Outsourcing_Part_2.doc.doc

Headline: Customer Service Outsourcing

Sub headline: Customer support outsourcing-An over view- various methods-advantages and pit falls. 

Customer service outsourcing is a very common and successful strategy used by companies of all sizes. Small, one-person shops use it since there are simply not enough hours a day for one person to do it all. Large shops use it to allow them to focus on their core competency, save money and gain access to a first class, high quality customer service operation that would otherwise take millions of dollars to set up. The first method would be to provide “self-help” customer service in the form of FAQs. If customers can find the answer to their questions on their own, that has saved you the expense of one interaction. Some customers prefer e-mail response. Just make sure you respond promptly to their queries. Other methods include fax-back systems, online chat, and automated callback and lastly, just old fashioned phone calls. Some people still just want to pick up the phone and hear a human voice. Some companies have set up their call centers in low cost developing countries like India, where highly trained workers, staff the call center from an overseas location. This obviously means less expensive labor and competitive rates. Interestingly, Indian staff is trained to speak with American accents, so your customers won't be able to tell the difference, regardless of whether that phone call actually terminates in the Bronx or Bombay.  Whatever be the medium you use to allow customers to contact you, it is important that each method receive the same attention and prompt response. Furthermore, integration is essential, so that when a customer calls you on the phone, you can look up the record in your database and see at a glance that they e-mailed you last week and conducted an online chat with you a month ago. The company you choose to do your customer service should be able to tie together each response mechanism into a unified system, so customers can have access to the same information, regardless of how they contact the call center. If used correctly, customer service outsourcing can be a useful tool for managing your customer relationships and getting the most value out of each one.

Headline: Help desk support outsourcing

Sub headline: Definition-precautions in selecting the service provider-advantages and benefits.

Many businesses including small and internet businesses with limited manpower resort to help desk support outsourcing to ensure 24 X 7 servicing to its clientele. This is all the

more relevant and necessary for businesses where the customer expects immediate attention and continuous service.

Help support outsourcing is immensely useful for large businesses as well, who can outsource the entire gamut of sales, service and other technical support. It saves the service buyer the high overhead expenses since they are committed only for a contracted amount to the service provider and also obviates the cumbersome procedures of pay rolls, taxes and other statutory personnel expenses and obligations.

The business of technical support outsourcing also saves the cost of various service equipments, their maintenance and other expenditure connected with the help desk service.

The ever-increasing competition among the various outsourcing companies in the third world countries in the recent past makes such contracts cheaper and cost effective.

The business of technical support outsourcing is not without its drawbacks. The first and the foremost problem that the company faces is the dissatisfaction of the customer should the service of the outsourcing company deteriorates below the bench mark level making the reputation of the service buyer at stake. It is in this context that the clause in the outsourcing agreement providing for the premature termination of the contract assumes significance.

The company that outsource the help desk support service needs also to ensure that the representatives of the outsourcing company are properly trained and the help desk staff in turn complies with the service expectation of the service buyer and the customer.

It is imperative that before the decision on the outsourcing of help desk support the company has to critically review and analyze the various factors of the service like the service expectation of the customer cost of service and obviously the cost of outsourcing. The company needs to evolve a well-structured and effective training system to ensure the continued customer satisfaction and service standard.

The system should also have a method to assess and monitor periodically the quality of service provided by the out sourcing company to obviate any leakage in the precious clientele pool. The company that follows the above few basic principles of outsourcing would no doubt find the concept of help desk support outsourcing more lucrative, time saving and also as a facilitator for extending undivided attention to the core areas of business.

Headline: Live Chat outsourcing

Sub headline: Concept Of Live Chat Outsourcing-Advantages & Precautions-Live Chat As A Tool For Business Enhancement

Ever since the communication technology has taken new strides with the help of digital media, ‘live chat’ an effective tool for on line two way communication started gaining acceptability and popularity. The concept has taken new dimensions when the same has been applied as a link that bridges the supplier – consumer divide. Today live chat is being used by a cross section of manufacturers to inter act with their clientele and help solve the problems with regard to sales and services.

Like any other outsourcing activity live chat outsourcing also has been gaining momentum in the corporate world. The advantages of avoiding a large pool of staff and the connected commitments could well be avoided by outsourcing these vital but sensitive areas of business. The proliferation of the outsourcing companies in Asia, North America and of late in Europe has made the job of the service buyers easy and opened a plethora of choice. However one need not be hasty or lured by the tall claims of these customer friendly entities since this is one of the areas where the immediate response of the customer is visible and reflected almost instantaneously in the business of the company.

The front-end staff of the outsourcing company needs to be culturally akin to the habits of the country which is the target market of the service buyer. Further more the language and the accent also plays a vital role in this area of outsourcing.

The Asian and South Asian countries that have large English speaking population has carved a niche in this market and is ready to take up any emerging challenges in this area. It has now been proved and well documented that the outsourcing of various Business Processes to these job hungry and maverick developing nations had the twin advantage of cost reduction and improved business due to more availability of time for the service buyer to concentrate in their core business areas. Further more over a period of time the staffs in these outsourcing companies are able to absorb and exhibit the required skill and competence to full fill the contractual obligations and expectations of the multinationals the world over.

Live chat outsourcing is a good business proposition for the countries gearing up for having a larger share in the pie of the business of outsourcing with the twin objective of adding to the country’s exchequer and provision of gainful employment for the educated and technological savvy young generation.

Headline: Technical support outsourcing

Sub headline: The selection of the service provider- Monitoring of the service and training needs-

The terminology ‘technical support’ defines and includes various after sales assistance whether it is a computer hard ware, software or electrical or mechanical consumer goods.

The success of any products and acceptability in the market is usually in direct proportion to the after sales service or technical support extended by the manufacturer.

