How can Philippine call centers be more data-driven?

In order to create more knowledge-based jobs, the Philippine call centers must embrace the big data revolution.

The emergence of big data is supposed to help brand managers enhance the customer experience in innovative ways. For instance, the potential of a single piece of research when applied to the customer service sector is practically limitless.

But most call centers underutilize data, and they often do so without blatantly intending to. It’s either because senior managers have yet to fully grasp the potential of data analytics or many business process outsourcing (BPO) professionals are still trying to catch up in terms of know-how.

For Philippine call centers, rising up to these challenges is a must, as industry experts are pushing the country to move up the BPO value chain. There’s an urgent call for the entire Philippine BPO sector to create more knowledge-based jobs and the key is to build an organizational culture with a strong affinity to all forms of data.

As culture building is a never-ending process, it all comes down to commitment. Managers must commit to a certain way of doing things and encourage employees to pick up on these habits until they’re deeply ingrained into the organization’s culture.

 

1.     A shift in call center training

To leverage big data, the approach must be one that includes everyone—including new hires—in the process. For most call centers, training would be the starting point.

It’s crucial to design your training programs in a way that allows agents to exercise critical thinking. Although customer service is often perceived as a repetitive job, handling big data and making decisions from it are simply unavoidable in this line of work.

Rather than prescribing protocols or using scripts to orchestrate entire transactions, agents must be independent and skilled enough to personalize the way they solve a customer’s problems.

 

2.     Data exposure

Making information accessible among your employees can indeed be risky. But although security can be an issue here, data access is also a great means of promoting transparency. You may need to regulate the volume and types of data that other departments can get their hands on, but the idea is to encourage them to be involved in what’s happening within the company.

This way, you can build an organization that values the inputs of all its members. Including everyone in the decision making process facilitates team work and heightens employees’ familiarity with how data is being used to achieve business goals.

 

3.     Academe-industry integration

One of the primary barriers that Philippine call centers have to continuously overcome is job–skills mismatch. To bridge this gap, academic institutions must shift their focus toward tech fields. Industry experts must also communicate their goals with education leaders who have the power to shape the skills of budding professionals.

 

It’s not enough to produce graduates qualified for call center services. The ideal member of the outsourcing workforce thrives independently and can adapt to the dynamic nature of tech-driven industries.