Insight flourishing in Quebec

Call Center Solutions, Oct 1998 by Bird, Jill Quinlan, Lenoir, Nicolas

Insight Enterprises was founded in 1986 when Eric Crown obtained a $2,000 advance on a credit card to buy an ad in Computer Shopper selling hard disk drives by mail order. His brother Tim joined him and together they have never looked back! The concept was a success. In fact, the company's net exceeded U.S. $625 million. As Insight grew, it systematically increased its product lines to offer customers a onestop computer source. It has become a leading marketer of computers, hardware and software, offering a broad line of more than 50,000 brand-name products primarily to businesses in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., with a staff of customerdedicated account executives selling products through outbound telesales and the Internet.

Based in Tempe, Arizona, Insight is an exciting and innovative company in which even the standard call center setup has been challenged. Insight came up with its own call center design which evokes the gladiator spirit of Ancient Rome. It is built in the style of an amphitheater with modular workstations descending from the highest point at the outer ring, down to a series of managers' desks at the bottom. This unconventional way of doing things has proved to be hugely successful.

Expanding North Of The Border

A company has to grow to succeed, and in the U.S. finding the manpower to grow your company poses a number of challenges. Saturated traditional call center locations in the U.S. and boom times mean new challenges one solution is Canada. Canada, more specifically Quebec, offers an excellent environment in which to grow your business. When Insight, which has a dedication to excellence, saw the opportunity to serve its Canadian clients from Canada, the company seized it - never guessing that within six months of opening the Montreal site it would be looking for ways to expand to service American clients as well. Also in the works is a plan for a sizeable expansion in Montreal from the initial call center, which opened October 1, 1998. Things are moving very quickly for Insight due to the overwhelming success it has found in Canada.

When Insight first ventured north, it set out with a small team of American executives to start up the Canadian operations. Of the original executives who came over from the U.S. to start up Insight Canada, several have decided to relocate permanently!

A multitude of reasons prompted Insight to choose Montreal as its Canadian headquarters: location, workforce, government incentives, real estate and technical support. Montreal was and is, for Insight, the right choice in every respect.

Location

Bounded by Ontario to the west, the New England states to the south and the maritime provinces to the east, the province of Quebec is uniquely situated for doing business with the vast North American market and the world beyond. Quebec, located in the Eastern Time Zone of North America, has a temperate continental climate with four distinct seasons: a mild spring, an occasionally very hot summer, a colorful and frequently chilly fall, and a snowy, cold winter. Average temperatures in the St. Lawrence valley range from 74 degrees Fahrenheit in July to 14 degrees Fahrenheit in January.

People First

Most important, Insight has never lost sight of its most valuable asset its employees - the people who support its customers. Insight strives to maximize the potential of each employee through communication, coaching, education, recognition and rewards. In selecting Montreal, it also selected an abundance of workers. But their quality and integrity far surpassed every expectation. The potential of such human resources is boundless.

Quebec's young, qualified, multilingual and remarkably stable workforce is an asset to any industry. There is no shortage of quality labor in Quebec, the workforce consists of 3.5 million people and double-digit unemployment continues to provide businesses with an ample pool from which to selectively recruit. Moreover, four world-class universities offer a fresh group of graduates each year. Presently there are over 400,000 people ready and willing to work.

In Quebec, education standards are extremely high. Almost two-thirds of the available workforce has completed high school or better. A further 195,000 have some post-secondary training towards a university degree or technical college diploma. In fact, Quebec ranks higher per capita than the 29 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries for the number of first degree university diplomas.

Quebec is one of the most cosmopolitan societies in North America, a welcome surprise for Insight. More than 80 of the world's languages are spoken at home and in the workplace. The province's major urban centers boast sizeable multicultural communities of Spanish-, Arabic- and Chinesespeaking people, to name just a few. The language advantage is one of Quebec's strongest resources in the race to secure call center business.

Insight was listed in Fortune Magazine's list of one of 25 "Cool Companies"; it prides itself on doing business in a nonconformist style. Creativity and self-expression are prized. In the end, any reservations Insight might have had over migrating its unique call center model to Canada were dispelled. Canadian employees have more than held their own in coming up with creative and stimulating new ideas. They found that American and Canadian work styles truly complement one another.