Hello,

I am from the Philippines. Our company would like to set up a call center here. We are into Property Management & Sales, Countryside Banking, Aquaculture and Trading. We are willing to go into a partnership or alliance with another company. The call center industry in the Philippines has grown at unprecedented levels. Philippines is next to India in this industry. We would like to have a small share in this thriving industry and we are really eager to capitalize on this.

In this regard, I’d like to ask the forum certain questions, which I find important to us new investors:

1. Is it advisable for a company, without IT experience, to engage in a call center business?
2. What are the initial or primary requirements for the set-up?
3. How many seats are needed to be economically viable?



Thank you,
Mylene Vitug
ASL Group

Mylene,

The call center industry is booming inthe Philippines, 39% growth last year and the government has stated its object is to gain 50% of all new call center built! I am regularily working with clients who are looking at the Philippines and other offshore destinations.

I would suggest that caution and due diligence are the watchwords for you as you investigate the call center opportunity.

In answer to your questions I would make the following comments

1- Yes, a non -IT company can engage and succeed in the call center business. But you will need assistance. After labour costs the second highest cost expense in most call centers in technology. In India and the Philippines the technlogy expense in some centers exceeds that of labour. The technology required to build a centre employing leading or near leading edge technology is significant. It is also 'front end loaded'. You can easily spend millions of dollars to build the infrastructure required. As I alluded to earlier, it is essential that you partner with an company that can deliver expertise in the area of call centre technology.

2-As stated above the ability to make a significant technology investment to build a centre that will offer competitive capabilities is essential. This is especially true if the centre is intended to be an 'outsource' or 'third party' call centre. The four key 'pillars' to any call centre operation are;
- People,
- Process,
- Technology
- Methodology

You will need to ensure that you address all 4 pillars and have a detailed and documented business plan if you plan to persue this business venture.

3- Economic viability is tied to the type of centre you wish to build and the type of work you plan to engage in. Even a small internal centre of under 30 seats can achieve significant economic returns versus a dispersed and decentralized method of handling the same inquiries. However if you are looking to offer 'Offshore' outsourcing services then you will require a larger centre in order to gain credibility in Europe, the UK or US. Beare in mind that you will need to send or post sales staff in your target markets and the centre must generate enough cash to compensate and support them and still generate a profit. A bare minimum I would suggest is between 250 - 500 seats dependant upon the type of business that will be done in the centre and the type of margins you are forecasting.


I hope that you find this information helpful. If I can be of any further assistance please contact me directly at ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com

Colin

Dear Colin,

Thank you so much for your advice. I really do apreciate it. I will be contacting you later on with the email address you gave.


Cheers,
Mylene

Hello

I represent Traction Call Center Management Pvt Ltd and we are a New Delhi India office that is subsidiary for a Canadian office.

Our group has spent the better part of the past year setting up and consulting with groups in India and Pakistan.

The experience that Mr Taylor has given you is very good thats for sure.

The thing we need to add is that with the emergence of ASP softwares such as salesforce.com and Five9 Contact Center platform that high capital investment softwares are not neccesarily the answer to a good tech platform. We have set up 4 clients in the region on Five9 VOIP platform and they are all very satisfied.

The next critical piece in the offshore relates to the quality of delivery. offshore centers demand high levels of management to agent to do things in a quality manner. Many groups instead op for less management with disastrous results.


Regards

Puja Walia
COO
Traction Call Center Management Pvt Ltd


Edited by DA to remove a little bit of advert content

Hello everyone,

I am really learning a lot from this forum! I have read many of the topics here in the archives and I gained so much information which we could use if ever we push through with this project. I hope our fellow members on this site will continuously share their knowledge and valuable experiences.

Thanks and more power to this site.

Mylene
mylenevirginia@yahoo.com

Mylene,

Glad you're finding the site useful. Feel free to donate to help with the running costs of the community if you feel that the advice and information has been of some help. Every little bit helps, you know...

Regards,

John