Call Center Philippines Sales Men
Here are some problems that you have when you a talking to sales men trying to sale call center services.
1. They have never been to the Philippines.
2. They have never operated a Philippines call center.
3. The person has not lived in the US for a long time and don’t under stand the US culture.
4. Most don’t have American management on site to under stand the gaps in both cultures.
Make sure that the company that you are working with has both experience in the States and the Philippines to bridge the gap that your client might get.
You can be very successfully with a Philippine call center but you need to make sure that you are working with the right company with the right tools.
Philippines Call center and Trust In The People That You Are Working With
There are some people here that will really take advantage of you in any way that they can. 99% of the time it’s all money, some times it could be true that you might owe them money for back pay or 13th month but most of the time it’s all bull shit. You need to make sure that you having an accounting company work with you that is really good a company that you can hold reliable in case some thing goes wrong, not some one that is an account or book keeper.
On another note never hire any a book keeper, outsource it some where here in the Philippines, most times it will cost you less and you will not have the hassle of contracts or labor problems in the end.
It’s very very important here that you follow all the rules because the Philippines is labor pro which means they are for the workers not your company! I have been in a couple battles with x agents but all has been taken cared but for the most part it could have went any way. Make sure that you get your self a copy of the labor laws that they have in the Philippines because it’s very different then most other country and make sure that you get a good lawyer that can help you incase some thing like this happens.
Next is place your self around good people both from the Philippines and other countries that might have to help you when in need, this will go a long way.
If you go through a case and it’s all settled at that point let it go! There are to many other thing to worry about then them.
This is not to scare any one away from outsourcing to a Philippines call center but to prepare you for what you might go through when you are here, again make sure that you follow all the rules and get things done correct and you will be fine and love it here.
In short don’t cut corners
I love the Philippines but made some mistakes when I started and want to make sure that no one has to go through it.
Also there are allot of great people here in the Philippines which many I call my best friends but be wise when you choose your friends here.
Handling Your Call Center Outsoucing Agents
I have pounded my head into the wall many times because I have asked or explained to one of the agents or techs what to do or how to do it and then I leave and come back to see how it is going and again hitting the head on the wall.
Here is the deal the Philippines in a way is like programing a computer or telling it what to do and it will pretty much do 100% what you asked for its the same thing here, you need to explain in depth what you are asking for and really really make sure that they under stand what you want because most times even if they don’t know what you said and you said do you under stand they will say yes so you have to ask them a couple times to make sure they got it.
Don’t get me wrong not talking bad on the Philippines at all, I think that it’s the cloture gap or something that makes it difficult at times.
I read a story about a company in Australia pulling out because of Philippines bad customer server which I think it crazy, the Philippines has the because customer service, its just making sure that you have the girl agents and you train them correctly. Allot of things that I have seen is these large companies are outsourcing to big of groups at one time which makes it to hard to handle so you are going to get shitty training and everything will be done way to fast and that is not only the companies fault but also the call center for taking the deal.
When you are call center outsourcing start with something small and prove the concept works and slowly grow it from there.
Philippines Call Center? Who Can You Trust?
I have heard so many story’s about people setting up call centers because its one of the biggest things here in the Philippines and most business men think that they can do it and they probable can but they mix them self’s up with the wrong partners or consultants.
There is money in call center outsourcing but you have to make sure that you are working with the right person and have the right technology which at times in very hard if you don’t know what you are doing. Try to find the right partner is something that I can help you with because reading people here some times can be very difficult, best if to do back ground check and ask around to see if you can hear any bad or good things about that person before you get married.
Best if you can do it on your own with no partners if you need help on setting up the call center then follow the guide that I have written and it will get you started or pay a professional company to come in and set it up but remember that its going to cost you an arm and a leg. We have always operated on a very low set up cost because we set up everything which will save you allot of money, if you are a penny pincher.
Getting call center clients is going to be the hardest thing to do and that is why you need to set up a website and start to learn SEO or pay some one to do it for you, if you have cash and want to be number one on google then Pay per click is the way to go, its going to cost you any where from 10 to 100 dollars a day but it will get you up there and start to get you clients calling you looking for outsourcing. Also blog or pay some one to blog for you.
Don’t set your prices to low or buy shitty equipment at the end it will bit you in the ass, I have done it before it don’t work and like they say you get what you pay for! Try to price your call center outsourcing around 1,200 dollars per agent per month so you have some more for your customer to haggle because they will 
anything under a 1,000 dollars per month is not enough for your call center to operate correctly unless you are operating out of your house or something which I think is not the best way to do it at this point.
