The Philippines’ status as a BPO destination of choice precedes its reputation. Already outshining, long-standing competitor India as seen in Tholons 2016 Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations, the Philippines has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the outsourcing game to actually dominating it in just a span of a decade and a half; though, Bangalore, India is still number 1 in the list. There are a number of factors as to why the Philippines climbed up so fast to the top of the list of outsourcing capitals: government support, low cost of living, and easy access to the young and educated workforce with a strong fluency in neutral English accent. But it is also here why the growth stutters.
This is the reason why the Philippines isn’t at the top of the list. The loophole in this is that the country focuses too much on BPO and fortifying skill sets needed for voice services and not investing in training for higher skill set (or only a few do this at this point). The lack of KPO companies is the very reason why the country can’t fully dominate the list. There should be a balanced mix of BPO and KPO providers. As clients become more trusting to their providers, they want to outsource more work, thus, the need of value-added services (VAS). This is the root cause of the surging demand for higher skilled workers who will be handling the core processes of a company or client.
Having observed the loophole beforehand, Coefficients Co. Ltd. opted for the road less traveled and focused on giving KPO services to its clients and developing home-grown talents and training them with skills sought-after in this fast-paced global industry. In an overly saturated and highly competitive market filled with voice solutions offering, what the competition can’t provide served as a great business strategy for the organization, being one of the only handfuls of companies that provide KPO services under its roof (not to mention that we are the only BPO/KPO company in Southern Luzon).
So Why Focus on KPO?
KPO is a level higher than BPO and calls for recruiting heads equipped with highly analytical and more technically advanced skills. Such persons would be expensive to hire if done onshore which is why some companies are willing to explore KPO as such can provide the same amount of work that can be done with the person of the same skill set at a fraction of a price. Traditional BPO focuses on general process expertise while KPO utilizes knowledge expertise. So there’s no room for a skill-job mismatch.
In the company’s five years of existence, Coefficients already offers the following KPO services:
Business and Market ResearchrnBusiness ConsultancyrnWeb Design and DevelopmentrnAnimation and DesignrnMechanical and 3D CAD DesignsrnWriting and Content DevelopmentrnData AnalyticsrnSearch Engine OptimizationrnSearch Engine MarketingrnAdvertising ManagementrnAccounting
With this, the company has amassed an elite mix of creative, analytical, data-driven, and output motivated employees with skills ranging from digital marketing, web development, design, business development, finance and accounting, content writing, SEO, social media and more; fields notably most BPO companies in the Philippines don’t dabble in, as most are engaged in customer service and technical support. Coefficients just don't aim to solve the talent gap present, but also offers value-added solutions geared at expanding the growth of its ever growing clientele.
But that doesn’t mean that Coefficients has ignored the business process side of outsourcing. In fact, simultaneous to sharpening its prowess in KPO through the years, the company also provides services that are crucial facets of the BPO industry:
Data ProcessingrnData EntryrnCustomer Service (Email, Phone, and Chat Support)
Benefits of KPO? Tough Work, Delivered.
As explained, KPO seeks to minimize costs for jobs and tasks that would otherwise require one to hire a highly-skilled worker to do, which is expensive talent onshore. It lets the same amount of work done and delivered timely at a price significantly lower. And it lets companies give more focus, time, and priority on the core of their business, managing and training their onshore employees, and even more time with their personal lives. This also takes the burden of the whole recruitment process to hire a person with the desired skill set. Having one sourced offshore takes the load off tremendously as chances are, your provider already has people with the specific skills you are looking for.
Another benefit is it also gives them the freedom from fixed pricing as clients are given the choice by their providers’ flexible payment options (for example hourly-based or output-based) - a choice all clients of Coefficients enjoy. Risks may be there, but it is easily mitigated as you don’t have to micromanage everything and reports are given to you to ensure you are looped in the process of your given tasks.
The Rise of KPO, The Death of BPO?
But with the rise of KPO, does this mean we are seeing the death of BPO? It is unlikely as BPO and KPO are not conflicting business processes, but rather complimentary and one needs the other to achieve maximum growth. Think of BPO as the first line of outsourcing and KPO as a higher, more specialized and more specific one. Both processes have their own strengths and limitations and with BPO expanding day by day, so are the more detailed and demanding processes that go along with it. We are seeing the two both to grow more in the coming quarters. And not just in the fields we currently see now, but to other industries where outsourcing was once thought impossible such as architecture and engineering.
rnAbout
Coefficents Co Ltd.
Coefficients currently serves more than 20 global clients in knowledge services. The company’s eventual metamorphosis from BPO to KPO is a very good opportunity for it to be ideally positioned to lead in knowledge-based services via ramping up capacity and honing its people’s competency.
Here at Coefficients, we go above and beyond for our clients. From assessment to solution design, to training, transition and launch; we cater to every phase and we got you covered every step of the way. We don’t go for temporary aids. We strike to the core.