Business process outsourcing (BPO) provider iContact has expanded its contact centre operations to a Houghton-based office, in Gauteng, as the company looks set for a record year of business enquiries and deals.

The company specialises in inbound and outbound customer service and sales, financial services support, customer retention and loyalty management, lead generation and back-office fulfilment predominantly for international business clients based in the US, UK, Europe and Australia.

iContact, which is part of the Alefbet Holdings group that owns numerous customer service and collections BPO providers, says its investment into South Africa’s burgeoning BPO sector is a continued strategic development for the company.

The launch of iContact’s new Houghton contact centre brings with it 100 new agents, largely driven by demand from business in the US.

According to South Africa’s 'National Global Business Services (GBS) Quantification and Investment Report 2021/22', which is published by Business Process Enabling South Africa, the local BPO sector has enjoyed rapid growth, with an average 25% compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2021.

The sector is becoming a major global outsourcing and offshoring contender, particularly in the English voice-based sourcing markets.

The surge in international business enquiries and deals closed by iContact BPO in the first half of this year show no signs of abating, and the niche BPO provider looks set for a record year.

“Demand for our BPO services from international businesses, notably in the US and Canada, has been on a sharp upward trajectory. Having our operations geographically placed between Johannesburg (Houghton and Randburg), as well as Cape Town, presents a real win for our client base across diverse industry sectors, and a distinct competitive advantage for our business,” says iContact CEO Clinton Cohen.

He adds that the combination of strategic locations, advanced business intelligence tools, data analytics capabilities, skilled leadership and a large, educated skills pool present the global customers of the company with an “unrivalled value proposition”.

Cohen says South Africa’s GBS industry relies on focused and meaningful government support and the continued active lobbying of industry bodies such as Business Process Enabling South Africa and Cape BPO to showcase South Africa to the world.

“The business growth of South Africa’s BPO sector is underpinned by delivering strong offshoring fundamentals, bringing together the best of economics, quality BPO services, rapid scale, high service levels, socially responsible supply chains, policy certainty and industry-specific training and education programmes.

“It has never been more crucial for South Africa’s BPO industry, government and labour to work collaboratively and strategically to realise the full investment potential that BPO holds for our country.”