What I learned by t̵a̵l̵k̵i̵n̵g̵ listening to users. Interviewing tele-caller gig workers on Futwork.
Over the last 2 months, we rapidly built and shipped ‘Tring’ — our distributed tele-caller service connecting companies to part time, work from home gig workers for tele-calling.
Talking to users has been an on-going thing for me at Futwork.
Nothing fancy — the usual support emails, feedback forms and app reviews.
Today I took it a step further and did some 1 on 1 phone calls with a few of these workers and oh boy, my mind was blown! I assumed our tele-callers will be young students without clear career goals — wrong!
- Caller A
Graduate in Homeopathy studies, currently pursuing a postgraduate degree while working at a clinic.
Works as a part time caller between shifts for additional income. - Caller B
From a small town in West Bengal — Graduate in hospitality with 3 months of trainee work at a top 5 star hotel. Job offer on hold indefinitely due to Covid 19. Says she was in disbelief the first time she actually earned money via Futwork for telecalling. - Caller C
From a town close to Kochi, worked as an assurance analyst at one of the big 4s but is currently unemployed and preparing for CPA.
You win some, you lose some — she dropped off due to the work not adding value in her career path.
I assumed our tele-callers will be young students without clear career goals — Wrong!
A quick google search tells me that less than 10% of India’s population has a graduate degree. Even within this segment — finding a job is more challenging than ever before.
I asked them about their motivation to work with us, fully expecting the answer to be money. I wasn’t wrong, but to my immense surprise I learned that it was more than that:
- A shared with me how she feels she has patience and anger management issues — traits that will not help her succeed at her clinic job in the future. Via tele-calling, she’s been able to actively work on this and be more more mindful about her reactions. (Her words — not mine!)
- B shared with me that each tele-calling assignment has given her insights into how companies operate and that she has gone from a position of having 0 real world exposure to learning processes and the inner workings of different organisations. She also reiterated that she really didn’t expect to actually get paid via the app!
Then, I asked them how much they’d like to make per month to view this as a sustainable part time job that they’d consider even if working full time. I got answers ranging from INR 3000 to 15000.
Currently, callers are earning around INR 100 per hour — their monthly earnings are growing as we add more business partners. Our best callers are on track to earn above INR 5000 per month — while working 3–4 hours a day for 3–5 days a week on flexible schedules.
I asked them about how their parents feel about their work, and this part was finally predictable. In true desi style, the callers parents are cooperative and supportive but also condescending and guarded.
- “Anyway you are doing nothing sitting at home so might as well do something good”
- “It is good you are working but sometimes you over do it and ignore your studies”
- “It is good for now but what about the future?” (“Maybe they don’t think the job is respectable I don’t understand why” — laments A)
On a personal note, this exercise was immensely fulfilling. Human beings are predictably cute. We all want a pat on our back and a dose of validation for the work we do. As a founder, you’re usually doling this out to people and not always on the receiving end of it. I now know my personal hack for this — just pick up the phone and talk to users!
