Sales Enquiries
Please contact Alan Graham
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For all media, public relations and strategic communication enquiries, please contact:

Affinity Strategic Communication
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Telephone: +27 21 914 2821
www.strategiccommunication.co.za

SERVICES:

GLOBAL CONTACT CENTRE SERVICES

With facilities in Barcelona, Brisbane Cape Town and Suva, Mindpearl specializes in the outsourced contact centre industry. Customer service is offered in more than 20 languages, enabling Mindpearl to support leading brands across the globe. Mindpearl’s aim is to partner with companies to help maximise business performance and significantly increase profitability. Through the operation of multi- channel contact centres which employ dedicated, well trained human resource and state of the art technologies, Mindpearl enables global solution-delivery with an emphasis on quality and consistency.

Outsourced contact centre solutions through Mindpearl’s existing facilities:

OFFICE SPACE BARCELONA

Fully equipped contact centre office space in Barcelona available for rent immediately. The office is equipped with voice, data and email technology and can accommodate business from one to 60 seats. For the staff’s convenience, the space is located in close vicinity to public transport.

For enquiries please contact David Massó, telephone: (+34) 934 768 300 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Contact Center en Barcelona. Puestos de trabajo disponibles inmediatamente. El centro de contactos esta equipado con tecnología de voz, datos y ofimática. De uno a sesenta puestos disponibles. Convenientemente situado en el centro de Barcelona ( Glorias ) con amplia diversidad de transportes públicos ( Metro, Bus, RENFE ).

Para mas información, contactar a David Massó, 934 768 300, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

CONTACT CENTER SPACE SUVA

- Five separate contact centre areas within one, brand new state-of-the-art building
- Up to 1000 seats on a single shift
- Native English-speaking agents
- Fibre Optic connection to the Southern Cross Network
- 6000 square meters (65,000 sq ft) of brand new, custom-built contact centre facilities
- Fully resilient, end-to-end managed network services
- Parking for up to 52 car or coach spaces
- Close proximity to Suva Airport, Hotels, Backpackers & Suva CBD

For enquiries please contact Mark Mahoney; Telephone: +679 998 2156 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

SERVICED OFFICE SPACE CAPE TOWN

Located in the popular Cape Town Waterfront, our offices are within walking distance of shops and restaurants and very close to major event venues such as the Cape Town Conference Centre and the new Cape Town Stadium. We offer fully serviced, furnished office space ranging from 15 square meters to 300 square meters, with the options for undercover parking and balcony overlooking the Waterfront Marina and Cape Town Stadium.

For enquiries please contact: Margrit Reimann, telephone: +27 (0)21 440 6723 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

BRIEF HISTORY

1999

• Formerly known and established as Qualiflyer Customer Care Centres (QCCC)
• QCCC operated as a captive contact centre network for the Qualiflyer Group of airlines headed by Swissair
• As Qualiflyer comprised of 11 airlines, serving over 400 destinations, Mindpearl identified and fulfilled the need for a multi-lingual service on a 24x7 basis, provided from the very first day
• Contact centres were operational in the UK, USA, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Australia and South Africa

• In August QCCC underwent a name change to become Mindpearl
• Due to Swiss Air insolvency, a newly established Swiss International Air Lines took 100% ownership of Mindpearl
• Lufthansa German Airlines announced acquisition of Swiss International Air Lines
• Mindpearl ’s management successfully completed Management Buy Out from Swiss International Air Lines

• Dnata Contact Centres acquired a 49% shareholding in Mindpearl Group

• Mindpearl announced the development of a new strategic location in Suva, Fiji in the third quarter of 2009. Mindpearl Suva will complement the existing contact centre facilities in Barcelona, Brisbane and Cape Town.

Chief Executive Officer, William Pattison – After 20 years in the aviation contact centre industry, William has achieved:

• Establishment and operation of successful multi-lingual customer contact centres for American Airlines, Lufthansa, and Swissair/ Swiss International Air Lines.
• Driving Mindpearl’s award-winning network of multi-lingual, multi-media customer contact centre operations.
• Contributing towards the creation and development of the ‘follow-the-sun’ concept of 24X7 contact centre networks.

