Tag Archives: order taking

The Philippines is the new call center capital

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The exponential growth of the call center industry in the Philippines is nothing short of spectacular. Thanks to the country’s strengths – educated workforce, quality labor, competencies, cost, and location – it has become the world’s mecca for voice-enabled services, where answering services, order taking, technical support, and customer service of businesses are handled.

The Philippines remains a great choice since it is a country that has been steeped in Western culture, particularly the United States. On a typical day, an American caller talks to a supposedly native English speaker, who turns out to be someone from another part of the world. Americans cannot tell the difference these days because they speak with a Filipino telephone representative whose accent and communication skills are on par with a professional onshore. US-based businesses are also citing the capital cost reduction, but cannot emphasize enough the high level of attention, care and hospitality of these “Americanized” professionals. This makes the outsourcing industry a success story: Customer service managed with the highest level of professionalism and efficiency – at a fraction of the cost.

Top industry officials, however, say that the move to hire Filipinos is not merely about lower wages. They say that Filipino agents are worth the extra cost because American customers find them easy to understand, not to mention very engaging even during an actual conversation. It also helps that they learn the American culture early on in life, coupled by years of education in high school and college, where English is the primary medium of instruction.

Getting better
The call center story did not start here. The offshoring of call centers rose a few years ago and started big in India, which employed as many as 350,000 call center agents. But latest statistics show that there are more than 400,000 Philippine-based phone agents who are working nights talking to mostly American consumers. Now seeing the value and the expertise of an offshore call center, businesses from other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Europe have outsourced their customer service operations to the Philippines.

This year, the Philippines overtook India in terms of expansion and revenues. The financial rewards of outsourcing to a call center in the Philippines have been benefiting even small and midsize enterprises as the call center business continues to grow as much as 30% a year, compared to 10-15% per year in India. Executives are expecting the country to rise not only in its reputable call center expertise but also in back-office services like legal processing, animation, data entry, software engineering and accounting.

Call center order taking and live chat services increase retailer sales during holidays

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Online-based retailers might again witness an influx of orders this holiday season if they bring to fore an important feature that made last year’s shopping successful: free shipping. According to market research company Forrester Research, free shipping catapulted sales in 2010, making it one of the most critical factors for business growth.

As small- and midsize online retailers throw in free shipping service on top of enhancing their online storefront to make shopping more conducive, they cannot miss out this most important feature– live chat and order taking services.

Live chat is fast becoming an important feature for improving a company’s customer service. This is usually a program designed to assist online shoppers with their concerns. This makes their shopping experience more fulfilling because it is fast, easy, and convenient.

Forrester said that live chat services can yield an estimated 105% return on investment for businesses of any size. It has the capability of increasing sales by allowing call center agents to cross- and up-sell products while customers are in the process of selecting items or checking out. Live chat keeps the sales cycle moving by providing a platform for handling questions and queries.

Order taking service is a call center service similar to live chat but the transaction is made through telephone. Agents are on hand to serve customers and take orders, closing and processing these orders as soon as possible. This offers peace of mind to customers because they know that a live person is taking care of their transaction from start to finish.

Small and medium business owners may want to consider getting a live chat and order taking services through a call center, with its core competencies going far beyond mere customer service. Real providers can assign agents who are properly trained to make proactive conversations with customers, and are readily available 24/7 to help, even on holidays.

Magellan Solutions offers Inbound Customer Services globally

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Magellan Solutions Outsourcing Inc., one of the Philippines’ fastest-growing call centers, is offering small and medium enterprises, and large corporations across the globe its full range of inbound call center solutions to support their customer service in their home country. As businesses look toward the future, they are setting high standards for ensuring growth this year by providing first-class customer help.

Although customer support remains a flagship offer, Magellan has been attracting companies requiring lead generation, telemarketing, inbound surveys, call reservations, and message transcription. The company will soon be introducing customized price packages designed to suit the budget of each client.

