PeopleSupport reaps from pioneering role in RP

PeopleSupport (Philippines) Inc. was among a handful of outsourcing companies to open in the country in 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble burst.

Its parent company, Los Angeles-based PeopleSupport Inc., began operations in 1998 providing outsourced customer service and sales support for e-commerce sites.

With its clients closing one after the other in 2000, founder Lance Rosenzweig took decisive action to keep the company viable and moved the bulk of PeopleSupport’s operations to the Philippines, today widely regarded as the premier location for voice-intensive outsourcing services.

The decision paid off with first year (2000) revenues in the Philippines 5.8 times the 1999 revenues when it operated only in the US.

Clients found that choosing PeopleSupport saved them between 20 percent and 50 percent on the costs of very large parts of their operations.

"For a large company, customer management savings could be $100 million a year. Very significant cost savings," said Rainerio "Bong" Borja, president of PeopleSupport Philippines.

The Philippine workforce has grown from zero to more than 3,500 employees in five years, becoming one of the leading innovators in the offshore outsourcing industry. "We began our first year in the Philippines with a few dozen seats. At the end of 2004, we had 2,300 productive seats versus 1,500 at the end of 2003. And as of June 30, 2005, we had 3,100 productive seats," said Borja who is concurrent Vice President for Global Operations of PeopleSupport Inc.

Revenues have grown from $11 million in 2000 to $44.5 million in 2004. With operations strictly in the US and the Philippines, PeopleSupport completed its initial public offering last year, becoming the first pure-play offshore customer management outsourcing company to go public. It is listed under the symbol PSPT on NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers and Quotations).

PeopleSupport Philippines director for Strategic Planning Liza Caudal added that current services now cover accounts receivable management, customer management solutions for both sales and technical support, and back office management.

"All our current clients are US-based companies in the travel and hospitality, technology, telecommunications, retail, consumer products and financial services," said Caudal.

As a service provider, Borja said the company aims to improve the performance for clients in addition to providing cost savings.

"Often you see a trade off. If you save money, you sacrifice quality. However in this case, by saving money in outsourcing to PeopleSupport in the Philippines, our clients are enjoying the benefits of a labor pool which is 100 percent college educated, people who are career-oriented, who are passionate about their jobs, who are focused on delivering great-quality performance to our customers. All of which results in better performance in addition to significant cost savings," Borja explained.

Finally, the company has also proven as a strong suit its ability to generate and increase revenues for its clients.

"We found that we might be doing a technical support question, we might be doing a customer service inquiry, but we can generate significant revenues. Once we make that customer happy, it’s a great time to cross-sell and upsell other products and services of our clients," Borja said.

Caudal said this high quality, value-adding service has led clients to rank PeopleSupport as their number one or number two outsourcing partner.

With its NASDAQ listing providing significant stock option incentives, the company intends to capture the best and the brightest among the populace to power further growth in a mightily competitive but still expanding industry.

"Attrition in the Philippines is significantly lower than in India. In 2004, PeopleSupport enjoyed attrition of just 13 percent for employees who have been with the company for six months or longer. In India, China, and Thailand, outsourcing companies have experienced attrition rates much higher than in the Philippines. India’s attrition rates for instance ranges between 36-50 percent a year," said Borja.

PeopleSupport (Philippines), Inc.

www.peoplesupport.com

Asia Pacific Headquarters

PeopleSupport Center,

Ayala corner Sen Gil Puyat Avenue,

Makati City

Tel. 755-2600.

Cebu

PeopleSupport Center-Cebu

e-Office 1, AsiaTown IT Park,

Apas, Cebu City

Tel. (032) 234-8222.

Makati 2

29th to 33rd floors, Robinsons Summit Tower 6780 Ayala Avenue, Makati City