Number crunching

We look to certain numerical indicators as some sort of saving grace. It's as if the success of our nation depends on whether the exchange rate is above or below R6 to the dollar. A fairly new statistic that's beginning to be quoted a great deal is the goal of the contact centre industry generating 100 000 jobs within five years. I get the impression that many industry stakeholders are currently thinking that if we can just reach this number within the stated time period, we'll be alright.

So where did this number come from and can we achieve it? Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool referred to it in an interview with the BBC in November 2004. In mid-2003 Business Day said the Department of Trade & Industry hoped to create 100 000 contact centre jobs by 2005. In all likelihood, the 100 000 statistic was always somewhat of a thumb suck attractive only because it's a substantial round number.

Whether we achieved, or are on track to achieve the 100 000 jobs target depends on when you believe the prediction was first made. But that's not really important. What is important is for stakeholders including government and the South African Contact Centre Community (Sacccom) to up the ante considerably and commit themselves to a target approaching 50 000 new jobs every year for the next five years. Now that would be progress.

More than five million global contact centre jobs are expected to move offshore over the next five years. Unfortunately, most industry analysts agree that the vast majority of those jobs will go to India, the Philippines, Malaysia and the Caribbean.

Now that operators can legally use voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and are no longer forced to route their calls over Telkom's network, the cost of South African contact centre seats is less of a factor when rating South Africa alongside its competitors. In fact, recently released research clearly indicates that international outsourcers are focusing more of their location selection criteria on management and staffing issues.

So what's the reason then for South Africa continuing to receive contact centre crumbs? The reason is the same reason why foreign direct investment in our South African success story has been so poor and it requires the attention of the International Marketing Council of SA. We have an image problem. Before the 1994 transition to democracy the excuse for not investing in South Africa was apartheid. Now the excuse is crime and corruption.

Upon analysis both are flimsy excuses. Every leading businessperson who has ever visited South Africa agrees that the perception of South Africa is far worse than the reality. How could anyone sipping cocktails on the Camps Bay beachfront, shopping in Sandton City or dining at Wandie's in Soweto even contemplate that they are more at risk than contact centre agents working in a country battling Marxist guerrillas or one engaged in a nuclear arms race with its neighbour?

The truth is that South African contact centre agents deliver better than world class service with a sunny disposition. Not only are South Africans hardworking, we're better educated than the competition, we identify strongly with British and American culture, and the enormous number of South African anchors on CNN over the years proves that our accents - all of them - are easy to understand and appealing to foreign ears.

Some global businesses are waking up to the idea of South Africa as a premier contact centre destination. Last year, the Western Cape alone won 11 international call centre outsourcing deals, creating 2 000 jobs. Still a mere drop in the ocean.
If ever there was a time and a window of opportunity for South Africa and the South African contact centre to get its act together and to get out there and win our fair share of the vast potential for inward investment, foreign exchange earnings and large-scale job creation, it is now.

Vision, strategies and leadership alone can do little to address the very real issues that still stand as barriers between our industry growth aspirations and the realities of the international marketplace where South Africa will compete in a viciously contested competitive environment. Out there in the real world our sunshine, game lodges and trips to wine farms will have little influence on winning the major contracts.

It is time for the many organisations, businesses and individuals that have already derived huge benefit from the contact centre industry during the past decade to put aside petty politics and futile criticisms, to get involved, to join the ranks and invest time, creative energy and experience into building the industry from within. Commit to the regional associations and support SACCCOM. Play an active role in the future of this industry and our incredible country.