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Outsourced customer service call centers are something that corporations both large and small have caught on to and are reaping the financial benefits from. So why is it that, despite sound business principles and advanced technology, international call centers are often measured successes at best?
The reason is one that everyone is familiar with. All of us have been on the phone, at one time or another, trying to communicate with a call center agent somewhere in the world and reacting, often negatively, to what we feel should be a simple and productive exchange. Those subtle reactions, most often rooted in culture, are significant; significant enough to disrupt the flow of many call centers and to cause some companies to reverse their decision to outsource customer service.
Erik Granered, author of Global Call Centers: Achieving Outstanding Customer Service Across Cultures and Time Zones, argues that we are now at a point with outsourcing where we can learn from experience and reduce the failure rate. It is rash to think that customer expectations and agent training should be the same in Amsterdam as in Dallas. And those unrealistic expectations are magnified over the phone, where communication cues are completely lost.
Global Call Centers reveals how the syntax and rhythm of a phone conversation is much like a dance that differs from culture to culture. What may be a tango for one is a waltz for another; while one party may be seeking results, the other may be simply exploring, looking for information. Global Call Centers outlines cultural variables that will impact where you locate a call center, what customers are served from that location, and what is the optimal business approach in getting that center up and running. Complete with compelling anecdotes, real-world training tips, and strategies for managers and agents to develop vital cultural literacy, Global Call Centers delivers a way for businesses to effectively cut down on customer service costs and utilize one of the fastest-growing trends in business today.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by J.P. Singh, Ph.D.
Introduction
Author's Note
Part I: Global Call Centers: The Customer Experience
1 Outsourcing and Offshoring
2 The Customer Experience Dilemma
3 Understanding the Media of Interaction
Part II: Culture, Communication, and Call Center Management
4 The Power of Awareness
5 Creating a Customer Service Culture
6 A Strategic Approach to Call Center Training
Part III: Designing a Global Call Center Strategy
7 Culture as a Competitive Variable
8 English-Language Customer Service
9 Spanish-Language Customer Service
10 European Cultures and Customer Service Options
11 Asian Cultures and Customer Service Options
Conclusion
References
Index
About the Author
Erik Granered was a course developer and trainer for WorldCom’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) customer service operations. In this function, he pioneered two unique training programs in cross-cultural communication and call center management specifically targeted at global call center operations. Currently, he is a consultant at Corporate University Enterprise, Inc., an educational consulting firm in Falls Church, Virginia.
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