The technical support is normally extended to the consumers by various methods or channels like E-mail, faxes, live chats, telephones etc. It is up to the manufacturer to ensure the optimum and effective use of this support for their products.

As the technical support is the backbone of any manufacturing industry no company can afford to take the technical support service for granted. The service buyer has to follow certain precautions for the outsourcing to be effective and paying. The service provider needs to have proven records of satisfactory service history in the relevant field and proper references may have to be insisted upon before the contract is granted.

Technical support outsourcing demands comprehensive, systematic and continuous training program for the representatives of the service providers. It would be customary to devise questionnaires, feed back forms and suggestion forms by mutual consultations and discussions in order to ensure a concurrent feed back on the efficiency and satisfying service of the outsourcing company.

Frequent interaction and communication between the company and the service provider is the key to success in the business of technical support outsourcing.

The outsourcing company should continuously strive to keep abreast with the developments in the field and the modifications in the products to keep the customers satisfied and to see that their confidence in the product is sustained. In this era of off shoring, one has to be selective in picking up the country and the outsourcing firm so as to avoid large gaps in the service expectations of the customers and the service rendered by the outsourcing firms.

The ultimate success of the business of technical support outsourcing lies in the competence of the outsourcing company to rise to the expectations of the service buyer and also its ability to keep pace with the ever increasing demands of the modern consumers who are always on the look out for better products and services.

Headline: Product Inquiries Outsourcing

Sub headline: Importance of product inquiry- advantages of outsourcing-The recent trends. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of products that require explanations. Simply listing such products and services in catalogues or advertising in the media or displaying them on the shelves is not sufficient to demonstrate their merits. That is why the emphasis on corporate sales strategies is being shifted from awareness of brands and products toward in-store sales promotions and retail support. At a time when consumer impulse to buy is sluggish, it is more important than ever to enhance appeal for products that require explanations to produce a sale. Products which need explanation

include sophisticated and feature-rich products such as personal computers, DVD players, digital cameras and other digital consumer electronics, contract-based products such as mobile telephones, broadband services and credit cards, and trial-based products such as alcohol beverages and daily items. Companies are now focusing on larger-scale stores and low-cost operations, and there is a shortage of staff to interact with customers. Stores need a steady supply of staff to provide thorough sales follow-up and in-store encouragement for purchases. Companies also need to understand what sort of activities the stores want, and to provide more effective sales activity. For companies to set up an adequate product inquiry service, however, takes time, energy and capital. More companies are turning to outsourcing.  

Outsourcing was once viewed only as a strategic lever for improving performance and keeping costs in check for companies. Today it is considered as a vital management tool for business innovation, global expansion and competitive advantage. Today’s leaders value outsourcing, as a means to develop new and more efficient business initiatives, and product inquiries outsourcing is a fast growing business opportunity.  Outsourcing companies provide a consistent retailing experience and superior service to customers whether the customer chooses voice, e-mail, or web chat to receive retail service. They provide inbound support to product inquiries that get the caller to the best resource quickly to satisfy the customer’s needs. They also manage the agent workforce dynamically in real-time during peak retail call times to improve customer service agent morale, and reduce costs.

Headline: Billing Concerns OutsourcingSub headline: A Solution to Your Accounting Problems

Billing concerns outsourcing offers a company an array of assists for the handling of their accounting needs. The outsourcing of billing concerns provides help with far more than just account receivable. It delivers reliable assistance with all the demands that could arise within a conventional billing and collections department.

Billing concerns outsourcing not only insure the satisfaction of those demands, it also brings to company administrators a steady and complete reporting about the status of the company accounts. In addition, billing concerns outsourcing brings with it the promise of a noticeably better cash flow.

One industry where billing concerns outsourcing has found extensive use is medical billing. The outsourcing of billing activities allows health professionals to focus on their most important concerns—the health of patients. The outsourcing of billing activities removes the need for the hiring of personnel who will contact patients regarding their medical bills. In the absence of that need, organizations that deliver health services and

institutions that conduct medical research can proceed without added worries regarding possible employee turnover.

Companies that provide billing concerns outsourcing appreciate the benefits that they bring to the medical billing industry. Therefore, those companies see that their employees receive the appropriate training. Such training normally includes instruction regarding the stipulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability law (HIPA).

Because the outsourcing companies provide their employees with such training, patients can have confidence that their health records have been kept away from prying eyes. The benefits of billing concerns outsourcing becomes most clear when a health delivery system seeks to ignore its existence.

The use of billing concerns outsourcing avoids an event such as the one that occurred at a medical center in Los Angeles. Two years ago someone stole a lap top computer from one of the offices in that center. That laptop contained the billing records for a number of patients. The medical center then had to spend extra money in order to contact the patients whose records had been obtained illegally.

The time and effort that went into writing letters to those patients could have been directed in a more productive manner, if only that medical center had chosen to use billing concerns outsourcing.

Headline: Repair Dispatch OutsourcingSub headline: Give Your Emergency Personnel This Added Resource

Repair dispatch outsourcing deserves recognition as an important component of society’s push for greater security. Repair dispatch outsourcing uses cellular, VOIP, and landlines to bring to emergency personnel a full spectrum of voice, video, digital pictures and text messaging. In addition the outsourcing of dispatching services provides emergency call centers with a way to deliver instant work orders to a large number of emergency personnel.

Repair dispatch outsourcing also brings added benefits to both city government and to anyone who needs to seek emergency services. The benefits to the city government stem from the outsourcing of the added costs that would otherwise come with the conventional hiring of dispatchers and repair workers.

The value of repair dispatch outsourcing would be clear to anyone who sat in a council chamber for a budget review within any American city. Such an individual would likely find that personnel costs had taken-up the bulk of the budget. Personnel costs explain the

advantages of outsourcing. Outsourcing removes the city government from concerns about pension and medical costs, as well as concerns about rising workers’ compensation costs.

