The Indian Call Center JourneyIndian Call Centers – Myths and Realities Contd...The real trouble started when these companies began soliciting clients. As call centers were a new line of business in India, the lack of track record forced the clients to go for much detailed and prolonged studies of the Indian partners. Many US clients insisted on a strict inspection of the facilities offered, such as work-areas, cafeterias and even the restrooms. The clients expected to be shown detailed Service Level Agreements (SLAs)6, which a majority of the Indian firms could not manage. Under these circumstances, no US company was willing to risk giving business to amateurs at the cost of losing their customers. Because of the inadequate investments in technology, lack of processes to scale the business7 and the lack of management capabilities, most of the Indian players were unable to get international customers.
The reasons were not very hard to understand. In a eight-and-a-half hour shift, the agents had to attend calls for seven-and-a-half hours. The work was highly stressful and monotonous with frequent night shifts. A typical call center agent could be described as being 'overworked, underpaid, stressed-out and thoroughly bored.'
6] SLAs contained the measurable parameters for a call center such as Average Speed of answer (number of rings before a call was answered), Average Talk Time (time taken to address one query) etc. |
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