Boldr.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of customer support at Babylist. We’re an online platform and e-commerce site. We’re primarily a universal registry where expecting parents can create a list of things they want to have for their child and share that with people they hope can contribute.

Then, those people can purchase gifts from that registry. We also have our own store, and people can buy directly from us or any other website. So, we’re a combination of SaaS and e-commerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boldr.?

We wanted to scale our support. We wanted to grow it in a fiscally responsible way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Boldr. is a BPO company. They’ve helped us grow our team. They offer two different types of services. They have a model called the employer of record (EOR) model. That’s what we’ve opted to use. The majority of our team members are under this EOR model. Boldr. takes care of sourcing, recruiting, HR, IT, payroll, and other things. They report directly to our team members.

We’ve done the training and performance management of the team. We’ve done that intentionally. At some point, we might switch over to the traditional BPO model whenever it makes sense.

What is the team composition?

When we started, we hired about 30 people through them. Today, we have 128 people. When we started, they were all doing customer support, and they were performing just one function within that team. Today, we’ve implemented them in nine different departments, and they handle over 12 different functions.

How did you come to work with Boldr.?

In 2020, we started looking at the best way to grow our team. We were about 20  teammates and were all remote and in different parts of the world. We decided to grow the team in a secure, scalable, affordable, and effective way. I did a lot of research. I’d worked with BPOs previously, so I knew there were a lot of things to look out for when finding the right partner, both from what can they actually deliver for you, as well as how they take care of their people.

Both of those things were really important to me. I did research for about six months. Eventually, I found Boldr. through a community called Support Driven. It was made up of customer support, technical support, and customer success professionals. Somebody brought them up, and I looked into them. At first, I didn’t think much about them.

However, the more I learned about their core values and what they could deliver, the more I became interested. When we started with Boldr., I signed up with them and another BPO to mitigate risk and create redundancy. I ran them side by side for a year. Ultimately, I decided to go completely with Boldr.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been using them since the third quarter of 2021, and we continue to use them. Our plan is to keep using them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The growth of our team is the key evidence of the success of our engagement. We’ve found multiple ways to grow. The most impactful metric I can share is that we’re now saving $6 million a year because of this partnership. If we were staffing the team ourselves, it would be notably more expensive each year.

We keep growing them to other parts of the business, and that annual savings is the most impactful thing. Their support has enabled us to not worry about all the administrative stuff but be able to keep really great control over what they focused on and how they executed. This was really key to our success. 

How did Boldr. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great partners. They do a good job. Every time they want to launch a new project or service, they have a discovery call and walk through the options. When it comes to project execution, they’re very on top of it. They’re high-performing.

One of the things we look at, especially in the customer support world, is the attrition rates. Their attrition rates have been really low, which is good. They’re retaining a lot of people, so we don’t have to do rehiring and retraining. They’re very quick, responsive, and flexible.

We primarily communicate over Gmail and Slack. Then, we have regular meetings over Google Meet.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Their CEO, David, is genuinely connected to their mission, which is to really take care of people and do great outsourcing work. He really cared about that and being a good partner. He really sees the relationship as a partnership. Additionally our account manager is very attentive and always available. He advocates for us internally whenever we need things to be a little bit different than their standard clients.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re the most genuine business partner I’ve found. I’ve worked with a number of other BPOs and customer support tools. We’ve had to build relationships with them to get the most out of the engagement. Boldr. is the most genuine group of people. They care about people and want to do the right thing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I had to say there was one area of opportunity, it would be the time to hire. Sometimes, it’s a little long and probably longer than other BPOs. On the flip side, we have good retention. It might take us a week or two longer than we’d hope to get people in seats, but they’re generally good.

The time to hire is the only thing worth noting for the sake of the review. Everything else is just normal operational stuff. We’ve worked with them for over two years, so it’s not going to be perfect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear with your expectations early and often. Make sure that your internal stakeholders are aware of what Boldr. can accomplish and what services they provide. You can find more ways to utilize their services, which will save you a lot of money.

They’re an effective executor of tasks. Know what your goals are, communicate them clearly and early, and make sure that your internal stakeholders are aware of what your goals are and what they’re capable of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Manager of Implementation and Enablement of Cloze

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cloze, unlike other CRMs, will work with the apps our users use to manage their contacts and business needs to automatically keep track of emails, phone calls, text messages, meetings, documents, notes, and tasks in one place.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Boldr. to accomplish?

