Expert to Know: Jeton Aliu
What's the backstory behind starting or joining your agency?
I started OLYMP BPO because I saw an opportunity that most people were overlooking. Kosovo has an incredibly talented, young, and driven workforce, but not enough companies were building serious operations here. I wanted to change that. My background is in BPO and I had spent years managing projects, campaigns, and teams across the industry, so I understood what global clients needed. I also understood what Kosovo could deliver. Starting OLYMP was about connecting those two things and doing it properly, not as a low-cost shortcut but as a quality operation that could compete with anyone.
What was your first entrepreneurial moment?
Honestly, it was the decision to build here rather than somewhere more obvious. When you tell a US or UK company that their customer support team is based in Kosovo, you have to earn that trust from scratch. Every early client was a leap of faith on their part, and on mine. Those first partnerships taught me that results are the only currency that matters in this industry. Once the numbers spoke for themselves, the conversations got a lot easier.
How do you define success today?
Success for me is when a client stops thinking of us as a vendor and starts treating us as part of their team. That shift happens when your agents know the product better than some of the client's own staff, when your CSAT scores are consistently above expectations, and when the client's first instinct during a tough period is to call you, not replace you. Growing OLYMP also means creating real careers for people in Kosovo, which matters to me personally.
How does your agency differentiate itself from competitors?
Two things set OLYMP apart and I am not willing to trade either of them. The first is our dedicated agent model. Every client gets a team that works exclusively on their account, full time, learning their product, their tone, and their customers. We do not run shared pools where an agent jumps between five different brands in a single shift. That model is cheaper to operate but it produces inconsistent results, and our clients notice the difference quickly. The second is impact sourcing. We are intentional about who we hire and what that employment means in Kosovo. Around 70% of our team are women, working in an economy where female workforce participation sits below 20%.
What core principles and values guide your agency?
We operate on a simple principle: treat every client account as if it were your own business on the line. That mindset changes how your teams make decisions under pressure.
What's your approach to hiring and building a team?
Experience matters and I will always look at track record first. But I have hired people with strong CVs who had no real drive, and I have hired people who looked like a risk on paper but had something in them that you cannot teach. I call it a spark, a desire to go beyond what the job description asks. When I see that in someone, I will take the chance on them. Some of my best team members came through that door. The goal is to build people who grow with the company, not just fill a seat.
What's your agency's pricing philosophy?
We keep it simple: hourly rates and monthly retainers. Our pricing is transparent and predictable, which makes budgeting straightforward for clients and keeps our focus exactly where it should be, on delivering consistent quality, not chasing targets.
How do you balance growth with sustainability?
Every time we have taken on a new client or expanded a team, the question we ask first is whether we can do it without the existing accounts feeling it. If the answer is no, we wait until it is yes. That discipline is harder than it sounds when there is demand in front of you, but it is why clients who joined us early are still with us.
What are the essential software tools your agency relies on?
Five9 is central to our voice operations which it gives us the reliability and reporting depth that enterprise-level support requires.
Remote, hybrid, or in-office — what works for your team and why?
Our default is in-office and that is a deliberate choice. The quality of work we deliver comes from a controlled environment where a reliable infrastructure, direct supervision, real-time coaching, and a team culture that is hard to replicate through a screen.
If someone has been with us for at least six months and has consistently shown the quality and discipline the role demands, we have made remote work possible for them. It has to be earned, not assumed.
Covid changed things for everyone, ourselves included. We adapted and learned that some people perform well from home once they have the foundation. But we still see the office as where culture is built, where new team members develop fastest, and where the standard gets set.
What keeps you passionate about this industry?
It is the people. When I look at the teams we have built at OLYMP, I see individuals who have grown professionally in ways that would not have been possible without this kind of opportunity existing here in Kosovo. That means something to me on a level that goes beyond business. We are not just delivering customer support for global companies but we are also creating real careers, stable incomes, and a proof of concept that Kosovo can compete at the highest level in this industry.
There is also something deeply motivating about building for your own country. Every client we win, every contract we renew, every team member we promote is a small argument for what Kosovo is capable of. I want to keep making that argument for as long as I can.