Chief Commercial Officer, Alan Graham – With experience in senior sales and marketing positions including a variety of international companies such as Kodak, Alan entered the world of the contact centre industry in 1997:

• During 1997, Alan joined Sykes Europe.
• In 2000 he moved to ClientLogic.
• Alan joined Mindpearl as Director of Global Sales & Marketing in 2003.
• Alan’s experience extends to call centre outsourcing and BPO transactions in industry sectors including Technology, Travel, Retail, Finance and Telecommunication.

Chief Finance Officer, Stefan Burri – After obtaining a Bachelor of Business Administration, Stefan started his career with the local government in Switzerland. He later acquired a Masters in Business and Administration from the University of Cape Town. He joined Mindpearl in 1999 as the Deputy CFO, and has since been responsible for:

• The financial accounting and control of 6 international offices (planning, treasury, risk management, reporting, audit and tax).
• Providing financial input to the evaluation of new locations and client pricing scenarios.
• Liaising with a variety of government bodies regarding the provision of grants and other support.

Director Europe, David Masso – David started his career in Barcelona with American Express and after 30 years in the travel industry has held a succession of managerial roles:

• Alitalia
• Lufthansa
• Swissair
• Mindpearl, where he established and grew the contact centre in Spain to serve clients 7 days a week in 13 European languages from across the globe.

Director Global Human Resources, Gillian Yon – Gillian has a tertiary qualification and 15 years experience in Human Resources Management, gained in various management positions.

• She has been operational in the outsourced contact centre industry for the past seven years.
• Her responsibilities include strategic management and control of all Human Resources activities for Mindpearl’s three international contact centre operations.

Director Africa, Margrit Reimann – After 30 years in the airline industry, Margrit accomplished:

• Opening the first alliance call centre servicing the customers of 11 airlines
• Since 2002 Margrit has managed Mindpearl’s call centres in Germany, Australia and South Africa
• Margrit also manages Mindpearl’s global quality and training departments

CASE STUDY

1 September 2008

A FEW STRONG CASES FOR SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL OUTSOURCING
- Mindpearl shares their experience across global time zones

Mindpearl centralises call efforts for Swiss

Alike prominent international role players in the aviation industry, Swiss International Airlines, formerly known as Swissair, has an extensive office network across the globe. Each of its offices not only acted as a sales office but included call centre services, back-office and ticketing. Growing customer demands, and diverse time zones resulted in clients not reaching sales representatives as they needed them. Added to the mix was the telephonicy and technological challengeschanges, to allow which limited Swiss offices to be linked across borders and as well as the continuous complexity of markets. Each of the Swiss offices worked independently within their own geographical zone. Clients who bought a ticket in their local market needed to be able to connect with the same office from abroad or at least with someone who talked their native language to change dates or routes quickly and efficiently. Such a solution would greatly improve both customer satisfaction and cost efficiencies.

Although the solution to centralise all sales efforts, customer queries and ticketing in one place seemed simple, it didn’t look practical to place an enormous global company in one location. The answer to this challenge was a virtual global provider of customer service that could operate on a multi lingual, “follow-the-sun” basis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout the year. Mindpearl, with a global customer care network, was the solution. With operations in all 6 continents, Swiss clientele could be serviced in more than 20 languages, in their native tongue and with immediacy.

The dramatic reduction in call-waiting time resulted in an increase in sales and significantly reduced costs for Swiss International Airlines. Mindpearls’ service solution across geographical time zones, allows for regular and real-time reports via the Internet, Email or SMS. The immediacy of results-reporting made reacting on outcomes effortless and controllable. This has been a true win-win situation for all involved.

Entering the gaming fraternity

Known for its reputable feats in the aviation industry, Mindpearl has tackled non-aviation clientele such as PokerNetwork, part of the privately owned Ongame Group based in Sweden. In 2004 its staff contingency reached more than 180 and revenues soared to approximately 20 million USD. Rated the fifth largest network of online poker, it had at that stage more than 3.8 million registered players.

PokerNetwork’s continuous success stems from the quality of products, services, games and software provided to its partners. This includes: multi-platform online poker system; advanced integrated back-end system; secure electronic payment services; brand building skins & games; slick, enjoyable and easy to use games; world leader in Java based games (non-download) and industry standard for customer services.

