Outsource Magazine Issue 27 - (Page 114)

THE BACK END THE LAST WORD services. Nevertheless I am obviously on a list somewhere – probably a whole bunch of them – under the heading “THIS PERSON WANTS TO USE CALL CENTRE BPO FOR GREAT ADVANTAGE”. I assume this because I get at least one of these “pitches” every day. Every. Day. That I don’t know how I got onto said list or lists is as I said earlier one of the worst things about my condition: I am a pretty avid networker and can only guess that somewhere up the track some of my cards have found their way into nefarious hands, but that is just a guess and I am still puzzled about how it has reached such an infuriating scale. I must be on every spam database in outsourcing. For the record, here is my standard response: I don’t reply, obviously, but I do block them, and report them as spam, where possible. I also make a note of who’s pestering me, and add it to the – very long – list of people I am never, never, never going to do business with, even if I do ever require the kind of services they provide. So how’s that for marketing? Leave. Me. Alone! I have been cursed – or maybe I have cursed myself. The fact that I don’t know the specific cause of my misfortune is itself part of the condition. If it weren’t for the fact that my malady is a very 21st-century malaise I would fear I’d been transported into an Edgar Allan Poe tale, or possibly something by Kafka… I should probably be more specific, so let me explain my suffering: I am being bombarded – perhaps that’s too strong a word; pelted? Flecked? – with sales pitches by suppliers, coming in through email, over the phone, via LinkedIn; I’ve been hit up on Facebook a couple of times. I say “pitches” but really that’s quite a generous term considering the atrocious calibre of some of the messages I receive. Here’s an example [we’ve taken out the company details but if you’re reading this, you know who you are… We can help you with your marketing materials… – Ed] which arrived this week: “Hi sirs we are XXXX in Hyderabad we carry out your processes. We are looking to do your works do you have projects? Call centre BPO for great advantage. Look forward to speak with you soon Yrs XXXX”. Now leaving aside the timeworn gripes about the command of the English language prevalent in certain offshore contact centre destinations, I have several problems with this. Firstly of course it is unsolicited – ie spam. Secondly, if you are sending out something unsolicited at least begin your spammy crap with a formal greeting: you don’t know me, we’ve never met (and clearly never will) so don’t use “hi”. Treat me with some respect, please. Thirdly, the “sirs” – as this came in through a social network you would have thought it would be a simple matter to check my gender and the fact that there is only one of me, but obviously not. Fourthly, I do not require the services on offer. I have never expressed an interest in those OPINION ‘Ms N. Raged’ Would you like to contribute an interesting, provocative – and, if you wish, anonymous – piece to The Last Word? Or would you like to respond to this particular column? Why not drop a line to the editor at jamie.liddell@ outsourcemagazine.co.uk to discuss your thoughts? Consendre mod eugait alit89.1 persisisisitof all emails sent facidunt were spam. Approximately 30ad onulla of these eumsandre ex elit In 2010, luptati cent augait num iusti globally ipsumsan el eraestrud exerat per cent cor ing atetue tet ulla feu feum niamconEm ea Europe; 90 per cent were in English. (Source: MessageLabs) were sent from commodiam ad tem dolortio Utat lum quisim et, quissi.Volobore m iurero dolobore. 114 ●●● ● www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Magazine Issue 27

NEWS
PLANET ITO
NORM JUDAH MICROSOFT’S
IN THE KNOW
CALL BRITANNIA
DAVID EVELEIGH
CHAIN GAIN
CAN EVERYTHING BE OUTSOURCED?
NOA ROUND-UP
QUICK CHANGE?
TRANSFORMING FINANCE
CAROLINE STOCKMANN
GOOD REVIEWS
OUTSOURCING IS NOT MAKE VERSUS BUY: IT IS A CONTINUUM
PAYING ATTENTION
POWERING UP YOUR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ENGINE
BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS
HEAD-TO-HEAD
TOP TEN
THE LEGAL VIEW
HFS RESEARCH
HEADLINES...
ONLINE ROUND-UP
INSIDE SOURCE
THE LAST WORD

Outsource Magazine Issue 27