• Having a reliable technical team
• Reclaim our teams evening and weekends

SOLUTION

How did you find Boldr.?

conference

Why did you select Boldr. over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Boldr. were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We were looking for a new Support team provider, which we wanted to ramp up by the end of 2023 in order to transition from partner A. Boldr worked on understanding our goals and the need to find compatible support members who had both a strong technical background and customer support experience. Boldr worked on not only job postings but also pre-qualifying potential members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We wanted to have a team vetted and hired between Aug 2023 and September 2023 - We were able to hire most team members (6) by September 19 and a team captain by October 9. Having the team working independently on tickets in early December, we were able to get most team members approved for independent work by November 15 The plan was to run a pilot along with the previous provider until the end of December, but we decided to switch the partnership on November 13, 2023, to Boldr.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I found that our team (Vicky, Nikki, Chan, and Alex) did an amazing job of keeping us updated and providing deliverables. They built a great atmosphere that was friendly and focused on relationship building. No request was too much for them to take on.

What was your primary form of communication with Boldr.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I love that Boldr is focused on their employees (or team members); they focus on natural working hours and building a great team. They thoroughly understood our needs and effectively delivered on them.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Boldr. could have done differently?

At the moment, I don't have much to share on this.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at an insurance company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boldr.?

We needed help with the qualification of leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Boldr. provides us with call center services. We've provided them with our internal scripts, and they work remotely. They qualify leads' needs before passing them over to our sales agents to ensure we have the most opportunity to help our clients. 

What is the team composition?

I've worked with a group of 15–20 teammates from Boldr. 's leadership, with a regular team of 5–10 people. Currently, about 90 teammates are providing call center service, and that number will go up to 450 soon. 

How did you come to work with Boldr.?

Another person was in my position when Boldr. came to us as an outsourced partner. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We have monthly and yearly goals based on carriers we work with, and we measure Boldr.’s success based on those goals. So far, customer satisfaction has been great. Moreover, the integration of their services into our business has also been good. My experience with them has been very smooth, and they’re open to requests from our side.

How did Boldr. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is very pleasant, and things have gone smoothly. As for tools, we use Microsoft Power BI and Harmony. We primarily communicate through Microsoft Teams or Google Meet meetings and email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Boldr.’s passion for their company and people is their biggest strength. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should stay more nimble to changes. In our business, changes come quickly depending on the time of year. Although they’ve been great about this, I’d reiterate to stay open to changes. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very open and as transparent as possible. Lay everything out that’s needed and wanted, and go from there. Boldr.’s team is a great group of people who’ll do everything they can to meet your needs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Customer Support Manager. Babylist is a universal baby registry and an e-commerce platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Boldr.?

We hired them for PEO services for our tier 1 and tier 2 customer support.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

We determined our company's needs, and we compared multiple options. Boldr best fits the criteria amongst competitors.

Key criteria were:

• Control of culture
• Scalability
• Security
• Cost-effectiveness
• Benefits for team members

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Stages of the project were:

1. Planning
   1. Successful onboarding of team members, improving security measures, standardizing expectations for culture
2. Implementation
   • Working closely with Boldr to onboard 25+ team members and set up a new benefits system
3. Ongoing execution
   • Boldr team members performing high-quality customer support for tier 1 and tier 2 functions
4. Regular evaluation
   • Weekly and monthly syncs with Boldr account manager and CEO

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

We had 100% successful onboarding (no turnover). Team members are satisfied with their benefits. Team members meet performance expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

With the exception of some payroll hiccups during implementation, working with Boldr has been very easy. They are flexible, responsive, and helpful. Boldr is a partner we hope to continue to work with for years to come.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They meet the specific needs of our company in a way that no other competitor can. We have a lot of support but have control over our culture. We get to directly manage the Boldr team members.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Working with Boldr has been a very positive experience. One area of improvement we'd suggest would be to provide more clarity around paid/non-paid holidays, labor laws, and scheduling guidelines.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an AI automation company in the logistics space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boldr.?

We require 24/7 data monitoring in the form of a data monitoring team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have sorting robots on-site with our clients, and a small percentage of the sorting requires a slight bit of oversight by our monitoring team. This team has the ability to jump into the robot and see what they’re seeing and execute any actions we need to execute. In this way, they’re both a data team and a monitoring team.  They’re not necessarily technical support, but they do escalate higher-priority issues to our support team.

I trained them on my company’s required documentation, including required item profiles that will inform them of the specific tasks we need done in certain ways. We were actually bringing Boldr. on as a secondary vendor to another partner to eliminate potential contingencies if one of our teams went offline. This allows us to run on a 24/7 schedule without having any conflicting staffing hours.

They came on during our peak season and did a tremendous job getting people ready for high-volume events. They did an incredible job integrating with our systems, adapting our training, and understanding our company in a holistic way. During the beginning of the pandemic, they took measures to work virtually and keep people safe. Currently, they’re more in a hybrid schedule.

We also require them to provide constructive feedback in regards to improving our system and tools. A part of their job is meeting with our team and having discussions about how we can improve our products. They’ve been instrumental. It’s nice that this team is very proficient in their communication, as it allows us to have very technical conversations with them.

What is the team composition?