Fred Chua, chief executive officer of Magellan Solutions, said that more small and mid-sized businesses have been considering outsourcing their inbound customer service to the Philippines. “One inquiry from a company in the United States asked us how it can move its entire customer care department to the Philippines,” he said enthusiastically. The Philippines he said continues to enjoy a reputation in the international community as the world’s offshoring destination. Voice-based services remain popular.

Setting higher standards

The economic meltdown is a major learning not just to Fortune 100 but all types of businesses everywhere. Chua said organizations are becoming stricter by demanding more efficiency coupled by a high level of professionalism. He said this has been Magellan’s achievement, as evidenced by clients who have stayed with the company since it began operations in 2005. “We always strive to exceed our client’s expectations. We have been gifted with talented and fluent agents who are properly trained to meet their requirements and are motivated to do more.” To date, the company has 275 employees in 2 locations and still expanding.

Magellan Solutions today offers inbound call center services such as technical support, order fulfillment, complaints handling, after office hours support, dealers locators and multi-lingual support. Chua is encouraging more business owners abroad to take advantage of these services. Magellan Solutions after all provides the same level of service usually offered by multinational call centers to small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals.

Are you interested in partnering with a high-quality inbound call center? Contact Us today for more information.

Customer Service and earning MORE from it

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Many enterprises have performed badly with customer service that they are missing out in its potential to drive more growth. In these uncertain times, you cannot afford to lose a single customer and keeping is a privilege.

Your best alliance

When budgets are becoming tighter than ever, small and medium enterprises will find an ally in customer service – whether in the form of a technical support or order taking call center. Any business can significantly increase revenues through service that draws customers rather than driving them away. Size is not an issue. Whether you run a large chain across the country or a mom-and-pop store, customers are customers, and their views and opinions about you will differ.

When you take customer service up a notch higher, there is no doubt about igniting customer retention. Outstanding service can keep your customer acquisition costs low.

Do you have money for advertising? Customers become your walking brand representatives. Regardless of what ad campaign is being rolled out, they will still talk about the kind of stuff you offer. Consistency in both product and service impacts your performance. Not only you have launched word of mouth advertising thanks to your clientele, it makes your business life easier.

Start looking for a Customer Service partner

Now is a good time to shop around and look for an outsourced inbound call center to help you manage customers effectively. Search for those that serve your specific needs to help you handle customers properly. Best of all, hire a provider that values long-term relationships. You will go a long way in cultivating your market and keep them especially in these times that making more is vital.

How to attract and retain talents in your call center

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by Arthur Kevin Rabago

In the race to attract and retain the best talents in the market, many call centers have integrated talent acquisition and retention strategies in their business plans.

The cost for keeping top employees is far less expensive than training new ones.

When you lose your best performers, they will take with them their knowledge, skills, and experience to competitors who will benefit from your loss.

There are no hard and fast rules for attracting and retaining the best people. It is applicable to all contact centers. The best call centers obviously attract and retain a highly skilled human capital because they have the following in common:

1. Established career and growth path for employees based on performance;

2. Continuous improvement training programs and skills upgrade initiatives;

3. Clear and defined rewards/bonus system;

4. Mature, transparent, and dependable management;

5. Policies are clearly defined and documented;

6. Recognition of the employees’ value and contributions;

7. Work environment that is not too restrictive; and

8. Having compensation and bonus packages that are above industry standards.

Motivating employees is not limited to bestowing financial rewards. A simple pat on the back to recognize their contributions, kind words, and leadership by example can go a long way in winning an employee’s trust and confidence in a company.

If your people are assigned to order taking for customers or to an outsourced customer service – you must offer them the best.

Evaluating your Customer Service Strategies

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It is the middle of the year and by now, you should have a good grasp on the performance of your customer service strategies. It is best that you take a quick peek to see if they are going in the right direction. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

“Does my product or service stand out?”

A great customer experience differentiates us from the rest and therefore makes us stand above the competition.

Customers can easily name companies that provide impeccable service and those that are downright terrible. Just be sure your business does not get bad press. Check if you move your product or service to the point of satisfaction.

