Hot Line Cold Calling

Outsourcing is a common term nowadays in business circles.

It is a fact of life that many functions previously carried out "in house" by larger operations have been transferred to other companies and even to other continents through the revolutionary phenomenon of the Call Centre.

In 1997, an Indian entrepreneur, returning to his home country from some years working for a multinational in the United States, saw an opportunity to establish the first of its kind in the Sub-Continent.

It was a simple concept of a telephone based customer service industry making use of a cost effective pool of workers, highly motivated to learn and earn.

European Trade Unions questioned and campaigned against the potential loss of jobs amongst their members in the name of profit and considerable hostility was directed towards the fledgling companies based in India.

It was accepted that the job was demeaning and boring to those Graduates and Professionals who took up employment but it undoubtedly changed lives, outlook and in a large part contributed to the emerging status of India as an economic powerhouse.

The first call centres were small and very basic. These would occupy the smallest of rooms with cardboard partitions to form the work stations and with saris and curtains draped around before the sophistication of actual soundproofing.

One of the first employers advertised for English speaking staff and was inundated with 8000 applications, twice the amount of positions on offer. This illustrated the calibre of those in the market and the growth potential for the sector.

The simplicity of the idea was also eminently viable on this basis.

One of the biggest challenges was the Indian phone network. Most households and businesses kept two lines because of the notorious unreliability of communications. Telecom companies were slow to respond to the needs of the call centres for dedicated services and it took time and constant badgering before the first private satellite dishes began to be seen on the now larger and highly staffed offices of the companies.

Overcoming the technical difficulties was relatively easy compared to meeting and managing customer expectations.

In spite of good qualifications and a command of English it was often the case that an Indian accent was not well received inciting hostility, anger and frustration if recipients were not sure where the call was from or if the accent was just not understood. Specific accent correction training was implemented to counter this source of animosity.

The cultural differences between India and call centre users in Europe and America was also foremost.

An example given was in relation to customer services for domestic appliances. Those seeking answers or guidance for a fault or problem on a washing machine, dish washer or dryer were speaking to operatives who in most cases had not ever seen such equipment. Triple checking and back up was essential to combat a high error rate in the early days of the service.

Further training was given to staff on other main cultural traits of those on the other end of the phone line. Football, other national sporting interests, celebrity gossip and even TV soap series were studied so that conversations could be struck up during the call.

Gradually those dealing with North America and European consumers could be heard adopting and mimicking accents and colloquialisms. It was important for even closer attention to regional and local characteristics, for example to know that the weather in Texas was likely to be hot and that in Seattle most likely to be wet. It was learned the hard way that calls were not to be made on 4th July to the US or during Superbowl or Thanksgiving.

It may have been seen as demeaning for staff to adopt anglicised names rather than their own in the interests of customer service.

The job did however offer great employment opportunities as well as being something open to both men and women which represented an empowerment in a country of segregation of sexes in most working environments.

The greatest benefits were to the Indian economy as a whole with wages making their way into purchases of goods and services. Restaurants, Malls and Shops saw an increase in spending by the mainly younger workforce as well as in lifestyle acquisitions of houses, cars and putting family members through college.

The main Indian Cities attributed their rapid development to the phenomena of the Call Centre.

Considerable competition began to attract business away from India with the Phillipines and Bangladesh able to offer even more competitive services.

The Indian call centre revolution still employs around 500,000 persons today but its greatest legacy is in promoting the skills, entrepreneurial flair and aptitude for business of a sleeping giant of a nation.