After extensive research into international off-shore contact centres servicing the European and US markets, PokerNetwork found Cape Town to be a real growth location for the industry – mainly fuelled by investment from UK based business. English is spoken by more than 75% of Cape Town’s inhabitants. Availability of other European languages made this location even more luring with the language capacity including French, German and Dutch. With the help of Calling the Cape, a government-funded agency dedicated to call centre development, PokerNetwork started scouting for the right partner to broaden its services. PokerNetworks’ one non-negotiable criterion involved company culture and it became apparent that Mindpearl fitted the bill perfectly.

The key challenges and issues PokerNetwork were facing at the time were harmonising call centre expansion with the incredible growth in the Network, while maintaining the superb standards of product knowledge, service level and brand loyalty. First class customer service is critical for the success of online business. Games with cutting edge graphics and state-of-the-art gameplay can be provided but if it is not backed up with what the player perceives as the only real human element of your product , in this case customer support, you’ll quickly lose the players’ trust.

When opting to outsource, many investors see the reduction in costs as the number one priority. PokerNetwork realized that the potential for brand damage could be catastrophic if the agent quality was not treated equal to or higher than cost. From experience it has become clear that a call centre is as strong as its call agents – it all comes down to the human element, no matter how smart the software of telecoms is.

With ever expanding markets, another challenge was the recruitment of agents with the language capacity required across the globe. PokerNetwork was convinced that the surest way to manage the constant growth and change was to investigate the possibility of outsourcing to an off-shore service provider.

The real advantages of selecting Mindpearl was the high degree of cultural proximity to the UK/US, matched with the calibre and great customer empathy shown by their agents and management. The quality of accent they provide set them apart and their low rates of attrition were another indicator of sound working practices and environment.

A close partnership was forged between training teams which, along with first class training facilities & resources, enabled PokerNetwork to rapidly educate their agents to the required skill set. The online gaming industry expects customer service that is informal and relaxed, but still respectful, informative, and professional. This was a deviation from the standard for Mindpearl who were more familiar with the formal style of service required for airlines. Mindpearl quickly adapted to their client’s needs, changing their soft skills training to reflect this.

Mindpearl’s expertise in the airline industry has provided PokerNetwork with interesting new concepts for additional support services and collaborative customer relationship management. It is always valuable to have an outside agency provide feedback on the way you conduct business as it lifts any blinkers that have potentially blinded you from new ideas. It is the old cliché of looking outside of the box, but is something, especially in a rapidly growing company, that can be passed by in the rush to expand. To PokerNetworks’ advantage it has remained an essential working practice in the company culture that has helped to affirm the position as the premium brand.

A key question for investors considering outsourcing call centre services is the real benefit apart from the cost. The benefit to the client in this case is Mindpearl’s ability to manage growth, coupled with close communication, willingness to comply with the clients’ needs and control. One of the client’s requests was to locate a staff member of PokerNetwork on-site at Mindpearl’s Cape Town office at an advisory level and for this person to be directly involved in the Q&A process. A major fear for many investors is the loss of control and this request resolved the issue.

Apart from internal issues, PokerNetwork saw its industry expanding to other markets with Europe and Asia highlighted as the next big developments. Mindpearl put their client to rest with their global positioning, currently being Cape Town, Brisbane and Barcelona and the multi-language offering which includes more than 20 languages.

Again, one of the fears facing an investor is delays to escalated contact ultimate resolution due to time zone delays between the office-hour departments of supplier and customer. With the time zone similarity between Cape Town and Central Europe, Mindpearl assured that response to escalated issues is in real time. This also provided the client with the ability to hold meetings and training via tele-conference facilities saving on costly and time consuming site visits.

PokerNetwork feels that since they’ve brought Mindpearl onboard, not only has their service levels been maintained but actually increased. New players are pleased by the agent enthusiasm, whilst existing customers are happy that knowledge levels are still exemplary. Satisfaction levels are measured through online surveys and Pokah; the world’s largest online poker forum, hosted by PokerRoom.com.

Mindpearl is seen as PokerNetwork’s mouth and ears and this helps to constantly redefine the boundaries at all levels. This strategic partnership gives PokerNetwork the reassurance that player rapport is sustained.

Advanced service levels for Frequent Flyer members

Qualiflyer Loyalty Limited (QLL) outsourced its frequent flyer programme to Mindpearl from April 1999 to December 2002. The Qualiflyer Loyalty Company was formed to market, promote and administer the Qualiflyer frequent flyer programme. This programme was, at that time, a joint frequent flyer programme for 11 airlines. These were Swissair, Sabena, TAP Air Portugal, AOM French airlines, Air Littoral, Air Liberte, Volare, Austrian Airlines, Lauda, Tyrolean and Crossair.

