The financial benefits of establishing a call center overseas are considerable: Published sources claim setting one up in India can save a marketer $50,000, said Pat Kachura, the Direct Marketing Association's senior vice president for ethics and consumer affairs. While neither Kachura nor the DMA will assign a dollar amount to a poorly chosen overseas call center vendor, there doubtless is one, and it's not trivial.
“We've been looking at issues that lessen consumer trust,” Kachura said. “We identified them early on.”
In January, the DMA's Teleservices Ethics Committee and Department of Ethics and Consumer Affairs jointly issued a pair of member alerts. The first consisted of two checklists, one regarding preserving consumer trust when using an offshore firm, and the other on providing the best possible experience for consumers.
The second alert was an overview of proposed state and federal legislation that would affect moving data and call center operations overseas.
“[Offshoring] is a smart business decision in terms of economics,” Kachura said. “We want to make sure that while we're doing things that are smart business, we're doing things that are protecting consumers. I don't think we have to sell our members on the need to build trust with consumers.”
Sell, perhaps not. But guide? Yes. Of the two checklists issued, the one dealing with privacy and security offers a litany of best practices for customer information handling. These include establishing offshore data security policies; training and supervising offshore staff; using available technology to safeguard personal information at the offshore location; and responding honestly to customers' questions about offshore practices.
“[Marketers] have to ensure that staff policies there are as tough as they are here, and that the training and auditing is done just as it would be here,” Kachura said.
She continued: “[If] the physical and technological safeguards are in place, they have to test and monitor them just as they do here. The question that the marketer has to ask is: ‘Do I have the ability to do that?’”
The other checklist the DMA issued dealt with providing the best possible experience for customers contacting an offshore call center.
Among the recommendations:
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Verifying or testing employees' language skills in light of the customer base the phone room serves.
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Familiarizing employees with American culture, and training them to interact appropriately with American customers, including those who express distress, annoyance or humor.
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Gauging customer satisfaction, and establishing policies and procedures for dealing with customers who are not satisfied with the quality of service they receive.
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Meeting periodically with the call center's management to discuss any weaknesses or lapses in the center's performance.
“As Americans, we tend to be fast talkers,” said Bill Byrne, chairman of the DMA's Teleservices Ethics Committee. “I think as a culture we not only talk fast but learn to listen fast. But others are translating as they speak, and they speak at a slower pace.” On a sales call, this can translate in a consumer's mind to ‘Why aren't they answering me?’ according to Byrne.
“Consumers are aware and can pick up on the differences very quickly,” he continued. “This is where training becomes such a critical factor.”
Byrne also noted that front-line call center reps can be thwarted by American industry jargon, even if they have been properly trained. “I received a call [clearly from an international representative] trying to sell me a service. When I asked about the internal do-not-call list — ‘Should I call the sponsoring company or the call center management?’ — the person didn't know what I meant by an ‘internal list.’” Byrne ultimately found out both companies maintained one.
The legislative alert focused primarily on pending state or federal bills, or measures introduced in 2004. Not all have been resubmitted during current legislative sessions.
At the federal level these included:
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The Safeguarding Americans from Exporting Identification Act (“Safe-ID Act”), a Senate bill that would regulate transmission of personally identifiable information to foreign affiliates and subcontractors, including acquiring customer permission before sending data overseas.
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The Personal Data Offshoring Protection Act of 2004, a House version of the measure noted above.
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The Call Center Consumer's Right to Know Act, a Senate bill that would require employees at a call center to disclose their physical location.
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The Increasing Notice of Foreign Outsourcing Act, another Senate bill that would mandate disclosure of the caller's location and require corporations to certify their compliance with Federal Trade Commission statutes. It also would give the FTC authority to regulate and set penalties for breaches of the act.
Within individual states, legislation being tracked included:
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A California Senate bill that would have required any work involving California citizens' private information, or essential to California homeland security, to be performed in the United States. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed this bill, along with other legislation that would have prevented offshoring personal information such as Social Security or driver's license numbers.
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A New Jersey Senate bill that would have required all services done under state contracts to be performed in the United States. Additionally, a state Assembly bill would have urged Congress to pass legislation concerning public disclosure of companies outsourcing jobs.
“We have to keep an eye on any of the legislation regarding consumer privacy and how we protect that privacy,” Byrne said. Simultaneously, the teleservices committee will review legislation that has an impact on how marketers reach out to consumers in an effort to provide them with goods and services.
Both alerts, and relevant checklists, are available on the DMA's Web site (www.the-dma.org).
