Telemarketing may be one of the most misunderstood business processes today. Many of us have been on the consumer end of this process, fielding calls that are trying to push us into a sale, and most of us do not enjoy that. However, it is an essential function of business, and when it is done right it’s a vital part of a healthy sales organisation.

Telemarketing is the marketing of goods or services by means of making a lot of telephone calls, typically unsolicited, to potential customers. In simpler terms, telemarketers move prospects further through the sales pipeline over the phone. With the world more dependent on remote communication than ever, running this process out of call centres is ideal.

“After you generate leads, your sales operation has to get to work on nurturing those leads and ideally moving them closer to a sale. This requires a unique skill set mixed with hard work. Telemarketers have to constantly reach out to prospects, have conversations with them, handle objections, hear the pain points, and offer solutions that can help them,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning telemarketing provider in the Philippines.  

“Now every organisation is different, so how far down the sales process a telemarketer will nurture will vary, but you get the overall point. Overall, telemarketers have to make hundreds of dials a day and have conversations with many different prospects. This means they need to perform at a high volume and they need to be skilled,” he adds.

When you need a work force that can produce at a high-volume and you need them to be skilled, it makes sense to look at outsourcing. If you outsource business processes to certain parts of the world you get quality service at a fraction of the cost.

When you make the leap into telemarketing outsourcing, you will be hard-pressed to find better service than that offered in the Philippines.

Outsourcing can come with numerous complications and difficulties. Most of these issues will be tied to where you outsource to, which makes this decision an extremely important one. These issues will include communication issues, infrastructure issues, and the quality of service.

The telemarketing industry in the Philippines is built to avoid these issues and eliminate these concerns for their clients and to do so while lowering costs.

On the communication front, the telemarketing outsourcing industry in the Philippines has a few major competitive advantages. First, it has strong ties to the western business world. The country has a close cultural affinity to the West and English is one of its two official languages. This makes communication with UK customers and the global business community seamless.

On the other side of the communication equation, there is a well-built infrastructure that allows for reliable communication. With a well-designed grid that supports the telecommunication network and reliable transportation and utilities, telemarketing in the Philippines offers what many other countries cannot.

The last advantage of the Philippines as a leading telemarketing outsourcing destination is the talented, educated, and driven workforce. As one of the biggest industries in the country, these telemarketing jobs are some of the most sought after, meaning you get the best of the best when you outsource here.

There are plenty of telemarketing companies to choose from. Of those, it’s hard to find a better choice than PITON-Global. They have spent the past two decades gathering the best talent in the country.

Knowing what you know now, it’s time to reach out today and get started. Telemarketing outsourcing to the Philippines is a winning decision that could be the game changer for you and your company.

Own and operate a business? You need to make sure that you have a compliance strategy in place. Just as you need to register the business and ensure that the actual infrastructure is all set up properly, so must you ensure that you are as compliant as possible. Here are some of the key reasons why you need to ensure that you have a compliance strategy.

Compliance Applies to Everyone

It does not matter who you are and what your business offers, you have to ensure that your business activities are fully compliant with the law. There is no getting around it. It could be laws from your own country, international ones from your global operations, or even just local guidelines that you have to adhere to if you want to be able to operate in your offices. You need to ensure that your business is fully compliant. A compliance strategy is crucial in proving that you have the awareness and understanding of what is expected of you as a company.

Provides Guidance

A compliance strategy is a necessity for many businesses as it can give guidance on how a company can act in many different situations. There are so many little nuances that go into operating a company, and compliance helps you to ensure that you are not going to make a mistake. It is far easier than you might imagine to take a wrong turn and cause an issue that requires a lot of time and resources to fix. A compliance strategy ensures that the entire company, from the board of directors down to the most junior member of staff, knows how to act and remain compliant in all of their actions for the company.

Is Easy to Set Up

Compliance is a tricky issue, and should be handled by an expert hand. However, that does not mean that you have to spend a lot of time trying to get to grips with it. Instead, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn how easy it can be to set a good compliance policy in place. With the right compliance solution on your hands, you will be able to construct a set of protocols that could help you to stay on the right side of the law. Such a program should also be able to monitor for upcoming changes in addition to the ones already in place so that you will be able to have the right strategies on hand regardless of how things might change.

