Call centres in Philippines
[QUOTE=Spam Hog]gentlemen:
Just a few observations, IMHO Cebuanos speak better 'english" than most other places in the PI Manila included, not sure of the reason, probably the teachers many of whom have tenure in the US. But also many private schools here, those teaching the Koreans etc, are staffed by American educators who infuse their "Americanese" which is different in Accent and some verbage than "English", I can understand "Filipino English" spoken by Cebuanos better than those in pther parts of the PI, also, they understand me, but perhaps that is because I am used to hearing them.
The largest problem Filipinos in general have is with 'American English" which
tends to be rather rapid fire and "nasal" also, many of these call centers dont train them in "business english",so the staffers tend to lapse into their bad habits telling you "for awhile" instead of "Hold please while I check on it" etc.
Knew a guy in Davao who wanted to start a call center there, he said he tested about 500 candidates and gave up, although they "spoke english" not too many understood what the average "American" caller would be talking about. Just a thought but I think it takes time for any of these staffers to get used to the version of "english" being used, verbage. accent etc, they have to develop those skills, but they have the root understanding of what is being said.
Bottom line, if yiou arwe thinking of a start up business along these lines you should train your staff in Business English and do some practical exercises/mock calls.
Spamhog[/QUOTE]And a few observations from a guy in the call centre/BPO business:
A lot of the theory of language, culture and customer service/sales is lost in translation/bad management in call centers/BPOs in India. The type of process you are outsourcing dictates the kind of education and skill - level you require for your agents (technical/semi-technical/verbal/non-verbal), however, most call centres I see, other than the big names, fail in properly understanding, formulating and implementing correct call centre business practices such as the optimum level of accent/language/culture and process training as well as incorrect middle management practices such as not enough/proper incentives or line training or basic quality monitoring.
Generally, it has been found that third party outsourcers are so focused on just revenue generation they fail to realise the value of training and quality and hence bypass them to bring agents on to the operational floor. While in captive companies this has been found to be an issue that can be overridden to a large extent, the correct recruitment of and implementation through middle and junior management still leaves a lot to be desired in this industry in India and from all reports, in the Philippines too. People just don’t realise the value of proper coaching/mentoring of their employees and a lack of understanding and application of processes to monitor and increase productivity amongst agents/team leaders/floor managers/trainers leads to clients not being satisfied with the service level provided.
I wouldn’t know about the Philippines, but as in India, the type of process also leads to a question of which area to setup your call centre/BPO in dependent on the specific skills required which possibly differ from area to area.
So my suggestion would be to be very careful of the kind of management that is hired, put in correct policies/procedures/processes to make every employee accountable and then recruit team leaders & agents who can then lead you to the correct kind of operational delivery.
Enough of this. Now back to the more important and interesting topic of what we really login here for.
Cebu Marriott vs Waterfront Lahug
[QUOTE=David_33]I´ve done a couple of searches and read back 20 pages but still can´t decide between the Waterfront and Marriott. Want a decent gym and internet in the room as well as no girl in room problem or extra charge. Can anyone give me some advice?[/QUOTE]
Hello David,
The Marriott is the place to stay for many reasons. They have internet connections in every room and the location next to Alaya mall cannot be beat. But I believe they are more expensive than the Waterfront. Both hotels have health facilities but the Waterfront has the better pool. In addition, the rooms are small and dated with no internet connections. But they do have a casino on sight which attracts p4p women. Most every hotel in the Philippines is girl friendly including these two hotels so no problem there. Have a great trip!
