Call center challenges in India Any business, small, medium or large understands the imperativeness of customer helpline numbers. These numbers are any customer’s first asylum when they encounter any dissatisfaction of technical issues with a product. The calls made by them are received by call centers which are mostly in India or other developing Asian countries. Though India is one of the most preferred outsourcing destinations, there are some major call center challenges here which are to be effectively handled. Amid these, India has never stepped down because experts here know to ensure that the challenges and adversities are addressed impeccably.
Serious challenges that need to be addressed
Back in the 2000s, huge corporations selected India as a viable offshore destination and Indian call center industry started booming.
Since then, the growth has been
unbelievably rapid and India soon emerged to be a top offshore destination. This growth attributes mainly to the software and call center industry. However, now things are changing as massive challenges are haunting the outsourcing industry in India, especially call centers. Let’s have a glance on the most common among them.
High attrition rates Indian call centers are encountering an attrition rate of up to 40% and this is a real bane. Such attritions are undesirable for any company as when a trained employee leaves, several sudden issues emerge. Firstly, the void negatively impacts the customer support quality availed. Besides, getting the correct person to fit the slot and fortifying him with needed training have serious cost implications. Proper techniques must be adopted to minimise attrition rates which is one of the main call center challenges in India. However, companies in India are adopting more and more employee-friendly policies that are now retaining employees.
Health issues in employees:
One of the chief issues that disturb the reputation of call centers is its demanding nature; employees are compelled to work even in odd hours. This constant pressure faced by agents to satisfy the ever increasing level of customer expectations adversely affects their health. Some of the most common health concerns are panic attacks, poor immunity, blurred vision, hypertension, poor immunity, digestive disorders and backache etc. With these adversities, absenteeism increases, employee productivity decreases and moral degrade. Nowadays, companies are encouraging leisure times, outings and incentives to make sure that the employees stay happy and healthy.
India has almost reached summit This is a grave operational challenge faced by call centers in India. India has over time arisen as a completely mature player. It initially seems to be highly advantageous. However, things are not that easy and positive. There is other side to this as well. The clients who have been outsourcing to India are keenly watching the Indian call center industry. They are well acquainted with the pitfalls existing in the market. This restricts them from making any new investments which makes the growth rate of this sector slower than ever before. To make the matters worse, clients have started to consider new outsourcing options that are relatively cheaper, more passionate and have better support to English-speaking customers. India has accelerated its pace overcome this pitfall by offering customers better offers and comprehensive provisions under the same roof.
Exorbitant property costs:
Earlier, when the call centers were talking their baby steps in India, the cost of commercial property was cheaper. Things have now changed drastically. Prices for properties have already hit to roof in almost all metropolitan areas. This has made it difficult for call centers to sustain by offering their services at pricing models that they were providing in the old days. Government has now liberalized its policies making India a fertile ground for call center companies.
International competition:
Countries such as Brazil, Malaysia, Philippines and China etc. are giving a tough competition to India. Studies have revealed the seriousness of issues through alarming statistics. These countries are snatching the deals more than ever before. At the same time, Indian graduates are getting least interested in call center jobs adding to the worsening call center problems in India. India is a highly populated nation and each
year lakhs of graduates pass out from colleges. Dearth of other opportunities spares even the best brains for call centers and this is a boon.
Communication gap:
Call center companies in India have agents who have great command over English language and nobody will disagree with this claim. However, their accent is not that comfortable to the westerners. It is perceived as unintelligible and feigned. This paves way for serious communication gaps and makes the customers really frustrated. This is where countries such a Philippines gets more advantage as the population here speaks English in the accent of westerners naturally. To overcome these limitations, Indian companies are providing training to their staff from native English speakers. They also acquaint the staff with unique cultural nuances and societal inclinations.
Less FCR Rate:
First Call Resolution is the very basic test for customer satisfaction. A caller whenever makes a call to the agent expects his grievance to be redressed at the earliest without any delays. On making the caller engaged with numerous agents even for a single query leads to dissatisfaction. The other side is that these days customers are tech-savvy and they put forward more tricky and complex questions. Companies in India therefore provide regular trainings to keep their executives updated about latest happenings in the industries and techniques to solve customer issues.
Outsourcing Butterfly Effect:
As foreign clients pay more, they are the life force of call center industry. Changes in the political or socioeconomic situations create tremors in India as far as the call center culture here is concerned. Whenever restrictions on outsourcing are imposed in foreign countries, Indian business nosedives. At the same time, if government policies outside favour outsourcing, call centers in India benefits immensely.
Zero discerning factors:
Lack of focus on multilingual customer support is another main problem. Most of the call centers in India are concerned only about the English-speaking population. They willingly or otherwise forget the relevance of other significant languages like German, Japanese, Spanish and French etc. This keeps the growth limited as there is a huge demand for multilingual customer support. Still, Indian companies that provide multilingual support are reaping significantly.
Allocating fewer budgets:
To stay safe in the competition brimmed marketplace, companies in India are always seeking new ways to minimise their investments. They are overloading employees with additional responsibilities, lowering salaries and minimising infrastructures and software support facilities. This is leading to substandard quality services. Prudent strategies are planned by smarter companies to avoid adverse scenarios.
India is doubtlessly the best choice- Why? India definitely has its own list of challenges but the fact is that all countries have many problems unique to them. India is fighting against all odds riding on the back of some great factors. The country offers easy access to exceptionally talented resources. It is easier to set up operations here, services are cheaper, greater sustainability is assured and above all, business environment is better. Hire call center services from a reliable company with good reputation and you will surely get amazing results.