Could Be a Necessity

Depending on the jurisdictions you operate in and the markets you are a part of, you might legally have to prove that you have a compliance strategy in place. This is often a must for those who need to apply for licenses before they can begin operations. Governing bodies can be very strict, and they want to ensure that all license holders under them are going to be able to reach the high standards they expect. A compliance strategy is an indication that a company is willing to meet these standards, and that they have an effective plan that will allow them to do so.

Always Changing

Though there are many areas that will stay the same, there are some details of compliance that will change fairly regularly. Those governing the jurisdictions might decide that they want to make changes to better support the public, and businesses will have to ensure that they adapt quickly to whatever the changes in compliance might be. While these cannot always be predicted, a good compliance strategy should be able to give some roadmap as to how these changes can realistically be made. If announced early enough, shrewd companies will also be able to include them in their strategy too. This will hopefully minimise any disruption that might be caused by migration or changes in regulations.

Compliance – A Must for All

There is no getting away from it – compliance is something that must be followed and obeyed. It does not matter what your position might be in a company, there needs to be a compliance strategy in place so that your actions do not endanger company operations. Ignorance of the law cannot be used as a defence here so a compliance strategy is vital. It will tell employees how to act and what they can do to safely further the business.

Does your business have a compliance strategy yet? If you have nothing concrete in place, you need to make sure that you change this soon. It is truly foolish to try to operate with no idea of the steps you need to take to be compliant. This is a key document that all businesses should have from launch, and it should expand and grow as the company does too.

As restrictions continue in the UK, the end of the Covid-19 crisis and the return to normal are still many months away. Social distancing will continue to affect the way that businesses can operate and will hamper demand for goods and services in many industries. Experts are expecting that the vaccination of the UK’s population will take at least another year. This means that the point at which the population is actually immunised from Covid-19 is most likely to be well into 2022.

This is not the news that businesses in the UK want to hear, but ignoring the predictions is perilous. This is not the time for burying your head in the sand and waiting for the crisis to pass. For business leaders, it is important to stay informed and make prudent assessments of the long-term economic conditions to ensure their company’s long-term survival.

One of the principal points of distress for businesses at the moment is cash flow. Plummeting demand has meant revenues have dried up, while at the same time companies need to keep making payments for their ongoing overheads such as rent and utilities.

One method for reducing these outflows is to see what services you could be migrated to call centres in the Philippines. There are many services that call centres in Manila offer; some of the most popular ones are customer care, acquisition, and back-office support.

Customer support is the most notable outsourcing service. Encompassing customer care, inbound sales, and technical support, these functions are all provided via phone, email and web chat. Customer acquisition relates to lead generation, telemarketing, and appointment setting. Finally, back-office support services, which are the least traditional services offered by contact centres in the Philippines, include content moderation, claims processing, and enterprise data management.

There are many examples of large UK corporations outsourcing their call centre services to the Philippines. Vodafone, HSBC and Prudential have all been outsourcing to the Philippines for many years. But it is not just large companies that are migrating their call centre services to the Philippines. As the processes and infrastructure have improved and reduced in cost, it has enabled small- and medium-sized enterprises to also make the most of outsourcing to the Philippines.

“Today it’s no longer just the large corporations that are tapping into the vast resource pool of the Philippines. 70% of our clients are SMEs. Especially the smaller companies that have an outsourcing need of only 5-50 agents are under extreme cost pressure. They need to find ways to lower their cost, yet, still maintain a high level of service. And that’s exactly what they are getting with us,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning call centre in the Philippines.

The advantages of using call centre services in the Philippines are numerous. In addition to the English language proficiency of the workforce, the low labour cost of the employees (60% lower than the UK) and the excellent infrastructure in Manila, companies can now tap into a wealth of a call centre-experienced agents that the country has developed over the last two decades.

“It’s not just costs savings what clients get from us. They also benefit from improved operating efficiencies and an enhanced customer experience which is of critical importance in today’s hyper-competitive world,” says Ellspermann. 

