Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't everyone on this forum, including the CC Owner, "A Middleman/Woman". He/she is after all flogging "cheap labour" to the "Western Market".
I suppose it hurts when you are paid back with the same "buck".

Hi,
The most interesting topic that i read lately. MIDDLEMAN is a Problem as well a Solution. There are so many different perceptions, based on each individuals own experiences.
Would just like to ask one question. Has any industry ever achieved Perfection. The answer remains NO. So how can you expect all middleman to be perfect and the same with CCs. Just one Question to the people pointing fingers at Middlemen is, anytime you raise your fingers at a middleman you by default raise a Questionmark to your own credibility. If you're not smart enough to identify the right people then whose problem is it. Yours>
Anyways ill close it with a fact that there are very few wrong Middleman in the industry compared to the no of pathetic CCs and the people heading those CCs in India.

Hi All,

Posts about middlemen and business misleads are part and parcel of the outsourcing game! I would like to bring the following news item about a telemarketing fraud, as reported, to the members attention:
http://207.228.233.106/w1.asp?a=2A06A5BC-567C-4092-B08F-86F6224308D6

Part of report reproduced here:

"The complaint alleges that, since at least 2001, MAISONNEUVE and KARACHINSKY have been involved in a fraudulent telemarketing operation whereby MAISONNEUVE, KARACHINSKY, and others working with them, pose as United States lottery officials telephoning American citizens across the United States. It is alleged that the telemarketers would falsely represent to the prospective victim that he or she had won a large lottery or sweepstake; however, the telemarketers would further inform the victim that, in order to collect the lottery or sweepstakes winnings, an advance payment would be required in order to cover taxes, insurance, or other administrative fees. It is alleged that the telemarketers would then direct the prospective victim to mail the supposed tax or fee to a mail drop address in Canada, or to wire the funds to offshore bank accounts or bank accounts in Canada. It is alleged that none of the victims ever received any lottery or sweepstakes payment. It is alleged that Americans all across the United States have been victimized by this scheme in a total amount exceeding $5 million."

Malick,
CEO, ARITHMA

The middleman brings the business to the call center and helps companies save money. Without the middleman this process would be impossible. Please visit my company's site at www.velot.com or email me at mellamoian@aol.com to understand why the middleman is so crucial.

Hi Vedula
I do appreciate your views of not wanting the Middlemen.
I would like to take each and every question of yours:
1. Can the call centres confide in these campaign providers and pay them a percentage of their revenue for having negotiated and struck the deal one time?
Ans: I would like to point out, since the market is too bad, survival of the fittest, these days to sustain in the business people often make use of such type of middlemen, where the access is fast, margins are low, as the middlemen takes the chunck of the business.

2. Why do clients willing to outsource do not approach call centres directly for talks rather than agree to deal with these middlemen?
Ans: The client does not have access to the clients, its majorly because of non-awareness of India, at macro level yes these companies are aware, but at micro level, they are skeptical to outsource their work to direct companies, therefore they repy on the middlemen.

3. The revenue sharing is something I do not understand- consulting fees and client introduction fees are ok. It is usually one time fee. Then why have these revenue sharing models?
Ans: The middlemen dictates the terms, normally the BPO work is for the tenure of 12 months, the middlemen secures his income.

4. Ultimately it is the call centre agents who sweat out and make a campaign ucessful. But who makes the money - the middlemen. they sell training, campaigns, CRM software , predictive dialers, everything - and make their commission out of it. At the end of one year the middlemen would have earned far more than the call centre. Why not redress this problem?
Ans: Although the campaigns are successful, at the macro level it means you have done your job, but you do not add value in any terms to the clients business (in its technical sence) its the middlemen who create hype, since you are always kept away from the clients, your access level to the Decision makers is very poor/or do not have any access. At this juncture, inspite of all your efforts, the middlemen are successful.

Middlemen are important, if they add value to your business, these are the people who give you business, they give you mandate of the projects. Try some good consultants who can help you out.

Respected Members,

Hello, We operate an Off-Shore Call Center located here in Pakistan by the name of Starloop International. We have been in business for about a year, I have been reviewing the posts made to this discussion board quite keenly for few days and I would like to add few words of my humble opinion in this debate.

"Middle Man" OR "Broker" as you call them. They are like angels and often they are like devils. In every trade there are some good peoples and few bad apples. It’s your LUCK! Whether you get a Middle Man who goes for quality and awards campaign on merit, OR who runs for money and that's it!

I would like to share my experience here.... When we started our services i found a client after immense trial and tribulations and then we started doing a survey campaign for them we worked for them for about 2 months day in & day out and then the client ran away we suffered a loss of about 5000$, At that very point it became clear to me and my team that we needed a Middle Man badly... So that next time we engage in any campaign he can keep us safe in getting our payment on due time and get a more durable client for us. Its better if you utilize their services you do not need to work hard on the marketing side and you can easily get a pre-prepared pipeline of projects from them and you have more time to concentrate on your core product that is to provide Cost Effective Off-Shore Call Center Services!
Hence getting more satisfied customers at your doorstep and greater chances of getting repeat business.

Then i met this Great Guy! Decent keen towards quality but there was small issue.... Instead of sending campaigns my way he used to send me product details... He used to tell me I need to have that hardware installed in our facilities we need to improve that software update that and get that product from that particular vendor and if you buy things from him occasionally, you get a suitable campaign as a prize :) But mostly he used to stuff his pockets with large sum of money and we only got enough to cover our operational costs! Few of the middlemen are like this....

It’s basically a twisted road and a thin wire few people are able to drive on it easily and balance superbly on it but few are unable to do so. Since when you start your business you are eagerly looking for any campaign whether Inbound/Outbound which you can run and earn some decent profits and its during that you find some Great Guys Or Few Bad Apples!
But at the end of the day if you keep your head straight, keep your calm you end making profits for everyone.

In my humble opinion the debate here is not about whether Middle Man is Good/Bad infact it’s your personal experiences with them.... Like if someone found a really good guy he will say they are the BEST! If someone found a bad person he will say they are the DEVIL!

I think its better that you should approach a client on your own and do business with them that way you get an opportunity to study and understand the client requirements better and deploy a successful campaign for them. But if you are approaching a client via Middle Man its better that you do a conference with the company for whom you are actually running the campaign that way you can see whether that middle man is stuffing his pocket with money from both sides or is he a real deal.

Its good to do a deal on your own and even better if you are doing it via middle man, At the end it does not matters whether middle man is there or not its how you finalize things with the company or the middle man and play safe and get your required results.

And i would like to take this opportunity to thank the Call Center Voice Team that they provided us with such a wonderful place to discuss various topics and helped people like me to learn more about the various issues like what's good and what's bad.

Best Regards,
Masood
Starloop International
masood@starloop.com.pk
Cell: +92+333-4371862 (Call Anytime)
Fax: +1-510-380-2591

i was just browsing by and this topic caught my sight.. i genuinely wanna go thru all your posts and then make my post...m getting late for home now but i m sure i will make a post tomorrow..

great topic vedula....