Having just started reading "The World is Flat" (now i'm settled in the new house I actually have time to read the books i've had for ages!), it was very interesting to see how India and the growing countries have taken call centres and other such jobs, leading the world to in essence become a flatter place.
However, its very clear that many British consumers arent happy with having their calls routed to India. Whilst there are far too many bigots in this country, I do believe that this has nothing to do with race; my personal experiences of Indian call centres are of friendly helpful people who have no power or access to actually do anything with your enquiries.
In the news today they mention several big firms who are bringing call centres back to the UK as leaving them abroad is damaging their reputation and brand image. Natwest are one who make a big deal out of having UK call centres.
So, the question is. If the technology has helped make the world flat, will quality of service issues mean that brands are starting to fall of the edge..?
3 comments:
hey rob
very astute point... think you may be on to something
doug
Completely agree with your point Rob - but one thing we should all remember is that the reason so many companies are going off-shore for customer service management is because the shareholders ... the normal, everyday person on the street ... want higher and higher returns on their investments, which results in companies looking for more and more ways to save their way to greater profit.
It's a vicious circle and sure, companies have a lot of responsibility in this, but so do the people who on one side want the money - but on the other, want the service.
I agree, the principle of outsourcing is a good one; but somewhere along the line they forgot to check whether quality of service would be affected.
Ironically enough the episode of the simpsons where Mr Burns outsources the power plant to India was on last night...
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