Crisis, Obama policy taking the US out as lead market for the Philippines

Call center companies in the Philippines should look into tapping European markets because the United States may no longer provide as many clients as it used to, industry experts said.

“Don’t put all your eggs in the US basket,” Martin Dove, managing director of Dimension Data’s CIS Global, said Wednesday during the 2009 Call Center Conference and Expo in Pasay City.

The US has been the leading market of call center companies in the Philippines, but the recent global financial crisis that hit it has put pressure on companies to tap alternative markets in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other Asia-Pacific countries.

The new US President, Barack Obama, has also promised to adopt a policy that will bring back jobs to the Americans by giving incentives to US-based companies that will not outsource their business requirements to other countries.

Promotions Needed

However, before the Philippines can tap into emerging markets like Europe, it will have to promote itself as an outsourcing destination in the region. Amit Badami, founder of Emerging Markets Research Group Ltd. Economic, said that European companies do not know much about the country’s potential in this industry.

“They [European companies] don’t know much about it,” said Badami when asked how European companies perceived local contact center firms.

Badami said the country should follow the example of National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the software and services industry association of India, which is very active in the region. “NASSCOM has been well-entrenched in Europe.”

The challenge, Badami said, is to translate the Philippines’  “incredible track record” in the US to Europe and get the brand recognized in the region. “Otherwise, you continue to miss the opportunity.”

Learn Other Languages

Dove said that unlike other outsourcing destinations like India and South Africa, the Philippines is viewed as “a long, long way.”

Badami said that another constraint in getting a slice of the European market is the language capability of the Filipino call center agents.

“You are restricted to the UK market,” Badami said, adding that there are companies from non-English speaking part of the region like Germany, Switzerland, the Scandinavian and Baltic states.

The Philippines is among the top three leading outsourcing destination in the world, behind India and Canada. The contact centers account for the biggest chunk of the revenues and manpower of the entire BPO industry.

The contact center industry is expected to grow between 15-20 percent and is targeting US$ 5 billion revenue for this year. (Newsbreak)

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