Mr. Ademola Eleso is the Chairman, Contact Solution Limited, an indigenous management and Information Communication Technology company. In this interview with Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi, he says poor state of infrastructure affects global competitiveness local firms’
Contact centre management is still a relatively unknown area of business, how did ConSol find itself in this sector?
We got into the contact centre business about 10 years ago when I was still embedded in the heart of the telecommunications industry. It was a period that a lot of new mobile communications technology was beginning to come into the country, which also left more Nigerians having access to telephone. And as a result of this new technology, people demanded extra services and had a lot of questions about new products at their disposal. Meeting the demands and queries of some of these mobile phone users was quite enormous for the network providers and as a forward-looking organisation, we felt we could bridge that gap and help the companies deal with their customers while they concentrate on their core operations.
To the glory of God we have one of the largest deployments of outsourced call centres in Nigeria employing hundreds of agents serving multiple clients in West Africa.
What were the initial challenges when you delved into the business?
I would put the challenges in two categories. The first is getting people to understand the concept of a customer service delivery being executed by a third party. Most people could not imagine that anybody could treat their customers as nicely as themselves or even better. So, there was a big resistance to let go of this type of function. But luckily through tenacity and advocacy, we were able to overcome that battle.
The second challenge was with the middle managers inside most organisations who saw their position under threat if they agreed to the outsourcing of this important function to a third party. Through advocacy we have been able to educate most of these managers that there is a bigger benefit from what we bring to the table. But I tell you it was not all smooth sailing, it was tough.
Some people have opined that BPO is actually causing more unemployment than it is providing opportunities, do you agree with this assertion?
BPO or outsourcing is not the way a lot of people see it. Even though I agree that a lot of jobs could be lost to foreign nations and organisations in the process, I believe that it holds a lot of employment opportunities especially now that indigenous firms like ConSol are fully in the business. So, we are not losing but gaining jobs.
But due to insecurity pervading Nigeria now, a lot of business opportunities are lost to foreign nations like Ghana and Kenya. Some companies which ordinarily would have loved to outsource contact centre jobs to Nigerian firms decline to do so for fear of corruption and several other factors.
Of course, we do get a lot of jobs from foreign companies but then it could have been more if some of these fears about Nigeria were not present. We can advance fast if companies operating in Nigeria don’t outsource jobs to other African countries. There is need to encourage organisations in the contact centre industry so that more jobs can stay in Nigeria.
Operating a business like yours requires a lot of investment in power and energy, what has been your experience?
The poor state of our infrastructure slows down our competitiveness, making it a bit tough to struggle with organisations from places like South Africa, Ghana and even Philippines who are mostly into this type of business. The government and even the citizens must work together to resolve some of the challenges in this area.
We must also begin to portray a positive image of our country. A small number of Nigerians are corrupt but they give the rest of us who abide by the rules of the land and strive very hard to make a living a bad name. We must learn to control our sensationalism of corruption and implement the rule of law, enforce it and let the criminal justice system deal with corruption issues. If we keep portraying a bad image of ourselves, we shall keep losing jobs to other neighbouring countries.
There is urgent need for proper investment in energy, technology and basic infrastructures including good roads for businesses like ours to thrive. If given the right type of support, this industry has the potential to employ a lot of young graduates who make up the chunk of the unemployment population in the country.
For small scale enterprises, what role do you see customer relations playing in improving business?
What a good customer relationship does for any business, especially small scale businesses, is that it frees the owners up to strike more deals. With quality customer relations, business owners can interact more closely with customers and also get feedback from them, thereby improving the quality of service.
The truth is that every customer wants to be treated well and feel cared for. As a business, whether small or large scale, your ability to let the customer know that you care about him or her goes a long way in improving patronage. Once customers realise how much you care about them beyond the service that you have offered, they would always come back and even refer others to you. This is an important secret to the growth of any business.
There are a lot of organisations who are also into the type of business you do today, how have you been able to deal with competition?
As an organisation, we manage competition by respecting every competitor. For me, I see competition as an athletics meet where everyone has an opportunity to sprint to the top prize. We embrace it and always look forward to giving our best whenever the opportunity arises.
What government policies would you say have affected your industry the most over the years?
Most government policies have been cornered around providing simpler, cheaper and faster services to the people of Nigeria and that is in line with what we believe in as an organisation.
So far, we have been able to cope well with the policies of the different administrations over the years. However, we are looking forward to seeing an improved working relationship between the government, its agencies and those of us in the sector.
Compared to other African markets, how huge would you say is the contact centre industry in Nigeria?
The industry is as large as the population of Nigeria. As an organisation, we are taking advantage of the human resource available to train a lot of people and employ them so that they can garner relevant experience in our area of operation.
The industry in Nigeria is in fact one of the biggest in the world. It has the potential to become whatever it aims for and with the growth of the Internet and Communications Technology sector, the contact centre business is also expected to witness tremendous rise. It is something that gives us hope.
About The Nigerian Blogger
0 comments :
Post a Comment