We try to hire depending on our volume of work available and the projects we’re working on. Right now, there are about 15 people assigned to us. This will change depending on what work comes over the horizon, too. One of those is the CEO, as well as their success manager and team captain.

How did you come to work with Boldr.?

I wasn’t the person in charge of choosing the vendor, but I know that Boldr. met our internal criteria.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since August 2020. The plan is to continue working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The accuracy of our work has improved significantly since Boldr. came onboard. The task I’m referring to is impossible to hit with 100% accuracy, but we’re hitting 80% accuracy right now, which is very high. The task is very nuanced and complex We were hitting around 60%–70% at the start, and we’ve seen marked improvement.

There are time constraints on the project as well, and it was urgent that we hit them. Boldr. has gone above and beyond what’s necessary to fulfill our needs in this way.

How did Boldr. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve met our deadlines, and I handle the budget and staffing. We communicate over Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Some of the biggest strengths that Boldr. has are their culture and work ethic. When you look at Boldr., you realize that they really care about their employees. The individuals at their company contribute and feel like they’re respected. This is much better than it feeling like a competition. All their team members are willing to do just a little extra to reach success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I love constructive feedback, but I can’t think of anything. They’ve been very supportive and flexible with us when it comes to our requests and processes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know their team. It’s very important for me to get to know everyone as an individual. Certain managers stay detached when working with outsourced vendors, and I understand why, but there’s also a lot of benefits to be had when you go the extra mile to work closely with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an e-commerce and consumer products company that sells products online, both directly to consumers and wholesale through various retailers and marketplaces. We’re a home goods brand that sells cookware, bakeware, and a few other items. I’m the VP of operations and oversee the customer experience and supply chain areas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boldr.?

The fourth quarter of last year was a big learning experience for us in that we realized it would be difficult to provide the customer experience we wanted in the face of our expanding coverage and diversification of needs.

Initially, we were running our customer service with a combination of in-house and contracted resources. Our goal was to revamp the entire structure of the organization and bring in an agency that could staff our agents and representatives (the core folks and front lines of our customer service).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s been a while since I brought in an agency at such a scale. In the beginning, we started with around 10 individuals that were a mixture of associates, shift leads, and a team captain. Their implementation was outstanding from the beginning, from structuring the contract to integrating our personnel into their ecosystem. From a training perspective, they helped design and structure a solid schedule. The format of the hiring process and their scheduling around these phases was fantastic.

What is the team composition?

Including the team captain and shift leads, we have around 12 individuals working with us on the front lines. The number fluctuates occasionally as well.

We also work with a client services manager, a data analytics team, a training and implementation team, a PEO team, and other various others.

How did you come to work with Boldr.?

They came in through a reference from an existing client on theirs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $85,000–$125,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The key metrics we monitor are response times and satisfaction ratings. Their response times to email and chats are outstanding, with responses coming in at less than one hour and less than 45 seconds respectively. Our satisfaction ratings from customers about their interactions with our customer support are great right now as well. Boldr, is really performing at an incredible level, with their quality matching their speed.

How did Boldr. perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls, reports, and deliverables. We don’t use any platforms or tools. Rather, Boldr. has very sophisticated Excel documents and project trackers that work well for us.

We have a very interactive process, and the implementation was very easy for us to follow. The metrics that we monitor are easily accessible, so there really isn’t a need for more advanced tracking tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really understand us as a client and resonate with our objectives, including the soft skills that we want to instill in all our team members. From a personnel standpoint, they’ve been highly responsive to the way we treat individuals at our company and by extension their team. Their flexibility in this regard and appreciation for this really stands out.

They’ve also been strong coaches and guides in helping our existing team members unlock more potential. Their personalities are pleasant, helpful, and friendly. All of their staff have a terrific work ethic, from their senior management team all the way down to the front-line representatives.

I also love how they invest and enable individuals in different communities and regions, whether that be in Mexico, South Africa, or the Philippines, and create wonderful impact projects. They’re involved in many of projects that uplift the communities they operate in, and set a terrific example of how to do this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. Part of the reason I wanted to leave this review is that I’m so thrilled with their performance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior customer experience manager at a direct-to-consumer home goods company that focuses on diversifying our offerings. I manage our remote team operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boldr.?

When COVID-19 hit, a lot of customers were purchasing home goods from our store, and we needed help from a BPO team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning of the partnership, Boldr. was just a live-channel operator. We soon realized that it wasn’t enough time to train an offshore team on a product they weren’t knowledgeable about already. So, we took more time to train Boldr.’s team — training has been a pivotal part of our relationship, and we’ve been heavily involved in it. We’ve always been sure to stay apprised of their training progress via our training tools. 

Boldr. now handles all customer interactions, from live chats to emails. We’ve actually built out our partnership to cover multiple offshore teams, including one that handles phone calls. 

What is the team composition?