If you are starting and on a budget starting out of your house might be a way to start if you have a good size house and your compound will let you but from what I know most will not let you in Manila but if you are in the provance you might be able to get away with it but the problem that you are going to have is your internet and power so invest in a load balancing router and get to to good internet connection. Also get a generator something that cost maybe 400 dollars just to be safe in case the power goes out.
Best option is to seat lease in a call center that already has everything set up but its going to cost you a little bit more but much more professional.
Another way in finding client is social networking site which everyone is all ready on but you can start adding friends and plugging about your services that you are offering and link back to your web site, I don’t do this that much but I know allot of call centers that are doing it now. Places like facebook, Twitter and myspace.
Home Call Center Outsourcing
I have talked allot of bad things how outsourcing your call center work to some one in the Philippines but I might have been wrong!
I have never done this before but I think that it might work provided you follow my steps.
1. You need two internet connections Globe and PLDT.
2. Load balancing router for your two internet connections, in case one has a problem you have a back up. Each connection is going to cost you $20 dollars a month. This is something that you are going to have to search for to find should not be hard to find.
3. Hosted predictive dialer this is a company that will provide the dialer, CRM, reporting and many other things. Best of all that the agent can work from home and you can look at what type of calls they are doing.
4.Mega Meeting, This is a great system that you will be able to see the agent working and talk to them Via chat. You will need to have the agent with a web cam for this to work right but in the Philippines a web cam cost about $20 dollars, just make sure the web cam don’t need any drivers.
That’s pretty much it but that problem is that the agent is going to be working at home, so there is no one to manage them which is one of the biggest problems but if you think that you can trust them then you are ok.
Also you are going to have to get them a computer that will fit your needs and will work with all the above!
When you are home call center outsourcing there is no tech, no management and American management.
Best is to start with a outsourcing company first and then move on to Home call center outsourcing.
Also remember that you are working with a person no a company, this is very different!
Setting a Philippines call center up
I have been finding allot of sites that you pay for there information like ebooks and other resources on setting up a call center and running it. The information looks good and I’m sure it would help but at first you are going to need to get clients which is going to be the hardest part when operating a call center, setting one up is very easy, if you are at home just need good internet, computer, hosted dialer and a headset. I do not suggest at home but if you are a one band then thats all you can do, if anything get to internet conections and a load balancing software, going to cost you a little bit more money but at least you will have the back up.
When you are trying to get clients here is the best way to go around doing it.
1. website, set up a word press with Host Rocket about 6 dollars a month but one of the best hosting companies I have used. Make some small like my Philippines call center website and make sure you blog about once a day about call center related stuff. I missed one important which is picking your domain, make sure you think about this and that it is call center related like www.callcenterphilippinesblog.com see the keyword in there call center Philippines? This will help you start getting traffic right way. Also buy domain for 8 years if you can.
2. Template buy this well worth it, 67 dollars and easy to set up ultimate blogging theme also he will show you about setting the website up a little.
3. Pick your keywords realted to what you are look for like Call center Philippines I would pick ten of them and place in word press.
4. Read this and follow what it says SEO check list
5. If you have the money you can do adwords but it can be costly.
There is just a quick way to get a call center website going for about 150 dollars.
If any one needs some more help shot me a email.
In order for this to work by doing it buy your self you are going to have to read allot and research.
Just Because You are A Member Of CCAP Don’t Mean You Are A Good Philippines Call Center ATA Microsoft Certified
Allot of call center companies are places the CCAP logo on there website or ATA which means nothing more then they paid money to be apart of there company, any one with deep pockets can do this. When you are looking for an outsource company to work with make sure that you do your time studies on them every way that you can, just don’t pick one because they are big or because they are members of any origination, pick them because you did your research on them and there price.
Don’t start off with anything other 6 agents to start with, you have to test the waters first to see what happens and then go fro there, anything over 6 people is going to be over kill because it’s going to take time for the call center outsourcing company that you are working with to get everything working the way that you want it and its going to at least take a month before your campaign really starts working any company that tell you they are going to be able to get your team up and running in the first month is full of shit.
Allot of call centers will tell you what you want to hear so you are goign to have to give your best judgment on who is full of shit and who is real.
Don’t believe everything that you see on the call center outsourcing website, most is BS.
Microsoft Certified means nothing, all the agents that are hired here are very good with all Microsoft products.
You have to remember that any one can make a website and put anything that they want on it!
Some of these clubs do have there advantages but I don’t know if it’s worth it with the amount of money they want to become a member.
Contact Form for Philippines Call Center Websites
I have tried many ways to collect as much information from customers that are requesting more information on Philippines call centers and I think I finally got it.
Simple is safe!
