Customer Service Agents are Helping America from Home
Report
For years now, Americans have noticed that when they call to purchase an airline ticket, or to get help with a problem they have been having with a cell phone or computer, the person they end up talking to is often not an American-even though the call they placed was to a domestic number. That is because many of the companies that run these call centers have shipped their operations overseas-often to India-in an effort to save money.
Willow customer service agent working from homeThe practice has generated criticism. But now, industry leaders think they have found a cost-effective alternative that is "domestic" in more ways than one.
The practice of routing calls to overseas help-centers has not proven to be popular with consumers. Craig Foucht, a finance manager in New York City, says he was routed to India three times when he called about a problem he was having with his computer. "I could tell from their accent, even though they used very Americanized names like 'Jennifer' or 'Rob,'" he recalls. "On the whole, the experience was unsatisfactory, because it didn't seem like the staff was trained enough to handle my problems, and (they) seemed quite distracted, and didn't really give me the service I was expecting."
The complaint is a common one. Often, American consumers say, agents in places like India and the Philippines are unfamiliar with the issues faced by American consumers, or else they have only an 'academic' understanding of these issues, with no 'hands-on' personal experience.
Angie Selden, chief executive officer of WillowCSNAngie Selden, chief executive officer of WillowCSN, which finds and hires customer-service agents for a number of large, Fortune 500 companies, understands this complaint. She says international agents are fine for some industries, but in others, there is no replacement for Americans.
"Many of the health-related questions around Medicare and Medicaid," she points out, "(Or) insurance claims processing, are much better answered by people in the United States, who are familiar with the health-care terminology and the health-care experiences here in the United States."
That may be why the model that was pioneered by WillowCSN in 1997 is becoming more and more popular. Willow supplies clients with American customer-service agents… but it does not charge those clients the expensive overhead costs-like rent and electricity, typically associated with American call-centers. That is because Willow does not actually have any call centers. Its agents do not report to a warehouse filled with phones and computers; instead, they work out of their homes -- their living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens -- wherever.
According to Angie Selden, all it takes is the right computer and telephone equipment. "There's a very rapidly growing interest in corporate America now around having certain types of customer calls serviced by agents who are working from home," she says. "It's a very cost-effective way for these companies to get access to U.S.-based people."
Angie Selden's company now has 3,000 customer service agents in 30 states working for its clients. That is four times as many people as it had just 18 months ago.
Nebraska-based West Corporation, another call-service company, has increased its number of at-home agents from 3,400 last year to 7,300 this year. Dave Pleiss, who oversees public relations for West, says the at-home model has allowed his company to bring on qualified people who would like to make a little extra money, but would not necessarily be willing or able to travel to a centralized call-center.
"So perhaps licensed nurses or real estate people," he says, "We can easily get a network of 300 or so of those together across the country, where we wouldn't be able to get 300 licensed people in a call center."
The at-home model has also allowed call-service companies to decrease their turnover rates. Annual turnover at a typical U.S. call-center generally ranges from 60-100%. That is because most workers reporting to these centers are in their 20s, and they all plan on doing something else with their lives.
But the average age of an agent at Willow CSN is 38, and that works out marvelously
John Riorden, Virgin Atlantic's Vice-President of Customer Servicefor Virgin Atlantic Airlines, one of Willow's clients. John Riorden, the airline's Vice-President of Customer Service, says the company prefers to have agents with a little 'life experience.'
"The type of calls that are handled by us in the airline business are reservations, queries about reservations, and a whole myriad of other things that require a pretty significant knowledge base on how international travel works," Mr. Riorden says. "So we do need people who have traveled, and have traveled abroad extensively, because that knowledge is a tremendous advantage in being a good airline customer service agent."
Right now, just 118,000 of the more than five million customer service agents in the United States are working from home. But Angie Selden of Willow CSN expects that number to grow considerably in the coming years-particularly as more and more Baby Boomers retire and look at the challenge of caring for their aging parents. She says the time flexibility -- and the extra income --provided by at-home customer service work will probably appeal to people in such situations.
