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PITON Staying Ahead Series
A Look at Offshore Call Center Outsourcing Firms in the Philippines
As they face increasing operational and labor costs, large corporations especially in the United States turn to outsourcing some of their business processes such as call center operations to offshore locations like the Philippines where costs are much lower.
Offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines form the most dynamic sector in the business process outsourcing industry in the country. From 2000 to 2004, the industry reflected 100 percent year-over-year growth in terms of the number of people employed. Today, there are over 100,000 call center professionals working in more than 100 offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines.
Large call centers have reported 100 percent growth with about 100 new recruits every week. The call center industry is not only one of the major sources of employment in the country but is also one of the largest sources of revenues with over US$ 1 billion generated in 2005.
ith less than a decade of existence, offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines have proven its call center capabilities. Among the advantages of an offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines are:
- A large labor force that has strong command of American English and an affinity with the culture of the United States, which is definite advantage since 90 percent of call center clients are American companies. These advantages make it easy to train Filipinos in American voice/accent and culture and greatly minimize language barriers.
- The presence of robust yet cost-effective telecommunications infrastructure in the country, which is very important since internet technology enables offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines
- The availability of quality and affordable real estate
- Tax incentives given by the Philippine government to foreign investors
- Offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines has relatively low employee turnover rates compared to call centers in other countries
- The quality of life in the Philippines is quite good and appeals to many expatriates
Some of the largest offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines are domestic companies such as those owned by domestic telecoms companies. Other call centers that are operating in Manila have their main headquarters in the United States.
Multinational companies mainly from the United States and some from countries like Australia have also established their offshore call center outsourcing firms in the country. The number of seats in most offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines can range from 500 to about 5000.
Offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines provide a wide range of customer support services including customer care, technical support, financial services, and travel services. Offshore call center outsourcing firms Philippines handle both inbound and outbound calls.
A typical offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines operates three shifts to provide 24/7 customer support to clients. Given the 12-hour time difference between the United States and the Philippines, most call center agents work in graveyard shifts, usually from midnight to 8 am, when it is daytime in the United States. Call center agents receive night shift differentials in addition to their basic pay.
Recruitment
In general, an offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines looks for the following skills in a call center representative: excellent English communication skills, customer service skills and problem-solving skills. The Filipino workforce – English and IT proficient, college-educated and service oriented – possess all of these skills. Indeed, global companies looking for an offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines are finding an abundance of skills in the country.
An offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines conducts rigorous recruitment process to ensure that only the most competent and dedicated individuals are hired. Typically, the recruitment process starts with phone screening, which is essential to determine how well the applicant sounds over the phone in terms of voice quality and response.
If the applicant passes the phone screening stage, a schedule for an initial interview will be set. At this stage, the recruitment team evaluates the applicant’s communication skills and attitude. Applicants must be able to express themselves clearly and in a confident manner. Those who succeed in the second stage undergo a series of tests including aptitude tests, typing tests, call simulations and etcetera.
During the final interview, the recruitment team evaluates specific skills of the applicant such as customer service skills, technical skills or sales and marketing skills. For many offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines that are managing several client accounts, this helps determine if an individual is best suited to a customer service account, sales account or technical support account.
Training
Successful applicants must complete call center training before taking actual or live calls. Typically, training in an offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines takes one month to include English and accent training, customer service skills training and product/service-specific training. Throughout the training period, there are numerous exams and call simulations given.
By the end of the training program, trainees listen to actual calls by call representatives on the floor and take live calls themselves with the assistance of coaches. Offshore call center outsourcing firm Philippines continually provide training and refresher courses to call center agents to maintain service quality and keep them up-dated on the technology upgrades and the latest product and service offerings of clients.
To learn more about our industry-specific BPO capabilities please contact us by calling +1-650-491-8791 or by filling out our inquiry form. We look forward to hearing from you.
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