The Contact Center Blog

2015: The Demise of the Indian Call Center?

One of the great debates in the call center industry is ‘nearshore’ vs. ‘offshore’ outsourcing. There are numerous benefits to both sides, but one clear advantage overseas centers have is access to a cheaper labor pool.

The biggest offshore outsourcing country is India, and according to a new article at financial website Forbes.com, salaries in the country ‘rose 15.1% in 2007, up from 14.4% the previous year. The 2008 forecast: 15.2%.’ Amazingly enough this will be the fifth straight year that salaries have increased by an average of at least 10%.

If this trend continues, it is argued that the cost advantage of outsourcing to India will disappear completely by 2015! Being someone who works for a North American center, this gives me great confidence in the long term feasibility of the nearshore business model.

Beware of the Taxman

For the past year I have been following the tremendous debate about the taxation of products purchased online. The New York Times published this article earlier in the month about the subject.

Technically, individuals are responsible for paying the sales tax on purchases made online to the State in which they reside. Not surprisingly, this is rarely done and States are lobbying ever more aggressively to get back this piece of the taxation pie.

Why is this relevant?

I have mentioned this subject on The Contact Center Blog, because any new laws that pass will affect call centers that provide sales support to clients. Accounts that are using a client maintained website to place orders will probably be spared (onus on client to make adjustments), but if you have developed a custom internal ordertaking application, you probably have a substantial amount of re-programming to do to comply with the new taxation rules.

The New York Times article quotes Amazon.com stating that ‘there are 7,500 taxing jurisdictions [in the United States], each of which imposes sales tax on different sorts of items.’

I hope everyone keeps this issue on their radar, and it would be great to hear from anyone else knowledgeable on the subject.

Is 50,000 feet to high for a first call?

Over the last number of months I have had the good fortune to meet and discuss outsourcing relationships with a number of direct and indirect contact center related companies.  These include fulfillment houses, software companies, training consultants and of course contact centers.  When meeting potential business partners I am always amazed at the variety of ways companies communicate there “ pitch”.  Some are from as high as 50,000 feet and others as low as 15,000.  Regardless of the message the introductions that have the biggest impact for me are the companies that have the confidence to communicate early on what they can and cannot deliver.  While some may feel that it is unnecessary to disclose strengths and weaknesses on a first call I am always motivated to work with a company that knows who they are and what they can deliver.  In my view the purpose of developing external relationships is to add value to the overall service offering.  The only way this can occur is if both parties are honest when identifying what they are good at and where they need help.

The next time you are developing a new business relationship try a lower altitude on a first call and dive into strengths and weaknesses; you may be surprised to quickly learn how much value can be added from both parties, which is the staple for any long lasting partnership.

-MC

Love is in the Air...and online!

Happy Valentines Day!

February 14th represents a big sales day for many online retailers, and not just flowers and jewelry sites. Email marketing leading up to today has increased with retailers in all industries using Feb 14th to promote their gift sales. The National Jeweler Network polled more than 600 small business owners between Dec 31st and Jan 9th and the survey showed that 68 percent of small business owners are planning special promotions for the holiday, compared with 53 percent last year. Also, according to those polled, 46 percent expect consumers to shop the week of Valentine's Day, and 11 percent expect consumers will wait until the final day to pick up gifts.

Online retailers must be ready to deal with this influx of calls and visitors to their website. In a recent article  InternetRetailer.com describes a potentially disastrous situation for Vermont Teddy Bear, a multi-channel retailer of stuffed animals and other gifts, whose land line phone service went out last February in the area of their contact center, during on of the busiest times of their sales year. Fortunately the retailer was prepared and had contracts with multiple outsources to handle customer calls and e-mails during this time. One of their outsourced partners was able to get the agents taking calls in less than 45 minutes.

Want to learn more about trends online during one of the busiest gift giving days outside Christmas? One Up Web published a great white paper last year. One Up Web President and Founder Lisa Wehr comments, "Valentine’s Day is such a short sales season—different from Christmas where purchases may be made months in advance—that I expected paid search to play the larger role. For many of our clients, Valentine’s is second in revenue to Christmas and bigger than Mother’s Day. Clearly the data shows that e-commerce companies that don’t optimize will miss out on a huge part of the market.”

- MK

Who is Clicking on Your Expensive Online Advertising?

I am sure almost everyone reading this blog has an online presence of some sort, and I assume most are also marketing themselves online. A study released today entitled “Natural Born Clickers” by Starcom USA, Tacoda, and comScore states a relatively small group of people are responsible for a large percentage of the click through rates in the United States.

This is scary stuff as I assume most of us thought we were getting our marketing message out to a larger and broader Internet user demographic.

Making Sales in a Turbulent U.S. Economy

As we all know, the US economy is currently in a certain amount of turmoil. Personally, 95% of my sales are to American based businesses, so naturally this is of great concern to me. (FYI- I am the Senior Sales Executive at 24-7 INtouch Contact Center).

I came across this article from renowned sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer that I wanted to share with everyone. Although it discusses general sales during these challenging economic times, it reminds all of us in the contact center industry that helping our customers, and being a competent partner and advisor is always the best type of relationship to have with our clients.

I hope everyone finds this article useful; I look forward to any feedback- especially from other senior sales professionals.

Yahoo Says NO to Microsoft

To follow up from my previous post regarding the Yahoo/MSN Merger, Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's offer and find it "inadequate" and "undervalues the company". With a price of $31 offered, pundits are reporting Yahoo will not take anything lower than $40.

The Industry Standard reported, "Yahoo said that its management team, along with financial and legal advisors, believe the offer doesn't reflect cash flow, earnings potential, or recent investments in its advertising platform."

- MK

Can Microsoft Aquire Yahoo?

The Industry Standard reports The New York Times announced last week Microsoft's unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo for $44.6 Billion. The companies have discussed mergers and partnerships over the last couple years. Although not a surprise, will  Yahoo accept? The Industry Standard predicts Yahoo will accept the bid by February 8th.

This acquisition will no doubt effect all of us as online consumers and business professionals.  Although MSN has a strong brand and with recent acquisitions strengthening its presence in the online advertising world; partnering with Yahoo will have its advantages. The Washington Post names Yahoo as one of the most powerful online media brands in the world with over 500 million users in numerous countries. Not to mention Yahoo's brand name is recognizable to billions of people. With MS and Yahoo teamed up, Google will finally have a run for their money.

But can MSN make it happen this time around...let's see what happens this week.

- MK

Calling all Catalog, Online, and Multi-channel Retailers

Registration is now open for NCOF 2008. The Operations & Fulfillment Conference will take place through April 7-10, 2008 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, in Orlando FL. To register visit www.ncof.com.

New this year - Zappos.com Keynote. Benchmark Results on: Fulfillment, Returns, Contact Center, DC Trends. Session Tracks: Distribution Mgmt, Customer Experience; People Mgmt, Material Handling.

Call centers attending the show as exhibitors include 24-7 INtouch , Cyber City Teleservices, Global Response, Midco Call Center, The Connection, and USA 800.

I personally will be at the show so please feel free to stop by Booth #608 to discuss how you can contribute to the Contact Center Blog, or just to say hello!

- MK