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Philippines as the Best Source of BPO Operators
With the continually increasing costs of doing business, it’s truly no wonder why more and more companies in the United States are opting to outsource as many services as they can to offshore facilities where excellent performance comes cheap. Of course, the quality of performance that a company can avail from its offshore offices depends on the BPO operators they’ll be hiring.
Philippines on the Rise in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Front
Last June 2006, an official from I.T. giant Apple has announced that its company will no longer push through with its plans of opening a technology support center in Bangalore, India due to the inefficiency of their BPO operators. This is quite a blow to India’s hopes of becoming the best choice for BPO needs but it can be considered as a victory as well for other nations wishing to turn their economies around through the BPO industry, nations such as Philippines for instance.
Companies looking for the best site for their BPO needs should seriously consider setting up their offshore facilities in this Southeast Asian archipelago as Filipinos are bestowed with innate qualities that are essential to making excellent BPO operators.
What Makes the Philippines an Excellent Source for BPO Operators
Impressive Proficiency in English – Approximately 90% of Filipinos can speak and write in English since English is one of the two official languages in the Philippines. English is also one of the chosen medium of instruction in private and public schools and as such, Filipinos are educated early on to converse in English.
For US companies, English proficiency is a definite requirement for their BPO operators. If a BPO operator is fundamentally unable to make himself understood in English then no positive outcome will result from his dialogue with the customer regardless of the amount of time they spend talking to each other and the level of expertise he has in his chosen field.
This is in fact one of the greatest complaints that customers have against Indian BPO operators. Although their English vocabulary and expertise in highly specialized fields are commendable, Indian BPO operators can be absolutely difficult to decipher for American and British customers. Some Indian BPO operators, perhaps lacking in training, are unable to effectively eradicate their native accents when speaking in English.
Fortunately, this is not a problem that companies will face when they’re hiring Filipino BPO operators. With one of the most flexible tongues in the world due to their interracial origins, Filipinos can effortlessly imitate the accents of Americans and British after a short training period.
An Innate Understanding of American Culture – Due to the considerable amount of interaction that Filipinos have with Americans and the influence that the United States wields over the various aspects of Philippine society, Filipino BPO operators need not be trained overly long just to understand the basic principles of dealing with American customers. No lengthy and arduous adjustments must also be made by US companies just to ensure that Filipino BPO operators will mesh well with their organizational culture.
Government Support – And last but not the least is the amount of support that the Philippine government extends to foreign companies investing in their country through the establishment of BPO facilities.
Unlike the backlash that foreign companies are presently experiencing in the Indian front, a happy and warm welcome is instead given to foreign firms that chose to set up their offshore BPO offices in Philippine land. The Philippine government, in fact, doesn’t hesitate in acknowledging the various benefits that such investments bring to the economy. Job opportunities, for instance, are constantly on the rise while unemployment rate is consequently and steadily decreasing.
In return for the money that continues pouring in to their economy, the Philippine government is ready and willing to provide many incentives to their foreign investors. The legal process of establishing a BPO facility in the country is drastically cut off to facilitate the process.
Progressive Infrastructure – Why waste time finding an appropriate location for your BPO offices when there’s already one prepared and ready for your BPO offices? In India, there are still many places far from its cities that charge highly in spite of their modest beginnings. That’s not so for this country. The Philippine real estate market is in fact booming for and because of the BPO industry, so if you want to reserve a corner of the market while you’re able, you should invest in the Philippines immediately!
There are many other reasons why Filipinos make the best BPO operators in the world, but for now, companies should keep an eye on the current standings of BPO rivals India and the Philippines.
