Is there any one out there who is interested in setting up an outbound call centre selling domestic/commercial products/services to UK?

Hi
Most of the companies in UK have call centres based in India. I have my call centre in UK and one in Pakistan. The only problem I see in setting up the call centre in Nigeria is the quality of broadband service provides. Even in countries like Pakista, we have 5 MB broadband and pay around £30 (7000-7500 naira) per month. The cost of employees in Nigeria will be lot less compare to the one in UK. Currently I pay around £200 per week + commission to the junior sales advisors.
By the way I am from Pakistan and have business in UK and married to a lovely lady from Ogun state in 1997 and have 3 children .

Zulfi

I agree with your opinion. I visited Nigeria twice last year and I am going there again next month. You are right, electricity supply is a problem in Nigeria, but due to the cheap fuel prices in Nigeria, there is not much difference in cost. Like in UK, I pay nearly £300 per month electricity bill. At my home in Sango Otta, we run a small 3.5 kv generator and it costs around £3-4 per day. Obviously a bigger generator for the call centre will come with a bigger price but still the business can absorb this cost.
On the other hand, I have already contracts from major UK suppliers like British Gas Business, EON, Scottish Power, TalkTalk broadband to whom I provide my services from UK and from Pakistan. I don't have any restriction in my contract to where my sales agent should be.
The other issue regarding fraud/scam in your reply can be dealt by designing efficient business process. For example, when one of our sales advisors in Pakistan sells a product, he/she is not allowed to take any bank details from the customer. We have a system in place, where every single call (out going or in coming) is recorded automatically. So there is a little room for any of this kind of activities.

Its possible in Nigeria, If you clearly can train the staff then the rest is easy , but ill advice u to consider more women because they are less fraudulent than men

@zabutt, i am interested in this as i run a internet cafe somewhere in the middlebelt of Nigeria.
please send details to netaccesswireless@gmail.com

So, what are you looking for? A partner or some one to buy your service? What is the detail of your proposal?

Hi
I am not looking for any partner or a buyer. I am looking for people if they already have a call centre or if people are willing to setup a call centre, I can provide them work (no cost from our side). They will sell products to UK customers (all products are free services to the customers) through their call centres. Basically I can provide you the businesses who will outsource their products/services to local call centres in Nigeria.

Zulfi

really interesting, will like to know more about this business

@Zabutt can you please provide me with an email address i can reach you with?There is a project here that may just fit right into your requirements.i am the CTO for that project.The project has taken care of power,access to high speed broadband and low cost too. mine is wande.adalemo@3artsnetwork.com.
Thanks

Hello Zabut

I do not doubt your story but the figures kind of dont add up. I have very good knowledge of call center operations and have even worked for one of the companies you listed. You say electricity costs you £300 a month, How many seats do you have in you UK call center? You say your broadband in Pakistan costs £30/month. I am assuming you use VOIP and I doubt that a £30 connection will be enough to run a call center but then again this could be a 2 person call center you are talking about.

cheers.

Hi
We have contracts with 4-5 big blue companies in UK and we sell their products. Let me give you an example of an electricity product: There are 7-8 electricity companies in UK. A customer (business or domestic) can buy electricity/gas from any of the supplier. We call customers to switch their electricity/gas from one supplier to the other for cheaper rates and get paid by the supplier. The whole switching process is free for the customer. The electricity supply is done by a company called National Grid on behalf of suppliers, so there is no physical change (like change of meter or cable etc). The only thing that changes is the Bill. Instead of company A, the customer will receive the bill from company B.

Zulfi

pappilo

you are welcome to come and visit my call centre in Stratford, Londond. It is a modest 25 people call centre and my call centre in Pakistan is a 10 seater call centre. The figure £30 a month is for broadband, I didn't say that is the call cost. We use VOIP to make calls. I am not asking people to pay me for anything. All I am trying to do is to explore opportunities. Which company did you work for in UK?

Zulfi

I work with a telecommunications company presently in the outbound callcenter, and so i could give information as to the kind of challenges you may face with setting such a business up in Nigeria. On one side it could be very lucrative, but on the other side, losses may have to be endured from time to time. I will expantiate on this if need be.

my email address is zabutt@gmail.com

naijacutee:

Hi Zabutt, I don't mean to discourage you but I don't think you can compare Nigeria and Pakistan in terms of viability for small-scale business - especially for a business that is reliant on infrastructure and international trust, as these are areas which we fall short. While the cost of labour in Nigeria is quite low, I think you should be aware that you would need to generate your own power here. Also, I might be wrong but fast broadband access is still somewhat of a challenge in Nigria. I don't know what technology the banks use, but even they cannot run a reliable communication system as it is always one "server problem" or the other. The problem (I think) all boils down to lack of infrastructure at the end of the day, meaning that if you are looking for good quality conditions with regards to electricity, internet etc, be prepared to generate them yourself.

