because of their multi-cultural background from the past.*

Call Center 101 - How To Get Hired Immediately

By Roberto L. Bacasong,
Company writer for Call Center Philippines Unique Interaction

IT'S nice to work in a highly regulated company like call center. Discovering the world of call center is interesting because you get to learn maintaining your stamina in talking to customers over the phone for at least 8 hours. Call Center 101 will help you understands the real picture of call center works. This article will provide informative insights of what is really happening inside the call center industry.

For those people who have interest in working to call center must know first some helpful guidelines. When you're looking for a job, yuppie workers preferred the call center it offers a high paying job. This is true because majority of contact centers operating in the Philippines offers competitive salary and benefits to thousands of their employees. The attractive package compelled new graduates or professional workers to apply and leave their current job to shift for a new career.

Call Center 101 will help the applicants passing the interview with flying colors and get the job in just a day. The first stage is usually the interview process. This is a fundamental and standard operating procedure which every applicant should undergo. Every call center in the Philippines has very keen human resource officers responsible for screening all the applicants in the initial interview. When the HRO is conducting an interview, you as applicant should answer the questions directly. Since your goal is to flawlessly get the job, you need to speak fluently as you can. You don't need to slang your intonation and diction which hampers you to speak thoroughly. The applicants must need to have focus and concentrations and listen very carefully to the questions being asked from you. Say anything you want to say provided your response is related to the main topic asked by the interviewee. Most o the applicants failed to make it in the initial interview because they are intimidated and nervous when the HR started asking questions on them. If you maintain your coolness and appearance, no doubt you'll move on to the next stage which is examination.

After the initial interview, the successful passers will proceed directly to take a written examination. The examinations mainly focused on vocabulary, English grammar, little of math, and computer test. If you have a scheduled interview, you need to review or better buy a grammar book catering English subject. This is very important because the applicants must pass the test before moving again to the next level. No matter how intelligent we are, it's better that somehow we need to be prepared all the time.

If you pass the exam, there are call center companies that the applicants should undergo call simulation. In call simulation, the applicants must answer the call from the company's representative and carefully listen and address the concerns of the caller. This stage is crucial, if you make it to the first and second stage of the exam, you should try your best to pass the call simulation test, otherwise, your application will not endorse to the final stage. Basically, in call simulation the caller will provide a situation and test your ability in giving quick and substantial tips in solving the situation. The applicants should observe courtesy, politeness and courteous like talking to the real customers. Always make sure to empathize with your customers no matter how angry they are. When the customers are irate, don't shout at them. Listen to every detail because they are looking for someone who will understand them. And also, learn from your friends. I'm sure you have couple of friends working in call center.

After the tough stage, your application having good remarks will be endorsed to the final interview in which a couple of managers will grill and test your ability. This stage is considered a near hire process, however, be aware of the words you replied to the interviewers. Show your willingness and your desire that you are the best candidate which the company should employ. In addition, don't be surprised if you found out that these managers are around your age bracket. In call center, every employee has future and promising career. These people are promoted because their skills are exceptional and their performances are amazing. In the final stage, usually the managers are going to ask you about little information about yourself, and they're going to test your speaking ability.

When you pass the hiring process, you are going to sign a contract and definitely scheduled for training. The training usually involves Basic English and product training in which the hired agents will learn the background of a particular account. Learning all these pieces of information help you stay in this industry. Sooner or later, you found yourself in the list of the supervisors or managers because of your outstanding performance in handling the customers.

Learning the Call Center 101 is the best way for you to get hired easily. Always put your best foot forward in achieving your goal in life. Help yourself move on to the supervisory level by avoid slacking off the floor.*