多年以來，美國人已經注意到，當他們打電話訂購機票或者通過電話尋求幫助解決他們的手機或者電腦問題時，雖然他們撥打的電話是國內號碼，但是最終與他們通話交談的人卻經常不是美國人。這是因為很多開辦經營這些客戶話務中心的公司已經把他們的通話業務轉移到了海外，通常情況下是在印度，以此節約開支。這種做法已招致批評，但產業界領袖認為，他們找到了另外一種立足國內、成本合算的客戶服務方式。
把顧客來電轉接到設在海外的諮詢服務中心的做法已經證明並不是那麼受顧客的歡迎。
福克特是紐約市的一位財務經理。他說，他打電話解決他的電腦出現的一個問題的時候，電話有三次被轉接到了印度。
他說：“雖然他們都使用一些非常美國化的名字，比如詹妮弗或者羅伯，但是我可以從他們的口音判斷出他們不是美國人。大體上，和他們交談的經歷並不令人滿意，因為看上去那些工作人員沒有經過足夠的培訓，無法解決我的問題，而且可以感覺到他們做事相當不專心，沒有給我提供我所期待的服務。”
*外國人不熟悉美消費者需要*
這是相當常見的抱怨。美國消費者通常表示，像印度和菲律賓這些地方的話務代理商並不熟悉美國消費者所面臨的問題，或者他們對於這些問題只有理論上的一知半解，而缺乏實際動手的個人經驗。
塞爾頓是WillowCSN公司的首席執行官，她的公司為很多財富雜誌評選出的世界500強企業尋找並僱用客戶服務代理商。她說，對於某些產業來說，僱用國際代理服務人員是不錯的，但是對於其它產業則非美國人做不可。
塞爾頓說：“圍繞著聯邦醫療保險、政府醫療保險以及保險申請處理過程中很多與健康有關的問題最好由身在美國的人回答。這些人熟悉醫療術語以及美國的醫療體系的運作過程。”
這也許是WillowCSN公司1997年首創的模式越來越受歡迎的原因。WillowCSN公司向客戶提供美國的顧客服務代理機構，但是並不向這些客戶收取諸如租金、電費這些昂貴的、典型的與美國客戶話務中心相關的經常性管理費用。這是因為WillowCSN公司實際上並不擁有任何話務中心。它僱用的代理服務人員並不需要向一個到處都是電話和電腦的倉庫報到，相反，他們在自己的家中工作，無論是自己家的客廳、餐廳還是廚房，哪裏都行。而工作所需要的一切只是一套適用的電腦和電話設備而已。
*在家工作節省開支*
塞爾頓說：“現在，美國公司對由在家工作的代理服務人員提供某些顧客熱線服務的興趣正在急速增長，因為僱用在家工作的代理服務人員是節省開支的一種很好的方法。”
目前，塞爾頓的公司在美國30個州僱用了3千名顧客服務代理人員，為公司的客戶工作。這個數字是18個月以前該公司擁有服務代理人員數量的4倍。設在內布拉斯加州的另外一家話務服務公司“西部公司”已經把公司旗下在家上班的顧客服務代理人員，從去年的3千4百人增加到今年的7千3百人。
普賴斯是西部公司公共關係部門的主管。他說，在家上班的模式使他的公司得以招聘到合格稱職的僱員。這些人願意多賺一些錢，但是並不一定願意或者能夠去一個集中式的話務中心上班：“我們或許可以在全國各地輕而易舉地找到擁有執照的護士或者是房地產從業人員，建立起一個300人左右的網絡，但是我們卻不能夠找到 300個合格的工作人員在一個話務中心工作。”
住家工作模式還使話務服務公司得以降低他們的員工跳槽比率。一般來說，一家典型的美國話務中心每年的員工更新比率在60%到100%之間。這是因為絕大多數在這些中心上班的僱員都是20多歲的年輕人，他們都打算在今後的生活中能有一番作為。但是在WillowCSN公司，話務服務人員的平均年齡是38歲。這一點對於該公司的客戶之一“維珍大西洋航空公司”來說，實在是再好不過了。
*生活經驗豐富者有優勢*
“維珍大西洋航空公司”主管顧客服務的副總裁裡爾頓表示，該公司更喜歡有些生活經驗的工作人員：“我們航空業開設的電話服務項目主要包括幫助旅客預訂機票、解答旅客在訂票方面的疑問以及處理其它各種各樣的具體事務。這需要話務人員對國際旅行行業如何運作具有非常豐富翔實的知識。因此我們需要那些有旅行經驗、經常去國外旅行的人，因為要成為一名好的航空旅客服務人員，具備這些知識無疑具有巨大的優勢。”
目前，美國超過5百萬顧客服務從業人員當中，只有11萬8千人在家工作。但是WillowCSN公司的塞爾頓預計，特別是隨著越來越多嬰兒潮時期出生的人加入到退休者的行列，考慮到照料他們年邁父母的挑戰，這個數字在未來幾年裡將有很大的增長。她說，在家顧客服務在工作時間方面具有的靈活性以及這種工作所帶來的額外收入，對於這些人來說可能會很有吸引力。
For years now, Americans have noticed that when they call to purchase an airline ticket, or to get help with a problem they have been having with a cell phone or computer, the person they end up talking to is often not an American-even though the call they placed was to a domestic number. That is because many of the companies that run these call centers have shipped their operations overseas-often to India-in an effort to save money.
