Calling Call Centers

It’s amazing! Indian call center outfits who have created a name for
themselves globally for their excellent services, are giving such a tough time
to consumers at home. Try calling up one of the most IT-savvy banks in the
country, and your endurance test begins. If you think it’s only banks who can
make your life miserable, simply call up one of the new generation private
telecom companies.

The story, or rather the problem, of call centers put up by various banks and
telecom companies in India to handle queries is quite the same everywhere. Call
center executives or agents do not have complete domain knowledge of the area,
which they are expected to handle complaints. In most cases, the agents cannot
settle the problem, and promise to get back. And in almost all cases they simply
don’t! When you call up again, you have to repeat your entire problem all over
again to some new agent. Most of the times the agent will not escalate the
problem, but will sit on it if he or she cannot solve it. If you are dealing
with a website, then the person answering your queries never reveals his or her
identity, and so you don’t ever come to know whom you are dealing with. In
many cases one gets the impression that these agents do not even possess common
sense. There are only complaints.

Obviously, it does not make business sense for Indian companies to invest in
call centers. But then should everything be driven by business sense alone? In
many cases, if you have other senses, like sense of customer support, you can
convert it into business sense. In fact, that is the whole idea behind call
centers.

Very soon it will be call centers, which companies will use to get leading
edge over competition. Call centers will not only prevent churn, but will also
be the most cost efficient way to enhance revenue per consumer. And if MNCs are
doing it, Indian companies had better learn it and get into this fast. Having or
not having call centers will become a cause for survival. India is a huge
market, and just like IT has caught up, so will call centers. There will be a
big demand for call centers. And banks and telecom companies setting up call
centers today could offer call center services to others. Actually, it will be
the big domestic call center market, which will make India a formidable global
player in this domain.

While world over, companies are getting call centers to make money, Indian
companies still treat it as a cost center. They should immediately grab this
opportunity as another new revenue stream. Inhouse or outsourcing could be
decided later on. For those who have call centers, the first priority should be
to get it streamlined and ensure it has high quality. Otherwise, it could
backfire, and actually become a cost center. There are so many instances of
consumers being quite satisfied with a company’s services, till they run into
its call center!

Ibrahim Ahmed