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“Press # if you’re pissed”
Author: Bill Cusick
March 28, 2005
Apparently, we all pretty much hate dealing with call centers, and as these customer "support" centers are outsourced off shore, and "productivity" measures like voice recognition software are employed, we customers want to throttle somebody.
One recent article predicts huge obstacles to the future growth of outsourced call centers in India, stating that at least 10 of the top 15 centers will either be swallowed up or just vanish in the coming months. Not only that, research company Gartner predicts that 80% of the companies that outsource customer service will fail, primarily because of customer defections and hidden costs that defeat the goal of cost savings.
There are more scary numbers. Another blurb cites a survey showing that 97% of callers find dealing with call centers stressful. And many of those customers have decided to fight back in a variety of ways, like just bypassing the endless phone menu by hitting zero, or calling in through sales or the home office.
Again, it seems that a dose of common sense would help many of these companies. Sometimes the simplest solution just might be the most effective like, hmmm, maybe…have a real person answer your phones!
Not that I’m angry…
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Just heard a report on WBBM news radio that the India call centers are losing employees in “droves.” They are quitting as they do not like the abuse and personal insults they are taking from the U.S. and U.K. callers. This is really sad. But, it is what it is. The people who are against this should be contacting the decision makers of the large U.S. and U.K. corporations and voicing their opposition to them, not the call center folks.
Comment by Dave Charlton — June 3, 2005 @ 12:56 pm