Title : Bernardo Tobias , Telemarketing Institute commercial director
Source : www.empregos.com.br
Date: 12/15/04

Profissionalization and urgent capacitating. This is Bernardo Tobias prescription, Telemarketing Institute associated director, to make the brazilian telemarketing business setor to grow, this setor employees over than 500 thousands professionals and in 2005, according to Associação Brasileira de Telemarketing (ABT) the Brazilian Telemarketing Association, shall open 60 new work ranks.

The main recipe for the prescription success, according to Bernardo, is the fresh born certification to Call Center managers that promess to standardize the basic quality requisites of the brazilian Call Center industry. The certification has became reality thanks to an international partnership with CIAC (Call Center Industry Advisory Council)

The director of the Institute, a company acting on the market for more than 11 years furnishing services in edu cation, research, consultancy, telemarketing, costumer service, technology, CRM and several disciplines of Direct Maketing, considers this initiative a “daring” of his company, once his invests came out from his own pocket. “Fortunately we have received support from the companies in the area, conscious that professionalizing the area, we will be looked and will create more jobs vacancies”, says Bernardo.

Graduated in commerce by McGill University , Canadá and specialized in Telecommunications by Faculdade de Tecnologia de São Paulo ( São Paulo Technology University ). Bernardo spoke to Empregos.com.br about the perspectives related to the certification and the Call Center work market.

Empregos.com.br- Which subjects are approached during the certification? Is it the first one in Brazil ?

Berardo Tobias - The course is focused on managers- team leaders. There are 4 kinds of courses, according to the students profile: to leaders (directors, VP); to managers and coordinators with managing profile; to apprentices (managers from other areas that need to learn how to work in a Call Center ) and for advisers (people who give training). So, it’s a certification that includes all managers profile. Is the first one in the world. Each kind of certification include four abilities: People Management, Operations Managements, CRM (Costumer Relationship Management) and Leadership and Business. Each skill opens itself in about 10 competencies and with that fulfills every manager need.

Empregos.com.br- How is the Call Center quality level actually in Brazil ? What is the need?

Bernardo Tobias - The quality isn’t good. Brazil is considered one of the biggests costumer services furnisher but people have a bad graduation, the knowledge structure is bad. That happens because managers are badly prepared, and don’t provide the adequate training and reast to the operators. This unwell preparing is because companies careful to structure business isn’t good. The directors of the Call Center companies, they often don’t understand the telemarketing functioning. So it’s necessary to capacitate the managers to the business. Following the technology growing, the types of boarding and the costumer profile has changed, but the agents aren’t ready for that. When costumer service becomes the differential in Brazil , the “price” criteria won’t be the main one. And that will happen when managers are prepared to capacitate their teams and deal with the modern systems of monitoring and analysis.

Empregos.com.br- Why Telemarketing is a branch that attracts teenagers, a lot of times at the first job? Is that a good or a bad thing for the quality work?

Bernardo Tobias - Because there are no big requirements for skills and knowledge, but that has got to change. The manager has to be qualified to prepare their teams and need to act with professionalism with factors like coasts, fidelization and relationship with the client, marketing campaigns and different markets. With this, everyone wins employees and companies. Our certification approaches these themes.

Empregos.com.br- What’s the actual profile and the ideal of the telemarketing professional? Is possible to go further in a carrer? How come professionals generally don’t see possibility to do carrer plan in the area?

Bernardo Tobias - Nowadays professionals in the area are bad prepared. Beyond the graduation and specialization, the ideal is to have practical knowledge. The schools aren’t prepared to graduate people, just to give diploma. Five years in a college they don’t teach much. At the developed countries the students leave more prepared to the market. That’s why the idea is to regulamentate the setor and helps to develop the professional’s skills, shows him that he got specialized in the profession and orientate about the area that must be followed. That helps to stablish carrer plans. The companies still don’t offer plans like this but the certified managers certainly will start to take care of this.

Empregos.com.br- You affirm that the Call Center market is the one that grows up faster nowadays in Brazil and worldwide. Here, the setor employes about 500 thousand people, raising 6.3% of the country GAP and growing 20% per year. With the certification, the expectation is to double this number until 2006. How this growing process will be achieved?

Bernardo Tobias - If we consider international market, there’s no limit. In Brazil , tendency is that jobs vacancies get expand beyond metropolis, thanks to technology, that allows furnishing the service from anywhere, in low coast. It’s a government obligation also to develop subsidies to the non developed regions growth.

Empregos.com.br- The executives of the ten main Call Center companies of the country and ABT president, Topázio Silveira Neto, assumed with the job and work minister, Ricardo Berzoini, the promisse of catching 18 thousands vacancies to young guys of the First Job Program next year. What do you Sir think of this agreement? Will it be going to give right?

Bernardo Tobias - The initiative is great, with it the person has the opportunity to have experience while studing. The young guy need chances to get professionalized. The problem is that initiatives are too much focused. The agreement reaches São Paulo , Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. But Brazil don’t get resumed in these states. With that, other regions inhabitants will come and fulfill the metropolis. The investor who came from outside only invest where there are more prepared professionals, what makes the outside investment get also more focused. That will end up the countries economy. We need investments in other regions, with that people will have security to don’t leave there. In USA , for example, the development is more distributed, that’s why the country gets pioneer in the world.