Showing posts with label bpo outsourcing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bpo outsourcing. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Aegis Ranked Amongst the Top 12 on IAOP's 2013 Global Outsourcing 100 List



 DALLAS and MUMBAI, India, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Aegis Limited, a leading outsourcing and technology services company and part of the USD 27 billion conglomerate Essar, today announced that it has been ranked 12th in the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) 2013 Global Outsourcing 100. Aegis has moved up the charts of the Global Outsourcing 100® rankings from 26th in 2009 to 12th in 2013. The Global Outsourcing 100 list serves as the essential industry reference of innovative outsourcing services companies in the world.
The Global Outsourcing 100, in its eighth year currently, is an annual ranking by IAOP of the world's best outsourcing service providers and serves as an essential reference for companies seeking new and expanded relationships with the best outsourcing services providers. The applications sent by service providers are judged by an independent panel of experienced outsourcing buyers on four critical characteristics - size and growth, customer references, organizational competencies and management capabilities.
Other than being cast as a Leader in the 2013 Global Outsourcing 100, Aegis is also cited in various sub-categories in the 2013 listings
  • Leaders in Number of Employees Globally
  • Best CSR in Outsourcing
  • Best 20 Leaders in Healthcare
  • Best 20 Leaders in Telecommunications
  • Best 20 Leaders in Customer Relationship Management Services
  • Best 20 Companies in Financial Management Services
  • Best 10 Companies in Australia/New Zealand
  • Best 20 Leaders in USA
  • Best 20 Companies in India
"Our strategy of placing customer experience management at the center of our business is clearly taking us places. At Aegis, the art of managing, enabling, extending and enhancing customer experiences across multiple channels is at the core of our solutions portfolio. We see customer experience as a powerful transformation lever for any organization, and we can architect a multidisciplinary solution that's best suited for our clients, right from strategy to execution," said Sandip Sen , Global CEO, Aegis Limited.
Aegis' consistently rising trajectory on this list is an outcome of strong client references before the IAOP panel as well as its winning customer experience strategy. The company continues to invest in innovation and look at moving up the value-chain with transformational business process services and vertical specific back office solutions to further enable clients meet their corporate goals.
"As applicants continually raise the bar and as the outsourcing industry continues to grow and mature in many markets, competition is tougher," said Jag Dalal, Managing Director of Thought Leadership, IAOP and chairman of the judges' panel. "Being named as a leader in The Global Outsourcing 100 is a great achievement, particularly given the strong competition, and we are proud to recognize Aegis for their excellence."
About Aegis
Aegis is a global outsourcing and technology company committed to impacting clients' business outcomes by focusing on enhancing customer experience across all touch points and channels. Aegis was founded 30 years ago in the US and now has operations in 56 locations across 13 countries with more than 55,000 employees. Aegis services over 300 clients from verticals such as Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Technology, Telecom, Healthcare, Travel & Hospitality, Consumer Goods, Retail, and Energy & Utilities. The company is wholly owned by Essar, a USD 27 billion conglomerate. For more information write to us at info@aegisglobal.com or visit http://www.aegisglobal.com
About Essar
Essar is a multinational conglomerate and a leading player in the sectors of Steel, Energy, Infrastructure and Services. With operations in more than 25 countries across five continents, the Group employs 75,000 people, with revenues of $27 billion.
About IAOP
The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®) is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession. With more than 120,000 members and affiliates worldwide, IAOP helps companies increase their outsourcing success rate, improve their outsourcing ROI, and expand the opportunities for outsourcing across their businesses. To learn more, visit http://www.IAOP.org
Media Contacts

Essar media contacts
Manish Kedia , Senior VP Corporate Affairs
Essar Group
Phone: +91-98197-30092
Email: manish.kedia@essar.com

Aegis Global
Danveer Bhasin, Associate Vice President, Marketing
Aegis Limited
Phone: +91-99301-35788
Email: Danveer.Bhasin@aegisglobal.com
Aegis Americas
Kevin Nolan , Senior Director, Marketing
Aegis Limited
Phone: +1-214-505-9732
Email: Kevin.Nolan@aegisglobal.com

IAOP Media Contact:
Kate Tulloch-Hammond , Manager, Media and Communications
Phone: +1-845-452-0600 extension 122
Email: kate.hammond@iaop.org
SOURCE Aegis Limited
aegisglobal.blogspot.com
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Tuesday, 28 May 2013

