We were recently featured in News.com.au for our approach to international business travel – but the real story isn’t about points. It’s about why we refuse to run Filta from a desk in Brisbane.
The Article That Sparked a Bigger Conversation
Recently News.com.au published a story about how my husband Efren and I saved over $50,000 on business class flights through strategic use of frequent flyer points with help from iFlyFlat. The headline caught people’s attention – who doesn’t want to fly business class for economy prices?
But as I read the article and saw the reactions, I realized we buried the lede.
The real story isn’t how we fly. It’s why we fly so often – and where we’re going.
Between visiting our teams in the Philippines and Colombia multiple times a year, and flying to meet customers across Australia, New Zealand, the US, and UK, we spend a significant portion of our lives at 35,000 feet.
And if you’re considering partnering with an offshore provider – or already working with one – this is a conversation you need to have.
The Dirty Secret of the BPO Industry
Here’s what most BPO companies won’t tell you:
They’ve never actually met your team.
The “account manager” assigned to your business has never been to the Philippines. Never walked the office floor. Never shared a meal with the people doing your work. Never experienced the culture, the traffic, the daily realities of Manila or Bogotá.
They manage your offshore team the same way they’d manage any remote team – through Zoom calls and Slack messages.
We think that’s insane.
Why We’re Always on a Plane
Efren and I travel to the Philippines and Colombia constantly throughout the year. Not just once or twice. Many times annually to both countries.
And it’s not just about visiting our teams – we’re also flying to meet customers across Australia, New Zealand, the US, and UK.
Why? Because you can’t build world-class teams or trusted client relationships from behind a desk in Brisbane.
What We Actually Do On These Trips:
- Face-to-face team meetings – We sit down with every team member, not just managers. We hear directly about their challenges, career goals, and ideas for improvement.
- Client team visits – We meet the specific people working on our clients’ accounts. We understand their workflows, celebrate their wins, address their concerns.
- Recruitment interviews – We personally interview candidates for key roles. Cultural fit isn’t something you can assess through a screen.
- Market intelligence – We stay current on local labor markets, salary trends, competitive landscape, and regulatory changes.
- Relationship building – We eat with our teams. We celebrate their life events. We understand their families, their aspirations, their context.
- Office evaluations – We inspect workspaces, check equipment, ensure our teams have what they need to excel.
- Partnership cultivation – We meet with local tech partners, government officials, and industry leaders to strengthen our presence.
- Customer meetings – We travel to our clients across four continents, understanding their businesses face-to-face, not just through video calls.
The Results of Showing Up:
Our first client, Ripe Solutions, has worked with the same Philippines team member for 10 years.
That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because we’re there, building relationships, solving problems before they become crises, and treating our Philippines and Colombia teams like the valued professionals they are.
The Real Cost of “Cheap” Outsourcing
Here’s what agencies don’t consider when they choose the lowest-cost BPO provider:
Hidden Cost #1: Turnover
- Industry average tenure: 12-18 months
- Cost of replacement: 50-200% of annual salary
- Client disruption: Immeasurable
Hidden Cost #2: Quality Drift
- No on-ground oversight = gradual quality decline
- By the time you notice, damage is done
- Client relationships suffer
Hidden Cost #3: Cultural Misalignment
- Remote management misses cultural nuances
- Communication breakdowns compound
- “Lost in translation” becomes business-as-usual
Hidden Cost #4: Strategic Limitation
- Can’t expand to new markets without local knowledge
- Can’t recruit senior talent without credibility
- Can’t compete with providers who actually understand their markets
Our “expensive” approach to regular international travel?
It saves our clients millions in turnover costs, quality issues, and missed opportunities.
What This Means for You
If you’re considering an offshore partner, ask them:
- “When was the last time you were physically in [country]?”
- If the answer is “never” or “years ago” – run.
- “How often does your leadership team visit our team members?”
- If it’s not at least multiple times per year – that’s a red flag.
- “What’s your average team member tenure?”
- If it’s under 3 years – they’re not building careers, they’re churning bodies.
- “Can you introduce me to our specific team members before we sign?”
- If they can’t or won’t – they don’t know their own people.
- “What’s your on-ground presence like in [country]?”
- Office? HR team? Local leadership? Or just contractors?
If you’re already working with an offshore provider:
Ask yourself honestly:
- Has anyone from their leadership team ever met YOUR team?
- Do they understand the local culture and market?
