Hi.

I was thinking a bit about the pretty gloomy economic climate of late (hey, I know, I know, I should chill out more, yeah) and I was curious to find out what other people's feelings are about how the UK call centre industry might be affectedby recession.

Obviously a recession isnt' a great thing generally, but I am wondering if it might affect our industry that little bit harder than most due to the fact that our industry (more than any other) has grown so rapidly. Could the call centre bubble be about to burst?

I certainly hope not; it's my livelihood. Still, as ever the eternal pessimist, I have to ask...

Bob (the harbringer of doom, perhaps?)

I think recession is generally bad for all types of business (except, perhaps, funeral directors and the like :) so, yes, there's a very strong possibility that it will affect the call centre industry.

Saying that, tho', I think it's more likelyto affect the companies which use call centres than the call centres themselves...

Jim

I don't think call centres have really been in a real recession before, not really, as they're a bit too 'recent' to have been prominent in the last one.

Therefore, I think it would be a mistake to try to speculate as to how the recession might or might not affect this industry. I would say that the clouds of recession might dissuade companies from investing heavily into new call centres and perhaps make them consolidate what they currently offer. Maybe this could be the first real test that this industry has encountered.

It will be interesting to see what the next six months holds for us all- hopefully we'll all be survivors, or maybe the recession won't happen, but the main thing I'd say is that forewarned is forearmed!

Rob.

Hi Rob, welcome to the forum!

I agree, the industry is too new to be able to say for certain how it will fare in a recession, but because this industry spans so many different disciplines, I think it's inevitable that some call centres may be adversely affected.

I'd be interested to see who the winners and losers of this are going to be.

Bob

I note with some sadness that Motorola are to close their West Midlothian plant after quite a number of years with the loss of many hundreds of jobs, thousands even.

From a technology point of view, things are looking pretty grim, especially in the electronics sectors. More conventional industries seem to be suffering as well, but it's not as prominent there (yet).

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I do think this recession is upon us......

Jim

Evening Jim,

Yes it is disappointing to hear about Motorola and the Marks and Spencers call centre near Warrington is also closing with the loss of 600 + telesales jobs. But there are expansions going on as well. I am sure that I read somewhere that next to Motorola, two news industries are moving in and they have already started to build their units, and should be ready within 12 months.

Yet I believe that an outsourcing call centre in Liverpool is due to double their workforce within 12 months. Expansion is happening - it is just that tabloids like to report the doom and gloom. Wouldn't it be nice if we heard more good news.

Remember good skilled people are hard to find...... and with skills like those going at Motorola and Marks and Spencers.. they should be able to find jobs again soon. They must not take these corporate decisions personally.

Alice

I was having a negative day! Things don't look so bad now, a fortnight or so later. I think everyone is just a bit cautious at the moment, but maybe this will change to one of optimism soon.

Jim

Hope this isn't the start of a trend. Check out the following link:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/19048.html

It seems there'll be quite a few job losses. Not so good at all.

Bob

Just read this:

Link to story in The Register

It seems that the general downturn of technological companies is continuing to impact this industry; meanwhile, the Government still denies that we're in a recession... pah!

I hope for everyone's sake that things start to improve soon...

John

FYI

The reality with ntl is that they are undergoing drastic change at present. Part of that change is consolidation of the huge number of Call Centres (CMCs) they have. In my view this is not indicative of the way the service industrys are going. ntl have 'been' a pile of junk in customers eyes and they desperately needed to do this as they inherited seemingly hundreds of centres via their different company aquisitions during the 90s.

Having seen the manner in which my better half was 'handled' when she was made redundant from their Customer Care side a couple of months ago I can fully appreciate how these poor people feel. People management is most definately NOT one of their skills.

David

David,

Thanks for clearing that up. As an aside, I've just emailed the BBC regarding their programme "4x4" which I happened across just a few moments ago - it was 'knocking' the call centre industry with respect to bad service, so I quickly wrote this in response:

Dear Sirs,

It is interesting that you choose to isolate the call centre industry as an example of 'bad service' when in fact it is one of the few industries in the UK to be making a conscious effort to improve and build upon a foundation of good customer service.

Companies such as CallCentreVoice, The Call Centre Database and The Customer Experience Company work with clients to provide customer-centric solutions based upon customer satisfaction as their cornerstone.

Our website, www.callcentrevoice.com was setup to raise the profile of call centres in the UK and we are doing everything that we can to work with our members to provide advice on best practice with regard to customer satisfaction. However, I would like to stand up for the industry and say that it is the actions of a few 'bad eggs' which are tarnishing the reputations of this industry in general.

Whilst programmes like yours concentrate on these 'bad egg' call centres, itfails to address the fact that call centres provide a significant proportion of the entire UK job market and have attracted investment from all around the world.

My company and website aim to smooth the transition in what is a relatively young industry toward slick, customer-orientated and satisfying departments.

Let's face it, they're here to stay so supporting our drive to improve the profile of call centres would be no bad thing!


Which is basically how I feel about things - unlike many industries, this is one which is firmly behind embracing change for the better where customer satisfaction is concerned...

John

John

Saw it too and whole heartedly agree. What particularly peeved me was the last piece where the two 'arse holes' from radio tried to elicit who was the worst person for customer service in the UK. Interestingly they got little response so set about three individuals who had been nominated.

