It is the only Latin American country included in the list of
the world's 22 older democracies. The country is ranked third in
the world, and first among the Americas, in terms of the 2010
Environmental Performance Index. Christianity is the predominant
religion, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion
according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time
guarantees freedom of religion. Population: As of 2010, Costa Rica
has an estimated population of 4,640,000.[70] Whites and mestizos
make up 94% of the population, whites being 80% and mestizos
14%,[71] while 3% are Black, or Afro-Caribbean, 1% Native American,
1% Chinese, and 1% other Language: The primary language spoken in
Costa Rica is Spanish. Some native languages are still spoken in
indigenous reservations. The most numerically important are the
Bribri, Malku, Cabcar and Ngbere languages, some of which have
several thousand speakers in Costa Rica others a few hundred. About
10.7% of Costa Rica's adult population (18 or older) also speaks
English, 0.7% French, and 0.3% speaks Portuguese or German as a
second language. Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica
is a country in Central America. It is located on the Central
American isthmus, lying between latitudes 8 and 12N, and longitudes
82 and 86W. It borders the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the
Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 kilometers (800
mi) of coastline, 212 km (132 mi) on the Caribbean coast and 1,016
km (631 mi) on the Pacific. General Information
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Costa Rica is in lower Central America, between Nicaragua and
Panama (10 degrees north of the equator) 43% of population are
between the ages of 15 and 40 years old Over a third of the
population lives in San Jose (the capital city) A large, highly
skilled labor pool of 2.05 million people with an unemployment rate
of 7.3% (estimated to July 2010) Home to IBM, Microsoft, Procter
& Gamble, Hewlett Packard and Intel outsourcing call centers
Education 95 technical schools and 60 universities The National
Training Institute (INA) offers free technical training Government
commitment to the environment25% of its land is protected territory
Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet 6%
of the world's biodiversity Volcanoes, cloud forests, rainforests,
dry forests, beaches 10,000 species of plants, 800 species of
butterflies, 500 species of mammals, and 850 species of birds 28
national parks, preserves, conservation areas, and refuges
Facts
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Close proximity to North America Politically stable Established
infrastructure 95% literacy rateOver 9,300 educational
institutions; public education is free and mandatory Tax laws
favorable to international companies looking to invest Expected
implementation of a free trade agreement with the U.S. and related
laws that are opening up the economy to more competition Every day,
there are approximately 30 different passenger flights from Costa
Rica to the US and Canada Telecommunications Redundant fiber optic
submarine cables Satellite and terrestrial microwave network in
place to meet the demand of and lines, mobile and Internet services
New multinational suppliers are entering the market, providing
private networks, Internet and mobile phone services 93% of
electricity is generated from renewable sources (hydroelectric,
Electricity, geothermal and wind) Key Factors
Slide 5
Slide 6
Richard Blank CEO of CCC in Costa Rica. Acts as Site Director
and takes on the role of trainer as required. A U.S. citizen and a
permanent resident in Costa Rica. Successfully trained over 6000
bilingual telemarketers over the years. Grace Blank Co-owner and HR
Leader of CCC. Personally screens all the candidates. A Costa Rica
native with over 10 years of contact center experience. Value
Proposition
Slide 7
Human Resources Professional staff with extensive call center
experience Consultation and support with industry experts local to
Costa Rica team members Security, Criminal and Reference checks
Coaching and leadership development support Payroll, benefits and
taxes Incentive engagement Average Agent Tenure = 1.3 years
Recruiting Weekly advertisements in San Jose Newspapers promoting
on site Job Fairs Online and Social Media advertising Resume
collection and screening 100 resumes 65 are interviews scheduled
1st interviews 10 proceed to 2nd interview and testing Testing
Tools Written and speaking skills, data entry, computer skills All
agents hired are bilingual English and Spanish All agents hired
have call center or service oriented experience; proficient with
computers; and are well acclimated with Western culture Value
Proposition
Slide 8
Leadership Development SMART Coaching methodology will be
instituted to ensure consistency Internal Promotions and Cross
Skilling talent Training Initial New Hire training will be T3 and
conducted by experienced Trainer The Costa Rica Call Center team
provides initial assessments and ongoing support ESP Early System
Programming The Psychology of Selling phone skills Phonetics
Scripting Practice and suggestions for modification and improvement
Personal development self-esteem and confidence Quality
Transactional requirements, remote and side by side Coaching, role
playing and recording playback FCR and CSAT focused ESAT to ensure
positive movement and experience for the customer
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Value Proposition Operational Excellence People First
Philosophy that both the customer and the agent come first Cross
Site coordination with Client, Account Management and Operations
Metrics that Matter systematic management and Performance
improvement plans developed by Team and Agent via SMART coaching
and planning Focus Groups Scorecard Driven reporting Quality driven
Analytics Staffing and Scheduling CCC Team dedicated The existing
CCC staffing intelligence based on business need will be leveraged
and schedules implemented accordingly Cross site staffing support
will continue The team in Costa Rica are all full time employees
Night shift premium and overtime regulations will apply All agents
are salaried as per Costa Rica Labor law
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Value Proposition Retention Open door policy and access to all
levels of leadership daily Location Benefits Employee Satisfaction
and Events Incentives Client decides reward based on program and
business need All Labor laws and customary policies followed and
paid Non-monetary reward based on employee need and identification
Attrition Monthly = 2 agents Annualized = 8 agents Top 3 reasons
for leaving = Schedules, personal matters and health problems
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Highlights 24 hour local armed security guards at main entrance
All admission must be cleared by security, approved by management
and access level established A dozen surveillance cameras with
recorded movements High tech alarm system; ability to totally
monitor and configure over the Internet from anywhere in the world
Fully secure workstation area No cell phones, iPods, flash keys,
cameras, bags
Slide 12
Costa Ricas Call Center counts with 2 ISPs to ensure connection
reliability Servers are duplicated to protect the data and any
production functions locally. This information is securely backed
up online in case of emergency. The server room and network
equipment is connected to centralized UPS to make sure the
operations can continue in case of power failure The system at the
same time is connected to a diesel generator that can support the
most important functions of the call center and it can be refilled
while functioning.
Slide 13
Value Proposition Experienced contact center agents High levels
of English/Spanish bilingualism, minimal Spanish accent Boutique
environment, caters to individual client needs Personal attention,
ownership, and accountability Central location; walking distance to
homes; on the public transit route Solid history of successful
banking/financial programs to complement clients businesses in all
geographies Proven agent retention strategiesBenefits, paid
vacation, and incentives An HR consultant on retainer to ensure
strict adherence to local and international labor standards and to
support government audits 140 seats available 25 French seats