Kirk LaughlinThe appeal of Trinidad & Tobago traveled across the Atlantic and caught the eye of a BPO executive all the way in Scotland.
It’s been less than a year since Scottish BPO firm Ascensos began its incursion into the American nearshore with the launch of a site in Trinidad. While other BPOs would have taken their first step on tried and proven territory within the region, Ascensos has taken the road less traveled.
In the following conversation, Ascensos Co-Founder and CEO John Devlin explains why the company decided to break into the American nearshore through Trinidad. From the island’s bilingual capabilities, to the the candor of its people and the business-focused mindset permeating the territory, Mr. Devlin paints the picture of a country that remains grossly underestimated by the business community at large.
NSAM: Motherwell, Scotland (the HQ for Ascensos) is a long way from Port of Spain, Trinidad. What got you to consider Trinidad in the first place?
John Devlin: After our success setting up offshore and nearshore in South Africa and Romania, we’d been considering where we could expand next. We began looking at the North American market, as we had a number of US-headquartered clients for whom we only looked after their UK and EU operations. We wanted to expand our proposition to look after their North American markets too.
We’d already carried out some research into potential Caribbean and LATAM locations, and we narrowed the country selection down to a handful of places; some that we felt were (and still are) overheated in terms of BPO presence and some that were emerging. That’s what drew us to Trinidad.
It helped that we had good friends with an existing connection in the island. One in particular is both a business advisor and personal friend who has a long-established relationship with Trinidad, with family ties that go back centuries. It was a real bonus to have that depth of insight and knowledge of the country.
NSAM: You seem to be taking the “road less traveled”. A relatively small number of Europe-based CX operators have dipped their toes in the Caribbean. Do you see this as a trend that will accelerate in the near term?
John Devlin: It’s actually a bit of an Ascensos USP to take the road less traveled. It’s in our DNA. Even when we made our first move from Scotland, setting up in England, on the Isle of Wight, it raised a few eyebrows. Likewise with Romania and Turkey. At the time they didn’t spring to mind as obvious nearshore locations.
We narrowed the country selection down to a handful of places; some that we felt were (and still are) overheated in terms of BPO presence and some that were emerging. That’s what drew us to Trinidad.
I get your point about European BPOs in the Americas. But we’re doing something different in Trinidad, which we believe is more appropriate for our purpose and style. It’s very welcoming and inclusive, and there’s a strong synergy between the Ascensos culture and Trinidad itself.
NSAM: What have you found to be the key attractions of Trinidad?
John Devlin: We met with and received positive advice from the Trinidanian government and its agencies, but once we actually got here, that’s when we saw the benefits: strong English language capabilities and a growing capability in Spanish.
There’s also a very strong commercial focus and work ethic here in Trinidad which is perhaps different to that of other Caribbean islands. And there’s the proximity to the US and Canadian markets.
The island’s location is very far south in the Caribbean and below the hurricane belt, which means Trinidad is rarely affected by the hurricane season.
And most importantly, I’ve probably never met more polite, courteous people in all my travels, both professionally and personally. Trinidadians are such warm people. To me, it’s really authentic and natural, and doesn’t appear effected or engineered. That’s the perfect foundation for great customer service and care.
NSAM: Previous to coming to the Caribbean, what was your general perception of “Nearshoring in the Americas”? How have those initial perceptions lined up with the reality on the ground?
John Devlin: My initial perception was that Central American countries were the more mature of the nearshore America region, with Caribbean countries being less so. I also thought that Caribbean islands had a mañana type attitude and possibly lacked the laser focus of locations in South and Central America.
That perception has been entirely changed. In Trinidad, I now get the feeling it is just as driven and commercially focused as anywhere else in Western Europe. It overturned my view, from thinking it would be mostly about the “bare feet in the white sand and crystal blue waters” bit. It is definitely not only that.
NSAM: Tell us more about the work you are doing from Trinidad. Who are you servicing ?
John Devlin: Right now we’re servicing one of our existing e-commerce clients: a global US brand that we’ve had a relationship with for a number of years now, initially supporting their UK and EU markets out of Romania. They had a need for additional support for North American customer care, product support and customer management solutions, both inbound voice and digital. Trinidad has been the perfect solution to meeting those requirements.
I thought that Caribbean islands had a mañana type attitude and possibly lacked the laser focus of locations in South and Central America […] In Trinidad, I now get the feeling it is just as driven and commercially focused as anywhere else in Western Europe.
NSAM: We understand you were recently down in Port of Spain, visiting your team. What were your impressions of the agents and the overall atmosphere?
John Devlin: We’ve got a great young team here: very vibrant, very ambitious. Most come from college backgrounds, all keen to work in this industry, which they see as a great career opportunity. And they like Ascensos. We’re already the employer of choice in the country.
English language here is as good as you would get anywhere, and the work ethic is very high. I would rate it against any of our operations globally.
Many in the team came from other BPOs and we’ve been able to handpick advisors and managers and sow the seeds of a great operation here. Because of the pace at which we’ve grown, we’ve been able to offer some really solid career opportunities for the guys who first joined us back in 2023.
A lot of them would like to work in different locations around the Ascensos global business too, and I’m sure we can support those ambitions and dreams in time. Right now, our aim is to develop our capabilities here and continue to grow as a significant employer in the region.
NSAM: Do you believe it is viable to leverage the Caribbean to support European customers?
John Devlin: It’s viable from a language and capability angle, but from a time zone perspective, it’s probably not best placed. No question, it’s a better location for the US and Canada, and generally more accessible.
It could be done, but there are probably better places to support Western Europe and the UK from. We have operations in the UK, South Africa and Romania that are better placed to support European markets.
NSAM: Do you have any feelings about the potential Trinidad has in terms of becoming a fully bilingual (Spanish and English) destination?
John Devlin: That’s one of our reasons to be here. We get to access scalable natural English as a first language. But Spanish is a rapidly emerging language due to Trinidad’s proximity to Venezuela. We believe that we can tap into that to service Spanish-speaking customers across North America.
NSAM: One last question, which just as easily could be answered over a pint of beer: Where did the Ascensos brand name come from anyway?
Ascensos comes from the Latin word ascenso, which is also widely used in the Spanish language. It means “to ascend”, promote, to elevate. We liked the symbolism of that: to promote and elevate our business, but also to elevate our clients’ businesses, and to elevate the experience for their customers. This is still a tag line of the company today.
We didn’t want to use anything with ‘contact’ or ‘telephone’; we wanted a more agnostic name. We set up initially as a digital-first/digital-only business, and the Ascensos name gave us some distance from being identified as just a contact center provider. It can be used in the technology and digital space as well, and doesn’t necessarily sound like a resource-driven operation.
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