I always freak out whenever the telephone rings and I hear someone with an accent that is unmistakably Indian. My usual response is “whatever it is you want to say or sell — I am not interested” — then I hang up.
About a year ago, I was lured into listening to a sweet female voice who merely identified herself as “Sam.” She said she was calling on behalf of Star Privilege Pacific Card which I already knew was being promoted by the Sheraton Group of hotels.
I thought it was a local call from Sydney. Little did I suspect that she was actually calling from a call centre in Davao Philippines. That made all the difference and I listened until I was persuaded to buy a membership card. To this day, I have remained a member and enjoyed the privileges of a 50 per cent discount while dining on my favourite meal — seafood buffet at Sheraton on the Park.
“It’s no secret that Indian call centres have an accent problem. That problem is now proving to be incredibly costly. Accents, according to a top trade association, are largely to blame for India losing 70 percent of its call centre industry to the Philippines.” (Global Post)
“Employees in Philippine call centres speak English fluently with a neutral accent, which is what customers look for and that is something missing in Indian accents,” said DS Rawat, the head of India’s Associated Chambers of Commerce.
The Philippines, a former American colony, has a much larger base of English-fluent workers who can easily pull off a California accent. For a mere $500-per-month salary, they have what it takes to sooth grumpy callers irate over cell phone roaming fees.
The industry is expected to employ 1.3 million Filipinos, up from 900,000 last year. This expansion is coming at India’s expense. Even CEOs of Indian outsourcing giants have thrown up their hands and opened centres in the Philippines.