Global Call Centers: Achieving Outstanding Customer Service Across Cultures and Time Zones

221 Pages·2004·1.51 MB·English

by  Erik Granered

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Global Call 1
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Global Call
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Centers
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Achieving Outstanding
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Customer Service Across
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Cultures & Time Zones
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Erik Granered
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1 First published by Nicholas Brealey International in 2005
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3 100 City Hall Plaza, Suite 501 3–5 Spafield Street, Clerkenwell
Boston, MA 02108, USA London, EC1R 4QB, UK
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Tel: 888 BREALEY Tel: [phone]
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Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone]
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www.nicholasbrealey.com
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© 2005 by Erik Granered
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner
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whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of
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brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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13 Printed in the United States of America
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15 08 07 06 05 04 1 2 3 4 5
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17 ISBN: 1-904838-03-0
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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20 Granered, Erik, 1967-
21 Global call centers : achieving outstanding customer service across
22 cultures and time zones / Erik Granered.
23 p. cm.
24 Includes bibliographical references and index.
25 ISBN 1-904838-03-0
1. Call centers. 2. Call centers--Management. 3. Customer services. I. Title.
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HE8788.G73 2005
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658.8'12--dc22 2004024909
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Contents
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Acknowledgments ix 7
Foreword by J. P. Singh, Ph.D. xi 8
Introduction 1 9
Author’s Note 7 10
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Part I: Global Call Centers: The Customer Experience 12
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Chapter 1: Outsourcing and Offshoring 11 14
Efficiency at the Core 11 15
Outsourcing versus Offshoring 12 16
Call Center Offshoring: When Did It Begin? 14 17
The Current State of the Industry 17 18
Economic and Political Impact of Offshoring 19 19
Culture as a Success Factor 22 20
Human Consequences and Public Relations 25 21
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Chapter 2: The Customer Experience Dilemma 29 23
Culture and the Customer Experience 31 24
Deny Thy Culture 35 25
Achieving Integrity with Nonverbal Communication 36 26
The Silent Causes of Miscommunication 38 27
Conflict and How We Deal with It 47 28
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Chapter 3: Understanding the Media of Interaction 53 30
The Limits of Telephone Interaction 54 31
The Ability to Speak Clearly 56 32
The Importance of Reflective Listening 56 33
Written Communication: Avoiding the Service Call 58 34 sh
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vi CONTENTS
1 Chat and E-mail 61
2 Web Centers: Designing Customer-Centric Support Sites 63
3 The Intimacy Paradox 64
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5 Part II:Culture, Communication, and Call Center Management
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7 Chapter 4: The Power of Awareness 69
8 Dissecting Conflict Situations 69
9 Communication Breakdown: Some Examples 74
10 Advanced Self-Awareness 79
11 Putting Awareness to Work 81
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13 Chapter 5: Creating a Customer Service Culture 85
14 The Power of Communication 86
15 Quality and Service Level 89
16 About Banners and Bells 92
17 Adaptive Management Strategies 94
18 Call Center Management—A Game Analogy 98
19 Improving Culture (aka Communication) 100
20 Rewards Ratings by Culture 104
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22 Chapter 6: A Strategic Approach to Call Center Training 105
23 Looking at a Role Model 107
24 Training: Cost or Opportunity Cost? 108
25 Creating a Framework for Call Center Learning 110
26 A Systems Approach to Learning 113
27 Training Modalities for Global Call Centers 119
28 Individual Learning Styles 123
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30 Part III: Designing a Global Call Center Strategy
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32 Chapter 7: Culture as a Competitive Variable 129
33 Do the Right Thing 129
sh 34 A Formula for Success 131
reg 35 What Functions Should Be Offshored? 131
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CONTENTS vii
Ambiguities in Cultural Variables 134 1
Following the Sun 136 2
How to Use Part III 138 3
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Chapter 8: English-Language Customer Service 143 5
India 145 6
Ireland 148 7
United Kingdom 151 8
United States 153 9
Canada 155 10
Australia 156 11
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Chapter 9: Spanish-Language Customer Service 159 13
Mexico 161 14
Spain 163 15
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Chapter 10: European Cultures and Customer Service Options 167 17
Belgium 168 18
Denmark 170 19
France 172 20
Germany 175 21
Italy 177 22
Netherlands 179 23
Sweden 181 24
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Chapter 11: Asian Cultures and Customer Service Options 185 26
China 186 27
Japan 189 28
Singapore 191 29
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Conclusion 195 31
References 197 32
Index 201 33
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Acknowledgments
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his project started because I had the opportunity to develop 7
classes in cross-cultural communication and call-center manage- 8
ment while at WorldCom in 2001 and 2002. For that opportunity 9
I am thankful to Shiloh Burnam, the manager who assigned me those tasks. 10
Also, Tracy Baldwin’s experience and enthusiasm were essential. Beyond 11
Shiloh and Tracy, I had the opportunity to observe and work with some of 12
the most dedicated and talented people I have ever met. I want to thank all 13
the WorldCom people in Cary, North Carolina, Amsterdam, and elsewhere 14
for everything you taught me. 15
I also wish to thank Dr. Gary Weaver at The American University in 16
Washington, DC. Most of what I know about cross-cultural communica- 17
tion, I learned from him. I have tried to source things as accurately as pos- 18
sible throughout the book, but there is no citation system in the world that 19
can give sufficient credit to a teacher who opens windows into yourself and 20
gives you a passion for life-long learning in a subject. 21
I also owe gratitude to the Incoming Calls Management Institute for 22
originally recognizing that I was on to something that was worth sharing 23
with a larger audience. 24
Lastly, I want to thank Nicholas Brealey Publishing. In particular, Erika 25
Heilman’s continuous feedback, praise and censure was invaluable. At 26
some point during this project, I heard on a radio show that if you ever want 27
to write a book, you had better get yourself a good editor. I am pretty sure I 28
had the best. 29
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