Meanwhile the use of repair dispatch outsourcing secures stronger protections for the average citizen. Outsourcing allows call centers to more easily employ whatever technology exists for locating a wireless caller. This added ability can have enormous positive consequences.

For example, if a caller contacts the call center using the 911 number and requests help, then the call center does not need to count on directions from a shocked and confused accident victim. The call center can use the available technology to locate that distressed caller. And repair dispatch outsourcing can also aid the effort to improve the security in a region.

If a wanted criminal, or even a terrorist, were to make contact with an accomplice using a cellular phone, then the resources obtained through outsourcing could detect the location of that caller. The outsourcing could thus help local or federal law enforcement officials to the reach and apprehend a felon or terrorist.

There can be no doubt about the fact that repair dispatch outsourcing has become an important component of society’s push for stronger security measures.

Headline: Order Status OutsourcingSub headline: Outsource and Produce More

Order status outsourcing assures the company that uses it a ready access to answers for any customer seeking an update on a purchased item. Order status outsourcing permits a company with an efficient way to take orders, send faxes to suppliers, keep track of orders received and make a report on all orders made and filled. Those same services let customers easily view the status of an ordered item.

The expanded use of order status outsourcing underlines the degree to which customers has freed themselves from a world that says, “Buyer beware.” The company that uses order status outsourcing has 24-hour access to information collected by the provider of the outsourced services. Customers that contact the company can have that same access.

After a customer orders an item at a retail store, and after that customer finds that the ordered item has not yet arrived, that customer seeks to know the status of the ordered item. At that point the order status outsourcing can demonstrate its amazing potential. It gives the retailer the ability to display a complete understanding of what steps have been taken to get the item out to the retailer.

Because retailers have been provided with a way to track deliveries, the general public also has access to such services. Now any package shipped by any major carrier-the U.S. Post Office, FedEx, and UPS—automatically becomes tracked, followed along its route from sender to destination. Hence both the sender and the intended recipient have the ability to obtain information about where the package is located.

This wonderful service, a service that the public is rapidly coming to take as a normal part of daily living, would not have been made so readily available without the use of order status outsourcing. Moreover, this added benefit does not require the carriers to hire any extra personnel. Therefore, the carriers do not need to pass-on to the public the costs of providing added employees with both a salary and company benefits.

The wonders of order status outsourcing have even impressed the moviemakers in Hollywood.

Headline: Vendor Locator OutsourcingSub headline: Helping You to Make a Wise Selection

Vendor locator outsourcing recognizes the fact that the selection of a vendor requires special skills. Vendor locator outsourcing hands the job of selecting a vendor to a center that is familiar with such vendors. The outsourcing of the task of selecting a vendor relies on individuals who have an intimate knowledge of each available vendor’s experience and ability.

As a result, the companies seeking outsourcing centers do not need to judge vendors according to their access to technology, their client list or their office space. While those three characteristics might be easy to locate or observe, they are not valid reasons for choosing a vendor. The selection of a vendor should be based upon a vendor’s proven experience and unrivaled ability.

Vendor locator outsourcing facilitates the use of multiple vendors. When a company has multiple vendors, then one vendor is forced to compete against the other vendor. Each vendor strives to deliver the greatest amount of product at the lowest possible price. When the product sought is an outsourcing center, then a company might initiate its search at the website www.callcentersworldwide.com

The need for a center that performs outsourcing services can be a daunting task. Such centers need to remain updated about what new products or services have been introduced within a particular industry. Vendor locator outsourcing could free-up time for researchers in an R and D department by providing a ready access to information about the available products and services, including those that were most recently introduced.

Researchers would then be in a better position to pursue more fully a potential new method for the making of a marketable product.

This awareness of changes in the resources available to workers in a particular industry has greatest importance in industries where change takes place fast and often. Industries dealing with computers and computer parts would obviously fall in that category. Biotechnology industries would also need to have vendors with detailed knowledge of the latest industry tools.

Vendor locator outsourcing can serve to back-up an ambitious worker, one who wants to try something new. If the vendor locator is familiar with the tools that such a worker would use, then that employee is more apt to get a go-ahead with his or her proposed project.

Headline: Inbound PBX SoftwareSub headline: See What Can Be Done with This Sensational Software

Inbound PBX software has received widespread use among call centers at retail stores, pharmacies, real estate offices, businesses, banks, travel agencies and centers staffed by healthcare providers. Inbound PBX software places on the desk of every employee ready access to needed information. Some customers have come to rely on that information.

In retail stores, the use of inbound PBX software has led the PC cash register to replace the old, traditional cash register. While the customer still hears a “ca-ching” as the cash box opens, that customer no longer views the purchase price from a narrow cash register window. Instead the inbound PBX software allows the viewing of the purchase price on a large, PC-sized screen.

Restaurants use PBX software to simplify the process of handling requests for reservations. Travel agencies use PBX software to facilitate the making of airplane reservations. Pharmacies use inbound PBX software to provide customers access to knowledge that should keep them safe from unpleasant side effects.

One Cautionary Note about Inbound PBX Software

The popularity of inbound PBX software has only one drawback. As the numbers of people accessing such software increases, there is a greater chance that worms, viruses and phisher codes could sneak into the system that is using such software. Phishing codes are a particular concern, because they could allow an outsider to go after inside information.

For example if one company employee used a phisher code to send a message to another employee in the payroll offices, then the salary of every company employee could soon be at his (or her) fingertips. If one employee used a phisher code to contact the computer

of a co-worker in the R and D department, then the code could trigger the release of previously hidden company secrets.