How your Company can Assess Customer Experience Intuitively

Customer-Experience      Providing a great customer experience is not a well-kept secret that only companies like Amazon can access. In fact, the best customer service I get today is at my local hardware store.
Let me describe my experience here. Every weekend I find in my email inbox, an updated online catalogue of new products, mailed to me by my hardware store. When I drop by at the store, the single clerk at the register is non-intrusive but attentive to answer any questions. Aisles are labeled correctly and goods organized according to categories with little scope for confusion – customers can pick up what they need, independent of a sales person.
Features of every product are described on charts along with the pricing. A Wi-Fi enabled computer kiosk in the store helps shoppers who want to look up reviews of any product online. And that’s not all, if I have to wait in the billing queue for more than 5 minutes, I am offered a discount on my next purchase – and complementary home delivery. And post my purchase, I can call the store for free help any time.
To me, the management of this store knows exactly what their customers want at every stage. Week after week, I leave the store with a smile on my face and the store has earned itself the loyalty of a customer who remembers it above competition.
Why has this small corner store gone through so much end-user value addition focused on keeping acustomer happy? Because they know something that organizations across the world are beginning to understand: the value of retaining customers through good customer service. It’s no secret that the most common way of losing customers is through bad customer service. And if we’re talking numbers, the average value of every customer relationship abandoned or lost to competition is approximately a hefty $289[1]. My hardware store has understood this and supports my shopping path right from the time I plan to buy, look around for product information and discounts, make a purchase, look at delivery options and seek after-sales support. Furthermore, their main focus lies on keeping a customer happy while empowering other players in the chain to contribute – in effect, it is creating a Value Constellation.
This is a far different from traditional routes where companies position themselves appropriately on the Value Chain, so that they provide the right experience to their customers and offer them value in the right ways. This model requires suppliers to provide the required goods and/or services to a company, which would then add its value to these goods and services before passing the offering on to consumers[2]. Every level in the value chain played his role as best as he could; but there was little effort towards complementing and supporting other levels in the chain.
In a Value Constellation, the focus does not lie on the company or the industry(as it previously did) but on the value-creating system itself, within which different economic actors – suppliers, business partners, allies, customers – work together to co-produce value.[1] What my small hardware store is doing, was creating an entire business environment that was empowering other players in the economic chain – the store, the delivery personnel and the customer to be a part of the process of creating value.
Value constellation works so well because it allows you to gather customer feedback at every stage of the lifecycle. Your representatives will not be called only when there is an issue late in the buying cycle or post purchase but rather, you could gather data based on experience at every stage, and provide your customers with more intuitive, “proactive”, game-changing and differentiated experiences.
Renowned furniture retailer Ikea is a great example of a company that functions successfully as a Value Constellation. Ikea itself is not just a retailer as much as it is the center of a value constellation of goods, services, management, design and support. With Ikea, a customer understands that their role is more to create value than simply consume it. What the company manages to do, (and successfully), is orchestrate the entire social, financial, managerial and technical engineering that ensures its smooth operation.
There are an increasing number of companies jumping onto this bandwagon. Amazon.com discovered that it could provide its customers with a larger range of services interconnected with their basic service which was e-commerce. It has progressively partnered with a number of companies such as Marks and Spencer, Toys ‘R’ Us and Target to offer integrated value to its customers. It now ranks as one of the top companies in the world forgreat customer service.
Your company could benefit from a similar approach. In our coming blog posts we will delve more into the concept of a Value Constellation, so you can see what you could do to keep your customers happy and your business profitable.
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Letting your customers show you growth

Linear Growth     The BPO industry has witnessed a surge in the past few years. In fact, over the past decade, it has grown more than tenfold, from USD 8 billion in 2000 to USD 88 billion in 2010.
This rapid spurt in the industry is slowly giving way to a steadier pace of growth – driven by an increased customer-focus.
Traditionally, companies have recognized two broad growth drivers in the industry: ‘linear’ and ‘non-linear’. Linear growth is a stable revenue growth proportional to a company’s rate of growth in manpower. In contrast, non-linear growth is achieved when a company increases its revenue and operating income by a higher rate than the rate of growth in manpower. Non-linear growth itself encompasses a number of drivers (KPMG has identified seven) including cloud computing, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and branding.
Customer ExperienceToday’s customers expect and appreciate superior, personalized experiences across every interaction with a brand. This has led to the emergence of customer engagement and customer experience as equally strong drivers for growth, as much as the linear and non-linear aspects. With the growing popularity of social media, micro blogs and a host of other networking platforms, delighted customers today have instant access to hundreds of friends and followers. They express opinions, share views and serve as critics or ambassadors for a brand – making it all the more critical for organizations to effectively engage with them and offer them the right customer experiences.
Organizations are increasingly leveraging the whole ‘customer experience’ paradigm to build competitive advantage and grow their business. They are exploring multiple engagement models, each of which firmly places the customer at the centre stage. With an “outside in” approach, many of these models are focused on improving the entire brand experience from the end customer’s perspective. Organizations are also investing in the right People, Processes and Technologies to optimize the customer experience they offer across every touch point of customer interaction.
With organizations considering customer experience as a key growth driver, besides the traditional linear and non-linear methods, there is a fundamental shift in business outlook. Businesses are focused on aligning their solutions to meet customer needs today and on keeping their offerings relevant tomorrow.
Naturally, there is a need for companies to partner with the right customer experience partners and R&D houses to achieve this. They need to gain better insights and customer focus to drive growth in future. At the end of the day, superior customer engagement has proved itself to be a factor that organizations have to sit up and take note of. Brands now have only one choice to make – which customer engagement model best suits their business?
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Saturday, 25 May 2013

