Hello, My Name is Sharon…

Posted on October 27th, 2004 by Poonam

This link was irresistable. I got it from a colleague, and it was too funny. Check it out.

Its from the Conan O’Brien show and its about IT Support & India.

Watch the full clip, its about 8 mins. You can read my views below after you have seen the clip.

Big companies are moving their technical support department to India and now Americans are taking advantage of the service they are receiving. First, why they have done this? Because labor is cheap in India comparatively to USA (I know, I used to work as a 2nd level help-desk analyst during my internship days :wink:). Indians are smart as well and for American big businesses it works out great because of the time difference.

Did you look at lines and lines of cubicles in that Hyderabad office? Do you see how scrunched they are sitting? As you could believe, the turnover rate at these call centers are very high (they would be high anywhere but the conditions in the Indian offices are worse).

The quality of service they provide isn’t as good only for two reasons:

most of those working in tech support are not experienced but freshers out of college

the English isn’t as good so lack of communication between the average American vs. the Indian acting as if he/she is American.

I think that Conan was trying to make a point about seeing what’s it like to be on the other side of the tech support side, which was definitely cool, but if big businesses see this, they might want to restrategize on their tech support structure.

Key to Success from a former tech support analyst:

Just by calling yourself “Sharon” won’t fix your accent.

Big businesses need to provide benefits for these Indians in order for quality to go up. There should be more exposure to their offices and to make them feel as they are part of a corporation that cares for them. I don’t get that feeling, even within my own company who has tech support in India.

You have to understand the mentality of the average American who is calling, which I don’t seem to feel even when I call. Americans are in a hurry and they want their problem solved fast (bole toh abhi issi waqt). Americans will make chit-chat with you, but you have to be willing to do that. Most Indians that I have called have never made chit-chat with me (maybe its because they know I am Indian :roll:).

Make chit-chat with your Indian counterparts in the USA as well when they call (look @ point above :grin:). I used to be thrilled when I would get a call from an Indian when I used to be on the helpdesk.

Enjoy your job. You can’t convince the American that you enjoy it, until you show it.

Its just recently that the quality has gotten bad that people are now poking at India and its service (it started with the numerous complaints Dell got from customers due to bad service and communication of their Indian tech support group). So if Indians want to clear their bad name in tech support, they are going to need to shape up to move forward!

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

6 Responses to “Hello, My Name is Sharon…”

kickstart Says:
October 27th, 2004 at 12:24 pm
I have seen this. It’s hilarious. By the way what happened to the schedule waala post. I was gonna comment that I need a secretary like you.
Poonam Says:
October 27th, 2004 at 1:17 pm
Isn’t it funny Kickstart? Whoo. I laughed so hard.
Too good.

The schedule wala post will be up tomorrow. I don’t like posting twice in one day because then Neeraj ignores to read my other post. So I will post that tomorrow. He doesn’t have time to comment, but atleast he will read it.

You can write your comment tomorrow.
Mona Says:
October 27th, 2004 at 7:52 pm
ohhh my gosh hahahahaha I can’t stop laughing and laughing hahahaha that’s soooo funny hahahaha

Yeah I heard about the problem about call centers in India, many complains about it … but I guess something new always has problems, need some times to adjust and get more experiences how to handle clients :???:

It’s happening in here as well The helpdesk for Asia Pacific is moved to Manila. Everytime we asked them for helps, they took ages to solve it and sometimes they can’t solve it
Then when I went to Manila, then I know … all of them are so young, they just graduated from college, no wonder they can’t solve the problems, they are exactly almost like me, ourselves in the office hahaha
Ankur Raheja Says:
October 28th, 2004 at 12:53 am
Great Video
priya Says:
October 28th, 2004 at 2:10 pm
cant see the video frm work rite now…
but after reading all these comments will sure do as soon as i reach home…
Poonam Says:
October 28th, 2004 at 3:13 pm
I as well thought it was quite funny, Mona! Yes I have also heard that many call centers are moving to Manila as well. So it seems that is a general problem that big businesses are facing. It doesn’t really matter where you are putting the call center, the people there just should be trained really well. Right?

Yep Ankur. It was a great video. At first, my impression was that they were going to make fun of India itself, but instead they made fun of the process at call centers. Creative.

Definitely check it out Priya when you get home. Its just funny and provides a good message.