Such an occurrence would be comparable to doing insider trading. Use of a phishing code directs a computer to divulge information that would otherwise remain secured, hidden from anyone without a preset code. Phishing codes illustrate how any new technology, such as inbound PBX software, seems to almost always lead to the unlawful use of that same technology.

Phishing codes may eventually lead to an unusual demand, a demand that one popular children’s card game discontinue use of the phrase “Go fish.”

Headline: Commercial and Customized CRM SoftwareSub headline: A Sure Way to Improve Customer Relations

Commercial and customized CRM software provides companies with customer relationship management. CRM software allows a company to send multiple e-mails to customers. A company with CRM software can send many surveys to its customers, and can thus hope for plenty of feedback on the company products.

Commercial CRM software would be used when the “customer” was a business, and the customer conducted business transactions with a supplier. Commercial CRM software would also be used when the “customer” was a factory, and the supplier was a marketer of raw materials. A supplier might use CRM software to provide many different businesses with details about a new product, one that would be apt to please many of the customers contacting those same businesses. A supplier might use CRM software to contact a number of different factories regarding changes in the price for one or more raw materials.

Customized CRM software would allow a company to develop unique, customized surveys for use with its customers. Such surveys would make it easy for customers to recognize which business had developed the survey. Customers could readily identify the product or products for which the company wanted feedback. Customized software promises any company an increased chance that a survey will be completed and returned.

Customized CRM software also collects customer data. That is important, because it provides the company using the CRM software with way to spot trends. Companies can access the collected customer data and look in that data for signs of widespread acceptance, or widespread disproval, of one or more company products.

In an economy controlled by market forces, the use of CRM software could speed the rate at which supply and demand have acted together to determine price. The rapid response to changes in the supply of crude oil might be attributed to the availability of CRM

software. The popularity of CRM software could lead to a re-writing of the course materials for any college’s Economics 101.

Perhaps the interplay of CRM software and the prevailing market forces will one day become the subject of a doctoral thesis, one written by a graduate student in some Department of Economics.

Headline: Interactive Voice Response IVRSub headline: Directing Your Search for IVR

The present availability of interactive voice response does not give businesses a new tool. For a number of years now phone companies have been willing to wire a business’s phone system so that it has interactive voice response (IVR). A business with an IVR can direct phone calls to a voice mailbox, an operator or the source of some type of music. If callers get the music, then they must wait for the IVR to redirect their call to either the mailbox or the operator.

An internet search for information about the IVR reveals that the phone companies are about to face some worthy competition. One company has begun to market a kit that can be used for the installation of an IVR. In other words, with this new kit a company would not need to depend on the phone company in order to get an IVR. A company could pay a technician, or in some cases use the knowledge of company personnel, to enjoy the advantages of an IVR.

Where does one get such a kit? At the present time that question remains to be answered. Do not, however, try looking for such a kit at an outlet for Radio Shack. That will only get you a confused look from the store sales clerk. One might have better luck by going to an office supply store.

Suppose you are not sure that you trust the quality of a phone conversation when the phone company itself has not installed the interactive voice response. How could you test the ability of the self-installed system to allow for effective communication? How could you discover, without paying the total cost of a new IVR, the ability of the self-installed IVR to produce an acceptable signal?

Perhaps there exists a way to rent a kit, one that could be used to install an IVR. This would be the sort of item that might appeal to the same businesses that now rent laptop computers and video conferencing equipment. Such a kit might one day enjoy widespread use within the home business community. A small business with an IVR could then share one important characteristic with a large business.

Headline: E-mail Processing

Sub-headline: Don’t Get Submerged in a Flood of E-mails

When a company uses CRM software, then it can send its customers multiple emails. But what if the company sends out many different surveys? How then does that company handle all of the survey responses? Does the company need to hire a whole new set of employees just to read the survey results? And who is going to send a reply that acknowledges each completed and returned survey?

The answer to the above questions comes in the form of e-mail processing. The answer is no; a company must obtain a system that directs the processing of customer e-mails. In that way the company is guaranteed a complete look at the customer responses.

While e-mail processing sorts through all of the responses to surveys, it can also deliver benefits to organizations that have never even sent a survey, organizations that do not sell a book, a piece of clothing, an appliance, a piece of furniture, or a technological device. E-mail processing can facilitate the operation of any business or organization that sends out a regular newsletter.

When an organization or business offers to e-mail a regular newsletter, then that organization hopes to include within the information contained in that newsletter facts that will lead readers to expand their use of the organization’s services. Perhaps, if the newsletters come from a non-profit agency, the regular newsletters might entice readers to contribute to that organization.

Newsletters can also serve as a way to increase the public knowledge of an organization. Some newsletter editors encourage their readers to mention the editor’s work in reply to inquiries by writer’s groups (most notably by the magazine Writer’s Digest). The sending-out of such newsletters requires e-mail processing. When such newsletters encourage use of the Internet in order to reply to inquiries, then those newsletters have the ability to increase further the demand for e-mail processing.

Of course e-mail processing fails to deliver an assurance of quality in a newsletter. E-mail processing does, however, improve the efficiency of any newsletter’s online distribution.

Headline: Fax on DemandSub headline: Why You Should Demand Fax on Demand

Many cable television companies offer viewers movies on demand. In California, one maker of large, metal containers offers portable on demand storage (PODS). It should come as no surprise that many businesses now offer fax on demand.

How can companies provide fax on demand? Do they hire one employee to sit next to a FAX machine all day and place in the machine-selected documents? No they obtain special software, and have that software added to the features on their website. Hence anyone can bring up that website on a PC and request a faxed document.

The public desire for fax on demand services stems from the age-old legal proposition that something in writing cannot easily be disputed. One paralegal in California typifies the mentality of many within the general public. That gentleman liked to request a faxed document as substantiation for some claim or some promise that had been made to him over the phone.

