SRG ASIA PACIFIC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of service partnership of MAXIS, a telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SRG ASIA PACIFIC?

We needed someone to provide us with inbound telemarketing and recruitment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SRG ASIA PACIFIC has been our primary telecommunications partner since 1999. They manage and process all our inbound calls and their main responsibility is answering customer inquiries, troubleshooting issues, and providing technical support. 

They also do upsell and cross-sell, as well as initiate outbound mobile-based campaigns for our offers and services.

Apart from that, they’re also doing recruitment for our company to bring in more inbound resources for our Bangladesh sector — they basically screen and vet candidates before sending them to us for the final interview.

What is the team composition?

We mainly communicate with the operations managers for both inbound and outbound employees.

How did you come to work with SRG ASIA PACIFIC?

I can’t recall how we came across SRG ASIA PACIFIC because it was so long ago, but I believe we’ve partnered with them as our sister company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around 100 million dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 1999.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

SRG ASIA PACIFIC has been consistent in maintaining a high level of service and they ensure that they plan their responses according to the volume of the calls. The team is also able to provide the necessary resources to make sure our KPIs are met.

They have a sustainable performance YOY, and their strong effort enables them to reach our desired targets.

How did SRG ASIA PACIFIC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great from a project management standpoint as they’re able to deliver results in a timely manner. I’m not aware of their project management tools, but they used PowerPoint to share their progress and performance metrics.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their ability to quickly perform their tasks. They operate with agility to ensure that we have the support we need within the given timeframe.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could review the rewards scheme for their employees because one of the challenges we face is the low retention rate. I’m aware it’s normal in this kind of industry, but SRG ASIA PACIFIC needs to be more competitive when it comes to retaining resources.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To avoid any issues with the partnership, I advise you to set your expectations clearly before engaging with them — their team is quite flexible, but you still need to communicate your needs and what you want to achieve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the assistant director of operations at Procurri, a global enterprise IT maintenance provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SRG ASIA PACIFIC?

We work 24/7 and 365 days a year, and SRG provides call center services for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SRG serves as our technical call center and the first point of contact for our customers. They log tickets and respond to every request usually within half an hour. Moreover, they work with our internal team and partners to ensure that we deliver the services our customers need. In other words, SRG is the in-between of the customers and our technical team; they get updates from our team and pass the information to the customers. 

Meanwhile, we have first- and second-level contact people. If an SRG agent isn’t responding to a call for more than 30 minutes, their call center manager gets involved. Our engineers also interact with them, so we have a three-way communication process.  

What is the team composition?

We work with 15–20 people from their team.

How did you come to work with SRG ASIA PACIFIC?

We were looking for people who could learn things about technology. SRG worked in the same building as us, so we knew their company. Our team knew that they could deliver our requirements, so we approached them. That was the start of our engagement. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $500,000 annually. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SRG in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We run performance reviews and ticket-based KPIs to measure success. Due to the pandemic, this engagement has been challenging. The team has had to work from home, but our setup is designed to work in an office setting. As a result, we’ve modified it a bit. Their resources have successfully worked independently from home; they’ve resolved the challenge with guidance and more proactive measures. 

How did SRG ASIA PACIFIC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve handled escalation cases quickly. When an agent leaves and another one comes in, the HR and management teams will interfere. Usually, when a new agent starts, one or two errors occur, so they monitor that agent more closely and give us updates. So far, everything has been going well; our communications have been good. We usually use Teams and WhatsApp to talk. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We ask them to mitigate challenges, and they respond well to that. SRG has dedicated people to monitor things for us. We’ve also been able to close certain gaps in our services. Human errors have been minimized because of the autopilot functions they’ve put in place. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re a global company, but the team’s overseas communication drops a bit because of their way of understanding. Moreover, we need candidates that are truly loyal. Some of their team members haven’t been serious about the business — we’ve had a tough time with those members — so we’ve asked SRG to let them go, and they did. They’ve replaced those members and things have gone well since then. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’ll hire SRG and want a successful engagement, you must help them understand your business. Things go well when there’s continuous communication. As such, they should be able to truly know your business; it should feel like you’re in one team. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a consumer care manager of an inbound call center at a company that produces a range of over-the-counter medical products. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SRG ASIA PACIFIC?

We were looking to outsource our inbound customer contact and outbound telesales call centers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SRG ASIA PACIFIC has been running our inbound contact center for the last three years and our outbound telesales for the last year. The outbound team contacts consumers to make sales over the phone. SRG ASIA PACIFIC trains all of the agents working in our centers using information from the training we've done with them and other training materials. 

What is the team composition?

I work mainly with Edwin (Manager of Business Development and Procurement) and the assistant operations manager. 

How did you come to work with SRG ASIA PACIFIC?

SRG ASIA PACIFIC won the bid our procurement department put out for the inbound contact center, and we've continued to work with them on a contractual basis ever since. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invest around 900,000 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately $215,000 USD)in SRG ASIA PACIFIC's inbound contact center contract per year. I don't have a specific number, but we budgeted 1–2 million Malaysian Ringgit (approximately $240,000–$478,000 USD) for their telesales services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership with SRG ASIA PACIFIC began in November 2019, and it's ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We renewed the inbound contact center contract with SRG ASIA PACIFIC for another three years. We monitor the inbound center's calls and measure the number of dropped calls, complaints, and resolved issues from each agent. We calculate the telesales center's success by their sales volume, but they haven't met our sales goals this year. 

How did SRG ASIA PACIFIC perform from a project management standpoint?

SRG ASIA PACIFIC has a project management team, which is very well equipped with an IT team that helps with system setup and a knowledgeable project manager. If there are any issues with the system, it's usually when outbound call projects go live. 

However, SRG ASIA PACIFIC always knows what we want and provides us with a clear checklist to ensure projects go well. We have monthly performance reviews for QA. Generally, we meet online or in person. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

SRG ASIA PACIFIC's value for money is excellent. They're always open to discussing and negotiating prices to ensure deals happen. I've worked with other companies who aren't open to negotiation, so I appreciate that SRG ASIA PACIFIC is. 

The SRG ASIA PACIFIC team is also very client-oriented, so our working relationship is very friendly. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think SRG ASIA PACIFIC's outbound telesales team could improve because the majority of the team hasn't met our expectations. We don't have input or any insights when SRG ASIA PACIFIC hires their agents, which has led to some issues. From my point of view, their project management team has worked hard to ensure success, but the outbound operations team hasn't worked as hard to supplement the project management team's hard work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd advise customers to outline their exact needs at the very beginning of the project. It's essential to provide SRG ASIA PACIFIC with clear direction so they can provide customers with sufficient supplies and support. Project transparency is vital when working with SRG ASIA PACIFIC.