Go Lean Commentary
There used to be a time … when you called a place:
Call me at home, at work, or the private club.
Now, with mobile and smartphones, you call a person, not a place.
Everything has changed, and with it the business models of organizations that depend on the telephony activity.
Need to ‘Call a cab’?!
Nope, use an app!
For industries that depended on phone calls; they now have to reboot their industrial landscape and business model. This is bad! This is good! As it opens the opportunity for jobs in the Call Center industry.
With modern Internet Communications Technology (ICT) – think Voice-over-IP – a phone call can originate or terminate around the globe, but feel/sound like it is next door. The premise of this business model for the Caribbean is simple: Why not make those calls / answer the phone here in the Caribbean?
Jobs are at stake.
According to the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 257) , there could be this many jobs:
Direct and indirect jobs at physical and virtual call centers: 12,000
The Go Lean book prepares the business model of Call Centers for consumption in the Caribbean. Yes, business model refers to jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, trade transactions, etc. In addition to these industry jobs; there is also the reality of indirect jobs – unrelated service and attendant functions – at a 3.75 multiplier rate would add another 45,000 jobs.
This constitutes an industrial reboot.
There are a number of call center installations currently in the region – see Appendix; but this Industrial Reboot measure is doubling-down on this business model. This is a wise strategy!
Notice the fine experiences being enjoyed right now in the Caribbean country of St. Lucia, with this news article here about one company – KM2 Solutions – that has expanded their Call Center footprint in this island, adding an additional 400 jobs:
Title: KM2 Solutions opens second call center in St Lucia, plans to add 400 new jobs
(PRESS RELEASE VIA SNO) – KM2 Solutions, a leading US-based, contact center services provider has opened a new facility in St. Lucia, expanding their footprint of service locations to 9 centers in 6 countries.
The 12,000 square feet Massade facility opened officially on June 19 in a ceremony graced by the Honourable Prime Minister.
Site Director Marvin Bartholomew said the company’s expansion here is an “exciting one that creates significant opportunities for an additional 400 brilliant and talented Saint Lucians. The spillover effect that the increased employment has on the economy is tremendous, and we are thrilled to be able to contribute to the island’s economic growth”.
KM2 Solutions first introduced its services to Saint Lucia in 2004 and has since continuously operated from its 20,000 square-foot office space, with capacity for 500 agents. Its new facility is about 25 minutes from the original center and is located firmly within the island’s tourism belt and population centre, providing the double positive of being able to attract excellent talent in large numbers while also hosting clients in an area known for beautiful beaches and wonderful hospitality.
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia the Honourable Allen Chastanet, who was present at Tuesday’s ceremony, lauded the investment of KM2 and thanked its principals for having confidence in the island’s economic standing and its talent.
Speaking at the official opening on Tuesday, KM2 President & CEO David Kreiss, said, “This is truly a tremendous occasion and opportunity. Our productivity and quality here is excellent, our clients love the island and are always impressed with our operations and the wonderful agents and management team. To be able to create capacity to do more of that is something we’ve always wanted to do. Naturally we’re thrilled to be able accomplish our goal of exceeding our clients’ expectations while providing an engaging and rewarding career to so many.
KM2 Solutions continues to provide clients with support in the areas of customer service and care, sales, retention, technical support, loan processing (pre-funding, originations, verifications, welcome calls), loan servicing and first-party collections, back-office services, and other functions for clients in a wide range of vertical markets.
The opening ceremony was held in at the new location on Tuesday, June 19th.
Source: Posted June 22, 2018; retrieved July 2, 2018 from: https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/km2-solutions-opens-second-call-center-in-st-lucia-plans-to-add-400-new-jobs/
The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); this is a confederation of all 30 member-states to execute a reboot of the Caribbean economic eco-system. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:
- Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
- Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
- Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.
The Caribbean economic landscape is in shambles!
The primary driver in the region – Tourism – is under assault; more and more visitors shift from stay-overs to cruise arrivals. This means less economic impact to the local markets. As a region, we must reboot our industrial landscape and add more job-creating options.
This commentary has previously identified a number of different industries that can be rebooted under this Go Lean roadmap. See the list of previous submissions on Industrial Reboots here:
- Industrial Reboots – Ferries 101 – Published June 27, 2017
- Industrial Reboots – Prisons 101 – Published October 4, 2017
- Industrial Reboots – Pipeline 101 – Published October 6, 2017
- Industrial Reboots – Frozen Foods 101 – Published October 6, 2017
- Industrial Reboots – Call Centers 101– Published Today – July 2, 2018
The Go Lean book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean economic engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):
xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.
xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of … the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.
xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.
Accordingly, the CU will facilitate the eco-system for Self-Governing Entities (SGE), an ideal concept for Call Centers with its exclusive federal regulation/promotion activities. Imagine bordered campuses – with Internet Pop Hubs and backup power generations. The focus for the Go Lean roadmap is on Contact Center, not just Call Center. See the difference definition here:
| The Bottom Line on Contact Centers Contact Center refers to the next step in the evolution of Call Centers. With the advances in Internet and Communications Technologies (ICT), a service provider of tele-services functions can be located anywhere in the world. This is the case with the proliferation of this industry in the Philippines – employing 350,000 people in 2011, and India with 330,000 jobs. (Jamaica and Antigua have a nascent industry). Contact Centers today do more than just phone calls, but rather business process outsourcing (BPO), including email, IM, web chat, social media and work flow processing on behalf of 3rd party clients. |
Contact Centers require art and science! See the best practice described in the Appendix VIDEO below. (Though humorous, the strong point is made: there is an art to “blending in”).
