A progressive, bi-lingual contact center and BPO with centers in the United States and Latin America: World Connection

Business process outsourcing companies have become essential for an organization, as they leverage lower-cost labor markets and gain more cost savings. Apart from this, they also save an organization’s resources in managing various processes so they can focus on the core competencies of their business. Globally, BPOs are often leveraged for their flexibility, able to easily staff up and down, take on new projects, or help create and execute upon a proof of concept. BPOs also have economies of scale with various technology that organizations can utilize without having to go through the laborious process of building a business case or fighting for budget. Numerous BPO service providers deliver excellent services, but World Connection stands out from the rest. Aside from cost savings and productivity gains, they believe as much in building a partnership as providing a service, operating on the belief that their success depends on their clients’ success. World Connection is a mid-sized, bi-lingual contact center and boutique BPO with locations in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Boise, Idaho. They are large enough to handle multi-site programs, yet small enough to be flexible and provide the individual attention businesses need and want from a partner. World Connection believes in being a true extension of a company, maintaining high service levels, and achieving long-term business goals. Everyone has a vested interest and is involved with learning the clients’ business and understanding how to best support them. This stems from the involvement and support of the executive team down to the front-line employees in the daily operations.

World Connection’s core values

The company’s core values of Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility, Transparency, Unity, and Perseverance (LIFT UP) set them apart from their competition. These values are more than ideas and words but a code they live by internally amongst their employees, externally with their clients, and globally, giving their time and money to those less fortunate in the communities. Their clients recognize this and acknowledge them for adhering to these values. These LIFT UP values fill employees with optimism for who they are and what they do. World Connection believes in maintaining a compassionate, customer-first approach to their interactions with customers. Their partnerships aim to help their clients grow and improve, not just providing a service, but through the following company characteristics:

Flexibility – The ability to hire quickly, train effectively, and minimize ramp-up time, handling volume spikes, adjusting during slower times, and changing direction on the fly. One size does not fit all. Each customer has a different set of needs and a different set of values, so World Connection tailors their services to meet clients’ individual needs, not only in staffing, but also in providing resources for proof-of-concept pilots. They strive to be agile and learn to adapt and execute quickly on clients’ changing needs.

Continual Focus on Customer Experience – Customer service is an experience and, in the service industry, that experience defines a client’s brand more than any other component or product. There is no finish line to cross or checklist to complete. World Connection works to enhance and continually develop the customer experience. Providers look at KPIs as certificates of achievement. Partners see them as gauges and steppingstones.

Dedication to Process Improvement – As the company learns a client’s business model, values, philosophies, and programs; their experience enables them to provide outside perspective and suggestions that generate opportunities for growth and efficiency. Process improvement, like customer experience, is not an event—it’s an attitude. Processes that are tight and efficient one year might need refinement the next due to technology changes, shifts in corporate focus and services rendered, or unforeseen events. With a constant focus on process improvement, it’s easier to make transitions when circumstances demand change.

 Shared Values – Opportunities for improvement are rooted in transparency and knowledge. Everyone would love to have all the answers, but clients must get an honest assessment accompanied by a commitment to find the solution when they don’t. This straight-forward approach creates trust. No company runs a perfect operation 100 percent of the time. In the absence of perfection, trust is the heart of a true partnership, and trust is built through transparency, accountability, honesty, and humility.

Areas of expertise

World Connection specializes in the contact center, back-office, and business process outsourcing services. They provide customer care, acquisition and retention, sales, tech support, collections, and back-office processing from locations in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Boise, Idaho. They specialize in their ability to develop customer service and sales teams for small, startup companies in both the EU and the U.S. These small companies often feel they are not big enough, experienced enough, or advanced enough to work with or need a BPO. Or they don’t know how to work with one or where to start. That’s where World Connection is different. They come in to advise and do the heavy lifting wherever needed; for example, some companies do not have a formalized training program, and World Connection has helped develop curriculum in collaboration with clients. Others won’t have historical data, developed volume forecasts, or established call flow. World Connection has helped with all of it.

Given the unique nature of startups, World Connection has the ability to adapt to their needs as their business needs change. This requires building a collaborative relationship and providing feedback and insights to grow the client’s operations, especially for startups. Given the diversity of their team, they are creative and knowledgeable in finding solutions and opportunities, and this serves them well when working with startup companies of all sizes. Organizations have access to the tenure and experience of the leadership team at all levels, including the executives, who are very involved in the operations.

Approach towards employee base

World Connection believes that their people are their most significant assets. They believe the reason their people deliver such great experiences for customers is because they treat them the right way. Most people don’t leave a job; they leave an employer. World Connection makes sure that the work environment is healthy enough. They know their employees well, talk about their families, interests, aspiration, etc. They run employee appreciation and engagement programs.

The company promotes after-hour events; educates their employees on benefits and compensation packages. They see their employees in a holistic manner and care for them, not only professionally but personally, with an interest in their health and well-being. The result is an employee base that serves the clients and interacts with them in the same caring; compassionate way the company treats them.

About the CEO

Hui Wu-Curtis is the President and CEO of World Connection. She has two decades of leadership experience in key senior management roles for companies spanning verticals in finance, telecommunication, healthcare, hospitality, and utilities. She joined World Connection in January 2020, coming from Arizona Public Service (APS), where she was the GM of Customer Operations and Strategy. Prior to APS, Hui had global responsibility for customer care and servicing at Choice Hotels International, supporting over 7,000 franchised hotels operating in 40 countries and territories.

Prior to transitioning to the BPO industry, Hui had always been on the client-side, working with numerous outsourcing partners across the globe. She was named in 2020 Top 100 Business Leaders magazine, as a 2020 Nearshore America’s Top 20 Social Media Influencer, and as CCW 2017 Customer Experience Leader of the Year. Also, Hui has published several articles on leveraging data analytics and insight to drive innovation in customer service delivery and support.

“World Connection outperformed the NPS scores of our 10-year partner in their first month of operation. We increased their headcount from a 20-person pilot to 120 agents in under 3 months. They are now our MAC Center of Excellence and are our sole partner with over 400 agents,” General Manager, Financial Software Client.

“In my 20+ years, this was by far, hands-down, the smoothest onboarding I have ever had. I am very pleased with how things are going and impressed with the entire team at World Connection,” VP of Customer Experience, Retail Client.”