Basically, none of them fell for it and the pillock who was 'undercover' got short shrift... Justice indeed.

As a 'license payer' I was truely appalled at the utter waste of money. Moreover, I would be amazed if the 'real' people who contributed were pleased to be associated with such a programme. By a strange coincidence I'm seeing one of them shortly so will let you know their thoughts.

Just as a piece of background, the BBC run a forum for the radio show these jokers host. It has recently been severly criticised on and off line as listeners posts about the crap nature of the presenters have been stopped (censored). The editors called it "ensuring all contributions were 'on topic'" Utter bullshit and censorship is more like! You have my permission to remove that last bit if you wish.

Exactly who did you email. I feel a 'special' coming on ;-)

David

David,

You're right, it was a load of rubbish, but then balanced viewpoints don't make interesting prime-time viewing; I can therefore understand why they have to jump for the cliché - if they didn't, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting for JoePublic and they'd lose them until "Eastenders" comes on ;-)

I don't see any reason to remove your last sentence, though, as it's a fair comment. You backed it up and so it remains!

I surfed over to the BBC website and found the 'senda message to the team' section relating to that programme; I sent the reply from that page - whether or not we'll get a response I couldn't say, but we have to do everything to raise the awareness of the media in general that we as an industry are doing all we can to change for the better.

John

Hi folks.

Received a reply from the BBC re: the 4x4 programme; without making comment, here's the full transcript:

Dear Mr Clark Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding '4 x 4' on BBC ONE. I was interested to read your comments with regard to the choice of a call centre as an example of 'bad service', and I note that you feel that the programme as a consequence failed to address the significance and success of the UK call centre industry. As I am sure you can appreciate, consumer affairs programming such as '4 x 4' depends on examples to illustrate wider patterns in sufficient detail. The call centre industry was selected, not because 'bad service' is considered to be more widespread in its case, but simply because it is an example of a service industry which has recently become ubiquitous, and as such constitutes a valid example for the programme to focus on. Nevertheless, I appreciate your own perspective on the matter, and I would like to assure you that your comments and suggestions have been recorded for the benefit of senior BBC management, the '4 x 4' production team and other relevant commissioning and programming personnel. The BBC values all feedback from viewers and listeners, as it helps us to take decisions on future policy and programmes. Thank you for taking the trouble to contact the BBC with your views. Regards Neil McFarlane BBC Information

Anyone care to comment?

John (who does these things for the benefit of all ;-)

Sounds like one of their usual fob off responses, you should send a letter to the Radio times, I didn't see the programme myself but from what I have heard it is not very good any week anyway.

Hi folks.

Now that we're well into what can only be described as a bit of a 'global slowdown' (if we're optimistic) or a 'global recession' (if we're pessimistic) I wondered how your call centres are coping. Is business slower this year than last? Have provisions been made to 'streamline' and therefore weather this storm? Are you optimistic or pessimistic for near or mid-term improvements?

Here in Scotland we've seen continual cut-backs and yesterday one of our biggest inward investors, NEC, have confirmed 1200 job cuts. Things are not as good as they were a year ago, but I remain confident that by remaining positive and seeking new channels for our businesses, we can weather this storm.

Anyone agree or disagree?

John

It is interesting to know the happenings in the industry in Scotland. If you ask my personal opinion, recession is one such thing where people like to sit back look at what is going wrong in the plan and what is affecting the business. once this thinkingprocess starts in an organization, the real winners are the people like me, who get many calls to design strategies for cost cutting, process re-engineering and productivity enhancement. Hr audit tools can be implemented and business and revenue models can be re-worked. i feel recession is something like an excuse for coming late to office and blame the traffic- If the company is providing excellent service- its off season plans for revenue generation should be implemented. A business plan without alternative revenue generation plans is like a tool lacking sharpness. all that it requires to survive tough days is the strong determination and commitment to perform and deliver at all odds.

Recession is a boon where revenue generation becomes obsession and working capital management becomes the mantra.

Three CHEERS to RECESSION!!!

However, I agree that the companies which outsource may cut costs on customer service spending, which all of us know is foolish, because true CRM implies consistent quality service delivery at all times for acquisition, retention and growing of profitable customers selectively.

If costs are a barrier let innovation take over....

Vedula

I agree entirely. During 'good times', our clients need help trying to effectively handle their business. During 'down times', our clients want help learning to run a more efficient operation, save money, etc. And it's during 'down times' that our newclient base expands the most. 2001 will be our second-best year ever in revenues. As the President of my company said just yesterday - "When this recession is over, we'll have prospered, and many of our competitors will have disappeared." Part of thatis that we're good at what we do - but part is an operating philosophy that is positive and active and results-oriented.

Vendula, I like your comment about coming in late and blaming the traffic. We are all responsible for a 'recession', and weare in no way relieved of our responsibilities to our customers or to our people or to our businesses just because 'it's a little slow right now'. If everyone quits 'waiting around' to see what's going to happen, and instead DOES something, SPENDS somemoney, BUYS some stock, whatever, then this 'recession' will go away.

Ahem. My soap box just collapsed. Happy Holidays, everyone -

Brent