MattsenKumar is the Trusted Partner for Business Process Outsourcing for Leading Global Organizations

Having worked together for many years, contact center veterans Mike Mattsen and Aarati Kumar came together to establish MattsenKumar LLC (MK) in 2010, their third successful venture together. Through their combined, nearly fifty years of global BPO service delivery expertise, the leaders in the BPO space are today guiding MK to continued growth and success. Their vision – to create an employee-centric organization that leverages the best of industry service delivery standards. And the company is doing some splendid work for this, and the future truly has no bounds.

Yet MattsenKumar’s goal has never been to be the biggest – they have interestingly refrained from accepting Venture Capitalist involvement. In fact, Mike (CEO) and Aarati (COO) are content with being “big enough” to provide robust capabilities while still retaining a boutique feel.

MattsenKumar is a full-service business process outsourcer with experienced global leadership that is second to none. The firm has built a reputation with valued Fortune 1000 clients for its ability to not just provide the front or back-office process support but to also build and leverage technology to create enhanced solutions that ensure an even greater ROI for the clients. “We are experts within a number of growth industries including eCommerce, Financial Services, Telecommunications, and Technology. We also exclusively support what was the first third-party Quality Services organization ever organized. In fact, our CEO was the founder of HyperQuality back in 2003,” explained Aarati Kumar, COO of MattsenKumar.

While there has been a lot of success and plaudits in the company’s journey so far, MattsenKumar also has a genuinely refreshing approach to how one can run a company successfully. You will find no offices for the senior team at MK, including Mike and Aarati. That’s because they prefer working with the teams themselves, challenging the leadership of the organization to think more about how the production employees can be better supported. This example helps define why MK, led by Mike and Aarati, is truly a force to be reckoned with.

In an interview with us, Mike and Aarati talked in detail about the company’s revolutionary way of working and the distinguished services that have helped it stand apart from its competitors in the space.

Q. When a service is outsourced the pricing structure will have been agreed upon in advance, allowing the enterprise to predict the expense of BPO. How do you provide better cost predictability to enterprises?

Mike: We have developed a detailed implementation process that ensures not just the prediction of traditional expenses and recoveries, but also establishes foundational methodologies to explore with the objective of reducing costs or increasing revenues. This enhances the ROI delivered. Our constant focus on “raising the bar” for our clients is one of the reasons we have one of the best client retention reputations in the industry.

Q. One of the major benefits of BPO that is often overlooked is its flexibility. Do you agree with this?

Aarati: The one constant in Business Process Outsourcing is that the service needs to evolve – and those BPOs that can stay a step ahead of their clients’ needs are worth their weight in gold. We have developed a number of processes managed through our global client services team as well as our focused organizational structure to ensure that we are always striving to accomplish this. We have many clients who have been with us for five, ten, or now, even fifteen years who constantly cite our flexibility to support their evolving business requirements as one of the reasons for them sticking with us.

Q. There are security risks involved when the business processes are outsourced because the enterprises trust you with sensitive information. How do you secure your services and downsize risks?

Mike: As mentioned earlier, we have a robust Implementation process and part of that is dedicated to ensuring complete understanding and transparency surrounding client security requirements and this focus ensures that the client data is safe. Our origins in the third-party quality business required strict adherence to information security requirements from the launch and MK has maintained this rigor. While many BPO’s cite being “PCI compliant” (PCI is often a required infosec standard for organizations handling financial transactions online), MK has been PCI CERTIFIED (actually going through the certification process annually) for many years straight. MK is so buttoned-down in its InfoSec standards that “MK CyberServices” is a separate entity that actually completes PCI audits and InfoSec consulting for Fortune 2000 clients globally.

Q. In an increasingly regulated world, organizations are facing greater scrutiny than ever. Tell us about your compliance systems.

Aarati: We not only have thorough methodologies to ensure that all client and regulatory requirements are consistently met, but also a compliance division to keep up on regulatory changes. We are also active in NASSCOM, the largest industry trade organization within India and they also help monitor industry trends and regulatory shifts so we maintain awareness.

Q. How do you acquire talents to maintain the quality for the various services that you offer?

Mike: In addition to having a full-service Recruitment team that works closely with our service delivery organizations, as well as our clients, MK’s reputation as a preferred employer helps with “word-of-mouth” recruitment. Our biggest source of new hires comes from employee referrals. MK is known as a very employee-centric organization and that’s why our employee attrition is regularly cited as one of the lowest in the industry. Also, Aarati’s setting the example. MK has one of the highest levels of women in management throughout all offshore BPOs. This commitment to equality ensures that MK attracts the best and the brightest new applicants of all genders and persuasions.

Q. How do you market your services?

Aarati: We get most new clients through word-of-mouth and current client referral. In fact, we do not have full-time sales people, instead, we rely on our service delivery leaders. Mike and I address why MK would be a good solution for new clients. We do maintain an up-to-date website and have an active LinkedIn and other social media presence, but we are proud of our ability to grow 40% year-over-year annually primarily through our reputation and contacts.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

Mike: We are constantly launching evolving services as dictated by client needs, and we have added several additional capabilities within the eCommerce/online shopping vertical in recent months. We have new automation products and services that are also enhancing our service capabilities.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

Aarati: We pride ourselves on letting our service delivery speak for itself. Our focus is always first on delivering to current client requirements while finding options to automate or becoming more efficient. It might not be considered sexy but it ensures stable and happy clients. Our growth strategies include continuing to leverage applicant markets within India that offer highly qualified and lower-cost options for clients, and we have also developed a growing ability to offer multiple global language capabilities from India.