- Could they tell you about your team members’ career aspirations?
- Have they been on the ground to solve problems when they arise?
If the answer is no – you’re working with a middleman, not a partner.
The iFlyFlat Connection
So yes, we use iFlyFlat‘s expertise to optimize our travel costs. Because flying business class to Manila, Bogotá, Sydney, Auckland, New York, and London multiple times a year adds up fast.
But here’s the thing: we were going to fly regardless.
The question was never “should we visit our teams and customers?” The question was “how can we make these essential trips sustainable?”
iFlyFlat helped us solve that equation. Through strategic use of points earned on business expenses, we’ve saved approximately $50,000 on flights.
That $50,000 in savings gets reinvested into:
- Better office equipment for our teams
- Enhanced training programs
- Team events and culture building
- Additional recruitment resources
- Technology upgrades
See how that works? We didn’t save money to pocket it. We saved money to invest it back into the people doing the work.
The Multi-Country Reality
Running Filta means constantly moving between markets:
Brisbane: Where we’re based. Where we meet Australian clients. Where we handle Australian operations.
Manila: Where we visit multiple times throughout the year. Where we’ve built deep relationships over a decade. Where we understand the nuances of Filipino work culture through consistent presence.
Bogotá: Where we travel regularly throughout the year. Where we’re building our Colombia presence with the same hands-on approach. Where we’re establishing credibility through boots on the ground.
Plus customer visits across: Australia, New Zealand, United States, and United Kingdom.
We’re not “Brisbane with offshore contractors.”
We’re a truly multi-country operation with leadership that actually understands each market – and stays connected to customers across four continents.
That’s not something you can fake. And it’s not something you can do from behind a desk.
What “Boots on the Ground” Leadership Looks Like
Real example from a recent Manila trip:
A client’s Philippines team member was struggling with a technical issue. On Slack, it seemed like a training gap. But when I sat down with her in person in Manila, I discovered the real issue: her home internet was unreliable, and she was too embarrassed to say so.
Twenty minutes later: We’d arranged for upgraded internet service and a backup mobile hotspot.
Problem solved. Client happy. Team member relieved.
That doesn’t happen through Zoom.
The Question You Should Be Asking
When you’re evaluating BPO partners, the question isn’t:
“How much can I save?”
The question is:
“Who am I trusting to build my team, and do they actually know the market they’re recruiting from?”
Because here’s the truth:
You’re not just buying cheaper labor. You’re building a team in a foreign country with different culture, different regulations, different expectations, different opportunities.
Do you want that team built by someone who Googles “Manila labor market” once a quarter?
Or by someone who was just there last month, knows the market intimately, and will be back again soon?
Why This Matters for the Future
The offshore model is evolving. The “cheap labor arbitrage” play is dying.
The future belongs to BPO companies that:
- Build genuine multi-country operations
- Invest in long-term team development
- Understand local markets deeply
- Create careers, not just jobs
- Partner strategically, not transactionally
That future requires leadership that shows up.
Not just on video calls. Not just in quarterly reports.
Physically. Consistently. Genuinely.
Our Commitment to You
When you partner with Filta, you’re not getting:
- A faceless offshore provider
- Account managers who’ve never met your team
- Generic “best practices” copied from LinkedIn
You’re getting:
- Leadership that knows Manila and Bogotá as well as Brisbane
- Teams we’ve personally recruited and interviewed
- Cultural insights from actual immersion
- Problem-solving from people who understand context
- A partner who treats your offshore team like OUR team
Because they are our team.
We see them regularly throughout the year. We know their names, their families, their goals. We celebrate their wins and support them through challenges.
That’s the Filta difference.
And yes, sometimes that means we’re writing this blog post from seat 1A on a Qantas flight to Manila at 2am.
Worth it? Every single time.
Ready to Work With a BPO That Actually Shows Up?
If you’re tired of offshore providers who’ve never met your team…
If you want a partner who understands the markets they recruit from…
If you believe great teams are built through relationships, not just contracts…
Let’s talk.
We’re probably traveling to your region soon anyway.
P.S. Thanks to iFlyFlat for helping us make this travel schedule sustainable. If you’re doing regular international travel for your business, they’re worth talking to. But more importantly – if you’re NOT doing regular international travel to visit your offshore teams, ask yourself why not.
Read the full News.com.au article here.
Want to build a team with a BPO that actually knows their markets?
