MODULE 5

DELIVERING QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICES

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. describe the functions and processes involved in a BPO/Call Center
industry;

WEEK 5: 2. transmit/receive calls from customers;

3. handle customers’ complaints accordingly; and

Contact Center services 4. provide after-sales support and document events

Lesson 1: The BPO/Call Center Industry

The world adapts to the fast-paced developments brought about by
globalization and technological advancements. As a result, major changes in
the industries introduced various means to minimize or reduce production
expenses while maximizing profit. This is one of the many reasons why
companies channel the processes of their production or service to third-party
Grade 12 clients which lead to the birth of BPOs.
As part of the industry, the terms customers, clients, call center agents and

(TVL) representatives will be used frequently throughout the module.

Customers refer to the people who are current or potential buyers,
subscribers, account owners or patrons of the industry who enters into
transaction with you through information technology (IT) assisted devices
like computers, telephones and mobile phones.
Clients refer to companies you will represent
Agents or representatives otherwise known as rep/s are job titles of
personnel who assist customers in activities which are described in this
module.
 Based on the location of hiring and contracting, BPO may be categorized
as:
What is BPO?
1.Offshore Outsourcing – is outsourcing contracted outside a company's
The term outsourcing is a system whereby an organization can subcontract
home country. This is done when high-volume, low-complexity tasks are
certain areas of work to a third party organization that specializes on the task
processed in a country with a significantly lower cost base than where the
to be done.
service has become more sophisticated.
Business Process Outsourcing or BPO refers to the management of one or
For example, the UK: traditionally India, but more recently China,
more specific business processes or functions by a third party.
the Philippines, Malaysia and some South American countries. (e.g.,
Frequently, BPO is referred to as Information Technology-Enabled Numerous UK-based BPO companies such as Vertex and Capita
Services (ITES). This is because most business processes include some form Group are now providing offshored services to their clients through
of automation and information technology devices such as computers that their operations in the Philippines.)
"enable" these services to be performed. This encompasses careers in
2. Nearshore Outsourcing - BPO that is contracted to a company's
software development, data entry, programming, and web development
neighboring country. The cost base of these countries is still lower, but
services. BPO is distinct from Information Technology (IT) outsourcing,
geographical proximity and cultural similarities can create an easier working
which focuses on hiring a third-party company or service provider to do IT-
relationship. A good relationship, cultural similarities and absence of
related activities, such as application management and application
communication gap can result in a more complex work being transferred
development, data center operations, or testing and quality assurance. The
easily. For Western Europe, this is to Eastern Europe. For the United States
Philippines is currently among the most cost competitive destinations for IT-
this is to Canada and Mexico.
BPO services. An offshoot of BPO is Knowledge Process Outsourcing
(KPO) Considered by some to be a subset of BPO, KPO includes those (e.g., Tony Lee, an information management supplier based in the US near-
activities that require greater skill, knowledge, education, and expertise to shored the development of its computerized purchasing system
handle. This may include services in financial analysis and legal services.
3.Onshore - is an entirely different scheme. It is the practice of obtaining
business-critical, high-level services from someone not employed by the
company, but within the same country. Onshore services are unique for each
Types of BPO Industry
company
all centers, just like other types of businesses, offer a variety of products and
services. The development in the business world pushes the industry to be
more flexible, thereby making the possibilities endless TASK 1: BPO Industries DIRECTIONS:
