Trust Your Instincts
SNAPS DAY 331
11/27/20222 min read
As leaders, sometimes you need to make bold and unpopular decisions for as long as you know you have considered all the relevant information and risks. During these times, you just need to trust your instincts.
I hosted an executive client visit for a huge global organization who explicitly wanted to outsource its various customer services tiers, technical support tiers and several back office processes to the Philippines.
What I sensed during their visit is that the clients are divided in outsourcing and offshoring all of these queues at the same time. They were also very particular of their VIP queue, BCP and shared they have regular pilot projects involving several of their stakeholders especially their Partners. They requested a 30-minute private break during the visit so they can discuss privately.
I did not waste time during this break and also pulled my leaders together. We also had some disagreements but my boss told the Team, we don’t have much time.. let’s go with Patrick’s recommendation. We decided to modify our proposed solution and presented this just by drawing circles, boxes and arrows on the whiteboard.
We told them (a) all Technical Support and Customer Service tiers except the VIP queue will be supported from the Philippines, (b) all software development queues will be supported from our India center, and (c) the CS VIP queue + a small BCP Team of other CS & TS queues will be delivered from our US center.
Some of the client’s products are not a regular item in a Philippine household. Hence, the VIP queue must remain in the US. The CS & TS BCP queues in the US will be the talent source of any attrition from VIP queue. Our US center will serve as the R&D and showcase center when our Client needs to test any new pilot project, and, host ocular visits from their Partners and other stakeholders who wants to understand how the customer service center is being managed. Their software developer requirement is huge, complex and are expensive & scarce to hire from the Philippines at that time but it’s abundant in our India location. The clients asked a lot of questions and even after that visit because we did not follow their 100% Philippine preference.
*About the photos
I took these photos at the Mall of America in Minneapolis during the transition stage after we won this deal. My client asked me “You’re from the Philippines, why did you propose other locations?” I replied: “My commitment to you is to provide you our best solution. Not to sell you a geography”.
They are still my good friends until today.
