ClientLogic bullish on RP call centers

"One thousand cheeseburger meals, please," said Danilo Sebastian L. Reyes, country manager of ClientLogic Philippines, as he personally went to a nearby hamburger store to order food for his staff at the height of typhoon Milenyo.

"It was the least I could do for them. So they wouldn’t have to go down the stairs only to go back up again." The contact center occupies the 8th to 14th floors of a building in Ortigas Center, which was on emergency power at the time. No elevators could be used.

The order was filled in about five hours, with Reyes grateful he had ordered early.

ClientLogic used to be known as ContactWorld, a small outbound telemarketing center with two hundred seats and between 100 and 150 service representatives. Five years hence, it is now wholly owned by ClientLogic USA and offers 100% inbound call center services from two locations with 2,500 seats and 3,100 service representatives.

Its operations cover a wide range of industries, providing customer service, technical support, and financial support services to exclusively US principals. Reyes said customers like ClientLogic’s "operational excellence that adds value to their processes and makes perfect economic sense."

With call centers in 13 countries, including India, Reyes said ClientLogic is able to share best practices from various locations to maintain consistently excellent levels of service across 55 sites, including the one in Baguio City. Exchange programs have found Filipino staff receiving training in the US and being charged with greater responsibilities as ClientLogic opens more call centers globally.

"This experience connotes the quality of our people here, from agent to management," said Reyes, who finds his work very fulfilling in terms of creating not just jobs but real opportunities for the advancement of people, thereby "helping out in the development of the country."

ClientLogic is bullish about growing its Philippine operations and expects its US-based parent company’s forthcoming merger with SITEL Corporation, another US-based contact services provider, to further spur business as the combined company accesses 145 complementary facilities in 28 countries.

"The combined company will offer the broadest array of customer care service including customer service, technical support, sales, outbound acquisition, collections, professional services, technology solutions and transaction processing. This more diversified service base will allow the combined entity to offer greater value to current and potential clients. And the Philippines will be able to participate in this exciting business going forward."

While the merger conditions are still being finalized at the shareholder level, Reyes will be taking care of his local staff of about a thousand agents per shift, promising to personally order more cheeseburger meals himself should the next typhoon require it.