BPO is often divided into two main categories: Write BOO if the example describes back office outsourcing and FOO if it
describes front office outsourcing.
1. Back Office Outsourcing- This includes internal business functions
such as billing, purchasing, payroll of employees, and other similar __________ 1.A telecommunications BPO firm which deals with repair and
tasks. maintenance of one’s internet connection
2. Front Office Outsourcing – This includes customer-related services
__________ 2. A BPO company which accommodates payroll services
such as marketing or technical support.
__________ 3. A company which assists customers on US Phone directory
services __________ 4. A company that takes orders of products
__________ 5. A BPO accounting firm that manages sales accounts of other company's neighboring country
companies 8. It includes internal business
functions such as billing,
_________ 6. A bank- associate BPO that updates customers on their debit purchasing, payroll of employees,
and credit accounts and other similar tasks.
9. It may include services in
______ 7. An office that deals with purchasing raw materials for another
financial analysis and legal services.
company __________ 8. A firm that entertains medical insurance claims
10.Examples of these services are
__________ 9. A document management BPOs that keep copies of financial software development, data entry,
transactions for filing of taxes programming, and web
development.
__________ 10. A call center firm that assists customers on computer
hardware repair.
Basic Services within BPO Industry
TASK 2: BPO Terminologies
DIRECTIONS: Match the items in column I with its correct description in
column II. Write the letter of the correct answers on a sheet of paper. There are basic services related to customer service, sales and technical
support that fall within the BPO industry. This depends on the specialization
I II of the firm and its facilities, and the competencies of the manpower.
1. This obtains business-critical, A. ITES
high-level services from someone BPOs generally fall under several categories:
not employed by the company, but B. KPO 1. Finance and Accounting Processes related to finances have to be
within the same country.
accurate. In most instances, this cannot be replaced by mere accounting
2. It is an outsourcing contracted C. Back Office Outsourcing
software. It requires resources and procedures like raising invoices, matching
outside a company's own country.
D. Front Office Outsourcing them with purchase orders and reconciling bank accounts.
3. It includes activities that require
greater skill, knowledge, education, 2. Document Management Access to data is a must in the business world.
and expertise to handle. E. Offshore Outsourcing Even small companies generate large amounts of data and recording and
4. This is done when high-volume, storing these can be time consuming and expensive.
low-complexity tasks are processed F. Nearshore Outsourcing
in a country with a significantly 3.Procurement This involves looking for appropriate suppliers, monitoring
lower cost base than the home G. Onshore Outsourcing supplier performance, implementing appropriate processes and procedures,
country of the company. managing requests for information or proposals and recommending the best
5. This is needed when business potential suppliers, selecting suppliers and issuing or managing legal
processes include some form of contracts.
automation and information
technology.
6. It includes customer-related
4.Software development This is increasingly being outsourced or ‘off-
shored’, with software development teams based in areas such as Central and
services such as marketing or
technical support. Eastern Europe and Asia where there is access to highly-educated, low-cost
7. BPO that is contracted to a personnel. This is because the social costs in these growing economies are
currently way lower than in Western economies.
5.Call Centers A call center, a subset of BPO, is a centralized office that  Customer Service
facilitates large amounts of inbound and outbound telephone calls. As
defined by Keith Dawson (Dawson, 1988), a call center is a “ physical  Technical Support
location where calls are placed or received in high volume for the purpose of  Administrative Support
sales, marketing, customer service, telemarketing, technical support, and
other specialized business activity  Accounting