During 2004 and most of 2005 that paralegal would make his request and then wait at his fax for what the employee to whom he had spoken would be sending him. In 2006 that same gentleman found that most companies had begun to use fax on demand software. When he requested a faxed document, he was told to go to the company website.

Other customers, those who got similar promises, or who heard similar claims, over the phone must also have said on many occasions, “Can you fax that to me?” No if any customer asks that question, the company employee directs them to the website. There on the website that customer will find the fax on demand feature.

Fax on demand is an excellent example of how demand affects supply. The demand for a fax on demand capability led to the creation of the fax on demand software. Now that the fax on demand software exists it can easily be altered to suit the changing needs of the customers. Software is not difficult to change, and therefore companies can demonstrate flexibility in their delivery of fax on demand services. That fact adds to the value of such software.

Headline: Customized Logistics and Financial SupportSub headline: Do Not Make Your Employees Suffer from Uncertainty

Although the following story is about a benefit that has only recently been offered to businesses, it focuses on an event that took place well before that benefit had been made available. The story serves to contrast what exists today with what needs arose before anybody gave much thought to easing the concerns of the average worker. It highlights the beauty of the software that has now come on the market.

Customized logistics and financial support is software that provides a company with supply chain management. In order to appreciate the beauty of customized logistics, i.e. supply chain management, one must endeavor to get a close view of the worries that can face the workers in business, especially a business where the production of goods can not proceed without the supply of certain necessary items.

As an example of the need for customized logistics and financial support, this article will spotlight the business of making diagnostic kits. Such kits require protein from live cells. Hence cells need to be grown at any company that makes diagnostic kits. In the 21st Century cell culture requires sterile containers—commonly plastic flasks.

Now in the late 1990s a research associate at one California biotechnology firm, a firm that made diagnostic kits, had just ordered six cases of Costar flasks. She was almost out of flasks, and she would not be able to grow more cells without more flasks. However, on the same day that she ordered those flasks this woman also learned that UPS workers were about to go on strike.

Did Costar use UPS to deliver its flasks? Customized logistics and financial support had not yet been made available. Therefore, that woman could do nothing but worry. Fortunately UPS workers remained on strike only one day. Consequently, the researcher soon had her flasks.

Still that one series of events underlines the great advantages offered by the software that gives a company customized logistics and financial support. It underscores that degree to which the production process is dependent on cooperation between the suppliers, the deliverers of those supplies and the producers. When all of those industries have access to the Internet, communication between them should be encouraged. Such encouragement has now arrived. It has arrived in the guise of customized logistics and financial support.

Headline: Telemarketing OutsourcingSub headline: A Way to Capitalize on Trips to Asia

Telemarketing outsourcing offers the alert, ready and enterprising travel agency an excellent opportunity to capitalize on the approach of the 2008 summer Olympics. In order to appreciate the opportunities available to any such travel agency one must first take a look at a recent Wired Magazine. Inside of that publication the readers of that magazine found a picture of the building where the swimming events were to take place during the 2008 Olympics.

There can be no doubt about the fact that telemarketing outsourcing provides travel agencies with an excellent way to sell travel packages to China. It also gives travel agencies a wonderful way to sell packages toother Asian countries. The telemarketing could then be done by employees living in Asia, in areas close to where the buyers of any travel package might be going.

The picture of the building in China that houses the Olympic pool, a building with an unusual architecture, highlights the fact that telemarketing outsourcing would be a plus

for more than just the selling of travel packages to China. Telemarketing outsourcing would also provide an excellent way to sell travel packages to India.

What would travelers want to see in India? What could be the selling points made by the telemarketers at the outsourced company? Such telemarketers could of course extol the beauty of the Taj Mahal, but there is another unusual building in India, a building in New Delhi. That building is the lotus-shaped Baha’i Temple. It is a house of worship that has stirred the souls of the followers of many different religions.

In the mid 1990s one Sikh gentleman who had immigrated to the U.S. visited his home in India. While there he spent a short time at the Baha’i Temple. Later he made a point of telling a coworker about his appreciation for the spiritual qualities of that Temple. His comments serve as evidence that telemarketing outsourcing could serve as a great way to entice people to purchase a travel package to India.

Headline: Lead Generation OutsourcingSub headline: Throw Out That Old Rolodex

In the final third of the 20th Century, a woman at the Revlon Corporation, an executive, wanted to launch a foundation. She wanted to use that foundation to raise money for research on breast cancer. As a firs step she examined all of the names on her rolodex. At that time no executive had access to the many benefits of lead generation.

Lead generation comes through the use of programs that examine customer data. Such programs then look for trends in the habits of the customers. Lead generation is designed to help companies increase their ability to up sell and to cross sell. One of the functions performed by the lead generation program concerns the saving of phone numbers.

In the world of businessmen and women make a point of sharing business cards. That is because each businessman and businesswoman realizes that the people they meet today could be of benefit to them in the future. In today’s business world people still exchange business cards, but at the same time lead generation supplements such exchanges. Lead generation watches the business transactions performed over the internet, and keeps track of the contact numbers for all those who took part in such transactions.

In that way lead generation operates very much like a rolodex. It allows its user to examine carefully who has performed what sort of business through the company website. Lead generation gives a company executive a readily available way to make contact with appropriate individuals—individuals who could help to advance his or her business or non-business plans.

Lead generation shows respect for any individuals on whom an executive might call for help. Their names are not kept on a simple rolodex. Their names are stored on the program that furnishes the capabilities of the lead generation.

Headline: Appointment Setting OutsourcingSub headline: Help Your Patients to Maintain Their Respect

In the summer of 1969 a respected neurosurgeon at Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia walked into one of the clinics. He looked surprised to find there a patient on whom he had recently operated. The surgeon knew that the parents of that young girl did not have a financial situation that would require her to use a clinic. Why was she there?

