In recent years, direct response has seen a surge in the number of U.S. Hispanic campaigns being rolled out around the country. While many elements factor into the success of these campaigns and the sales they garner, it seems that many companies are failing to perform a thorough evaluation and losing sales. When performance and profits are on the line, it pays to put time into vetting one of the most important pieces of the puzzle: the Hispanic call center.
Regardless of how on target a company’s U.S. Hispanic advertisements are, the Hispanic call center can be the make-or-break factor that boosts product sales beyond expectation or drags them so low a campaign has no choice but to fold. For example, Ab Rocket, the in-home abdominal trainer, was a successful English campaign that became a successful Spanish campaign, due in large part to the call center selling it, staffed with agents who not only believed in the product but used the product and were trained well on a script tailored specifically to the product’s audience.
When dealing with U.S. Hispanics — who like to establish a friendly rapport with their customer service representatives before dealing in any monetary transactions — it’s necessary to have agents that are gracious, vibrant and responsive. However, there are issues to consider other than attitude.
It’s also important to understand the quality control process of any U.S.-based call center, since many do not have Spanish-speaking managerial staff to monitor quality. Dig deep. Does the call center verify 100% of its orders? This is a tactic that prevents charge-backs and keeps the call center, the marketers and their participating merchant banks in good standing, but you would be surprised at how many call centers don’t put it into practice — or only verify a much smaller percentage.
In terms of off-shore call centers, it’s always recommended to choose one in a Spanish-speaking country. It’s necessary that the call center ensures payment card industry compliance with U.S. telemarketing legal and regulatory requirements. Inquire about the technical capabilities of the call center, including what kind of switch operators they’re working with, and whether there are back-up systems and triage systems. What is the call center’s reporting capabilities? Is real-time reporting available?
With so much work being put into the creation of your U.S. Hispanic campaign don’t let it fall flat because you chose the wrong call center. Do your research. Choose wisely. The results will be worth the effort.
