subject: Why Telemarketing Growth Took a Dip [print this page] The telemarketing industry has witnessed some sharp rises in the growth chart. Studies conducted on call center units by various independent surveys have validated that. It's true that last year the BPO sector was not really working wonders for the employees or for the economy. Things started to change for the better during the early months of this year. The first quarter, from January to March, paid great dividends to the telemarketing services. Encouraged by their success, the call centers went all out in the second quarter to attain something bigger than it was last time. The efforts were not less than what was desired. However, things didn't turn out well for the BPO service. The spike of the first quarter was followed by a dip in the next.
There are some valid reasons why the telemarketing sector couldn't repeat the performance of the first quarter. The main reason is the amount of offshore BPO outsourcing that is happening on the global scene. Call centers in the developed countries are going dry because the projects are not really there for them to work on. Telemarketing services being outsourced to the developing countries meant that the domestic projects were not coming to them. The business firms would, of course, prefer offshore BPO service because of the cost cuts that they can avail. The money generated in these deals is less than what it would have been for call center units in the developed countries. The lesser sum of money involved is why the total revenue generated dipped in the second quarter.
Another reason is the Do Not Call (DNC) list. The telemarketing agents are hugely restricted by the growing importance of the DNC list. Telecom authorities across the world are coming down heavily on telemarketing services that violate the DNC list. Call centers are being burdened with law suits and penalties. Previously, the call center units could get away with these violations. The situation has changed in the present scenario. Now, you have the authorities enforcing the penalties in an active, aggressive way. Clients are wary about BPO units that have a legal hassle to deal with. No client would want to associate themselves with such a BPO service unit and bring harm to their brand image. That's something that the business process outsourcing firms will have to be careful about.
The telemarketing sector may also have been hit with the increased dependence on the internet for lead generation. Voice calls are pass for many clients and companies. They want to use Web 2.0 tools for their sales lead generation. The result is that the call center units are relying on social media networks and websites to promote products/services. The search engine optimization (SEO) efforts of the BPO unit make them come off as the market leaders in BPO service. In fact, SEO is now a distinct part of the call center services. The outbound call center agents are spending more time in creating profiles and maintaining them on social media networks than in calling people.
