Obama on Call Center Industry Offshore

"it's time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas..." - OBAMA

Just watching Obama's presscon in Capitol Hill and to be honest with you...it scares me. Thousands of call center professionals would lose their jobs if this would happen. Foreign companies who put up call centers here in the Philippines would definitely be affected by this. If they move their companies back to the US and hire locals, what would happen to Filipino call center professionals. I can't and don't want to imagine. Call center industry has been my bread and butter for more than five years and I don't know if I would like to go a different way other than this. It pays well and it's the industry that provides food on our table. If this thing will happen and call center professionals would be out of their jobs, I doubt if the government could provide same amount of jobs to people as what the call center industry provides. I understand his dilemma but I also believe that those companies who invested here in the offshore are really helping not just millions of people worldwide but are also helping themselves survive. They are saving millions if not billions of dollars by getting cheap labor. Outsourcing jobs to cheaper providers abroad allowed American companies to stay globally cost competitive. I hope Obama can see not just the negative aspect of getting offshore jobs. My heart is heavy as I listen to his speech. God your will be done.

Philippine Call Center versus India Call Center

Just stumbled upon this video on you tube and I totally agree with the speaker. If you'll gonna compare India vs. Philippines when it comes to call center skills, I would go for the Philippines. We have been under US Colony for nearly 50 years and almost everyone here speaks English. I really don't have anything against Indian agents but since I've been with the call center industry for more than five years now, I can say that I myself rarely understands their accent. Maybe because they weren't born having English as their second language unlike in the Philippines wherein English was being taught to children as young as 3 years old. Check this video to see why Call Center in the Philippines are better than Indian Call Centers.

Working In a Call Center

I've been working in a call center for almost 5 years now and many people are asking me what is a call center? A call center is a company who hires people to receive or do outbound calls to provide excellent service to their clients. Generally, call centers are large offices that could have a hundreds of telephone staff depending on the needs of the company.

Some call centers are just answering inbound calls, such as an Internet service that provides assistance over the phone when their customer needs help with their connection right away. In this example, call center agents can give step-by-step instructions to resolve the customer's internet problem. Other call centers, agents are the one who do outbound calls, one of the example is a survey company.

Call centers are very in demand now a days because it provides good compensation package and benefits to their employees. Even if you just finished two years in college or you are a handicap as long as you have excellent interpersonal communication skills, then you are accepted in this industry. And the good thing about call center is that there is no age limit for their employees unlike other companies who preferred to accept young and fresh graduates.

Never Forget A Name

Hey everyone! At last, it's my restday and I am now ready to blog my night away. haha. Anyways, I will share to you what I have read in a magazine. You know, I have this thing for fashion and educational magazines. I want to read those magazines that would give me tips and advises on how to organize my life and how to improve my overall personality... and I think of sharing this with you.

It's about how to be more of a people person and to how to gain more friends. This should be the things that we should remember when were being introduced to another person.


Shake hands.
Address the person you’re being introduced to by shaking their hand and saying their name out loud. Initiating contracts this way makes it easier to commit then name to memory.

Concentrate.
Pay attention when the person tells you his or her name. If you didn’t hear it well, ask him or her to repeat it. Looking at them speak creates a visual memory to attach to the name.

Repeat the name for retention.
Make a conscious effort to call the person by his or her name when talking to them. “Peter, what’s your opinion on this?” or “So, how was your vacation, Shella?”


I would need to memorize these three simple things by heart.

Balancing Work and Family

By: Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero

Importante sa buhay natin ang ating pamilya at trabaho. Sila ang nagbibigay sa atin ng dahilan upang tayo’y magsumikap sa ating gawain. Ngunit madalas, nahihirapan tayong balansehin ang dalawang aspetong itong ating buhay.

Work and family are often opposite forces: the difficulty of your work sometimes spreads into family life. At the same time, duties at home create problems in doing well at your job.

Balancing work and family roles can be tough. Sometimes you think there’s no other option but to serve both. Ngunit may mga pagkakataon kung saan hindi nagtutugma ang mga tungkulin natin. For instance, we may think of ways to increase our family’s finances during office hours – this affects our work productivity. It is important to remember that our family should be our motivation rather than a distraction. And, on the other hand, our job should provide the resources we need to support our family.

Attitudes and expectations are important in dealing with work-family issues. A lot of times, these form ideas about the way things should be done. Many of us have high expectations and we try to be perfect. But, even “supermen” or “superwomen” can burn out and become irritable. We need to understand that sometimes the more we want to be superheroes, the more our responsibilities are affected.

Setting priorities and effective time management is key in balancing work and family roles. Sometimes we do things right but we don’t do the right things. Minsan, hindi na tayo nakakapagplano ng mga gawain na makatutulong sa pag-abot ng ating mga pangarap.

The ability to quickly switch roles and knowing what it means to be in control are good talents to master. Many times we feel we have more control if we do everything ourselves. However, this can keep us from reaching our real goals; a lot of times, the best way to be effective is to let go of one role when you’re doing the other. This way you’ll be focused on whatever you’re doing.

Think about dividing work to accomplish your priorities. Let go of your superhero thinking and understand that no matter how much you try to do both things at the same time, you can never do it effectively.

Allocate time for both roles and know your boundaries – you might be allotting most of your time for your work but your relationship with your family is suffering. Balance things out and weigh your priorities.

CALL CENTER DO'S AND DONT'S

1) You're having any problems, don't bring them to work. It's easy to get stressed out on a normal day at a call center, but if there's problems at home you'll find yourself treating customers poorly, so try not to stew on personal problems.

2) Always arrive a little bit early, this way you can gauge what the call volume will be like that day and prepare yourself if it's going to be busy.

3) Keep a pen and some paper nearby. Write down everything that isn't sensitive information. This way you won't have to ask customers to repeat themselves, and you can also reference this information even after the customer is gone. This helps eliminate customer hostility and keep you from having to call the customer back.

4) Walk the fine line between friendliness and professionalism. Always adhere to your companies guidelines for professionalism, but try and add personal touches to your call like using the customer's first name.

5) Avoid dead air when you have a customer on the line. Dead air often makes people uncomfortable, and this will make your job harder.

6) Relax, if you have a bad call close your eyes, breath, and calm yourself down. Don't ruin your next call because of a difficult customer.

7) Remember that you wouldn't have a job without customers, try to avoid complaining
about them and instead focus on why you need them.