subject: The Role Of Training In Bpo [print this page] The domestic call center units in the developed countries are trying their best to get on their feet. They are leaving no stone unturned to make it possible for them to claw back into the BPO industry and bag those premiere projects that are being outsourced to offshore call centers. While they do that, several experts in the sector are deriding the offshore call center services as being inferior. Their point is that business firms in the developed countries may be saving some money when they go for offshore telemarketing services, but they are compromising seriously on the quality of work that they are getting. This may seem like an orchestrated debate to convince the business firms to trust their telemarketing projects with domestic call centers. But we can dig deeper to find out just how true these allegations are.
There is no second thought on the fact that before the Recession came to grip economies the quality of work in the developing countries was below par. Offshore BPO outsourcing was more of a cost concern than a conscious business decision to get to the next level. Even during the Recession, the business firms continued with their cost effective method of call center services. But during this phase, the demand for domestic call center plummeted to such a high degree that they had to slash their BPO service prices in the hope of bagging projects. So, the costs were no longer the prime deciding factor on where the telemarketing project should go. By then, the developing countries had telemarketing services that were on par with the best in the world. The reason was because the business process outsourcing units were keen on training their agents.
Training call center agents is one big leap that can take a BPO unit from being an also-ran to a winner. However, the disappointing reality is that very few call centers have integrated training modules that can help the agents pick up the nuances of their work without breaking a sweat. Several of these telemarketing firms often don't have a training session other than the cursory induction process. This is nothing short of disaster if the client is looking for quality BPO service. The firms may get the feeling that keeping agents in the training room would mean wasting some precious man days. They believe that the sooner these agents get on the floor and start actual work, the better it will be for their telemarketing services.
Nothing can be a bigger flaw on the part of the call center management. When the agents are not trained in the right technology and procedure, mistakes are bound to happen. Several of them may be working online or on live calls. Any mistake that they make can snowball into catastrophic proportions for the BPO unit. Under-trained employees are also likely to be confused and less confident. Telemarketing can be a really pathetic experience if the agents are not sure of the process, their task and the end result that they are planning to achieve.
