China Telecom’s (News - Alert) Xinjiang Branch has selected PacificNet Epro, a subsidiary of PacificNet Inc., to provide customer relationship management (CRM) consulting and call center training services. The project agreement provides that PacificNet Epro will enhance the CRM service level and telemarketing management capability of China Telecom’s customer service center, the “10000 Information Hotline.”


As a comprehensive consulting project, the focus centers on a number of key areas including customer service and telemarketing management. The project will also address the development of outsourcing telemarketing programs, call center workflow design, business management, project Return on Investment (ROI), customer affinity, designing effective telemarketing scripts and improving customer service agent capabilities.

“We are happy to partner with PacificNet Epro’s CRM consulting team for their expertise and assistance in increasing the overall performance of our contact center management workflow, telemarketing effectiveness, as well as our CRM service quality,” said Liu Yong, head of service quality management at China Telecom, Xinjiang, in a statement. “We hope to work with PacificNet Epro as our long-term CRM partner on future call center projects.”

Joyce Poon, general manager of PacificNet Epro’s CRM consulting and training services division, contributed that PacificNet Epro values the opportunity to work with China Telecom on this important project and is confident that its telemarketing knowledge in China will enable China Telecom to improve their overall level of customer satisfaction. The company will also look to increase the overall effectiveness of China Telecom’s telemarketing efforts in order to help them capture more cross-selling opportunities.

According to Tony Tong, chairman of PacificNet, the CRM contact center has emerged as the new competitive advantage for the market leaders in China. Whether a company is a product or service provider, to achieve market leadership in China, a company needs to devote resources to CRM and customer service.

PacificNet President Victor Tong said he expects that the Chinese government will officially grant the 3G licenses within a few months and is sure that there will be 3G networks operational in the main cities before the Olympics in 2008, or even earlier.

China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII) latest report indicates that China Telecom has added 690,000 new fixed-line users in November 2006, and China Mobile (News - Alert) signed up 4.67 million new users in November, bringing its total users to 296 million. Telecom analysts expect that China Telecom will receive a 3G license for providing 3G mobile services in China during 2007.

China Telecom fully expects that it will receive one of the 3G licenses and as a result, will have significant expectations put upon them for service delivery among their multi-million customer base. Without help from a provider such as PacificNet Epro, China Telecom would likely be overwhelmed in attempting to satisfy all customers.

China Telecom will also be better equipped to cross- and upsell its customer base for extended service options and packages with help from PacificNet Epro. Focusing more resources on its CRM applications will also enable China Telecom to be better positioned to respond to the demands of its customers and deliver higher satisfaction.

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Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.