A market like Brazil can offer great opportunities, but it can also involve major risks for those not looking to the longer term. Giulio Salomone, who arrived in Brazil as a manager of an Italian firm and is now Vice President of Contax, the leading Brazilian group in the field of customer care services, explains to the Aspen Italia website team that this is why it is necessary to plan investment well, making sure to have managers in the country who are familiar with its dynamics, opportunities, and risks.
What opportunities does Brazil offer Italian firms?
There are opportunities for Italian firms, thanks also to an economic outlook expected to already turn positive from this year. Indeed, over the past few months there have been clear signs of renewed investor interest in Brazil. This firstly springs from the opportunities offered by discount prices in a stock market which, notwithstanding its positive performance in 2016, has been penalized in recent years. The second factor is an internal market that is still young and open for the taking. One need only consider that it will be 2050 before the average age in Brazil reaches that in Europe today. Contrary to widespread belief, I’ve encountered an efficient public sector. While there is much talk of a bureaucratic Brazil, in reality I’ve found that authorization procedures take less time than in Italy.
However, despite these positive factors, it should not be forgotten that Brazil is a complex country. Indeed, in my eight years here, I’ve already had the opportunity of witnessing “not just one Brazil, but two and half Brazils”. The first was the period of strong growth at the end of the second Lula government, where GDP growth fundamentals were good, owing partly to the boost in domestic consumption, with a goods and services market undergoing significant growth. This phase enabled AlmavivA do Brasil, of which I was CEO, to scale up from a start-up to a company of 25,000 employees. But then a serious political crisis led to an economic slump, from which the country is only now recovering.
How can mid-sized Italian firms successfully invest in markets as complex as this?
Medium-sized Italian firms should invest in managers that are based locally and know the market well. I do not see a “hit and run” strategy as viable in such markets: lasting profits can only be achieved after several years. In fact, given the economic instability, progress made in an initial period can be wiped out in a short space of time. In a nutshell, the only way is to look to the long term, maintaining a stable presence in the country.
In this respect, let’s not forget that larger more structured companies capable of global expansion sometimes help their strategic suppliers to enter such new markets.
In Italy, the call center market is mature. But what prospects does Brazil offer?
In Brazil, the customer care business is mainly carried on by banks, and telecoms and PayTV operators, and it caters almost exclusively to the domestic market. There are major differences compared to Italy. In particular, the size of the market has led to the creation of call centers that even have as many as 80,000 employees. These numbers are 10 times higher than the major Italian facilities and it is logical for there to be greater career opportunities in such large centers.
Another distinctive aspect is the standard to which customer care has been developed in Brazil, ensured in part by a young workforce and innovative skillsets. For that matter, our employees are mostly women and a good percentage are students. For them, the job becomes a way of supporting themselves during their studies. For this reason, we have specific agreements in place with universities for reductions on fees. This work serves as a first step into the labor market, but it can also evolve into a form of “on the job” training. In fact, we shouldn’t forget that everything is changing in this sector and already the term call center is becoming meaningless. Indeed, customer care is increasingly being delivered through multiple channels and requires people who can work and interact with clients even on social media.
Giulio Salomone is Vice President of Business and Marketing with the Brazilian Contax-Mobitel group. Born in Turin, he graduated in law and began his career as Assistant to the Head of Joint Ventures at Fiat Credit International. After a twenty-year career at Fiat as CEO of various companies in the group, he moved to São Paolo in 2008 as CEO of AlmavivA do Brasil.
