An Operations Manager’s Perspective of Outsourcing – With Derline Perez of SixEleven BPO

In this week’s podcast episode, Derek Gallimore spoke to Derline Perez.  Derline is an Operations Manager at SixEleven BPO, an outsourcing firm based in Davao, Philippines. 

The conversation begins with a focus on back-office operations and how it contribute to business success in the outsourcing industry. They also explore the benefits of such operations and their increasing significance in the outsourcing landscape.

About SixEleven BPO

SixEleven BPO has been in the outsourcing industry for 17 years, with 3500 workforce spread across foresight.  

Derline shared how SixEleven BPO integrates into the local landscape of a particular city.  “Davao is pretty much more laid back right now compared to Luzon. The talent pool in Davao is still really good.

SixEleven was built as a homey environment. That’s why many employees probably stayed long in SixEleven rather than hopping around with BPO companies,” she explained.

Derline took pride in the company’s employee retention rates, as she is an example. Derline has been with the company for around 14 years, starting as a customer service representative and gradually being promoted.

She also pointed out that key executives at SixEleven have been there for a long time.

“Our COO and our CSO have been here for 16 years already in the company… Most of our employees have been with us for more than five years,” 

Outsourcing over the last 10 years

Derline discussed how outsourcing has changed over the last ten years. Initially, businesses mainly outsourced telemarketing, outbound sales, and customer service tasks. 

But now, there’s a notable change focusing on diversifying services, especially by outsourcing back-office operations.

“As we innovate and diversify our services, most companies are looking at outsourcing back offices, like HR management, payroll inventories, billing, administrative tasks, and even workforce management.”

She firmly believes that businesses highly value the back office because it brings huge advantages and can save costs.

Revolutionizing back-office operations

Derline reflected on the transformation in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), particularly SixEleven’s experience providing back-office services for five years, primarily with large corporations.

“We already established a process to help streamline our client’s business operations.

The key lies in understanding our partner’s needs and suggesting how we can streamline the process, especially with talent acquisitions.”

The guest described their process. “First, I understand the needs of our clients. I am very hands-on in having many meetings to comprehend the deliverables required. After understanding the BPO requirements, we suggest the best strategy to ensure efficiency.

“They provide us the KPI, and then we suggest many of the best practices we have in streamlining the process for their back end.”

She described her responsibility in overseeing a significant set of back-office tasks. To handle these effectively, she organized her team into three departments, each responsible for managing different aspects.

“I divided the team into three departments. First, there’s recruitment and talent acquisition, where we handle client job applications, approving or rejecting applicants. Then, there’s the department focusing on onboarding and workforce management.”

“The second department primarily deals with billing. We handle payroll, inventories, quotations for taxes or insurance, and prepare invoices.

Finally, the third department, partner acquisitions, is dedicated to sourcing talent for our clients.”

SixEleven BPO pricing structure

In terms of pricing, Derline highlighted a significant advantage of outsourcing back-office tasks to a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company like SixEleven. 

“For the price, that’s the big advantage I can see if they outsource back office in a BPO.

We don’t hire professionals, let’s say, an accountant who requires a huge salary. In SixEleven, we have a base rate for all employees, regardless of their department—back office, customer service, or marketing. This base rate is very competitive for the client.”

“They are just paying an agent rate to SixEleven to execute tasks that require expertise.”

For further information about SixEleven BPO, you may visit their website at: https://www.sixelevenbpo.com/