Case Study 3

Minacs Worldwide Inc.—A Dream Come True

Communication in Process

It’s the entrepreneurial dream—to grow a small business into a worldwide corporation. Minacs has made that dream come true, thanks to the company founder, Elaine Minacs.

Starting as a four-person temporary staffing agency established in 1981 in Pickering, Ontario, Minacs Worldwide Inc. now employs more than 5000 people in 44 locations in Canada, the United States, and Europe and is traded publicly on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Along the way, Elaine Minacs was ranked among the top three of the top 100 Women Business Owners by Profit magazine and was a recipient of the Canadian Professional Sales Association Hall of Fame, Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Toronto YWCA’s Woman of Distinction awards.

The company was listed in the Profit 100 (the fastest growing companies in Canada) in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 and named a General Motors Supplier of the Year in 2002, with the distinction of being the only recipient from the customer service industry. Bo Andersson, vice president, GM Worldwide Purchasing Production Control & Logistics, said, “Minacs is representative of the companies GM expects to grow with us as we seek to increase market share. They serve as a role model for other suppliers.”

Minacs has garnered several other significant awards including:

• Fortune magazine’s “2005 Global Outsourcing 100”

• Top Exporter and Top Employer 2005, as determined by PROFIT W100

• Deloitte Technology Fast 500, 2003—recognizing the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in the United States and Canada

Minacs Worldwide Inc. is a leader in business process outsourcing (BPO) services, and its clients include a number of global Fortune 500 companies. The company has established successful and deep relationships with clients in the automotive, financial services, technology, telecommunications, and public sectors. BPO is a “customer-focused strategy that boosts customer loyalty and profitability.” It involves a number of elements that help companies better understand their customers’ needs. This knowledge allows companies to improve product and service offerings to optimize the customer experience and build lasting relationships.

The services Minacs offers to customers such as General Motors, OnStar, the Ford Motor Company, and the American Honda Motor Company include inbound services such as customer care, technical support, complaint tracking, and equipment sales; outbound services such as customer acquisition, loyalty programs, welcome calling, and customer surveys; e-channels/self-service such as Web site design, development, and hosting, interactive voice response, e-mail and Web communications, and e-business support. In addition, the company offers data mining where experts analyze client databases and collect intelligence about customers and prospects from service records, warranty reports, and sales data.

Employees at Minacs understand that today’s customers demand when and how they communicate with service and product providers. BPO provides customers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it: via phone, fax, e-mail, or Web chat. Minacs offers its clients a flexible platform to support their BPO initiatives while minimizing the capital costs associated with creating their own infrastructure. This enables clients to concentrate on their core business and customer-facing strategies, while Minacs delivers on its promise of improved customer value, satisfaction, profitability, and retention.

Alysson Caskie, a company spokesperson, said Minacs is a growing company in a very strong market.

Critical Thinking

• What do you think really influences long-term customer retention and loyalty? Products? Promotions?

• How could feedback from call centre representatives be helpful to organizations?

• In what ways is listening to customers similar to listening to friends and colleagues?

Process in Progress

Minacs Worldwide Inc. Revisited

Minacs employs more than 5000 people worldwide, including 1700 at its state-of-the-art customer contact centre in Oshawa, Ontario. This particular centre is reponsible for responding to enrollment requests from dealers and customers from North America. OnStar’s North American customer base, through Minacs, benefits from the proximity, localized geographic knowledge, and bilingual (English and French) language skills of Minacs agents.

Training is a critical component for all employees, and 5 percent of gross revenues are devoted to training. Customer service representatives (CSRs), for example, can expect five weeks of full-time, paid training before they begin their new jobs.

This extensive training prepares CSRs to respond effectively and thoroughly to a wide variety of customer issues, using a computerized information system. CSRs may be taking orders, explaining available services, providing information, or dealing with concerns. Many responses are scripted to ensure consistency with all customers, and often calls will be forwarded to in-company or client third parties for handling. CSRs may also be required to follow up with clients through outbound calling to deliver scripted sales dialogue and to engage in problem solving.

Joining Minacs at the entry level as a CSR is more than just a “foot in the door.” It is often the beginning of a career providing personal and professional growth through promotions and new challenges. More than one third of the company’s current senior-level management staff began their careers as entry-level CSRs with Minacs.

CSRs are also trained to evaluate the need for call escalation and are authorized to forward problem-type calls to a specialist or team leader for resolution or more detailed information. They may also contact internal specialists to obtain clarification or further detail for responding to some questions. Finally, they must be prepared to read and research relevant material and resources to stay current in programs.

Individual compaigns and the overall communication strategy are continously evaluated based on campaign objectives, business objectives, and results. Where appropriate, Minacs provides recommendations to improve program effectiveness, in addition to providing recommendations for staged rollouts of innovations to the overall communication solution.

Critical Thinking

• What listening skills are important in establishing rapport with customers?

• Why are CSRs given scripts to follow?

• How might you respond to a customer who is frustrated and angry? What listening skills are appropriate?

Process to Product

Applying Your Skills at Minacs Worldwide Inc.

One of the areas Minacs specializes in is the automotive industry. “With over 20 years of providing services to the automotive sector, Minacs has a deep understanding of the unique customer relationship needs of this highly competitive industry. As a result, we have the ability to deploy timely, innovative business solutions that produce significant returns on customer loyalty and retention,” said Elaine Minacs.

In February 2003, Minacs announced that it had been selected by American Honda Motor Company Inc. to manage its Service Reminder Program. Minacs provides all marketing support services including program management, information systems, creative, inbound and outbound contact centres, as well as printing and fulfillment services.

This program provides Honda customers with regular service reminders using a variety of media including e-mail, fax, and phone. In addition, the Minacs Dealer Services Group is responsible for maintaining a dealer support centre to manage inquiries and work with dealers to customize their program to meet their customers’ needs. Over 900 dealers throughout North America are currently enrolled in the Service Reminder Program. Staff at the Minacs centres will handle approximately one million mailings on a monthly basis.

Services for this program are provided from Minacs’ facilities in Milwaukee, WI, Farmington Hills, MI, and Costa Mesa, CA.

Your Task

Based on what you learned in this and previous chapters, how can the pointers on listening and nonverbal communication be converted to training for e-mail or Web contacts? Prepare a memo (or e-mail message) describing five or more suggestions for providing effective online customers service. Remember that you will be writing, rather than speaking, to customers.

www.minacs.com