— Submitted by: Kevin Lightfoot, Vice President, External Communications, ACS, A Xerox Company
I know it’s a cliché but in this case it works. The announcement today that ACS inked a four-year deal with 3 Italia shows how a plan can, indeed, come together when all the pieces fall into place.
Almost two years ago, ACS announced it was acquiring Grupo Multivoice out of Cordoba, Argentina. The addition of Multivoice’s centers here and in Santiago, Bogota, and Lima, Peru added almost 6,000 agents who could take customer calls in Spanish, English, and yes, Italian. ACS already had an impressive reach of customer care centers around the world – in fact, the company now has about 35,000 employees in 150 centers around the world, answering calls in 20 different languages.
But the 3 Italia deal really shows how the world is flattening out. Here you have an American company, signing a contract with an Italian corporation being served from Argentina. This trinity shows how business has really gone global. When the acquisition was announced, Tom Blodgett who now serves as ACS’ chief operating officer said Multivoice’s wealth of local talent will expand its global capabilities. A close examination of the cultural background and language skills our agents in Argentina showed strong ties to Italy with strong language skills.
Meanwhile, ACS’ sales teams had been spreading the world about he company’s capabilities throughout Europe – and in Italy they found a major telecomm in need of call center expertise. 3 Italia was looking for a company that had deep expertise in customer loyalty programs to serve their 34 million customers. After several conversations, it was decided that an American company with operations in Argentina could help an Italian corporation.
Now that is how a plan comes together.
— Kevin Lightfoot, Vice President, External Communications, ACS, A Xerox Company