The Go Lean movement (book and blogs) details the principles of SGE’s and job multipliers, how certain industries are better than others for generating multiple indirect jobs down the line (or off-campus) for each direct job on the SGE’s payroll.
This is the vision of an industrial reboot! This transformation is where and how the jobs are to be created.
The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. One advocacy in rebooting the industrial landscape is to foster the Contact Center industry; consider the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from the book on Page 212 entitled:
10 Ways to Promote Contact Centers
| 1 | Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy and the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This will allow for the unification of the region of 30 member-states into one market of 42 million people, thereby creating the economies-of-scale to deploy technological infrastructure like fiber optics wire-line networks, broadband, wireless (WiMax), and satellite capability to generate a recognizable return on investment; this roadmap projects 12,000 new jobs. The CU will embrace e-Delivery for government services thereby becoming one of the Contact Center industry’s biggest clients. |
| 2 | Laissez-fare Utility Regulations – in SGE’s |
| 3 | Enterprise and Empowerment Zones The CU will promote Self Governing Entities (SGE) as specific limited geographical areas (Industrial Parks, Corporate Campuses) as Enterprise and Empowerment Zones for this contact center industry. Traditionally, Enterprise Zones allow for certain tax rebates and access to grant monies or low interest loans. (Empowerment Zones go a step further in promoting revitalization of under-privileged and/or blighted areas). A concentration of multiple players in defined and controlled areas will allow for communications bandwidth, secondary power supply systems, parking and commuter express options as viable solutions. There is a realistic consequence of thousands of jobs at the same place/same time. |
| 4 | Underwater Cables |
| 5 | Outreach The CU will send trade missions to foreign markets to solicit clients for this industry, in fact the implementation of the federation specifies create Trade Mission Offices in key international cities. This outreach includes participation in Trade Shows and industry events around the world; (similar to “Thailand-branded goods and services” global promotions). |
| 6 | Capitalize on Multi-lingual Society |
| 7 | Consumer Rights |
| 8 | Promote Work-at-Home Options |
| 9 | Big Data – Analysis and Business Intelligence The practice of data analysis must be promoted as a fine art in the region. Certifications and accreditations at the CU level will add value and financial benefits to this skill set for industry participants. Economic incentives (grants, forgive-able loans, tax rebates) will be in place to promote the related industries and spin the wheels of commerce in this area. |
| 10 | Presidential Medal of Recognition |
Contact Centers are not new for this Go Lean roadmap; there have been a number of previous blog-commentaries by the Go Lean movement that referenced economic opportunities embedded in the Contact Center industry. See a sample list here:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15075 | e-Government 3.0 – Call Centers to engage citizens |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14191 | Scheduling for Call Centers & ‘Gigs’ |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13524 | Future Focused – e-Government Portals and Call Centers |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13321 | Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Multilingual Realities |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11184 | JPMorganChase spent $10 billion on ‘Fintech’ for 1 year |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8262 | Role Model: UberEverything in Africa |
In summary, our Caribbean region need jobs. A better job-creation ability would help us to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. In fact, one of the reasons why so many Caribbean citizens have emigrated away from the homeland is the job-creation dysfunction. Creating a new economic landscape will require rebooting the industrial landscape.
Yes, we can … reboot our industrial landscape, and create new jobs – and other economic opportunities.
We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap for economic empowerment. The fact that Call Centers currently exists amplifies the fact that this Go Lean roadmap is viable. Make that conceivable, believable and achievable. 🙂
Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!
Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.
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APPENDIX – Company Profile: KM2 Solutions
Company KM² Solutions was founded on the idea that world-class outsourcing services could be conducted close to home.
KM2 Solutions was founded by David Kreiss (K) and Gary Meyers (M) in 2004 with its original facility in St. Lucia.
At the time, few companies were able to offer the diversified services at the competitive rates that KM2 was offering. New business was quick to follow. By 2007 KM2 had opened facilities in Barbados and Grenada, utilizing the same model that had been so effective in St. Lucia. As a small but growing company, KM2 Solutions was able to take on outsourcing ventures that the major players dismissed as too small or overly complicated. The ability to adapt to client-specific needs while still delivering outstanding, industry-leading performance has been the cornerstone of the company’s success.
The Honduras and Dominican Republic sites were added in recent years to provide clients with technically adept, fully bilingual agents. Today, KM2’s global footprint reaches 6 countries with over 3,000 employees, and continued plans for expansion into new geographic locations and business segments.
KM2 Solutions is privately held, thus eliminating the pressures of meeting shareholder and analyst expectations. The company’s focus will always be on the client and developing long-term relationships through unparalleled service and attention to detail.
Source: Retrieved July 2, 2018 from: http://www.km2solutions.com/company/
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VIDEO – KM2 Solutions – Exceeding Your Expectations – https://youtu.be/k_7lBshw8IQ
Published on Jun 17, 2015 – About KM² Solutions KM² Solutions is a leading provider of nearshore business process outsourcing (BPO) services, specializing in the finance, telecom, media, and technology industries. With contact centers throughout the Caribbean and Central America (St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Dominican Republic, and Honduras), KM² provides clients with cost-effective, bilingual solutions for customer care, sales and retention, collections, customer support, and back office processing, through voice, chat, mobile, and email.
For further information, please contact: Joe Wester VP Sales at (262) 790-2656 www.km2solutions.com
- Category: People & Blogs
- License: Standard YouTube License
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Appendix VIDEO – White Voice – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5688932/videoplayer/vi184531737
Scene from the 2018 movie Sorry to Bother You.
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland (California), telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – White Voice – propelling him into a macabre universe.