[b][size=16pt]I'll save my opinions about Nigeria and the international perceptions and fraud. I think you can get a lot of information concerning that from Google[/size][/b]16.

On the positive side, once you get the fomula right, Nigeria is a great place to run a business. Apart from the low overheads, there is an abundance of human resources - skill and talent will not be an issue, provided of course that you are looking in the right places.   

In all, I think you would need to do your own research. Yes, you can cut your labour down to 30% of what you pay in the UK but how much would it cost you to compensate in other areas?

Zabutt,

Pls read the hightlighted in naijacutee's post, should in case you missed it

Be very careful Zabutt. You seem decent.

hi chelsam
I will be happy to get your feedback as it will be crucial to everyone who is thinking of setting up a call centre in Nigeria.

Dial-a-Phone/ Tiscali (talkTalk)

@Zabutt

You will be getting it as soon as i can find time to relay the information i have. But on a more serious note, running an outbound callcenter in Nigeria would entail that you run your business on generators.  Reliance on the national grid would cripple the business.

Pappilo

that sounds good. We sold TalkTalk business for 1 year and we were their premier channel partner. Do you any idea how much commission we get when we switch an electricity/gas customer in UK. Sales commission ranges between £200-15500 per meter per customer based upon their estimated annual electricity/gas consumption. And remember, electricity/gas is a necessity and every business have to have it.

Zulfi

chelsam

My wife is from Ogun state and I have my house in Sango, Otta and I have been to Nigeria before. I know the electricity crisis in the country but I am prepared to kick start in Nigeria. My wife is back in Nigiera and she is also researching on this. Her brother was one of the supervisor in my call centre in Uk and he is back in Ogun as well. So I have two trusted and experienced people in Nigeria. Also I will bring one of my senior training manager to come and stay in Nigeria for around 2-3 months. I belive I can do it in Nigeria.

Zulfi

Zabutt

Good. I can see you're mentally prepared which is the first step to success. I will send some info to you via your email address. All the best.

I will wait for that, thanks

hi @-zabutt, im a computer programmer, i work with CAD Consult, i love ur idea and would be intrested in the call centers, im working in porthacourt now but live in oju-ore otta, so let me know when ure ready. my e-mail is vfluxx@gmail.com thanks.

thanks Caporegime, I will be in touch with you next month, when I am in Nigeria. You can contact me next month on 07065167219. That is my brother in law, Joshua

It is paradoxical that India has more leverage than Nigeria in getting call center business from English-speaking Western countries such as the U.S. and U.K. despite the fact that many of the operators who work in these Indian call centers barely speak fluent English, while there are more English proficient people in Nigeria than in India. The lack of stable electricity and reliable broadband can be major factors that are attributable to this disadvantage.

Anyway, setting up a call center in Nigeria is not impossible, but there are too many barriers to overcome to set up an efficient and profitable call center in Nigeria (considering that your operational costs in Nigeria, i.e., money for diesel, bribing govt. officials, generator, broadband, etc, will be significantly higher than that of your competitors, many of which are in India).

prince

you took the words from my mouth. When I visited Nigeria, I could find thousand people who can speak english in a neutral accent compared to any agent in India. This is one of the reason going to Nigeria, although I didn't want to mention it earlier, but you are 100% right

Zabutt,

You should definitely go for it. There is always a first time for everything, and[b] don't let our reputation for fraud deter you[/b]. There are many willing decision makers of business who are looking for an opportunity to break into the Nigerian market or do business with Nigerians, as long as they know and trust the Nigerian with whom they will be interacting and doing business. As such,  many  foreign business men and women are not silly and do know that people who usually fall victim to Nigerian fraudsters are people who send money to Nigerians they met online or some bull, or to someone who promised them a one million fold return on their investment. As long as you are talking business on reasonable and realistic terms, you should have no problem overcoming any possible presumption of being fraudulent and gaining their trust and establishing an amicable business relationship.

There are thousands, if not millions, of foreign companies who do business with Nigerians in Nigeria. As long as they know you, it won't be a problem. Some people in Yankee and UK will work minimum wage jobs and say we have a bad reputation and blah blah blah while smart Nigerians are in Nigeria transacting with foreign businesses and making serious money.

Just got the price information for a dedicated broadband from starcomms.

setup fees: $7000

Monthly fees : $5000 per month for a 4MBps connection

How can businesses in Nigeria pay such high prices? unbelieveable