The United States has exported overseas a lot of good and a lot of bad over the years. Good concepts might include democracy, a free press, and my personal favorite, Diet Coke. The bad ideas are seemingly endless, but often cited are fast food, cigarettes and the pesticide DDT. Although we are experiencing an expanding trade deficit, we are still the entrepreneurial world power with good and bad ideas pouring out of us all the time. Which brings us to a good . . .and a bad idea called telesales.
I have been reading articles lately related to the development of overseas domestic telesales efforts. That's right. In India, China, the Philippines, and other countries, companies don't just call U.S. citizens, they also call people within their own borders. Being somewhat geocentric, the U.S. often thinks it is only about us. However, emerging markets also have a real need for access to competitively priced goods in services in the travel, entertainment, communication and financial markets. Marketers in these countries have discovered that the telephone is a great way to reach a large number of people, in short period of time to offer competitively priced goods and services. Who knew?
With no small irony, the governments of developing nations have been clamoring for companies to come to their shores and open contact centers for calling U.S. citizens. But at the same time the cry goes up for access to the U.S. market, legislators begin to create laws focused on making calls within the country for sales purposes harder or impossible. If you can't properly spell the word "hypocrite", I have found an easier word to use is "politician." (By the way, politician and all of its implications seems to be a global word, and can be used in virtually any country with the same reaction . . .like the word "beer".)
So as each country becomes exposed to telesales through economic development departments, or domestic use, reactions take place. While on the one hand everyone likes high paying, technically advanced, career opportunity jobs, they express dislike and distrust for the source of those jobs. Much like the concept that a free clinic is a great idea as long as you don't build it in my neighborhood. Politicians in foreign countries need to view the channel as purely good, and not a mix. How can we say that telesales is a good idea? Let's count some of the ways together:
Virtually endless supply of good jobs with high pay and exceptional training.
Economically, a boon to any local and national economy lucky enough to attract an operation.
Small companies in formerly monopoly-dominated markets now have a way to break through the media clutter to gain equal footing with the giants.
Consumers receive competitive offers in markets that may have suffered from a lack of new products or new entrants for an extended period of time.
Expanded use of expensive telecom infrastructure, thereby decreasing its cost.
If foreign countries want to attract U.S. call centers, they cannot close their own markets to call center activity. Telesales is still new in Taiwan, China, India, and the Philippines. Decision makers would be wise to give this fledgling industry a chance to exist prior to regulating out of existence. Solutions exist that are more effective and intelligent than blanket do-not-call lists like caller id technology and company specific DNC lists. Politicians often look to each other for the answer. If U.S. politicians see protectionism in a foreign market, it is a sure bet they will consider protectionism for the U.S. market. This kind of potential trade restriction is already being contemplated in the form of location identification, foreign call re-routing, and data privacy to name a few.
Published: Thursday, September 15, 2005
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