Contact Industry Hub - September 2009

The BPO sector is built around cost savings and optimisation, making it an attractive option during a recession, but with cheaper alternatives in India and Philippines, there is more to succeeding than simply offering the cheapest solution, says Johann Kunz, Managing Director of Fusion Outsourcing Services (Fusion SA).

Alignment

In the current economic climate in order to be able to grow and develop, companies should constantly revaluate and expand their service offering. Outbound offerings with proportional risk might be successful one year, while full risk solutions may become the requirement the next year. Alignment is the key; if you are not willing to adapt and change according to your clients’ requirements your business will suffer.

Niche BPO Offerings

If one looks at South Africa as a BPO destination, it is very clear that South Africa will never be able to compete with the likes of the Philippines and India on price; we simply do not have access to the same number of resources.

South African companies need to focus on the provision of niche offerings typically a quality offering, using both value and cost as the differentiating factor. Our English speaking voice capabilities and contact centre skills are right up there with the likes of England and Ireland, and in addition we have excellent infrastructure and are located favourably to Europe in relation to time zones. South Africa must carve out a niche for itself if it is to compete in the world BPO industry.

Leverage of resources

Within a relatively new BPO country, call centre bodies like CallingtheCape have an important role to play. They act as a link to overseas investors, so it’s important to be aligned with them and to work closely in marketing the South African BPO value proposition. Furthermore, it is even more important to link our marketing activities to our niche target markets strategy and to focus on these opportunities rather than go to market with a general marketing campaign.

Keep on developing your resources

Far too many companies cut spending without thinking about the potential impact and typically one of the first costs that are reduced are training and skills development. Unnecessary costs must be eliminated, but cut too deep and it is the start of a vicious circle – reduced training and development leads to sub standard resources, which leads to reduced performance and customer service, which will result in unhappy customers and ultimately no customers. As a quality BPO destination we must make sure that we uphold this reputation.

Invest in call centre infrastructure and technology

Having quality infrastructure in place should be non negotiable. There may be high initial start-up costs, but the long term benefits will definitely outweigh these. Technology has an important role to play in the contact centre industry and if there is a way to improve on your levels of efficiency you should embrace them.

Companies who are innovative and flexible and embrace all means to achieve this will continue to grow in the recession. There is no doubt that the financial crisis has impacted on the BPO space, and it is now up to us to look for opportunities despite the economic downturn.