Outsourcing firm leads way in managing, extending experience

MANILA, Philippines - If you ask Aparup Sengupta, managing director and Global CEO of Aegis Limited, about the voice and non-voice market potentials of the Philippines, he would begin to answer by saying that “there’s no such thing as voice and non-voice.” “Consumers have expectations and there are needs to be fulfilled. Consumers do not lift their phones thinking about voice or non-voice; they have a problem and are in search of a solution. Aegis is here to provide that solution, to manage experience, and extend an array of options,” he explained

Aegis, a leading outsourcing services provider and part of the Essar Group, was able to emerge as one of the fastest growing outsourcing companies in the world. In fact, it aims to become a $1 billion company, crossing the 60,000-mark in headcount by March 2012.

Amid the economic uncertainties facing various economies in the world, Sengupta said that the outsourcing industry remains robust while the supply side is well-positioned to further expand. However, he stressed the need “to find what we can do to address challenges amid difficult times.”

“‘In Aegis’ case, we have evolved from being a provider of cost-effective services to a balance sheet partner focusing on end-user experience and business transformation. This change has found widespread acceptance among customers and we look forward to a very exciting future,” said Sengupta during the recent 2011 International Outsourcing Summit held in Manila.

Bright prospects

The Philippines, as a site for BPO companies such as Aegis, continues to be a viable location. “The potentials are huge and the talent pool is vast,” said Sengupta.

However, Rajiv Ahuja, president for ASEAN and ANZ at Aegis Limited, said that there is a need “to move up the value chain” considering that some countries are now strategizing on how to compete with the Philippines in the voice segment of the outsourcing industry.

“We know for a fact that the Philippines has a skilled and credible workforce; the language skills of Filipinos are the best in the world but there are still a lot of untapped potentials. Things are looking good now for the Philippines, but other countries are keeping up. In order to stay ahead, we should know how to synergize our partnerships with companies and shift from just being a support to being a balance-sheet partner,” said Ahuja. “We should understand our clients’ cost reduction initiatives as well.”

Currently with centers across Metro Manila, Cebu, and Baguio, Aegis recently expanded in Cebu by inaugurating the 3,000-seat Aegis Tower Cebu which highlighted the global company’s commitment to the Philippine outsourcing industry and the Filipino talent.

Social media

In an era where social media is rising as a veritable venue to exchange information, BPO companies have to ‘listen’ to the online voice in order to ‘manage experience’ at an optimum level. This is according to Anil Modi, president and global head – Marketing and Strategy of Aegis Limited.

“Social media is changing the way we do marketing and customer support. Aegis is taking a huge step by providing its clients a solution to their social media engagement,” said Modi.

According to Modi, consumers are largely exposed to a brand through four important touch points: product and service usage, consumer direct engagement, contact center engagement, and now, digital social media engagement.

“With all the social media tools available and blogs/forums where consumers can voice their satisfaction or disappointment on a certain product or service online, a comment reaches a wider number of people. Thus, there is an imperative need to manage consumer experience at this level,” said Modi. “If a consumer is impressed with the brand, he or she will continue to use that service or buy that product. He or she can recommend it to friends. With social media, that person can post a comment online whether it is a blog entry, a reply to an online inquiry, a Facebook status update, a Tweet, etc. Whereas before when a person only has a small circle of influence, it is now magnified ten or hundred-fold times with social media.”

Aware of this reality, Aegis puts forward a groundbreaking solution to Social Media Engagement. The solution entails listening, analyzing, engaging, and managing reputation.

“First of all, we have to listen by managing the social conversations across the web. We have to be aware how online users perceive a certain brand or product. With all the information that we have gathered, we now have to analyze the data and pick the relevant ones by establishing measurement such as volume, sentiment, quality, and business impact,” said Modi. “After that, we now have to engage. There should be interaction with the consumer consistently and directly from an agent with the right skill set. Will he offer a promo? Or will he offer a discount? The right agent should know what to offer the consumer.”

After listening, analyzing, and engaging, Aegis will now provide the support in terms of social media engagement practices and improvements. Policies can be laid out, procedures can be worked on, and workflow can be smoothened.

“With the rising online media usage all over the world, especially in the Philippines, there is a need for a Social Customer Relation Management (CRM). Aegis is offering a solution that will help identify consumer details and his moving pattern on various digital channels and will have the capability to marry the client CRM.”