TPL is back from Boston; the IRCE was an invaluable opportunity to meet with our clients, make new connections and of course, catch a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. (We were lucky enough to see the Sox win 6-1 against the Marlins, in their 500th straight sellout game at Fenway!)
At the IRCE, we encountered a wide spectrum of vendors, from companies who were still considering outsourcing their business processes, to more experienced companies who were exploring additional outsourcing opportunities.
Some of our biggest clients use additional outsourcing providers along with TPL; it’s a strategic approach, akin to diversifying your portfolio or avoiding putting all your eggs in one basket. PC World recently published an article on outsourcing to multiple providers at once, citing U.S.-based Hanover Insurance as an example.
As companies grow savvier about outsourcing, they’re choosing to parcel out their work based on the specialties of different providers. Hanover Insurance outsources to no less than 3 countries: India for mainframe work, Canada for research and development, and China for both application interface design and its ability to quickly scale the number of workers for a given project.
Companies are now transitioning from evaluating what areas they can outsource to looking at which outsourcing providers would best suit their needs. This trend indicates a shift from viewing outsourcing providers as mere cost-cutting measures. Now, outsourcing providers are being considered for their potential as long-term partners with specific areas of expertise. We find this interesting because TPL has made “focusing on what you do best” a core part of its business philosophy from day one. By choosing to concentrate on data entry services, TPL can confidently offer our clients world-class expertise and service (but don’t take our word for it; our clients have plenty to say.)
Filed under: Conferences & Exhibitions
The anticipation is building to intense levels at TPL; we can’t believe the Boston IRCE is just a week away!
Here’s a sneak preview at the banners for our booth:
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Filed under: Conferences & Exhibitions
Mark your calendars for June 15-18,2009. In a little over a month, TPL will be flying out from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Boston, Massachusetts.
We’ll be exhibiting at the Internet Retailer 2009 Conference and Exhibition (IRCE ’09). It’s the largest e-commerce conference in the U.S., with big names like Amazon, Google, Zappos.com, and everyone in between. TPL went to the IRCE in Chicago last year and made a lot of great contacts, and we’re looking to do the same this June.
Of course, since we’ll be in Boston, we’re hoping to catch a Red Sox game at Fenway! (We hear the Sox are on a hot streak.)
We’ll be at booth 225, so make sure to stop by and say hi! Check out where we are:
<a href="http://www.internetretailer.com/show/ec-irce09/EC/forms/attendee/index.aspx?content=vbooth&id=265&loadTopNav=false
(Trying copying and pasting into the address bar if you run into any problems.)
Filed under: Advantages/Disadvantages of Outsourcing/BPO, Clients, Conferences & Exhibitions
We’re back in Vietnam after a great trip to Chicago for the IRCE trade show (see previous entry below). We spent a day exploring the city, a day setting up, and 3 days on the floor talking to IRCE attendees about our BPO solutions.
On the floor, we met representatives from all types of internet retailers: start-up to established, B2B to B2C, family-run to public corporations – selling a vast array of products, from nail salon supplies, sports equipment, glass tiles, shoes, military uniforms, and so much more!
The IRCE 2008 Exhibit Hall Floor
This being our first trade show, it was really interesting to see the diversity of businesses represented and their range in openness to BPO. Many of the attendees we talked to seemed thoroughly interested in what we offer: BPO solutions that save their businesses time and money and unload repetitive processes and management burden. Others were already outsourcing: mostly to India and a couple to Eastern Europe and South America.
Others weren’t so convinced: common objections included: “We’re too small” or “We prefer to do it all in-house.” Of course, we know that outsourcing can be a foreign concept to many (no pun intended!) and we’ve got firm rebuttals for all these objections which we’ll get into in another entry.
Overall, the show was a great success for us, bringing in over 100 new leads. Since last Thursday, we’ve been following up on our strongest leads and have already been given sample projects to work on for review by prospective clients. It’s exciting, indeed. More to come on these developments in the future.
The launch of this blog is timed with the launch of our new website – and our first big marketing push in the US, where most of our clients are based. That’s going to be taking place next Monday-Thursday at the 4th annual Internet Retailer and Conference Exhibition (IRCE) in Chicago, Illinois.
Four of us will be catching a 20-hour flight this Friday morning out of Ho Chi Minh City’s airport. We’ll be attending the IRCE show as exhibitors, and manning the TPL booth at the IRCE exhibition hall, along with hundreds of other internet retailer solutions providers.
(Included in our group is one young Vietnamese staff by the name of Thu. She’s been with us for over three years and now serves as one of two staff supervisors. Thu’s never left the country before, so you can imagine how excited she is – and how excited we are for her! )
We’ve been preparing for this huge show over the past several months. Our goal at IRCE is to increase awareness about TPL, specifically for internet retailers. And, as we’ve been working with several internet retailers already – taking over business processes such as photo editing, order processing, and product listings – we know we can make a really strong case for our BPO services.
Stay tuned for a post from the exhibition floor!