Willow customer service agent working from homeThe practice has generated criticism. But now, industry leaders think they have found a cost-effective alternative that is "domestic" in more ways than one.
The practice of routing calls to overseas help-centers has not proven to be popular with consumers. Craig Foucht, a finance manager in New York City, says he was routed to India three times when he called about a problem he was having with his computer. "I could tell from their accent, even though they used very Americanized names like 'Jennifer' or 'Rob,'" he recalls. "On the whole, the experience was unsatisfactory, because it didn't seem like the staff was trained enough to handle my problems, and (they) seemed quite distracted, and didn't really give me the service I was expecting."
The complaint is a common one. Often, American consumers say, agents in places like India and the Philippines are unfamiliar with the issues faced by American consumers, or else they have only an 'academic' understanding of these issues, with no 'hands-on' personal experience.
Angie Selden, chief executive officer of WillowCSNAngie Selden, chief executive officer of WillowCSN, which finds and hires customer-service agents for a number of large, Fortune 500 companies, understands this complaint. She says international agents are fine for some industries, but in others, there is no replacement for Americans.
"Many of the health-related questions around Medicare and Medicaid," she points out, "(Or) insurance claims processing, are much better answered by people in the United States, who are familiar with the health-care terminology and the health-care experiences here in the United States."
That may be why the model that was pioneered by WillowCSN in 1997 is becoming more and more popular. Willow supplies clients with American customer-service agents… but it does not charge those clients the expensive overhead costs-like rent and electricity, typically associated with American call-centers. That is because Willow does not actually have any call centers. Its agents do not report to a warehouse filled with phones and computers; instead, they work out of their homes -- their living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens -- wherever.
According to Angie Selden, all it takes is the right computer and telephone equipment. "There's a very rapidly growing interest in corporate America now around having certain types of customer calls serviced by agents who are working from home," she says. "It's a very cost-effective way for these companies to get access to U.S.-based people."
Angie Selden's company now has 3,000 customer service agents in 30 states working for its clients. That is four times as many people as it had just 18 months ago.
Nebraska-based West Corporation, another call-service company, has increased its number of at-home agents from 3,400 last year to 7,300 this year. Dave Pleiss, who oversees public relations for West, says the at-home model has allowed his company to bring on qualified people who would like to make a little extra money, but would not necessarily be willing or able to travel to a centralized call-center.
"So perhaps licensed nurses or real estate people," he says, "We can easily get a network of 300 or so of those together across the country, where we wouldn't be able to get 300 licensed people in a call center."
The at-home model has also allowed call-service companies to decrease their turnover rates. Annual turnover at a typical U.S. call-center generally ranges from 60-100%. That is because most workers reporting to these centers are in their 20s, and they all plan on doing something else with their lives.
But the average age of an agent at Willow CSN is 38, and that works out marvelously
John Riorden, Virgin Atlantic's Vice-President of Customer Servicefor Virgin Atlantic Airlines, one of Willow's clients. John Riorden, the airline's Vice-President of Customer Service, says the company prefers to have agents with a little 'life experience.'
"The type of calls that are handled by us in the airline business are reservations, queries about reservations, and a whole myriad of other things that require a pretty significant knowledge base on how international travel works," Mr. Riorden says. "So we do need people who have traveled, and have traveled abroad extensively, because that knowledge is a tremendous advantage in being a good airline customer service agent."
Right now, just 118,000 of the more than five million customer service agents in the United States are working from home. But Angie Selden of Willow CSN expects that number to grow considerably in the coming years-particularly as more and more Baby Boomers retire and look at the challenge of caring for their aging parents. She says the time flexibility -- and the extra income --provided by at-home customer service work will probably appeal to people in such situations.
