Contact Center Outsourcing Pioneer Teleperformance Receives Five Awards From Frost & Sullivan for Leadership in Customer Service, Market Share

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its thorough analysis of the challenges, drivers, and trends in the contact center outsourcing market, Frost & Sullivan is pleased to present Teleperformance with multiple leadership awards for customer service, market share and competitive strategy innovation.

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"Given our research rigor, Frost & Sullivan's Awards are not easy to garner," says Jeff Frigstad, Global Director for Best Practices. "For a single company like Teleperformance to be recognized multiple times within a single year from all around the world represents an industry first. It underscores why Teleperformance is the clear global market leader in customer contact outsourcing," adds Frigstad.

Customer care outsourcing is a subset within the broader business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. Enterprises contract outsourcing service providers to manage inbound and outbound customer interactions for customer care, sales and marketing, technical support and help desk inquiries. The recovering economy poses a significant challenge, with the vast majority of outsourcers reporting a general reduction in inbound call volumes from their key clients. This forces down revenues and puts considerable pressure on margins and profits.

The principal competitive challenge in the customer care outsourcing market revolves around the need for flexibility and speed in implementing customized client solutions. To successfully meet clients' needs, providers must balance global agent capacity, strategic use of company resources, technology expenditures, employee training and contract pricing strategies.

A global leader in customer interaction management, Teleperformance has provided services to its clients since 1978.  Headquartered in Paris, Teleperformance ranks among the leaders in the global outsourcing market. The company's delivery centers are located in North America, Central America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, Russia and the Asia Pacific region.  Offshore and nearshore locations include newer offshore facilities in Brazil, Romania, Czech Republic, Morocco, and most recently, Chile.

Teleperformance provides outsourced contact center services to all major vertical industries.  The company's network is comprised of 279 contact centers, which operate almost 87,000 workstations. The company has grown to 115,000 employees in 51 countries, handling 1.4 billion contacts annually. The company conducts programs in more than 66 different languages and dialects on behalf of a diversified client base of major international companies.

"Teleperformance is a market leader because the company has a much more diversified geographical and cross-industry revenue mix than that of its largest competitors," explains Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Michael DeSalles.  "A large global footprint has allowed the company to take advantage of local domestic opportunities as well."

Analyzing quality and timeliness of service, impact of service on customer value, and cost of service to customers for dozens of outsourcing providers, Frost & Sullivan conferred the 2010 North American Customer Service Leadership of the Year Award for Contact Center Outsourcing on Teleperformance. The rollout of the Teleperformance Platinum program addresses more complex client demands. Therefore, it delivers a richer customer experience for clients by dedicating the highest-performing agents and supervisors to client programs.

"International Fortune 100 companies' clients demand consistently high quality service delivery," says DeSalles. Teleperformance Platinum is a unique customer care solution that gives clients a true strategic advantage over their competition."

In Russia, Teleperformance is the clear market leader. By winning a number of large deals in 2009, Teleperformance Russia has been able to secure its leading position in the market. As the leader, Frost & Sullivan has conferred the 2010 Russian Contact Center Outsourcing Company of the Year on Teleperformance. The Russian contact center outsourcing market faced several challenges in the last year, including the rising costs of setting up infrastructure, language barriers and end user concerns over operational control.

Teleperformance also received Frost & Sullivan's 2010 Market Share Leadership Award in the Contact Center Outsourcing Services Market for both Argentina and EMEA. Established in 1982, Teleperformance Argentina has held the top market share position in that country for the second year in a row, demonstrating leadership in contact center operations and security.  Teleperformance also took advantage of the recovering local economy in Argentina. In a tough EMEA market, the company has grown by way of sustained organic growth, underpinned by the positive trends in the market, and a steady pace of acquisitions.  

Teleperformance also garnered the 2010 Latin American Competitive Strategy Innovation Award for Contact Center Outsourcing for the company's academic program for employees and clients. Teleperformance believes that a significant investment in employee training drives high agent performance, improved metrics and superior customer satisfaction results. The company's global center of excellence and worldwide learning hub is located in Monterrey, Mexico. Aptly named Teleperformance (TP) University, it transfers knowledge and awareness of company culture, while gathering and sharing worldwide best practices in customer relationship management. This ensures that only the highest quality processes and security standards are utilized for client implementations.      

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents these awards to companies that have demonstrated outstanding growth strategies and implementation. The awards recognize the recipient's innovation in business processes, products and/or technologies to garner leadership in customer value and market penetration.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Teleperformance

TELEPERFORMANCE (nyse euronext paris:FR 0000051807), the world's leading provider of outsourced CRM and contact center services, has been serving companies around the world rolling out customer acquisition, customer care, technical support and debt collection programs on their behalf. In 2009, the Teleperformance Group reported EUR1.848 billion in revenue (US$2.6 billion -- average exchange rate at December 31, 2009: EUR1 = $1.39).

The Group operates about 87,000 computerized workstations, with more than 115,000 full-time equivalent employees across 279 contact centers in 51 countries and conducts programs in more than 66 different languages and dialects on behalf of major international companies operating in various industries.

www.teleperformance.com

About Frost & Sullivan

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan