Home-based call centres a winner for SalesForce@Home

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 13 August 2009 13:25

IT Industry - Market

Salmat's SalesForce@Home distributed call centre has proved a winner for the company.

Using people working from home to staff virtual call centres is working well for Salmat and its clients, according to Jacob Murray-White, director of SalesForce@Home.

The company operates 15 such centres in Australia and New Zealand, with around 300 contractors handling most types of inbound and outbound calls for clients in sectors such as finance, retail, government, utilities, and hospitality.

Murray-White puts some of the success down to the different demographics of at-home and on-premises staff.

Physical call centre staff tend to be young, and view their work as a stepping stone to something else, whether that is a career or money for travel. But SalesForce@Home's contractors tend to be demographically closer to the people they are dealing with.

The typical SalesForce@Home contractor is a tertiary-qualified female aged 38, with extensive work experience. 28% of contractors live in inner suburbs, 32% in outer suburbs, and 40% in regional areas.

This older workforce makes them more like the people on the other end of the call, and consequently there is a more empathic relationship.

Contractors can 'bid' for the hours they want to work in 30 minute slots. So if someone can only work in short bursts for health reasons, that can be accommodated.

There's more about the human and technical aspects of the SalesForce@Home operation on page 2.