多年以來，美國人已經注意到，當他們打電話訂購機票或者通過電話尋求幫助解決他們的手機或者電腦問題時，雖然他們撥打的電話是國內號碼，但是最終與他們通話交談的人卻經常不是美國人。這是因為很多開辦經營這些客戶話務中心的公司已經把他們的通話業務轉移到了海外，通常情況下是在印度，以此節約開支。這種做法已招致批評，但產業界領袖認為，他們找到了另外一種立足國內、成本合算的客戶服務方式。
把顧客來電轉接到設在海外的諮詢服務中心的做法已經證明並不是那麼受顧客的歡迎。
福克特是紐約市的一位財務經理。他說，他打電話解決他的電腦出現的一個問題的時候，電話有三次被轉接到了印度。
他說：“雖然他們都使用一些非常美國化的名字，比如詹妮弗或者羅伯，但是我可以從他們的口音判斷出他們不是美國人。大體上，和他們交談的經歷並不令人滿意，因為看上去那些工作人員沒有經過足夠的培訓，無法解決我的問題，而且可以感覺到他們做事相當不專心，沒有給我提供我所期待的服務。”
*外國人不熟悉美消費者需要*
這是相當常見的抱怨。美國消費者通常表示，像印度和菲律賓這些地方的話務代理商並不熟悉美國消費者所面臨的問題，或者他們對於這些問題只有理論上的一知半解，而缺乏實際動手的個人經驗。
塞爾頓是WillowCSN公司的首席執行官，她的公司為很多財富雜誌評選出的世界500強企業尋找並僱用客戶服務代理商。她說，對於某些產業來說，僱用國際代理服務人員是不錯的，但是對於其它產業則非美國人做不可。
塞爾頓說：“圍繞著聯邦醫療保險、政府醫療保險以及保險申請處理過程中很多與健康有關的問題最好由身在美國的人回答。這些人熟悉醫療術語以及美國的醫療體系的運作過程。”
這也許是WillowCSN公司1997年首創的模式越來越受歡迎的原因。WillowCSN公司向客戶提供美國的顧客服務代理機構，但是並不向這些客戶收取諸如租金、電費這些昂貴的、典型的與美國客戶話務中心相關的經常性管理費用。這是因為WillowCSN公司實際上並不擁有任何話務中心。它僱用的代理服務人員並不需要向一個到處都是電話和電腦的倉庫報到，相反，他們在自己的家中工作，無論是自己家的客廳、餐廳還是廚房，哪裏都行。而工作所需要的一切只是一套適用的電腦和電話設備而已。
*在家工作節省開支*
塞爾頓說：“現在，美國公司對由在家工作的代理服務人員提供某些顧客熱線服務的興趣正在急速增長，因為僱用在家工作的代理服務人員是節省開支的一種很好的方法。”
目前，塞爾頓的公司在美國30個州僱用了3千名顧客服務代理人員，為公司的客戶工作。這個數字是18個月以前該公司擁有服務代理人員數量的4倍。設在內布拉斯加州的另外一家話務服務公司“西部公司”已經把公司旗下在家上班的顧客服務代理人員，從去年的3千4百人增加到今年的7千3百人。
普賴斯是西部公司公共關係部門的主管。他說，在家上班的模式使他的公司得以招聘到合格稱職的僱員。這些人願意多賺一些錢，但是並不一定願意或者能夠去一個集中式的話務中心上班：“我們或許可以在全國各地輕而易舉地找到擁有執照的護士或者是房地產從業人員，建立起一個300人左右的網絡，但是我們卻不能夠找到 300個合格的工作人員在一個話務中心工作。”
住家工作模式還使話務服務公司得以降低他們的員工跳槽比率。一般來說，一家典型的美國話務中心每年的員工更新比率在60%到100%之間。這是因為絕大多數在這些中心上班的僱員都是20多歲的年輕人，他們都打算在今後的生活中能有一番作為。但是在WillowCSN公司，話務服務人員的平均年齡是38歲。這一點對於該公司的客戶之一“維珍大西洋航空公司”來說，實在是再好不過了。
*生活經驗豐富者有優勢*
“維珍大西洋航空公司”主管顧客服務的副總裁裡爾頓表示，該公司更喜歡有些生活經驗的工作人員：“我們航空業開設的電話服務項目主要包括幫助旅客預訂機票、解答旅客在訂票方面的疑問以及處理其它各種各樣的具體事務。這需要話務人員對國際旅行行業如何運作具有非常豐富翔實的知識。因此我們需要那些有旅行經驗、經常去國外旅行的人，因為要成為一名好的航空旅客服務人員，具備這些知識無疑具有巨大的優勢。”
目前，美國超過5百萬顧客服務從業人員當中，只有11萬8千人在家工作。但是WillowCSN公司的塞爾頓預計，特別是隨著越來越多嬰兒潮時期出生的人加入到退休者的行列，考慮到照料他們年邁父母的挑戰，這個數字在未來幾年裡將有很大的增長。她說，在家顧客服務在工作時間方面具有的靈活性以及這種工作所帶來的額外收入，對於這些人來說可能會很有吸引力。
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