The consensus from NSAM's readers: Wait for the Castros to move on before taking Cuba seriously.
By Jon Tonti
A mere 230 miles from Miami, Havana’s ultra-attractive geographic positioning continues to push Cuba on to the radar of ‘what ifs’ when looking at explosive possibilities in the Nearshore services sector.
But before floating into dream land – let’s review the facts: Cuba’s BPO market today is nearly non-existent and the Cuban government is not focused on jump-starting it. Despite an intelligent workforce that is increasingly exposed to private-run business, Cuba still has a long way to go to become viable for global services. We drew upon our pool of experts and did some poking around of our own to find that Cuba lacks a BPO scene because of the Cuban government’s preference for other industries, a weak technological infrastructure, a dearth of transparency, and political and workforce uncertainty.
Beverly Burke, Director, Information and Promotion at BELTRAIDE, talks about how Belize is making a name for itself in the Nearshore.
By Michael Blankman
In my recent article, we concluded that the most important aspect of managing remotely is building a strong and trusting relationship. Creating a partnership that doesn’t rely solely on the contract for the outsourcer to get performance security. The partnership is critical because once operations are outsourced, real influence over daily management will and should be limited, or why outsource at all? The partnership needs to be based on respecting each other’s expertise, ensuring roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and that the underlying business model justifying the decision to outsource is protected.
Managing Outsourcers: When SLAs Don’t Do the Job
May 1st, 2012By Robert L. Scheier
Service level agreements (SLAs) are the heart and soul of many outsourcing contracts. They define what the provider must deliver and their penalties for failure, in anything from application uptime to the time required to solve a customer’s problem on a help line.
But at least as currently defined, SLAs often fall short of detecting (and, more importantly, correcting) problems quickly. That was the message at the recent SIG Spring Summit from Senior Corporate Counsel Richard English of Ingram Micro and Shaalu Mehra of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, who helps the electronic distributor negotiate outsourcing deals.
By Rosanne D’Ausilio PhD
Average turnover, reported at 40% to 50%, has always been, and continues to be, a chronically costly problem for call centers, a problem that seems to be tolerated rather than solved. Respondents to a FurstPerson survey reported an average monthly attrition rate of 7.18%. Annualized, a 40% annual turnover estimate becomes an actual turnover rate of 87%. As you read further, you’ll see what that costs!
Laurus International Opens State-of-the-Art Contact Center in DR
April 3rd, 2012“Laurus International is the first call center opened by the President of the Dominican Republic and it is an honor to welcome Dr. Leonel Fernandez, to our building today” commented Rudy Ganna, President and CEO of Laurus International, when the company inaugurated its state‐of‐the‐art call center facility in downtown Santo Domingo at the end of March. “We are eager to show our facilities, which features technology, security, productivity tools and employee amenities never before implemented in the call center industry. We also want to highlight our longstanding and deep commitment to expanding trade in the DR and creating careers for Dominicans that provide the highest level of comfort and care to our employees,” concluded Ganna.
The opening of its latest facility is part of a three year expansion plan in the DR to serve its rapidly growing demand for nearshore contact center and BPO services. Laurus International was founded in 2007 …
A Renewed Jamaica Proclaims “We’re Open for Business”
March 6th, 2012The Jamaica Investment Forum – held last week in Montego Bay – was easily one of the most polished and well-executed investor’s conferences we’ve seen in a while in the Nearshore industry. Built to highlight a range of investment opportunities, including energy, tourism, manufacturing and BPO – Jamaica put its best foot forward by highlighting the positive. “We have to work with the hand we’ve been dealt,” said Prime Minster Portia Simpson-Miller, emphasizing her desire to boost the country’s competitiveness. Over 600 investors participated in the three-day program. Click “more” to see our slideshow.
BPO Brief: Expect Aggressive Growth in the Dominican Republic
February 29th, 2012By Luke Bujarski
Martinez: More than just a job.
The contact center industry in the Dominican Republic is poised to double in size from 10,000 to 20,000 bilingual agents by 2017. This is the message passed on by Eddy Martinez, president of the export and foreign investment agency CEI-RD, as well as key industry insiders during detailed discussions with Nearshore Americas. However, concerns about the availability of high-tech talent suggests that the DR still has some way to go before moving into higher-end software and application development services.
Call-Center Heresy: Treat the Customer as Priority #2
February 8th, 2012
By Dan Berthiaume
Everyone seems to have at least one story about a nightmare experience dealing with telephone customer service. The fact that many call center providers are located in countries where language and customs are significantly different from US norms only exacerbates the problem. Some experts recommend that companies outsourcing call center functions attack the problem of poor customer service by focusing more attention on serving the needs of customers. But is that always the best strategy?
Want Better Customer Service? Take the Pulse of Your Company
February 1st, 2012
By Rosanne D’Ausilio PhD
There is what we call a moment of truth when a customer makes a decision about you, your company, maybe even all companies in your industry, based on their interaction with anyone from the front lines up to and including your CEO. In those first three sentences, a customer determines whether their interaction will be a good experience, a bad experience, or a waste of their time.
When talking about customer service, customer satisfaction, and customer retention, you often hear that the best way to determine how you’re doing is to ask your customer. And that’s absolutely true. However, if you really want to know how your company is doing, ask your internal customer.
