In business, your name and reputation are everything. Sure, your goal is to build revenue and cut costs so that you can have growing profits that allow you to build a successful business, but you can’t get there by forsaking quality.
We live in the age of consumerism, where consumers have a place at the table and hold all of the leverage and negotiating power. Consumers have never had more options, resources, and information at their disposal–from review sites and search results, to word of mouth via social media, to apps that will instantly scan the internet to find the best deal—rendering brand loyalty almost a thing of the past.
All of this adds up to pressure on businesses to continually deliver quality at a fair and reasonable price, while keeping their business growing and their customers happy. For outsourcing executives, they must now draw the line and find the delicate balance between cost savings and quality.
This simple formula has always been the goal, but it has never come with such scrutiny and on full display for the public eye to see. There are many, many ways to cut costs, but today, we will focus on a few for our purposes.
The Philippines has spent the past two decades becoming the world’s leading call center outsourcing destination. Quality is the reason that we find ourselves talking about it today. A call center outsourcing partnership is not to be done with haste, and is a process that becomes very important.
“Selecting the right call center in the Philippines is imperative for the long-term success of the outsourcing partnership. If the vendor doesn’t have the necessary domain expertise or service capabilities, then clients are just wasting their time and money. Companies should take a close look at the vendor size, service capabilities, industry specialization, English language proficiency of the agents, processes, data security level, number of clients, hourly rate, facilities, and the location. All of these play an important role,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning call center in the Philippines.
Your brand name and reputation are now more vital than ever. The work your call center outsourcing partner does directly affects your quality and your brand name in public. This is not a decision to be taken likely.
Furthermore, in the specific case of call centers, they are your direct contact with your customer base. A poor call center experience with your outsourced team reflects badly on you and your business to that customer. If they take a few steps further and go to a review site and or social media to talk about this poor experience, then it’s your reputation that takes a hit.
Not all contact centers are created equal. Sure, the call center outsourcing industry in the Philippines is the best around the globe. But any average is subject to over- and under-performers. For you, yes, you want to get a good deal, but you must not forget that your ROI and a great customer experience are the end goals here. Paying US$8 an hour for a negative return is far worse than paying US$12 with a 180% ROI. Paying a few dollars more per hour can spell the difference between success and failure.
“Never choose an outsourcing provider in the Philippines solemnly based on the hourly rate. That’s almost always a recipe for disaster. There are huge performance differences between call centers in the country. A vendor that charges US$8 per hour simply can’t afford to hire the industry’s best—meaning the most skilled, experienced, and English-proficient agents—and invest in the latest contact center technologies. All are needed to make programs work and deliver high-quality call center solutions,” says Ellspermann.
It is imperative that you sniff out the best call center companies in the Philippines. Partnering with a premium call center such as PITON-Global in Manila saves you time and money while still yielding quality results for your business. Your business literally depends on this decision and going bottom-of-the-barrel price shopping hurts both you and your customers. Cost savings are important, but remember that there’s a price for providing high-quality services. And if a dirt-cheap offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Call center outsourcing to the Philippines works, but the approach has to be right.