The handling of the call centres was outsourced to Mindpearl in April 1999 and by January 2003 the airlines either no longer existed, had joined an alternative alliance or had decided to operate their own Frequent flyer programme, hence the ending of the contract. Three of the airlines that chose to have their own programme remain as customers today, however the contracts are directly with the airline and not with the loyalty company.

Prior to Mindpearl opening its first location in London, frequent flyers called the airlines directly and each airline had their own call centre or groups of employees handling callers requesting assistance pertaining to the Qualiflyer Frequent Programme. When Mindpearl started collating existing call volumes, administration volumes and electronic volumes, the statistics were scarce or non-existent in 90% of cases. The consolidation of these offices required closing over 300 units/departments and absorbing the workload into initially only its London centre.

The client advised Mindpearl to expect an annual volume of 500,000 events with the breakdown of language requirements. Call volumes were received from a total of 26 countries with a language capacity of 15 different languages. The actual volumes were 280% over plan with Mindpearl handling 1.4 million events in the first 12 months.

The reason for the explosion in call volumes is the poor service standards provided to members of the programme previously. 20 minute hold times were the norm with letters and faxes receiving a 6-week turn-around time. This resulted in one member having to communication multiple times. If no one answered the phone, an Email was sent, followed by a fax and a letter.

Results showed that if calls were answered in a timely manner a significant reduction in all other forms of communication were seen. The contract was handled in a way to allow the use of temporary employees for the first 5 months. These employees focused on the backlog of letters, faxes and Emails and determining which communication was truly outstanding to allow for full-time employees to concentrate on their primary tasks.

One important factor learnt by both Mindpearl and QLL was that providing a poor level of service (as was done prior to Mindpearl handling the account) did not save money. Qualiflyer Members will communicate on such a personnel matter as their miles and will not call another provider. Should they not receive the assistance they need, any form of communication required to ensure they get the most out of their miles will be used.

It was found that previous attitudes reasoned that these tickets were free of charge and should therefore not receive the same level of service as direct sales phone lines. In truth, by not answering calls, the overall costs were increased due to staff having to handle up to 5 pieces of communication on the same matter from the same member. This proved to be far more costly than answering the query on the first contact.

The entire procedure was taken one step further since it was found that in 30% of the cases, callers calling the frequent flyer line also needed some assistance on the direct sales side. Members often only have enough miles for one ticket and need to purchase the other. The program also allowed for companion awards and upgrade awards and this required transferring the caller between the relevant departments. This had not previously been recognised since direct sales and frequent flyer departments always were always held in separate budgets with different reporting lines. Mindpearl proposed this to a combination of QLL and the respective airlines that if they cross-trained the employees they would be able to provide a cost savings overall since the airline was paying for their frequent flyer calls indirectly via QLL.

After 2 years of operating Mindpearl was able to see a 25% decrease in overall costs to the airline since there was a 30% decline in calls volumes on a combined level.

Mindpearl offers Delta brand services

Delta Air Lines is the world’s largest airline with hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Its Northwest subsidiary and Delta Connection carriers offer services to 378 destinations in 66 countries, serving more than 170 million passengers every year. Through strategic marketing alliances, Delta’s customers can earn and redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks on more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta Air Lines is currently the only U.S. airline to offer a comprehensive global network through the employment of more than 70 000 employees worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, and check their bags and flight status at www.delta.com.

During 2006, Delta identified the need for a contact centre to handle their US domestic general sales and SkyMiles frequent flyer program. The main focus areas were customer service satisfaction and sales conversion rates. Other requirements included a well established information technology system and a competitive cost structure.

Mindpearl was chosen due to its favorable location in English-speaking Cape Town; resulting in cultural affinity with the North American market and identified Western countries. Delta was positive that Mindpearl could uphold their supreme excellence in customer service, globally referred to as Delta-Style Service.

Through its ability to attract qualified customer service representatives, Mindpearl was able to match all expectations by providing its services on a true 24X7 basis. Mindpearl is honored to have partnered with the world’s largest airline and is proud of the results to date.

Released on behalf of Mindpearl by Affinity Strategic Communication.

For further information please contact:
+27 21 914 2821
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.strategiccommunication.co.za