“Am I generating referrals?”

There is a book entitled Customers Tell 3 Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000. From the title itself, it’s true. Consumers are more empowered than ever with new channels already made available for them to voice out their opinions.

Businesses need to pay more attention to customers’ needs. Treat each one as if it is the last. Satisfied people tell their feedback to others and same goes with the irked ones. Ask yourself: Are we getting good word-of-mouth marketing from friends, families and individuals both offline and online?

“Do customers repeat business?”

Do we see first-time customers returning to make purchases?

“Do I make customers happy?”

Are we treating them well? Customer service transcends far beyond loyalty. Consumers expect us to be on our toes delivering an experience. They do not owe us anything but you need them to spur business growth.

Our business is only as good as our last performance, and leveraging on consistency is key. Reviewing our customer wins and retention can guide our business and how we can make it flourish in a consumer-oriented world. Whether our requirement is order taking or help desk, our customer service should always be top-notch through and through.

How Empowered Call Center Agents Improve Customer Experience

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Poor customer service was identified as major reason for 60 percent of canceled bank accounts and 36 percent of insurance company switches from a study made by Mobius Management Systems.

How do we deal with this glaring issue right in front of our faces during board meetings?

It is time to take a hard look at your customer service processes. Your front-liners – the customer service agents – may be under-trained or demoralized. Perhaps they are itching to get out and looking for better opportunities elsewhere. We cannot deny that customer service agents play a big role in any business success. Big companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google and HP leverage on customer service to set them apart from the competition.

How do we ensure our agents are at their best?

Improve our workplace culture. Making our work environment more “staff-friendly” reduces attrition rate. A happy place likewise fosters creativity, excellence and camaraderie. Business owners find it comforting to see satisfied employees coming in to work every single day.

Boost their morale. This is where we can be innovative. We can reward our agents not based on productivity but how they achieve customer satisfaction. We can develop employee delight programs like bonuses or monthly incentives. To ensure they rightfully deserve it, we may have to constantly monitor their calls or conduct after-call feedback other than reviewing reports about their call volume statistics.

Nothing is more gratifying than to see our agents think on their feet. Take time to review the decision-making authority of your agents and see how they can handle it well. If they can resolve the customer’s problem on the first call, rather than having that customer call back or put on hold while we run after our manager for help, you boost their morale and more importantly, improve satisfaction of our customers. The impact is great because customers think of our business differently – that we are a smart organization.

Empower with knowledge. Prepare them to handle actual customer interaction through intensive company-sponsored trainings and live calls. Teach them about the company’s culture, branding, mission, how to answer and transfer calls, deal with complaints, responding to e-mails and many more. We create a customer service culture ourselves and our agents benefit from it.

The way how we maintain our customer service differentiates our business from our competitors. It is the way we run it, and how our customers perceive of it. Never has outsourcing customer service to call centers been more important than ever in these times. Having someone to handle our telephone answering service or order taking makes our lives easier. Customer care is their main line of business and an exhilarating customer experience the ultimate goal. The agents from an outsourced customer service call center may not be our internal staff, but they can represent any business with poise and with professionalism.

Order taking is great for small and medium business

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More small- and medium-sized businesses around the world are realizing the importance of call centers for their front- and back-office operations.

Apart from cost-saving benefits, the major impact of an outsourced contact center support is this: It allows full concentration on the core expertise while seeing customers being managed more efficiently and professionally. In fact, the higher the opportunities for handling customers, the bigger chances of keeping them and generating more revenues.

There are many call center solutions in the market, but one of the most popular services they use today is order taking.

Order taking is ideal for small and medium businesses offering a wide variety of consumer goods. They can also be perfect for service-oriented enterprises. Business can be as diverse as selling flowers, pet grooming and supplies, confectioneries, specialty food, insurance or pizza delivery. The products can be endless!

The good thing about having an outsourced order taking call center is the flexibility. The hired provider can synchronize its operations with business hours. Better yet, agents can take more calls even after office or even 24/7.

