The Philippines offers several great qualities for those looking to outsource their telemarketing requirements. First, the workforce is young, highly educated, and thanks to the country’s economic profile, cost-effective. They are also multilingual, including English, and are well versed in Western culture.
Telemarketing is cold calling—it’s simply using the phone to make an unsolicited sales call. This can often be the most gruelling form of sales and marketing. In the sales world, telemarketing falls into the realm of business development. It requires a high volume of activity with a generally dismal conversion rate and overall sales volume.
“If you have ever overseen a sales team as a manager or worked as a salesperson, you know that the smaller accounts offer fewer rewards but are necessary nonetheless to the overall health of a sales pipeline. The work can be labour-intensive and time-consuming, and the pay-off may be relatively small,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning call centre in the Philippines.
“When you start off in sales, you learn that it is a pure numbers game. Basically, you’re trained to throw as much stuff against the wall as you possibly can, and eventually, some will stick, and you’ll get a yes. As you go, you learn the necessary skills to make you an effective and talented salesperson, so you no longer spend tiresome hours just emptying your proverbial bucket to try and make ends meet,” he adds.
The real question here, and one that a lot of sales organisations have begun to ask themselves, is whether or not telemarking is actually a waste of valuable sales resources. In simpler terms, is it a good use of time and talent to have highly trained and skilled salespeople spending time on low-level accounts that could be acquired from sheer volume of attempts? This is why many companies have begun to outsource these lower-funnel sales efforts.
In Australia, the number of outsourced jobs continues to grow, and with the push for streamlined processes and automation, this is not a trend we are likely to see the end of soon. So where does one go?
The Philippines has spent the past twenty years building a strong, booming telemarketing industry. Its expertise in call centre outsourcing makes it an ideal landing spot for companies and sales organisations that are looking to outsource their telemarketing requirements.
Telemarketing is an endeavour with inherent pros and cons. “Low-level sales opportunities can be a bit of a necessary evil in the world of sales. When you do it correctly, you can create a highly efficient workforce that is dialling out at a high volume and converting sales. At the same time, you should have your in-house salespeople going after tougher sales acquisitions that require more skills,” says Ellspermann.
The Philippines is a country loaded with young, educated, and driven individuals. The growing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has been beneficial not only for its employees but also to the country in general. The government supports this industry, as it has played such a key role in developing the national economy.
As for the workers, call centre, BPO, and telemarketing jobs pay extremely well. That, however, is relative—while these jobs are lucrative in the Philippines, the pay scale is far lower than domestic wages for the outsourcing companies.
Linguistically, the Philippines has advantages as well. First, a large portion of Filipinos speak English fluently, with Western style and vocabulary. and in a world where 20% of people are Anglophone, this skill is important. Being able to communicate and relate is invaluable to sales, so this is another advantage the Philippines has over other offshore outsourcing destinations such as India. Moreover, the population is growing and youthful. In fact, 90% of Filipinos are under 55 and well educated. That means a lot of talent in the work force.
“While no one answer works for every business, the strategy of outsourcing telemarketing to the Philippines is one companies should explore,” says Ellspermann.
“The cost of telemarketing in house—and more importantly the cost of time—is a crippling drain on your sales efficiency. Outsourcing the telemarketing function will help you cut your costs and grow your sales numbers,” he adds.
Agents in Philippine call centres are well trained in high-volume activity, freeing up your salespeople to do what they do best—sell. Once you investigate potential outsourcing destinations, you’ll find the answer is clear, and that answer is the Philippines.
Michael Carry is the lead editor for Bonanza Magazine. Michael has been working as a freelance journalist for nearly a decade having published stories in the New York Times, The Plain Dealer, The Daily Mail and many others. Michael is based in Dawrin and covers issues affecting his city and global news. When he is not busy writing, Michael enjoys reading books and walking with his dogs.
