Creating a Love Affair Between Technical Skills and Sales

Strategies in the Pre-Deployment Training of Contact

CentersMavic G. Pineda

email: ms.victoria.pineda@gmail.comslideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/mobilemartha

Philippine eLearning Society

18 September 2015Intercontinental Hotel Makati City, Philippines

Background of the StudyBusiness process outsourcing is the second leading revenue generator to the Philippine economy (Oxford Business Group, 2014)

At present there are 36 huge BPO companies and the industry had generated $15.5B last year according to the Information Technology Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) (Desiderio, 2014)

Background of the Study

36 firms posted a combined revenue of P192 billion in 2012 (ABS-CBNnews.com, 2014)

Background of the StudySustained graduates of ICT with English communication skills to fill the requirement (Merioles, 2014)

Strong recruitment drive (print and online media, social media, direct marketing)

Hiring process in one (1) day

Background of the Study - the Screening process

technical familiarity of the product or service (20%)

Methodologyprocess analysis of the recruitment

process

ethnographic study of an SME for one month, specifically 31 nights

engagement in actual pre-deployment training

observations of the trainees and the training and the use of elearning portals, tools and applications and product knowledge acquisition

the study focuses on upscale contact center jobs

a work-in-progress

Findings - ScreeningMulti-tasking is not part of the evaluation

Upscale jobs give preference to IT, CS Engineering graduates

Upscale jobs require very good Communication, Technical, and Sales skills + familiarity of various tools and applications

*Upscale job is a mainstream job entailing inbound and outbound

functions or tasks; has many duties and requires advanced

multi-tasking skills Current basic salaries = x 2 of the minimum wage + Night differential pay for the graveyard schedule

Source:http://www.teletechjobs.com/life-at-teletech-en-US/career-blogs/infographic-anatomy-of-a-great-call-center-employee

Findings - Pre-deployment Training: Contententails refresher of the English

grammar, enhancement of conversational skills and introduction to American culture

*Drawback: if the agent truly has poor English grammar, intervention to correct this is all experiential

introduction to the Product/Service content and technical details + rules and protocols of interaction including handling irate callers

Findings - Pre-deployment TrainingUse of different tools and technologies-- Avaya phone system, the knowledge based system, the biller system (can be more than one)

Trainers are recruited from the senior agents; lacking in curriculum planning and instructional design background

*At present: There is a move to assign a variety of products and services to the call center agent for economic savings

Findings - Pre-deployment TrainingStrong acclimatization on security awareness and policies -

protection of client’s information and caller information

eLearning tools and portals (CBTs) are extensively used to reinforce product/service content details, security awareness and sales approaches

Findings - Pre-deployment TrainingTypical tools used by the agents: the CCMS, the

elearning portal, the Avaya phone system, the knowledge-based system, and the biller system(s)

There are SMEs (subject matter experts), the QAs (quality assurance experts) to provide guidance

Findings - Pre-deployment Training Training includes

English communication +Confidence building - 1week

Product/service familiarity - 5weeks

Use of tools and applications (very little of multi-sensory and multi-tasking drills and exercises)

Call center certification (quizzes, exam, call simulations/evaluations)

Indoctrination on the importance of attendance and security policies

Findings - Pre-deployment Training IssuesPoor training design and lack of instructional design

lacking in important elements of objectives, flow and sequence; poor flow of delivery;

no emphasis on building multi-sensory skills**

a mismatch on the activity/ies and expected outcomes for example: lecture on cable issues, supplemented by the physical TV and accessories but no display or actual experience of the issues

Findings - Pre-deployment Training IssuesInadequate consideration of the importance of assessments as indicative of competencies acquired or developed

Examples: unplanned, unannounced exam covering a variety of topics; poor design of exams

Findings - Pre-deployment Training IssuesThe trainees’ background is not prepared for such role⇒either a lapse on sales or multi-sensory tasks

For example in a batch--

3 Computer science, 2 IT, 1 Engineering

with no experience, they don’t have adequate Sales skills

The Larger Picturemore opportunities- English speaking Vietnamese, Indonesians or Thais working in the country

more competitions- new players are Malaysia, China and who knows South Korea can be a strong BPO player too

more complex jobs- as demanded by Western clients as investments become bigger

ASEAN and global mobility brings influx of diverse workforce in the

country

Can the pre-deployment training be an enabled intervention on the need for HYBRID UPSCALE JOB role (multi-sensory, multi-tasking and multi-function) in a diverse work environment?Can we create a Love Affair between technical skills and sales strategies in the pre-deployment training of Contact Centers?

AnalysisThere must be a strong drive for BPOs to develop better training plans and build instructional design units to improve the pre-deployment training

The CCA role requires hybrid (multi-function) skills: technical, communication, sales and requires multi-sensory and multi-tasking skills

Inclusion of authentic assessments as a crucial part of the pre-deployment training

Competencies of the agents (more than attendance) can be used as the basis for a better entry-level salary

Policies must be in placed to protect the knowledge, skills and competencies of the agents

ConclusionIn the Philippines, the Call Center Agent job has always been stereotyped as the job for the unemployed and the undereducated. But this exploratory, ethnographic study uncovered that the CCA job is a complex role requiring multi-sensory and multi-tasking skills and understanding of multi-functions in the organization.

There must be a thrust to build digital lifelong skills. A complex job such as that of the CCA is a proof of the existence of roles and jobs we never knew existed in the past.

And eLearning in the 21st century is supporting, aiding learning and understanding in a multi-sensory, multi-function and multitasks’ perspective.

Maraming salamat po.Thank you very much.

Muchos gracias.Tak si mycket.

Mavic G. PinedaPhilippine eLearning Society

Email: ms.victoria.pineda@gmail.comTwitter: @mobilemartha

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/mobilemartha

BPO News ReferencesABS-CBN (2014, Jan 2). 36 biggest BPO firms in Philippines, ABS-CBNnews.com. Retrieved from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/01/01/14/36-biggest-bpo-firms-philippines

Desiderio, L. (2014, Feb 14). IT-BPO revenues up 17% to $15.5B, Philippine Star.

Merioles, E. (2014, Sep 12). Brief History of the Philippine BPO Industry, Retrieved from http://www.teledevelopment.com.ph/brief-history-philippine-bpo-industry/

Oxford Business Group (2014, Feb 9) The Philippines’ revenues from BPO set to rise 15% in 2014. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/philippines%E2%80%99-revenues-bpo-set-rise-15-2014