Is the Indian Consumer Willing to Pay More for better Customer Experiences?

customer satisfactionCustomer engagement in India is fundamentally different from customer engagement in mature markets.  Unlike the mature markets that are plagued with stagnant growth rates and a saturated pool of customers,
the Indian economy has had healthy growth and a seemingly endless supply of new customers.  The expanding middle class and the emerging affluent[1] with higher levels of disposable income have fuelled an unprecedented growth curve for Indian businesses.  However circumstances are changing – the IMF recently reduced the growth estimate for India down to 6.1%[2] from the revised growth rate of 6.8% announced earlier in the year.  While still growing at a healthy rate compared to the mature economies, India is now facing a slowdown.
The questions smart businesses are asking themselves:
  • What can we do differently to maintain our revenue streams and profit margins in the soon-to-be-new normal?
  • Will the traditional approach of focusing business strategy on customer acquisition still work during the slowdown or should the focus be on retention of the most profitable customers?
The answer is not quite simple.  The typical Indian consumer is a discount shopper.  Bargain hunting is a favourite national sport, second perhaps only to cricket.  So it is not surprising that the predominant strategy of customer acquisition and retention has been based on pricing.  To drive greater customer loyalty, retailers are investing in building company and coalition loyalty programs with some success.  As Shopper’s Stop[1] discovered, even their most loyal customers time their purchases to Sales.  Shopper’s Stop now allows their most loyal customers to pick a Personal Sale Day of their choice every year and offers them discounts for that one day.
customersIn mature markets, differentiation based on pricing and product alone is no longer a sustainable strategy. Several companies have beaten the economic odds by offering differentiated customer experiences.  Research conducted by RightNow[1] (now part of Oracle) last year revealed that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for greater customer experience.
The billion dollar question is – Is the Indian market reaching that stage where the Indian consumer is willing to pay more for better customer experiences? 
Forward-thinking companies across service-based industries in banking, telecom, hospitality, airlines, and insurance are already anticipating such an eventuality. They have started leading the curve on the customer experience management in anticipation of a changing consumer landscape in India.
In the banking industry, where product offerings are largely standardized, Indian banks are now seeking differentiation through service experience. Standard Chartered Bank, India’s largest international bank, launched India’s first instant online credit card approval solution, which enables a customer to apply for a card online and receive an “Approval In Principle (AIP)” almost instantly. The experience here being remarkably different from the manual, paper intensive, and intrusive approval processes in place today at most banks.  ICICI Bank’s (“Hum Hain Na”) and Union Bank of India’s (“Good people to work with”) takes a different approach by focusing on trust, dependability, and superior quality of service as differentiators. In the airlines industry, Indigo Airlines has outstripped their competition with emphasis on customer experience with on-time arrivals, easy walk-on ramps, a well-groomed westernized crew, modern menu, and more.
One Indian company that has demonstrated that the Indian buyer is willing to pay more for customer experience is Tanishq.  Established in 1995 as a high-end branded jewellery retailer, Tanishq has become the most valued jewellery brand in India.  Through a differentiated customer experience – well designed exclusive retail showrooms, complementary nation-wide service, and a generous loyalty program – Tanishq has persuaded a lot of Indians to leave their traditional jewellers and go with Tanishq despite higher prices.
Much like their global counterparts, the Indian middle class is well informed, social, and influential.  However, traditionally, the Indian customer has been conditioned to be less demanding of the experience delivered. Therein lies the opportunity to surprise and delight prospects and customers.
Offering differentiation through experience will have greater impact on Indian customers compared to their western counterparts, who are accustomed to high levels of service delivery and have even greater expectations, thereby increasing brand loyalty. Certain segments of the customer base might even be willing to pay more for a white-glove treatment. The key to sustaining profitability during economic uncertainty will be to identify the right target customers and defining the right experiences.
Differentiated customer experience as a source of revenue?  That is an idea whose time has come for the Indian markets.
[1] Indian middle class: the emerging affluent, LiveMint.com Posted: Thu, Mar 15 2012
[2] Mint, 17-07-2012, Emerging Markets Get a Wake-up Call, Asit Ranjan Mishra
[3] As presented at the Loyalty Summit, February 2012, Mumbai
[4] RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report 2011
For more information about Aegis, you can visit the official website at www.aegisglobal.com
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Top Eight Considerations to Look for in a BPO Partner

