Call center firm eyes expansion with new owner

“We will immediately focus on expanding our range of services, providing an even greater operational strength, from technological solutions to performance solutions, and enabling our existing clients to grow their customer base as cost-effectively as possible,” said Jonathan M. Lee, now country manager of Transcom Hungary-Marketlink Kft.
The backing of Transcom will also lead to new lines of business being created, according to Lee.
“We’ll pursue a very aggressive growth plan and initiate new strategies, such as being an effective ‘near-shore’ gateway to help multinationals that want to offer services in Hungary,” he said.
Lee explained that Transcom Hungary could help foreign companies gain a foothold in Hungary without taking a large amount of risk.
“If we can help companies that are hesitating about coming into Hungary to aggressively expand and win customers, by mitigating risks and lowering start-up costs, that gives us another opportunity,” he said.
He added that with the power and global reach of Nasdaq and Stockholm Stock Exchange-listed Transcom WorldWide behind it, Transcom Hungary will be able to boost services to its existing clientele, with more emphasis on excellence in CRM and customer support.
Lee also said Transcom Hungary will be better positioned to attract “near-shore” outsourcing CRM deals for companies that outsource to call centers in other countries.
“Offshore outsourcing has become such a dirty word. There’s a danger in putting CRM operations too far away from your headquarters,” he said.
While Transcom Hungary does not have the scale to compete with call center operators in India and the Philippines, it does have an edge in quality, according to Lee.
“Working under Transcom’s umbrella, and with Hungary firmly in the EU, we can more easily offer services on a par with the highest-level markets, even superior,” he asserted.
He added that it is often easier for European and American firms to sell with a European-minded operation.

Making footprints

Transcom is paying €2 million in cash for Marketlink, with the purchase funded out of existing cash, announced Transcom.
Lee, who founded Marketlink in late 1996, sold the company along with a private Hungarian investment firm that held a minority stake.
Revenues for 2003 were over €2 million, with 50% growth expected for 2004, said Lee.
Marketlink currently operates in a facility with more than 100 workstations and has approximately 200 employees, serving 14 countries in 12 languages.
“We’d like to grow the workforce by anywhere from 30% to 40% on an annual basis,” said Lee, without ruling out possible add-on acquisitions by Transcom.
“If there’s an interesting company, we’d look at them and we’d also consider horizontal integration,” he said.
Currently, 80% of Marketlink’s business comes from Hungarian clients, with 20% from abroad, a balance that Lee said is likely to be maintained.
For its part, Transcom has more than 8,500 customer care professionals, delivering services in 40 languages to over 85 clients in 21 countries, with 38 service centers across Europe.
“This is an important acquisition for Transcom, as it gives us immediate access to one of the fastest-growing markets for CRM services in Europe,” said Keith Russell, CEO of Transcom WorldWide. “It demonstrates our clear strategy of increased footprint through geographic expansion and the growth of new business revenues.”
The company was founded in Sweden and is headquartered in Barcelona.
Marketlink is the leading outsourced customer contact and call center solutions provider operating out of Budapest, according to a Transcom press release.
One of the first players operating CRM and call center solutions in this region, Marketlink has managed projects on behalf of a wide array of multinational corporations in industries including financial services, technology, healthcare and the FMCG sector, said Lee.
“Marketlink’s focus has always been on enabling its clients to aggressively expand within Hungary and provide cost-effective, pan-European initiatives,” he said.
Lee noted that the vast majority of Marketlink employees spend more than two and a half years at the company.
“We’ve followed a policy of promoting from within, employing a mix of ages and deploying a unique reward scheme,” said Lee.


by Robert Smyth

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