The simple answer is that in 1969 there were no PC computers in homes and doctors’ offices, and there was no appointment setting software. The girl’s mother had marked the right date on her calendar, but in the mother’s mind the desk calendar showed a date different from the one that she had actually marked down. Therefore, the girl had missed her appointment, one scheduled for two days prior to the day that the girl and her parents appeared at the clinic.

Now the above story illustrates why physicians need to give thought to use a tool that could avoid such mix-ups, a tool such as the appointment setting programs. With such programs available, a doctor can use the Internet to e-mail patients reminders about appointments. Such reminders help patients to remember appointments, and they do not require the time of the office workers. In addition these appointment-setting features have the potential to assist with the detection of last-minute changes in a patient’s schedule—especially changes related to a medical condition.

For example, back in January of 1982 on gentleman had an appointment with a neurologist at UCLA, a physician who had had the man’s pregnant wife as a patient. That man ad to miss his appointment, because his wife went into labor that very morning. He spent the day coaching his wife through her labor pains.

With the right input into the appointment setting program such mix-ups could be avoided. Then patients would not need to explain to one doctor how an emergency visit to a second doctor had led to the missing of an appointed visit.

Headline: Market Research Surveys OutsourcingSub headline: Market Research Surveys Outsourcing

In early 2006 news reports announced the in England a group of men, men who had agreed to participate in a clinical trial, had become gravely ill. This news came on the heels of 2005 reports about how drug companies had been slow to reveal the side effects experience by patients taking certain new drugs. Both incidents underline the value of market research surveys outsourcing.

To begin with, market research surveys outsourcing directs all information to a third party. If a patient indicates on a survey that he or she has experienced certain side effects, the drug company concerned cannot simply hide that fact in its files. The information has passed through he wires of the Internet. The company that does the surveys via an outsourcing contract has received that information.

Although information from surveys is not in most cases freely shown to outsiders by outsourcing providers, each provider could be considered under a moral obligation to hand-over any information it had obtained while doing the outsourcing services. That would be particularly true in cases where such information might give evidence of criminal behavior.

In other words, if the use of market research survey outsourcing leads to the discover of important information about newly discovered drugs, drugs recently put on the market, then the public stands a stronger chance of learning about that information at an earlier date. The drug company has less ability to hide such information from the public.

Drug companies have a tendency to keep their information secret. At many drug companies temporary employees are asked not to attend certain meetings and certain poster sessions. These secretive practices could not be carried over into the relationship between the drug firm and the company collecting the data from the market research surveys. Therefore, the outsourcing of that task could prove a great benefit to the general public.

The public must be reminded of the fact that just because a caller has an accent, there is no reason to assume a threat from telephone calls made by an outsourcing service. The public stands to benefit from market research surveys outsourcing.

Headline: Customer Win Back and Sales Recovery OutsourcingSub headline: Use Customized Marketing for Those Desired Customers

Customer win-back and sales recovery outsourcing can help a company to overcome one of the greatest challenges that faces any business, especially any business which has chosen to introduce changes in an old product. Such changes can draw old, departed customers back to within the circle of interested customers. By the same token, such changes can also run counter to the tastes of the older customers.

With customer win back sales recovery outsourcing any company can easily deal with the challenges presented when two sets of customers demand two different types of product or service. Armed with the benefits of customer win-back and sales recovery outsourcing, employees in a company can be directed to serve those customers with whom they deal best.

For example, with customer win-back and sales recovery outsourcing a company has the agility to identify the sales and repair people who have previously dealt with the older customers. The company would then know that future sales to those same older customers would have a greater chance of success if the same sales and repair personnel were to participate in that sales effort.

Customer win-back and sales recovery outsourcing might also be used to keep track of what customers are using what services. Then those customers that repeatedly used one type of service could be scheduled to receive a price reduction on that same service. That would help to keep old customers happy, and news that such a deal could be possible might lead to the return of departed customers.

The above examples help to underline the degree to which outsourcing can aid with data recovery. Access to data about customer needs, customer purchases and customer complaints provides valuable guidance to any sales personnel. Customer win-back and sales recovery outsourcing fosters a close communication between those collecting the data on customers and those making an effort to increase the number of sales to those customers.

Data recovery achieved through outsourcing can serve to strengthen a company’s knowledge about the quality of its services. If data shows a lack of quality service, then the company can act to make changes. Dependable service is a primary insurance for the recovery of lagging sales and the winning-back of departed customers.

Headline: Account Maintenance OutsourcingSub headline: Think About What Is Really Important

Account maintenance outsourcing provides an expedient way for a company to keep track of any subscribers, regardless of what they may have subscribed to. Perhaps they have subscribed to a cell phone service. Perhaps they have subscribed to some type of encyclopedia. Perhaps they have subscribed to a service for those wanting to pursue the day trading of stocks. Outsourcing can help a company to maintain a record of whom they are and where they are located.

Company executives would thus have the ability to offer those customers supplementary products, products that would increase the value of their subscription. Such products

would look like “freebies,” items delivered only to company subscribers. Such products would help a company to hold those same subscribers.

The value of account maintenance outsourcing lies in its ability to collect and save information. Information about customers is vital to the success of contacting people with a subscription of any sort. Of course keeping track of thousands, perhaps millions of subscriptions can be a daunting task. It is a task best handled by the centers that do account maintenance outsourcing.

When company executives decide to use account maintenance outsourcing, then they give themselves important time. They give themselves time to think about what sort of offers would most appeal to their subscribers. What sort of offers would be most effective in helping to maintain the current number of subscribers? What sort of offers might even serve to attract new subscribers?