We work with junior and senior customer advocates. I primarily interact with Boldr.’s customer service manager (CSM) and their senior team captain. 

How did you come to work with Boldr.?

Boldr. stood out from their competitors.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Boldr. began in June 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Boldr. now handles most of our customer interactions; some interactions are platform- and process-based, so only my team can take them. We provide regular feedback via a QA process. 

How did Boldr. perform from a project management standpoint?

We meet with our CSM multiple times a week as well as the full management team. We also have recurring QA and training meetings and the CEO always makes time to chat.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Boldr. has evolved with our business, and we’ve never felt that we’re pulling them up to our speed. Evolution is the spirit of our partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Boldr. is a newer company, which means we can challenge each other to do better. We’re working with them to develop processes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Managing a partnership with Boldr. requires each partner to be very honest with the other. Customers need to be clear about what they want so Boldr. can execute it. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of operations and strategy at an online marketplace where users can book unique event locations. I'm in charge of our supply operations in North America — booking venues to be listed on our marketplace. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boldr?

We brought on Boldr to provide base-level support for onboarding new venues on our platform. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Boldr curates and processes all of our new venue data on the backend of our platform — I refer to it as Tier One support. We have a ticketing queue in Salesforce that holds all the tickets of potential hosts who have submitted their venues to our platform for approval. Their team has access to our internal administrative system with specific, restricted access. My team has developed an onboarding flow for Boldr to utilize when determining whether or not new venues meet our requirements. If the space meets our requirements, Boldr's team activates the space, and it gets published on our platform. If issues or modifications are needed, Boldr follows a checklist my team has developed to relay edits venue hosts need to make. Then, they sent it to a follow-up queue that sends the edits back to the venue hosts to complete. 

As we've begun to understand Boldr strengths, we've provided more assignments within our operations. Boldr also helps us create venues on behalf of our outbound team. They'll create the space on a host's behalf as part of our outbound pitch. The big lift there has been getting Boldr to better understand our platform. 

We've also leveled up some teammates from Boldr — we've brought them in to fill open job descriptions. We've brought on a teammate from Boldr who reports to our in-bound sales team. Most of the teammates from Boldr are working on Tier One support, but we now also have a teammate doing full-time equivalent in-house work. 

What is the team composition?

We work with around 15 teammates from Boldr, including an account manager and a data insights manager. There are also two team captains in charge of the flows we have Boldr working on.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Boldr began around December 2018, and it's ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Two of the KPIs we track are the median time of venue activation and the time to first response. Overall, we're activating thousands of venues a month. 

We also do quality scoring and quality checks on Boldr's work. Not only do we measure the number of venues activated within a specific time frame, but we also check to ensure they're activating good quality venues that meet our requirements. Boldr's team captains handle all of our QA — they randomly select venues and check the quality of a large number of them to get a representative data set. 

How did Boldr perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily communicate with Boldr through Slack — we have multiple internal and external Slack channels. I have weekly sync-up meetings with Boldr's team captains and the account manager. In those meetings, they relate tracked performance KPIs progress. They also utilize Salesforce as a CRM; we've shifted a lot of our workflows to Salesforce. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate that Boldr has been able to understand our business — we have a unique product and marketplace setup. They've taken what we've provided and figured out how to best train others to make our processes repeatable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I provided Boldr with this same feedback last week. Overall, we're delighted with Boldr's work. They've been great partners, but we'd appreciate it if they provided more proactive feedback. We get reports on what's been happening, but now that Boldr understands our business well, I want their recommendations. Whether workflow- or business-related, I'd love their feedback because they're working with our processes day in and day out. They've started providing more qualitative feedback that we can relay to our product team to make improvements. However, we're still just looking for more proactive feedback that we can provide to other relevant teams. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd advise customers to have a good sense of their priorities and how Boldr can be helpful to their team. Customers need to know the KPIs they want to move with a BPO and what kind of internal tools and processes they need to support the partnership. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Support Manager of an ecommerce company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sells photography accessory equipment

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Boldr. to accomplish?

• CSAT of 90%+
• Increase Revenue
• Help with Projects

SOLUTION

How did you find Boldr.?

Other

Why did you select Boldr. over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from Boldr. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Handling Inquiries and Resolving Issues: This is the core responsibility. Customer service representatives (CSRs) respond to customer inquiries via various channels (phone, email, live chat, social media) and resolve issues effectively. 

This includes troubleshooting problems, providing product/service information, and addressing complaints. Customer Support: Assist customers in using products/services, guiding them through processes, and offering technical support if needed. They may also provide instructions or tutorials.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Increase in all KPIs set out at the beginning, CSAT, FRT, Revenue Conversion rate

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Extremely well and professional

What was your primary form of communication with Boldr.?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have a customer-centric approach, innovative solutions and company culture.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Boldr. could have done differently?

No