How order taking brings the money

While most order taking services are inbound by nature, the revenue earned through this model is how businesses can help customers fulfill a specific need.

For example, a customer calls in to ask the difference between a shiatsu and thai massage. The agent can provide a more detailed explanation on the two services. This now provides an opportunity to ask which of these services would be a better option for the customer.

Smart move

Live people on the call often provide clarity for any customer’s queries. Real interaction provides the highest degree of successful sales, real-time customer service and instant feedback. Best of all, the service can be customized according to a company’s specific requirements. Businesses can have more front-liners logging on more orders on the company-owned system without hiring additional staff. This saves thousands of money for an in-staff.

Order taking managed by an outsourced call center improves any business’ order taking processes. Whether it is retail or e-commerce store, insurance, or education, the service is viable for organizations that want to achieve long-term growth.

For more information on order taking services, visit www.magellan-solutions.com.

Magellan Solutions eyes more growth in 2010

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Magellan Solutions Outsourcing Inc., a growing Philippines-based contact center, continues to expand its client base this year.

From its 200 workforce in 2009, the company grew steadily in a span of 6 months, now with a total of 375 employees in 2 different sites in San Juan where both centers are based. A new center is expected to be opened in Quezon City sometime this year.

According to Fred Chua, chief operating officer of Magellan Solutions Outsourcing Inc., the growth has been attributed to the company’s flexibility in providing the kind of service to clients, particularly the small and medium business across the globe. Starting its operations as purely inbound call center in 2005, Magellan Solutions today offers a wide range of contact center services such as order taking, customer support, telephone answering services, web chat, e-mail, lead generation, direct selling and voice transcription. The company is also capable of handling tech support.

Despite its size, Magellan Solutions has the industry expertise in providing the same level of service mostly offered by multinational call centers. The company has both the resource and the infrastructure to deliver the same range of services in inbound and outbound contact center services, and business process outsourcing. “Clients value closer collaboration with their provider particularly in the industry like ours,” Chua said. “It’s where our company’s strength lies, which makes it very attractive to them. We have always remained committed to giving what our customers want, ensuring high service delivery whether it is live order taking, voice transcription or telephone answering service.”

For more information about Magellan Solutions Outsourcing Inc. and the services it provides to small-to-medium businesses, please visit www.magellan-solutions.com.

Real people, real results from an order taking call center

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Customers often measure a company in its ability to provide superior customer service. An impeccable delivery comes from an interaction with a live person taking the call.

If your business is primarily engaged in promoting goods and services, you may need a professional team of agents who both have the skill and the aptitude to take specific orders with precision.

Taking orders requires real people

Order taking services is a serious matter every small and medium business owner should know. For one, it enables your business to respond to the immediate concerns of the customer such as making instructions or clarifying issues. Some organizations have walked the extra mile by turning to the latest technology in hopes of seeking new and inventive ways to boost this service for improved productivity. Automated order systems, popular in e-commerce web sites, have attempted to map out this seamless task but failed to an extent. Why? It is because customers still want a real human voice on the other line responding to get all matters resolved quickly and carefully.

Live order taking can do exactly just that. You have a team of experts managing customers while making them feel your business is there to serve. When a customer comes across a short-term promotion or responded to an ad, can a machine answer questions real-time?

Productivity = Profits

The service of taking orders goes far beyond routine. And the benefits of integrating it into your business operations are tremendous. Anyone in the team can best represent your business and promote your products and services more effectively. The best part is that they do not have to be part of your in-house staff but an outsourced call center maintaining an inviting “front door” for you.

The good news is this: Live order taking is here to stay. The service demands real people doing real interaction with customers. It adds personal touch, which in turn can build long-term trust and loyalty.

Order taking in the voice of a live person goes a long way in providing clarity in the mind of the customer. It establishes a lasting relationship that no automated systems can provide.

To find out more how order taking services can maximize sales, visit http://www.magellan-solutions.com.