RCCSP Training Grows Success in Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a prime location for nearshore contact centers thanks to affordable and well-educated often bilingual labor force that has a strong affinity and personal connections to the U.S. The country, which comprises two thirds of the island of Hispaniola with the remainder taken by Haiti, has over 9.3 million residents, a literacy rate over 84 percent, and more than 25 universities offering advanced degrees in accounting, finance, law, and medicine.

 

These advantages, coupled with a strong business climate, have led to strong interest in and growth of high quality contact center services in the country. Nina Kawalek, President and CEO of the Resource Center for Customer Service Professionals (RCCSP), reports that this has led many managers to seek U.S. certification to win and keep nearshore business from American clients. RCCSP partners with local firms and governments to provide contact center training and certification from the RCCSP Professional Education Alliance, a horizontal industry alliance of 32 US training providers specialized in contact center, help desk, telecom, networking, ITIL, and outsourcing education and certification.

 

“The Dominican Republic has earned the highest number of U.S. call center management certifications in the Caribbean and Central American region, a result of a collaborative university, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and RCCSP initiative to bring American training directly to the country,” says Kawalek. “At a time when US call centers are leaving Asia is search of more consistent quality, the Caribbean and Central American call center industries are gaining ground, and global market share. RCCSP is focused on bringing recognized US certification programs directly to the region’s call centers. Outsourcing services buyers have confidence in an offshore provider that has received the same professionals training, and has earned the same certifications, as their own onshore management team.”

 

“When surveying the marketplace in countries around the world, certification is a strong indicator of a company’s level of professionalism and ability to execute,” explained Don Althoff, former CIO and chief procurement officer of British Petroleum, in an address to the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals held in Guatemala City April 23-24.” These are the types of service providers that can help us become a better company. If a majority of your team was certified then I wanted to talk to you. If not, I probably didn’t.”

 

To that end the RCCSP’s 2009 Caribbean and Latin America Tour includes several sessions in The Dominican Republic. It is offering Fundamentals in Quality Management Aug. 24, Fundamentals of Call Center Performance Metrics, Aug.25, and the flagship Call Center Manager Certification Oct. 19-21. All training and certification takes place in Santo Domingo, the country’s capital.

 

RCCSP is also offering training and certification in supervision, quality assurance, and workforce management. Each training series includes all instruction, materials, and the U.S. certification exams.  The 2009 certification series session schedules are:

 

Call Center Supervisor Certification, 10-Part Series, May 28 – August 13, 2009

Call Center Quality Assurance Certification, 5-Part Series, August 27 –October 15, 2009

Call Center Workforce Management Certification, 5-part Series, October 22- December 10, 2009

 

“It is no secret that the main business partner for The Dominican Republic is the United States, and this is especially true for our call center industry,” points out Jean Luis Caamaño, President of the country's industry association, ACC-RD. “Achieving recognized U.S. certification can open many doors to both the professionals that get them, as well as the country’s industry as a whole. It sends the right message: that the DR and its call center professionals are up to the challenge, and have serious commitment with the quality of the services it can provide. 

 

“Now our country can boast the fact of having the most certified contact center professionals in the region: a position we should maintain.”

 

The country’s position seems safe for now. It is leading on the nearshore region’s Contact Center Certification Index by a significant margin, followed by Puerto Rico, Peru, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nicaragua.

 

The contact centers that have taken part in RCCSP Alliance certification programs have been impressed. Synergies Strategic Services, which provides BPO solutions focused on financial services had their entire management team RCCSP Alliance trained and US certified before even opening their contact center’s doors in 2007.

 

This advanced investment in management education provided these entrepreneurial business leaders with a clear understanding of the contact center business, future operating challenges, staffing requirements, and best practices necessary to run a first-class operation.  Most importantly, the management team focused on those quality factors that positively impact American clients’ customers' experiences and levels of satisfaction.

 

“The main benefit of taking the RCCSP-provided certification course was that, a year later, after the call center build-out was completed, we were able to open our doors and provide BPO services to Fortune 500 companies at levels of quality they expect,” says Carlos Ferreiras, General Manager, Synergies Strategic Services. “The quality of our people is comparable to agents in the U.S.”

 

After one year in operation, Synergies' expanding client base necessitated a two-fold increase in agents and space, a process that the firm says went smoothly. 

 

“Management preparedness has been a major factor in our success,” says Ferreiras. “One result of the management team learning together was a common understanding, common terminology, and a shared vision right from the start.  We function as a team.  We're all on the same page.”

 

“Having the Synergies management team in the call center management program was like a 3-day, 8-hour-per-day, off-site management meeting, with facilitator guidance,” recalls Kawalek. “Organized discussion like that, that touches on each and every aspect of good call center management brings about some pretty comprehensive and cohesive call center business plans.”

 

Another outsourcing services provider, United Nearshore Operations (UNO) sent professionals from a variety of inter-company departments to RCCSP Alliance call center management certification programs.

 

UNO, which provides a variety of BPO and customer care services, has a facility with 950 workstations, four training rooms, plus quality assurance departments, HR and administrative offices. Contact center professionals received training and earned certifications in call center supervision, call center management, and quality assurance practices. 

 

“We have seen better productivity, higher morale and future leaders emerge from within our current workforce as a result of the certification,” reports Alkany Peña, Client Services Manager for UNO. “Acquiring a US certification credential is a real professional accomplishment. It allows our clients to see that UNO is committed to training and development to ensure that our team provides the best possible service.”

 

“With organizational expansion comes a need for call center –specific business skills, whether it be in HR, quality assurance, workforce management, executive planning, frontline supervision, wherever,” adds Kawalek. “RCCSP’s unrivaled breadth of training providers allowed us to bring to the Dominican Republic U.S. call center certification courses for managers, supervisors, agents, quality assurance professionals, even workforce management and CRM specialists. We’re very proud of what the U.S. call center training industry has accomplished by working collaboratively in this region through the Alliance.”