Great People Build Great Companies

In his Wisdom From The Patio video series, Kongusto founder Joel Ciniero answers a simple question, “what does Kongusto do?”, and explains why the label alone doesn’t tell the story.

Ask Joel Ciniero, President and Founder of Kongusto, what his company does, and the quickest answer is also the least interesting one. “I say we’re a call center, it’s not very compelling,” he acknowledges.

So he starts with what the company believes. “At Kongusto, we believe that great people build great companies, and we believe that premium human capital is the ultimate competitive advantage.”

In Ciniero’s view, that belief sets his company apart from much of the industry, which he says is built on mediocrity. “That’s why they use scripts, that’s why they use call timers. That’s why there’s always something QA to filter out somebody who doesn’t say the right words.” The goal of the call center structure, he says, isn’t greatness. “They don’t want to be too much or too little. They want to be right in the middle.”

Kongusto takes a different route. The company hires professional people who are skilled in what they do, and they don’t work from home. Instead, Kongusto brings them into a professional workplace, asks them to dress professionally, and mentors them to build “deep cultural bonds with their counterparts in the US.”

“That is how we approach outsourcing,” Ciniero says.

For telecom providers, managed service providers, contact centers, and outsourcing organizations, the distinction is worth noticing. How a team is hired, where it works, and how it is developed can say far more about a partner than the category it falls into.

It’s a candid perspective from an executive who would rather define his company by what it believes than by the label it’s usually given.

The takeaway: A category describes what a company does, but a belief about people explains how well it does it.

Watch Joel Ciniero’s “Great people build great companies” video, part of his Wisdom From The Patio series.

Connect with Joel Ciniero

Joel Ciniero is President and Founder of Kongusto, a nearshore outsourcing company. To learn more about his perspectives on business leadership, workforce strategy, and outsourcing excellence, visit www.kongusto.co or contact him at [email protected].