Even if the UK were not in the midst of a financial crisis caused by a pandemic, outsourcing call centre services to the Philippines would be a shrewd move for business leaders to make.

The eCommerce sector is more competitive than ever. Retailers have been struggling to keep up with demand as online sales skyrocket, but can they adopt and maintain an eco-friendly approach?

Eco-friendly packaging can significantly reduce non-recyclable and non-biodegradable waste, slashing businesses’ carbon footprint. So what are the hallmarks of eco-friendly packaging, and how else can it benefit eCommerce companies?

What Is Eco-Friendly Packaging?

Simply put, eco-friendly packaging is a broad term that describes all forms of packaging that are created with the environment in mind. They usually have one of the following properties or features:

• Recycled — Plastic, cardboard and many other common materials can be processed and repurposed to create a wealth of effective packaging supplies. The main benefit here is that the lifespan of the original materials is dramatically extended, meaning less raw materials need to be produced.
  
• Sustainably Sourced — Packaging materials produced from renewable sources are far better for the environment than oil-based plastics or other synthetic products. As an example, paper sourced from managed forests helps counteract deforestation.
  
• Recyclable — When packaging is made from recyclable materials, consumers can easily dispose of packaging responsibly at home or at various recycling points. Their packaging could take on many forms or be used to create more packaging.
• Biodegradable — Packaging made from natural materials often has biodegradable qualities. Paper and cardboard are some of the most natural packaging materials that degrade naturally over a short period and without leaking harmful chemicals back into the environment.
• Compostable — Some forms of eco-friendly packaging can be composted commercially or by the end-user at home. The benefit is that packaging doesn’t contribute to landfill waste, but composting also improves soil quality and suppresses plant diseases.

The Benefits of Using Eco-Friendly Packaging

For many consumers, the use of eco-friendly packaging is more of an expectation than an option. Studies have shown that consumers are even willing to pay more for products that are packaged sustainably, proving that a little investment in the right packaging can go a long way. So how could eco-friendly packaging benefit online retailers?

1. Waste Reduction

Packaging waste comes in many forms. Overpackaging products is a pet peeve for many consumers who will instantly assume that little care or thought has been taken in the packaging process. This wastes a tremendous amount of materials and leaves customers feeling frustrated. Waste can also be a problem when the wrong size, shape or type of packaging is used to ship products. Using packaging that’s far too big for the products it containers wastes packaging supplies and could lead to damaged deliveries.

2. Improved Recycling Rates

The latest recycling rate for British households is approximately 46%. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement, especially if the UK wants to catch up with the likes of Germany, whose recycling rate is currently 10% higher. For more recycling to happen, recyclable packaging needs to replace non-recyclable plastics and other synthetic materials. This is an excellent opportunity for eCommerce businesses to replace any non-recyclable offerings with more environmentally beneficial alternatives.

3. Reduced Packaging Costs

Paper and cardboard packaging is widely available and incredibly cost-effective. It’s inexpensive to produce and even more affordable when bought in bulk, especially when compared to the price of plastic packaging that doesn’t have any of the eco-friendly benefits. Cardboard packaging is also incredibly versatile and can be used for various products or different shapes and sizes. 

4. Enhanced Functionality

The humble, brown cardboard box has a lot to offer, especially when paired with paper-based void-fill packaging. Cardboard is lightweight yet durable, meaning package weights can be slashed. This can help dramatically reduce shipping costs without compromising the quality or integrity of the packaging itself. 

5. Better Customer Experiences

If you’re an online-only business, your packaging needs to send all the right messages about your brand. First impressions are essential, and since your packaging will be the first thing your customers see and engage with, their experience needs to be flawless. Consumers prefer paper-based packaging over plastic or other synthetics, so an excellent place to start is with paper or cardboard packaging that’s naturally recyclable and biodegradable.

Is Eco-Friendly Packaging Important for Online Retailers?

Since high-quality eco-friendly packaging offers so much in terms of performance and is much preferred by consumers, it’s an obvious choice for businesses operating in the highly competitive eCommerce arena. Not only does it benefit the environment, but it can significantly enhance consumers’ perception of companies operating in this space, generating brand awareness, loyalty and eventually, brand advocacy.