customer care    Businesses really cannot afford to compromise on customer care and experience. Unfortunately, however, it is often the case that in the focus to improve revenue streams and cut operating costs, many businesses risk lowering the quality of their customer care.
One easy solution is to outsource customer care to a business partner. However, even here, much care and consideration must be given in finding just the right partner.
In a brief, “list-type” article I wrote for theContact Professional magazine, I offered eight important things to look for when trying to find an outsourcing solutions partner.
One – What kind of relationship is this?
Outsourcing is a strategic, cost-effective solution to manage costs. The decision to outsource, and the subsequent vendor selection process, can be daunting. Businesses are under increasing pressure to find an outsourcer with high quality standards at a reasonable cost. Ensure that your vendor doesn’t cut corners on elements most important to you and your customers. In fact, dispel the notion that the outsourced company is a vendor; re-think the relationship and approach it as a partnership.
Two – What are your goals?
Establish clear goals. Do you want to reduce costs, improve quality, enhance customer experience, generate revenue or retain more customers? You probably answered yes to all five, but what is your priority? The clearer your requirements, the better are your chances of achieving the desired results.
Three – What do they do well?
Look at the BPO partner’s experience in your vertical. Have they worked with your competitors or other firms in your industry? Their ability to understand industry-specific terms and concepts is critical to success. Your BPO partner’s knowledge base must be in-house or quickly acquired. They should be skilled at hiring highly qualified candidates with an industry background, good phone skills, and a track record in previous jobs. Once hired and brought into a stringent quality process, well-trained and high-caliber performers will put your BPO partner in position to meet your Key Performance Indicators.
Four – Where are they?
Compare the BPO partner’s geographical footprint to your location needs. Some providers utilize a one-site-fits-all approach that may not be right for you. Determine how comfortable your organization is with the location of your engagement. Choose an outsourcing partner who will locate your business where you think is best for that process. This is often referred to as a “right-shoring” approach.
Five – Can they scale?
Once you agree on locations, the successful BPO partner should be able to scale up to match your requirements. Look at their track record in opening and operating new locations. How fast can the engagement get up and running? Make sure your BPO partner proactively aligns its schedule with your business. If your business is seasonal in nature, ask about their experience in ramping up and down accordingly.
Six – What about its people?
“People are our most important asset” should be more than just a poster in the HR office; it should permeate the entire organization. A large percentage of a BPO partner’s headcount is its agent pool, so agent retention is a priority of outsourcers. Look at their portfolio of employee incentives and retention programs. Successful outsourcers implement creative incentive programs based on performance metrics and attendance. Innovators take it a step further. For example, we partnered with a fuel price protection solutions provider to roll out a unique fuel incentive program at many of our US locations. The program helped agents reduce agent commuting costs, which bolstered retention and strengthened our ability to recruit leading candidates from a broader geographic area.
Seven – Are they Certified?
BPO partners must operate in the same regulatory environment as their clients. The industry has certain certifications, and organizations possessing these tend to have more rigorous measures of performance quality. Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, Service Organizations (SAS70), developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, represents that a service organization has thoroughly audited its control objectives and control activities, often including controls over IT and related processes. Payment Card Industry (PCI) certification also demonstrates rigor. If the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) pertains to your customers, make sure your BPO partner understands the Act and knows how to treat your customers accordingly.
Eight – Can I get a reference?
Knowing who your BPO partner’s clients are is important, but do not be alarmed if they are not immediately forthcoming with logos. Even if the BPO engagement is performed in the same zip code as the client’s headquarters, outsourcing is still a sensitive issue. Most companies do not publicly disclose that they outsource customer care. Non-disclosure agreements between BPO partners and clients are typical. The reference check may have to wait until you are very deep in the selection process.
Of course, this list is not exhaustive and it does not replace your own intuitive business sense about the right fit with your business; however, this is a helpful guide to making daunting business decisions like outsourcing a crucial process, which customer care and management most certainly is.
Read the original article published on Contact Professional here.
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Aegis MD & Global CEO Nominated for 2011 Industry Champion APAC

Click here to vote for Aparup SenguptaAparup Sengupta, managing director and Global CEO, Aegis, has been nominated as the 2011 Contact Center Industry Champion for the APAC region.
The Industry Champion is an individual person who may be the leader of a company or someone working within a company and who has contributed to the growth and/or image of the contact center industry in your country. This award is organized by Contact Center World – a global association for contact center best practices and networking.