I see so many call center websites out there asking for to much information other then just name, number, email and a short discription about there campaign. When you are feeling some thing out on the internet you want some thing that is short as possblie right? The longer it is you are going to get up set and go to the next one that is shorter to make it easier on you hahahaha. So if you own a call center and have a website in the Philippines then make sure that your contact form is short and to the point, you will get allot more leads.
Magnalogix Hosted Dialer
I have wrote about this company a couple of times on my other blogs Magnalogix which is a hosted dialer company and also does allot of mortgage lead company.
I’m pissed off about this company because I gave them a shot and paid for 5 agents and it was horrible!
Everything started out well other the phone like they known what they where doing but I was really wrong!
Now to whats most important is picking a company that you want to use that offers a hosted dialer services, you are going to really want to do your research and remember that for the most part the cheaper the services the badder its going to be. We have been using Vicidial for years now and it works great for a open source dialer but there is allot of problems that you could run into if you don’t have an IT guy that knows how to fixes the problems when they happen but like I said it works great for being free.
There is allot of Hosted dialers companies out there that are charging allot but it’s not because there predictive dialer is the best in the world but because of there support and the functionality and capability of there dialer. There is no dialer out there that is not going to have problems because there is so many things in the software and hard ware that can go wrong that is no ones fault but whats really important is having support in case some thing happens some one is there to fix it in a reasonable time.
Here is one of the major problems with Magnalogix, they are loading a bunch of different clients on the same server which if you know with Vicidial it’s not going to work perfect, you are going to have crossed lines at some points in the shift and if the server is over loaded at times it will crash or will have to be rebooted because of the stress on the system.
I talked to a guy at Hosted Dialer and he really laid it on the table for me about what Magnalogix was doing like over loading the server and places to many clients on one server to maximize there profit with out giving there clients there months worth.
Another thing about Magnalogix is they don’t give you the ability to change anything on the Vicidial interface in the admin panel like the pacing which is very important because at times wait times can get long, I talked to there tech and told him this because we were having a 1 minute wait time with 5 people on the phones which is way to long for the most time on our Vicidial we operate about 15 to 30 seconds at the most.
I love the whole idea about the hosted dialer and no hardware but the only thing that most important is the support that you are going to get when you are using this companies hosted dialer, are they going to be there when you need them or are they going to shine you?
The cheapest way to do it is to buy a good server for around a $1000 dollars and pay some one in the Philippines to set it up for you but make sure again they are going to be there to support you in case some thing happens, if there names start with Mark, Eduard or Damion run these are not the type of people that you want setting up your dialer.
If you have the budget then buy a commercial dialer that comes with real support it will save you allot of problem or if you are on a budget then I would suggest using this company Hosted Dialer from what I know they are the best with the best price around $180 dollars per agent including telco and they put all there clients on there own server.
Even the best predictive dialers have problems, it’s all about the support that you get, its going to cost you more money to get better support but it will be worth it if your business is call center related.
Word Press Website, Template, Content, SEO For Your Call Center Philippines Site
I just wanted to let all the new call centers out there that don’t have allot of money to set up a website that Word Press is great, it’s very easy to use and to set up with most hosting companies.
Right now I have 4 sites that are all set up on Word Press, most of them are blogs but you could set up a real call center website and mange it with out having to be a programmer. You are going to need some one to do so small design for you but you can use this website to get it down real cheap Webmaster forum you are going to have to post about 40 times before you can place an add for design but it’s well worth it to get some thing done for really cheap but still be good. Next you are going to need a host that sites up word press for you with out having any major problems, I would suggest using Simple Helix
it’s 20 dollars a month for 10 websites but the support is the best I have seen and well worth it also.
Then you are going to have to read a bit about how Word Press works and play with it while you are setting it up. These is allot of templates out there for free but I would really suggest using Ultimate Blogging Theme by Carl Cab the 13 year old blogger that is now 16 yaaaaaa, I have been using it for about 2 months and it has be every easy to set up and use. Cost about 100 dollars to buy this template but again and again well worth it.
One of the most important things is content on your website and not only content to get you on the search engines but content that people find interesting and that they want to read. I see allot of blogs or companies that wire writers to blog about keywords which is what I have also done but at the end of the day if you are on a budget best to write it your self and really put your feelings in what you are writing about.
Well there is my little bit of help to the starting call centers out there that are looking to set up a website for cheap to get started on getting clients but what is going to really get you clients is optimizing your website for the keywords that you are looking for like call center Philippines or Philippines call center. It is going to take time to do this and learn how Google works and how to get on the front page, if you are not on the front page you are not shit.
For Seo I suggest you using the SEO check list Follow this and in time you will be on the front page of google with the keywords that you want.
On another note for starting go after small keywords some thing like 3 to 4 words and work your way down from there.
Google is all the matters all over search engines don’t mean any thing.
