Erwin Steneker

Let me ask a couple of questions: If (potential) customers sends an e-mail to your company, do they want to receive an answer? If you, in return, e-mail your customer, do you expect that your e-mail is delivered to the customer?

Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer perspective. I have talked to some folks at businesses that were less than succesful, and when asked if they actively seek out customer comments, the answer invariably is no.

The buzz is all about customer service and call center outsourcing, also known as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). According to Gartner, the outsourcing market in Europe has grown with over 6%, BPO with 10%.