Brief Profile of Aparup
Aparup Sengupta
Aparup Sengupta, MD & Global CEO, Aegis
Aparup Sengupta is the managing director and CEO of Aegis. He has instrumentally led the growth of Aegis from a company of a handful of talented people to a large organization of 50,000 professionals across 12 countries and 50 locations.
Aparup Sengupta brings with him an enviable legacy and a sterling professional career in the IT and IT-enabled services domains. He is an entrepreneur with three successful start-ups: 24/7 Customer, India’s first CRM services company; Ion Idea, an IT services company based out of Fairfax, Virginia; and Think Harbor, a leading BPO consulting company funded by Bank Am and Nomura.
During a two-decade long career, Aparup managed complex IT projects at CMC for more than eight years, set up India’s first Internet working channel for Microland in Bangalore, India, and orchestrated several re-engineering projects in India and abroad. He has been a member and the Lead Assessor of the Jury of the CII Business Excellence Award, equivalent to the Malcolm Baldrige Award in the US and the Deming Prize in Japan.
Aparup has also served as the Chairman of the BPO Steering Committee of Assocham, India’s leading industry forum. He has also been an ambassadorial scholar to the US in 1994. Aparup is a graduate in electrical engineering from the University of Calcutta.
Awards
Aparup Sengupta was recognized as CEO of the Year 2010, by BPO Industry Awards, and a jury of his peers comprising prominent industry leaders like Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director, CyberMedia, and Raman Roy, chairman and managing director, Quatrro BPO Solutions. Department of telecommunication secretary R Chandrashekhar was the chief guest at the function in which Aparup was felicitated.
He was also awarded the Corporate Dealmaker of the Year 2010 award by Global M&A for successfully executing more than 13 mergers and acquisitions.
Aparup outside of work
Aparup Sengupta has a genuine creative streak. He loves belting out favorite Bengali and Hindi songs. Aparup is also a gifted writer and poet.
Click here to vote for Aparup Sengupta
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Saturday, 13 April 2013

CAREERS

CAREERSZoom InZoom Out
The Aegis way
At Aegis, employees are the most valuable asset and are provided with opportunities for global growth and learning, a fun environment, competitive pay, and freedom to express their views

Apply online
Send in your details through this online application form
PEOPLE PHILOSOPHYZoom InZoom Out
At Aegis, our philosophy is to facilitate a synergetic and interdependent relationshipbetween the individual and the corporate through complete employee involvement.
The cornerstone of our human resources management philosophy is the conviction that the wellbeing of the company and its people are interdependent, and that the company's most valuable asset is its people.
Work culture
  • Employee centric: Our focus is the welfare of our workforce. Initiatives to promote their health, safety and wellbeing are introduced and updated regularly.
  • Transparent: Aegis encourages a free bi-directional flow of information and permits open discussion of differing views.
  • Development focused: With an array of global locations and career opportunities, there is scope for continuous learning and growth.
  • Respect for individual dignity: We treat every person with respect and value his / her ideas and thoughts. We view constructive differences in opinion as learning opportunities.
  • Customer oriented: We not only understand what our customer values, but also the value the customer adds  to our  business.
  • Team driven: By celebrating achievements big and small and appreciating each other’s contributions as a team, we enjoy our journey to success.
Value proposition to you
  • Aegis continuous excellence: At Aegis, we understand that each individual has unique skill sets and contributes to the organization in his / her own way; hence, we create an environment where talent can bloom and support the management’s efforts to foster a high-performance-oriented workforce. We are committed to continously training our people.
  • Equal employment opportunity: We believe that providing equal employment opportunities for all sections of society is an  integral component for the growth of a company, and exercise this belief.
  • Integrity: We inspire trust by taking responsibility, acting ethically, and encouraging honest and open debate.
  • Working at Aegis is fun: To ensure that all employees are enthused and happy at work, we have various employee engagement programs. We also take time out to celebrate the cultural and regional identity of our employees.
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