Teledirect Telecommerce

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Teledirect Telecommerce is a business process outsourcing company that started as a call center in Singapore and now has locations in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. The company provides businesses with outsourced services in sales, technical support, customer service, and staff training. Laurent Junique started the business in 1995.

History

Teledirect Telecommerce started out as a single call center in Singapore in 1995. It was founded by Laurent Junique, a 29-year-old from France who had previously worked for Unilever. According to The Edge, Junique went to Asia with little more than a suitcase, enough money for basic living expenses, and an ambition to own his own company—a call center that would employ outsourced workers in handling phone calls, faxes and email. "Singapore was a safe and relatively cheap place to start out and everyone spoke English. That's why I took the chance," said Junique. The new call center's first client was an American credit card company with operations in Singapore. Junique reports that he started the business with very little capital and "taking things one step at a time."

In 1996, the WPP Group acquired a forty percent share of the company to which Junique attributes Teledirect's subsequent expansion. Junique then expanded to Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, A Vancouver Sun article credits Teledirect Telecommerce with pioneering the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Malaysia. In 2006, Junique participated in a round table discussion of the future of BPO in Malaysia organized by Business Times and Avec Communications. In the same year, he received a career achievement award from the Call Center Association of Malaysia, and he was, informally, a spokesperson for the Outsourcing Malaysia consortium. The company continued to grow in the late 2000s, despite economic hardships in Asia. In 2007, more employees were hired and Junique predicted a thirty percent increase in profits in 2007.

Operations

Teledirect operates both business process outsourcing and shared services outsourcing. The company specializes in rapidly accelerating its clients' sales as well as providing staff training, customer service, and technical support. Clients include internet companies, banking groups, airlines, luxury brands, information technology and telecommunications companies. A majority percentage of Teledirect's employees are hired from the immediate community and up to thirty percent are highly skilled workers recruited from abroad. Junique encourages his employees to think of their jobs as serious professions and he encourages professionalism by putting employees up for industry awards every year. Teledirect trains its employees in the values of initiative, teamwork, creativity, and integrity.

In 2006, Teledirect Telecommerce developed and announced the launch of Telesmart, a proprietary contact management software. Junique told the New Straits Times that the new software would increase the efficiency of Teledirect's contact center operations and help customers to generate faster business revenues.

Corporate Affairs

Teledirect Telecommerce was the first outsourced call-center in Singapore. In 2007, Teledirect Telecommerce partnered with JobStreet.com to provide jobs in business processes outsourcing to recent university graduates. A spokesperson for Teledirect said the partnership was part of an ongoing effort to improve standards in the call center industry and position it as a profession with good income and promotion potential.

In 2008, Teledirect launched Teledirect Consulting. A company spokesperson said that the business expected that ten to fifteen percent of its profits would come from the new unit beginning as soon as the next year. Teledirect Consulting advises banks on distribution of products like credit cards, mutual funds, home loans, and balance transfers as well as providing basic financial planning and income protection advice for individuals. "We believe that it should be for the man on the street. Telemarketing will deliver that vision to bring financial planning to the masses," Junique said.

Awards

Teledirect Telecommerce has numerous award from the Global Association for Call Center and Customer Engagement Best Practices:

Best Contact Centre (Outsourced) in Asia Pacific 250+ Agents - 1 Gold Award, Singapore, 2011
Best Contact Centre Manager of the Year Above 100 Seats - 1 Gold Award, Singapore, 2011
Best Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year Above 100 Seats - 1 Gold & 1 Bronze Award, Singapore, 2011
Best Contact Centre Champion of the Year Above 100 Seats - 1 Gold Award, Singapore, 2011
Best Customer Service Professional of the Year Above 100 Seats - 2 Gold Awards, Singapore, 2011
The Best 100 Global Service Providers, 2010
Best Contact Centre in Asia Pacific 250+ Agents – 1 Silver Medal, Singapore, 2009
Best Outsource Contact Centre of the Year – 1 Gold Award, Singapore, 2009
The Best 100 Global Service Providers, 2009
The Best 100 Global Service Providers, 2008
Outbound Contact Centre of the Year (Outsources) - 1 Silver Award, Hong Kong, 2007
Outsourced Contact Centre of the Year – 1 Bronze Award, Singapore, 2006
Outsourced Contact Centre of the Year (Under 100 seats) – 1 Gold Award, Hong Kong, 2006
Career Achievement Award – 1 Gold Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best New Contact Centre – 1 Gold & 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Outsourced Contact Centre (Below 50 seats) – 1 Gold Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Outsourced Contact Centre (Over 50 seats) – 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Manager (Above 50 seats) – 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Manager (Below 50 seats) – 1 Silver & 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Support Professional (Above 50 seats) – 1 Gold Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Team Leader (Below 50 seats) – 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Professional (Outsourced) (Above 50 seats) – 1 Silver Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Professional (Outsourced) (Below 50 seats) – 1 Gold & 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2006
Best Contact Centre Telemarketing Professional – 1 Silver Award, Malaysia, 2006
Regional Outsourced Call Centre of the Year – 1 Silver Award, 2005
Regional Call Centre Manager of the Year – 1 Silver Award, 2005
Outsourced Call Centre of the Year – 1 Gold Award, Singapore, 2005
Outsourced Contact Centre of the Year (Under 100 seats) – 1 Silver Award, Hong Kong, 2005
New Contact Centre of the Year – 1 Silver Award, Hong Kong, 2005
Best Outsourced Contact Centre (Below 50 seats) – 1 Silver Award, Malaysia, 2005
Best Outsourced Contact Centre Professional (Below 50 seats) – 3 Gold Awards, Malaysia, 2005
Best Outsourced Contact Centre Professional (Above 50 seats) – 3 Gold Awards, Malaysia, 2005
Best Contact Centre Team Leader (Below 50 seats) – 1 Gold &1 Silver Award, Malaysia, 2005
Best Contact Centre Manager (Above 50 seats) – 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2005
Best Contact Centre Champion (Above 50 seats) – 1 Bronze Award, Malaysia, 2005
Best Telemarketing Centre 1st Place, Malaysia, 2004
Best Contact Centre (above 50 seats) – 1st Runner Up, Malaysia, 2004
Best Contact Centre Manager (below 50 seats) 1st Place, Malaysia, 2004
Best Contact Centre Agent (below 50 seats) 1st Place, 2 Awards, Malaysia, 2004