Call center training firm targets 'next-wave' cities
By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:04:00 07/06/2008
Filed Under: Retraining, Adult Education, business process outsourcing (BPO)
MANILA, Philippines--Excel Asia is setting up offices in "next-wave" cities like Baguio and Bacolod aligning itself with expansion efforts of its clients.
Excel Asia provides training and recruitment services for customers in the call center industry. It started in Cebu in 2005 and expanded in Metro Manila a year later.
The company currently has around 40 regular call center customers, according to its president Rita Trillo-Ugarte.
Aside from training agents sent by call centers, the company also accepts applicants, mostly college graduates who undergo their two-week training course for free. Â Â
The training provided by Excel Asia increases the graduates' chances of getting accepted by call centers, instead of them applying directly, according to Ugarte.
"We somehow bridge the gap between students who need employment and these call center companies who want to hire qualified people," Ugarte said in an interview with INQUIRER.net.
On the average, the company trains around 500 people at any given time in its offices in Makati and Cebu.
"We actually have more customers that we supply agents to than those who send us agents for training," Ugarte said.
She believes there are large untapped markets of potential agents in places like Baguio and Bacolod. "We are trying to get into all of these next-wave cities that our customers are expanding into," she added. Â
Excel Asia also provides executive search and business consulting services for call centers. Ugarte added her company has plans of expanding this line of business overseas, mentioning China and Hong Kong.
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