InvesTT brings together local and foreign investors within the BPO industry.

InvesTT brings together local and foreign investors within the BPO industry.

InvesTT, in its role as the national investment promotion agency recently facilitated the formation of a partnership between Customer Acquisition Group (CAG) and locally owned contact center DirecOne for the establishment of a 30-seat pilot project in the outsourcing industry. 

CAG, with headquarters in Daytona, Florida will use Trinidad and Tobago as its base for a telemarketing campaign commissioned by their customers in the deregulated energy industries in the USA.  The business process outsourcing (BPO) company has entered into a joint venture with DirecOne to hire 30 local employees in the first instance to carry out the campaign, with plans to increase to 125 agents within the first year of the project.

Michael Austin, CAG’s founder attributed his successful discovery of Trinidad and Tobago’s location advantages in part to InvesTT’s country marketing - “I conducted an extensive online search for the right hurricane-free nearshore destination for my project and found InvesTT’s website through Google. Another Caribbean island was also shortlisted but I found that the weather pattern in Trinidad and Tobago and the quality of labour were far better.” 

(In photo left to right: Michael Austin and local Omari Felix, Asst. General Manager - DirecOne, in downtown Port of Spain, Trinidad)

The BPO expert highlighted the country’s location below the hurricane belt to be a better security advantage for his business as well as lower labour costs and an attractive local accent as critical factors in his telemarketing campaign. A developed digital infrastructure was also a key contributor to his decision to choose Trinidad and Tobago. 

The investment contributes to national economic growth through job creation, skills training and foreign exchange and is by far one of the quickest investment closures we’ve had to date. We met CAG in November 2021, introduced the company to DirecOne and within a month the contract between the foreign and local parties was signed and they began hiring and training an all-local staff. The telemarketing campaign was launched during the first working week in January.
Sekou Alleyne, President, InvesTT

BPO companies have been eyeing Trinidad and Tobago for some of the same location advantages highlighted by Austin, regardless of the pandemic situation. During InvesTT’s virtual Trinidad and Tobago Investment Forum held in November 2021, Peter Gillette, Chairman of the Gillette Group which owns DirecOne lauded the country’s high broadband penetration per household (over 86%), emphasizing that this connectivity brought about major advantages for DirecOne when the company had to swiftly pivot to a work-from-home environment.

Photo: Michael Austin (left), Sekou Alleyne (centre), Peter Gillette (right) and their teams discuss the pilot project together.

DirecOne is proud to be partnered with CAG in the exciting field of deregulated energy. CAG brings professionalism and expertise in the US markets which, combined with DirecOne’s longstanding experience in B2C interactions, is a winning combination for the venture. InvesTT has been instrumental in facilitating this investment in record time.  Their targeted digital marketing strategies are beginning to bear fruit in creating interest and inward investment flows in Trinidad & Tobago.
Peter Gillette, Chairman, Gillette Group

InvesTT played a critical role throughout the project, the top 3 key functions being:

  • Provision of all information required to assess Trinidad & Tobago as a viable BPO investment destination.
  • Introduction to local BPO investment partner which formed a key part of CAG’s market entry strategy.
  • Investor site visit support.

Customer Acquisition Group (CAG) is a US based BPO Company with over 250 contact center agents spread throughout five office locations in Florida, Colombia and Belize. Their services include: Marketing, Outbound Sales, Verifications and Customer Care.

DirecOne is a local Omni-channel Contact Center with over 20 years of experience providing integrated customer experiences and management solutions to international clientele. 

(Photo: Omari Felix, Asst. General Manager, DirecOne)

For more information on Trinidad and Tobago as an emerging BPO destination, please contact us today - info@investt.co.tt