Once those executives had selected one or more possible offers, then they would again seek the aid of the account maintenance outsourcing. The outsourcing center would become responsible for seeing that each subscriber had a chance to take advantage of the company’s most recent offer. The executives do the thinking and the outsourcing center does the needed tracking and distribution.

Headline: Up-sell/Cross-sell Programs OutsourcingSub headline: Here’s an Up-date and a Cross the Board Examination

Up-sell outsourcing programs conduct the necessary record-keeping for any effort to supplement existing service. Up-sell outsourcing programs insure the delivery of planned added services to the customers who purchased whatever company product is supposed to receive the extra service. Owners of cell phones have seen first-hand how the use of up-sell outsourcing programs can increase the appeal of a product.

The cell phone companies of today offer more services to their customers than they did just five years ago. Cell phone users can now use text messaging, and they can get customized dial tones. These are services that the cell phone companies have used to up-sell their product. The companies were able to embark on an up-sell effort by using the up-sell outsourcing programs.

Cross-sell outsourcing programs assist with the sale of related items. Cross-sell outsourcing programs can provide guidance with the selection of items that could easily be marketed along with a company’s existing products. Cross-sell outsourcing programs can give company executives access to a wider knowledge of what types of cross-sell programs have been successful in the past.

Before the advent of cross-sell outsourcing programs, the launching of any cross-sell endeavor had been a sort of hit or miss operation. One biotechnology company in Los Angeles, DPC, had a lucky hit. Prior to the early 1990s that company had only made

diagnostic kits. They decided to expand into the making of large scale diagnostic equipment, specifically into the sale of Immulite machines. Those machines performed the same function as a diagnostic kit, but they increased the number of tests that could be run at any one time, and they added to the speed at which those tests could be performed.

Because DPC did not have access to cross-sell outsourcing programs, it had only a limited number of ways in which to market its new product. It used one of the standard marketing tools available at that time; it distributed T-shirts bearing the name “Immulite.” Looking back on that effort at the present time, DPC executives could count themselves lucky. They managed to achieve moderate success with a cross-sell effort, despite the absence of cross-sell outsourcing programs.

Headline: Shipment Track and Trace Claims Processing OutsourcingSub headline: Don’t Store Items That You Don’t Need

Shipment track and trace claims processing outsourcing coordinates the work of selecting a shipper, shipping a product and then billing the recipient of that product. Shipment track and trace claims processing handles all of the calls from customers who claim that an ordered item has not been received. The use of shipment track and trace claims processing eliminates one large, unneeded company expense.

When suppliers can not track their shipped items, and when companies can not keep track of the received shipments, then companies can suffer from the effects of supply chain excesses. If a company called a supplier without access to claims outsourcing and announced that an ordered item had not been received, then one of those two companies would need to pay the expense of sending the product again. If that product had been received, but if it had been stored in an improper location, then the receiving company would need to pay the expense of storing excess supplies.

When companies use track and trace claim processing outsourcing, then their employees need to devote less time and attention to paperwork that involves the shipping process. Those employees can then focus their attention on the careful recording of why a received item had been ordered in the first place Examples of the benefits of track and trace claim processing outsourcing can be drawn from the trials of researchers at a Los Angeles company that makes diagnostic kits.

Back in the 1990s there were occasions when the man in charge of taking and sending orders came to the research workers with a request for help locating an invoice. Those workers had to take time away from their investigations just to look for one piece of paper. What added to the ridiculousness of this time-consuming search was the company policy regarding the storage of received items. Large cartons had to be hauled upstairs by the men and women charged with carrying-out the company’s research and development.

Employees should not need to embark on a wild search for an invoice, if they work at a company that uses, and orders from suppliers that use, shipment track and trace claims processing outsourcing.

Headline: Collections/Accounts Receivables OutsourcingSub headline: Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You

Collections/ accounts receivables outsourcing is widely employed within the healthcare industry. Because large numbers of patients lack health insurance, the bills from many healthcare providers go unpaid. The people who provide healthcare services do not generally have the time and inclination to go after the money from their past patients. They do not like to put pressure on those to whom they have given medical assistance. They therefore turn to a collection agency, to collections/ accounts receivables outsourcing.

Some people remain too poor to pay the large medical bills that they receive. Other people simply choose to ignore medical bills. With collections/ accounts receivables outsourcing, healthcare providers have a way to identify which patients fall into which category. With access to such outsourcing centers, the healthcare providers can authorize legal action against those individuals who think that they can easily escape the need to cover their medical expenses.

Use of the legal process requires time, money and patience. Healthcare providers might have the needed money, but their time is limited. Healthcare providers can, however, direct their money into the pockets of the men and women who perform collections/ accounts receivables outsourcing. That fact highlights the appeal among healthcare providers of collections services provided by the outsourcing centers.

The men and women in such centers do not hesitate to ask for money. They are less reluctant than the healthcare providers to demand payment for a service. The outsourcing centers have the time and inclination to work with a former patient, and to come-up with a payment plan. The outsourcing centers also demonstrate willingness to mail out repeated reminders that a bill needs to be paid.

Outsourcing centers often mail out many requests for small bills. The healthcare providers do not want to spend time mailing-out that same number of reminders concerning a small bill. The providers pay the outsourcing centers to do such mailings. Sometimes, after a former patient gets many reminders about a small bill, that patient pays that bill. That then illustrates the benefit of using collections/accounts receivable outsourcing.

Headline: Reporting and Administrative Support OutsourcingSub headline: Insure Your Access to Needed Documents

Reporting and administrative support outsourcing specializes in the preparation of legal reports. Reporting and administrative support outsourcing can be likened to offering a company the backing of an army of paralegals. Companies call on the services of reporting and administrative support outsourcing when they must send a company representative to appear in court.