 Bookkeeping
Call centers have a number of uses:  Virtual Assistant
A. Customer Services (in-bound calls) Customers that call for  Telemarketing
transactions like order processing, administrative assistance like
complaints or billing questions can be handled by customer service  Programming
call centers.
 Call Center Service
B. Telemarketing and telesales (outbound calls) Call center agents
place calls to customers in order to obtain information or sell  Sales
products and services (e.g., customer satisfaction surveys,
marketing, sales, and customer follow-up). Selling some products  Data Entry
and services are much easier to sell via the phone, and do not require
‘faceto-face’ interaction. As a result, the costs for marketing and
selling such products will be drastically reduced.  Internet Research
C. Data cleansing Data cleansing is a system of phoning the contacts
within a database in order to ensure that all the details such as  Web Development
names, phone numbers and the like are correct. This allows sales  Content Management
people to phone and send emails safely with the knowledge that the
information is up to date. Again, it is far more cost-effective to  Graphics Design
offshore this process in places with huge labor cost
 Direct Mail

 Email Marketing
6. Legal Services Legal offshoring is also gaining popularity nowadays. This
is a good example of KPO. Lawyers commonly handle this type of a job. Identification of BPO Services DIRECTIONS: Identify the service being
This may involve monitoring old contracts and licensing agreements to described in the following statements.
managing documentary evidence for product-liability cases. Personnel of ___________1. It deals with customer satisfaction surveys, marketing, sales,
such industry read, analyze, and annotate digital images of memos, payroll and customer follow- up are the tasks involved in this service.
and medical records, old engineering specs, and other documents that might
be used as evidence in legal cases. ___________2. It involves looking for appropriate suppliers, monitoring
supplier performance, implementing appropriate processes and procedures,
Sample fields where one could work under the BPO industry are the managing requests for information or proposals and recommending the best
following: potential suppliers.
________3. It involves monitoring old contracts and licensing agreements to 2. Call management- controlling a call through effective communication
managing documentary evidence for product-liability cases. techniques 3. Change management- adapting to and handling changing
situations and environments
___________4. Order processing, administrative assistance such as
telephone directories, complaints and billing are under this category. 4. Conflict resolution - using effective interpersonal skills to resolve conflict
situations
___________5. Companies generate large amounts of data, recording and
storing these online with the data being held at a third party’s premises and 5. Cross selling - selling upgraded or additional products to existing
accessed via the web customers
Call Center Agents’ Performance Metrics 6. Decision making - gathering relative information, and analyzing situations
then applying appropriate interventions to resolve an issue or come to a
decision
Quality customer service is a high level of service attained when an industry
7. Interpersonal communication - ability to listen actively, question
satisfies the unique set of customer needs. This is achieved through the words
appropriately, provide feedback, and use the skills outlined to build customer
and tone you use in dealing with customers. Your choice of words and the
relationships.
manner of delivery (tone and volume) suggests feelings that customers
interpret positively or negatively. A sincere and positive approach as 8. Managing diversity - knowledge and ability to interact with a variety of
reflected in your conversation would generate a positive emotion thereby people in the workplace.
contributing to quality customer service.
9. Managing stress – ability to maintain a calm demeanor and mental state
when situations and emotions escalate to higher levels
Generally speaking, we practice quality customer service for the following 10.Multitasking - managing multiple priorities or assignments
reasons: simultaneously (e.g., receiving customer information over the phone while
inputting/ searching for data on a computer)
11.Negotiating effectively –ability to direct situations toward a winwin
 When customers wants to know basic questions about their account outcome
 When customers cannot understand the product or service they subscribed 12. Organizing information and data- ability to assemble and maintain
to information in a logical file system that can be accessed by themselves and
 When customers are having difficulties with a product or service others
13.Problem solving – identifying root causes of problems through
 When customers are frustrated and irate with the product or service
questioning and applying appropriate interventions to address them
14.Good team player – ability to work effectively with others and contribute
Typical Customer Service Representatives’ Competencies Here are what to team task accomplishment
employers look for in applicants desiring to work in a call center:
15.Time management- ability to use available time and resources to address
1. Business acumen - understanding the relationship between their jobs and assigned tasks and customer issues
its impact to business and customers
16.Peer coaching – offering support and guidance to co-workers
17.Technical literacy- ability to apply basic knowledge of computer usage, 10.Built to use available time and resources to address assigned tasks and
applications, e-mail and Internet, and the ability to learn organization- customer issues.
specific software (requirement varies based on level of technical competence
needed by the organization.)
18.Using call center technology- e.g., computer, facsimile, printer/ copier,
database software
Customer Service Representatives’ Competencies
DIRECTIONS: Identify the customer contact representatives’ competencies
being referred to by the following statements. Choose from the competencies
in the word bank.

peer coaching decision making

decision making technical literacy
change management time management
interpersonal communication Business acumen
teaming with others multitasking
stress management Cross selling

1. Basic knowledge of computer usage, Windows applications, e-mail and

internet and the ability to learn organization- specific software – requirement
2. Maintaining a calm demeanor and mental state when situations and
emotions escalate to higher levels
3. Gathering and analyzing then applying appropriate interventions to resolve
an issue
4. Offering support and guidance to co – workers
5. Managing multiple priorities or assignments simultaneously
6. Ability to actively listen, question appropriately, provide feedback, and
use the skills outlined to build customer relationships
7. Ability to work effectively with others and contribute to team task
accomplishment
8. Adapting to and handling changing situations and environments
9. Selling upgraded or additional products to existing customers