Customer Service King

Despite of the government’s effort to improve their citizen’s skills to decrease unemployment, knowing that the call center industry has been growing, the root cause for the lack of qualified agents would be the lack of support on its public education.   

It’s embarrassing to say that there are English teachers who don’t even know the basics of grammar and the accent is thick, you can barely understand them.

JIIB e-Academy, a training center whose niche’ is to train potential call center agents has helped bridge this gap.  They’ve spread their wings to help the academe by training teachers in public schools in Davao on English proficiency.

What a great strategy and is truly beneficial not only for the industry, but to other industries as well.

Quality scores are higher, there is a significant shorter learning curve and metrics overall are better than their Manila counterparts.  Even their English skills are better and they are more engaged with their customers.

Along with my managers, we monitored our newly hired Davao agents (relocated to Manila) on performance from day 1.  We checked their absenteeism rate, attrition, training metrics, OJT stats and ongoing performance on the production floor.  To our amazement, they’ve surpassed our expectations.

Unlike other provinces, Davao has less than 10 call centers and only about two of the big outsourcers have set up their centers there.  It is currently being used as a recruitment ground for Cebu, Iloilo and Manila requirements, but officials are encouraging the big players to set up permanently.

A blogger shared his experience while he was out shopping at a common mall.  He planned to go around and probably meet friends and just hang out, but to his surprise he was approached by a call center recruiter with a flyer in hand.

This isn’t new to the business.  It has been going on for years and still a viable option for a lot of outsourced centers.  Due to saturation and lack of qualified people, a common strategy is to go where the masses go and hope to get someone you can easily train and is interested in becoming an agent.

What disappoints me would be the attitude and how recruiters conduct themselves in the mall.

A colleague decided to drop by at our booth to help out.  From afar, she noticed that the person in charge wasn’t even making an effort.  She looked bored.  When someone went to the booth to look at the flyers, she approached the possible candidate but didn’t even smile.  No warm welcome.

Back in the day when I was still an agent, my metrics were about three maximum.  Average Handle Time (AHT), Schedule Adherence and Quality.  Now agents have to deal with 5 or more metrics.  Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) was introduced and First Call Resolution (FCR) emerged to say the least.

Being a team leader, the ratio usually is at 1:12 or even 1:15 for some centers.  Can you imagine your supervisor handling 15 people and have to constantly monitor and coach to tons of metrics?

More often supervisors are expected to summarize their team’s performance, ergo having to spend most of their time generating reports on a weekly basis.  They spend hours on end to meet coaching schedules, team meetings, additional training plus generating reports.  The biggest excuse for not coaching their agents would be the latter.

You can’t do away with reports so what does a team leader have to do?

As of this writing, the Philippine Peso is around P40.56 to a US dollar.  Just a few months back it was in the 50s.  This has affected businesses that relied on the high exchange rate, including outsourced call centers.

What effects have been felt?

Salaries are getting higher these days and this doesn’t help the company’s bottom line.  Usually this wasn’t a problem because outsourced centers would usually get it from the foreign exchange gain they receive due to the high exchange rate.  Now, it isn’t the case.

This affects this year’s budget, which will include incentives, freebies for employees, travel to client’s sites for meetings, team buildings, parties and even training.

Call center management used to approve additional labor to help improve performance and keep up with the pace but now this is being scrutinized and have to be justified, ending in declining the recommendation.

As the industry grows in the Philippines, everyone knows we have reached a saturation point in the Metro areas.  A couple of years ago, the President invested millions for a program to give Filipinos a chance to enroll into a TESDA accredited training session to improve their English skills.

Now, we see more agencies and union groups offering the same.  A lot of Call Center 101 courses have sprouted all over.  Even the academe has started to join the bandwagon.

Though I would say this is great news, it will take time until they become eligible or qualified to enter the industry.  More investors are still coming in and yet, time is the biggest challenge.

One thing to note is to check the standards of the training being offered.  If I had the time, I would like to check their curriculum. 

Is it as basic as we expect it to be offered to call center “virgins”?  How effective is the training?  Who are training them?  Do the trainers even have enough experience to teach?  Is there a consultant in their payroll to say they are indeed helping the industry cope with its demands?

The next time you see an ad offering the courses, I recommend you ask these questions.  You will find it helpful and will increase your confidence on getting a job pretty quickly.

The opening spiel is the most common sentence spoken by every agent all over the world.  It always starts with “Thank you for calling (company name), this is (name), how may I help you?”  If it’s outbound, then “Hi, this is (name) from (company name)."

But this spiel, however mundane it is and often ignored, is critical to avoid getting scammed.

A story that broke out a few months back has now resurfaced in the news.  There were consumers who were scammed or even forced to pay high rates for a simple locksmith job.  You get locked out of your house or car and you call your local locksmith to help you out, but on the contrary you ring a call center that is not even within your neighborhood.  Though this in-house center was legitimate with agents working round the clock, there was something suspicious about how they answered their calls.

“Thanks for calling. Locksmith.”  That wasn’t a company name.  It was just Locksmith.  Since it was a generic company fooling someone into thinking they called their local store, it wasn’t.

Interestingly enough, the newscaster’s first tip to viewers was to listen to the opening spiel and make sure that it was a legitimate company.

So, remember, even if the opening spiel seem insignificant to the call, it may save you from wasting time and money over a simple request.   Listen to it intently and appreciate the fact the company name is in there.

It has been a couple of years since the interest grew for people to work at home as call center agents.  It is still growing, not only from within the industry, but is now seen as a home based business.  All types of entrepreneurs are now looking at starting up their company “in their pajamas".

INC.COM, a website for Inc. magazine, listed the “Top 10 Businesses You Can Start in Your Pajamas in 2008”.  Being a call center representative ranks # 5 and a Virtual Reservation Agent is # 4 in their list.

Companies like JetBlue and Marriott Global Reservations have offered this option to the workforce, but according to INC.COM, entrepreneurs who intend to open their own agency would start out at home instead, being their own agent.

While I was busy looking for gifts last Christmas, I saw a book that was displayed in a bookstore that instantly made me go in and buy 2 copies.  When I started reading and was not even done with the first chapter, I called the bookstore and reserved 10 more to be given as gifts to all my managers and the big bosses.

I gave the second copy to our Six Sigma Director, a black belt.  I remember when we had a conversation and he stated, “We are spending too much on emotions and should focus on processes.”  I felt a chill in my spine and just stared at him in disbelief.  I knew the book was the perfect gift for him, hoping he would see the light!

Human Sigma authored by John H. Fleming, Ph.D. and Jim Asplund has not only validated what I’ve always believed in but it has revolutionized how actual metrics can be used to improve service across the industry. 

As the world celebrates the beginning of a new year, cheers to those who are working their shift during this occasion.

A big toast to those who have contributed, whether big or small, that made the Call Center industry as it is now.  Because of your passion and dedication, this industry has grown and lived through tough times and have celebrated victories as well.

I only wish for it to flourish even more, to learn from the past and move on to greater possibilities and innovation.

Thank you for those who have provided excellent products and service, through phone or email.  A great appreciation goes out to the agents, for they are truly the assets to this industry.

Management, start listening to both your customers and employees and have everyone engaged!  This is the secret to your success for the coming year and onwards.

HAPPY 2008 EVERYONE! CHEERS!