Because many members of the public have taken to suing various businesses, an ever larger number of companies have chosen to invest in the services of outsourcing centers that offer reporting and administrative support. The outsourcing centers help to gather and prepare the documents that the company’s legal counsel needs. Their methods for gathering information and preparing documents have developed into a well-tuned and focused process.

Outsourcing centers understand what should be contained in a legal report. The centers therefore include in their reporting and administrative support the making of legal reports. Employees at the outsourcing centers devote many hours to listening to audio tapes and viewing video tapes. What they see and hear they then enter into a legal report. That report can provide a company’s legal council with verification of an allegation, or substantiation of a rebuttal to an accusation.

Employees at outsourcing centers also search for important facts. They look through old records. They visit various legal libraries. They make contact with possible witnesses. The outsourcing centers document the facts that they unearth. They then hand-over those documented facts to company attorneys.

Headline: VOIP Click-to-talkSub headline: Are You Ready to Make the Change?

VOIP click-to-talk communications replace the conventional phone call. Just as the touch-tone phone replaced the old phone dial, VOIP click-to-talk aims to replace the pushing of buttons prior to the making of a phone call. Use of the VOIP click-to-talk devices begins with the entry of a login name and a password.

The Internet has allowed communication between and among people on all parts of the globe. VOIP click-to-talk allows such communication to take place without the need for the composition of a written message. With VOIP click-to-talk all information is conveyed to a second party through voice messages.

To fully grasp the significance of VOIP click-to-talk, one needs to look back at what preceded the evolution of the VOIP devices. Back in the year 2000 one could, if one wanted, use a computer to talk with someone on the other side of the world. In fact, one gentleman in southern California did that very thing every night for several months.

He obtained a special microphone that he then hooked-up to the family’s PC. At night, while the rest of the family members slept, he spoke with whatever people came onto the line. It was similar to the way that a blog allows for comments from a number of different bloggers. The users of that particular line at that particular time would be considered the occupants of a “chat room.”

The gentleman who carried-out those night conversations was a very loquacious individual. He liked to talk on the phone, and he loved to think about how he could call someone at minimal expense (just the cost of the Internet service). He only stopped because he felt as though he was about to become “addicted” to that new form of communication. He could not justify in his mind the habit of spending all of night making calls and all day sleeping.

Why does that gentleman not now race to purchase a VOIP click-to-talk system? Because that new technology appeals to him, but not to his mother, a woman who places telephone calls to the man’s home daily. He has chosen not to replace his conventional landline with a VOIP system until his mother chooses to replace her phone as well. The marketers of the VOIP system need to expand their target audience.

Headline: SMS Text MessagingSub-headline: Do Your Sales Force a Favor

SMS text messaging is a system that provides cell phone users with a way to message for a prize. For example, a product might have on its label a phone number to be used by cell phone owners. The label would also carry a number that could be entered in a text message. Cell phone owners would read on the label that one of the labels carried a prize-winning number. The cell phone user who sent a text message with that number would get a prize.

Obviously such a game would work much the same way as the game in the movie Charlie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In that movie everyone starts buying one particular candy, because 4 of the wrapped candies contain a prize. SMS text messaging is therefore a new type of marketing tool.

NBC currently airs a show that uses SMS test messaging. The name of the show is “Deal or No Deal.” During the show viewers can guess, from among 6 cases, which case contains $10,000. The TV screen displays the number that a cell phone user needs to call in order to pick one of the 6 cases, and in order to enter the game. The cell phone users must rely on text messaging to enter the number of their chosen case.

FOX has used SMS text messaging to have viewers vote on the contestants on “American Idol.” As the approach used in that program becomes adapted for use in other

competitions the use of SMS text messaging has also spread. There can be no question about the potential for a wider use of SMS text messaging.

SMS text messaging demonstrates the great advances made in modern-day marketing. This writer is wondering if the makers of Bumble Bee tuna plan to use SMS text messaging. Forty years ago Bumble Bee decided to place a beekeeper’s hive in a grocery store in the Philadelphia area. The transport of those buzzing creatures to the intended store required the use of the family car of an executive at a company that served as manufacturers’ representatives. The executive had not wanted to ask one of his salesmen to carryout such a risky process.

Headline: Outbound Progressive and Predictive Dialing SoftwareSub headline: Learn Who Is Getting Your Messages

When a company installs outbound progressive and predictive dialing software, then it insures the delivery of its audio messages to a human ear, and not to an answering machine. The software can detect when a call made by a telemarketer is picked-up by a human. If the software hears a human voice at the other end of the line, then the software triggers a connection, and that connection leads to either the playing of an audio tape.

Usually that audio tape has some sort of marketing message. Or it could direct the caller how to make a response regarding a particular inquiry. Either way the company would not pay to phone an answering machine. Companies employ outbound progressive and predictive software in order to save on their phone bill.

Outbound progressive and predictive dialing software resulted from the increased use of answering machines. At the present time a call to a private home could cause a caller to hear a taped message, a message from an answering machine. A willingness on the part of the caller to leave a message can frequently result in a sudden interruption. Does that mean that the homeowner has suddenly entered the house?

In all probability the answer is “no.” In all probability the homeowner has simply tried to avoid an unwanted call. Companies do not want to pay money for placing a call to such homes. For that reason many companies have taken to using the outbound progressive and predictive dialing software.

As is clear from the name, this software not only predicts the nature of the person/device on the other end of the line, it also follows a progressive course in leaving an audio message. The message might invite the caller to respond by pressing a certain key on the phone pad. Sometimes the software allows the caller to give yes or no answers to certain questions.

That second feature appears more often in software that directs the response to inbound calls. Companies benefit most greatly from the use of software that directs the dialing of outbound calls.