Open AccessThe Speech Act of Apology by Filipino Call Center Agents
Author(s) -
Mary Joy V Sienes,
Jasper Eric C Catan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of tesol and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2768-4563
DOI - 10.54855/ijte.22218
Subject(s) - center (category theory) , variety (cybernetics) , complaint , outsourcing , business , call centre , liability , public relations , call management , marketing , call control , computer science , law , political science , telecommunications , finance , chemistry , artificial intelligence , crystallography
The Philippines is a global leader in business process outsourcing (BPO). Many foreign investors view the Philippines as a viable location for their call center operations due to the Filipinos' strength in English proficiency. This study focuses on inbound call center accounts that deal with a variety of call situations, ranging from information requests to difficult calls that require more time to handle, such as complaint calls. Since the goal of any business is customer satisfaction, this research aims to investigate how Filipino call center agents mitigate and reduce the liability and guilt towards customers. Results show that the 90 call center representatives have successfully produced 'perfect apologies' by providing all five strategies posited by Cohen et al. (1986) in most of their complaint calls. However, the sequence is distorted by emphasizing more on offering a repair. This leads to a recommendation that calls center training on apology be emphasized on building personal connections rather than a mechanical response to situations.