Flatworld Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the cofounder of multispecialty medical group

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Flatworld Solutions, and what were your goals??

To grow our call center, back office operations, and billing functions. We then used them for custom development of software (ERP) and then for marketing roles.

SOLUTION

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

We searched for call center and other functions and found Flatworld. We met with one of the main heads of the company and have been very satisfied and working with them since.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package, including any calling tools used.

The project started as a simple assistance to our onsite team and has grown to be a full blown team off shore. They manage many of the inbound and outbound communications as well as other functions like medical billing.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

Based on the team, we have different program managers. Each is qualified in a different area. For example, there is a call center manager, an IT project manager, a marketing manager, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the service?

We have been able to grow and scale our business faster due to ability for them to recruit, hire, train, and employ team members quickly

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They have been very flexible and shifted with the times. They can be agile or more watershed. They have many people we have worked with that were project management certified and scrum masters

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

We're impressed with their depth of knowledge, and we have had great tenure with the team. Many of the team members are now just considered as part of our "in-house" team. Most of our staff just view them as being on shore

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

Sometimes the hours were not convenient when communicating with them but, for the most part, they were accommodating

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and managing director of a web services provider. We manage website hosting and provide website design services. We’re a Microsoft partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

We needed someone to work on some clients’ websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Flatworld Solutions worked on small coding jobs to repair the functionality of the websites. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 team members.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

I found them online.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and the project ended in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results were good overall. The clients were happy, and their websites continued to function as expected.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management and communication were good. They met deadlines and were responsive. We communicated through email and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did excellent work and met the timelines successfully.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their pricing could be better. We ended up using another service provider because the difference between the US and Australian dollars can be quite high.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a good idea of what you want from the project outcome so you can guide the project managers toward a solution.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a business developer at Spa Week Media Group. The company has been in business for 20 years, and I’ve been with the team for 15 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

For 18 years, we did all of our call center work in-house. Then, we hired an onshore call center provider that didn’t work out for us. After that, we engaged with Flatworld Solutions to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Flatworld Solutions provides us with call center services, providing customer service to our end clients. Initially, we started with a small staff from Flatworld Solutions to test their services. Then, we added another resource and intend to add more. We provide the scripts, and the team works offsite from the Philippines.

We just started another project with them to update our information in our client databases. We have about 60,000 businesses in our database, and Flatworld Solutions is updating the contact information and data about management and ownership. 

What is the team composition?

We work with two Flatworld Solutions teammates on customer service, one person for the database update, and two teammates who manage the other three. 

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

We had done a project with them 3–4 years ago, and our CEO remembered they did a good job. After we came out of a bad engagement with our previous call center provider, we decided to give Flatworld Solutions a call. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $40,000–$50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our relationship with Flatworld Solutions is very active and successful. The metric of their success is how much information they feed back to us, which is extraordinary. We’ve also seen positive customer satisfaction from Flatworld Solutions’ services. Their professionalism and follow-through are amazing. 

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management and oversight are phenomenal. Flatworld Solutions’ resources communicate with our customer service management office and are constantly in touch. If we need to escalate any issues, they bring that to our attention. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Flatworld Solutions has been extraordinary; I’ve yet to find any weakness in their work. Overall, we love our relationship with them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have constructive feedback — if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it! 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust Flatworld Solutions because they know what they’re doing. After coming off a bad engagement, it’s gratifying to work with a company as well-run as Flatworld Solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a digital analytics agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

We were looking to outsource some of our organizational operations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Flatworld Solutions provided us with BPO services to support our projects and the development of our system. 

What is the team composition?

I only worked with one person from their team.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

I came across their company online.

How much have you invested with them?

I was roughly paying $1,500 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–September 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They relieved some of our workloads, helping me focus on the core business without stress.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We had some accessibility issues at first, but they were able to pick up the pace as they became more used to the operations. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Flatworld Solutions was reliable, results-driven, and highly motivated to learn our business quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have more initiative when it comes to the entire process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before starting your engagement with Flatworld Solutions, make sure to provide them with your requirements clearly, and provide them access to all the tools they might need.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

we  offer a complete range of enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions against all internal and external cyber threats. Our proprietary quantum-resistant technologies stand strong as the last line of defense for your data in the quantum computing era threat landscape.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Flatworld Solutions?

We needed to build a SOC team from scratch for our SIEM solution.

SOLUTION

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

We had worked with Flatworld on other projects and they did (and continue to do) a great job.

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

We started the project with 2 SOC analysts. We then expanded the team to approximately 5 resources. The team members collectively had to learn our legacy SIEM product without a lot of knowledge transfers and documentation. They have done a really good job thus far.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Initially, we provided job descriptions to the agency and they then identify candidates. We interview the candidates and those who are a fit, are then offered the role. Today, we provide the job descriptions and Flatworld hires the resources without requiring us to interview and approve candidates beforehand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With their due diligence, we now have a SOC team that is fairly familiar with our legacy SIEM solution. This is great progress from where we were.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our workflow works very well and is extremely efficient. We meet twice a week to review the project status and we receive daily updates from the team.

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

Their ability to learn our solution with little input and support from us is very impressive.

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

No, the agency is doing very well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and managing partner of Gretna Medical Center, a provider of urgent and primary healthcare.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

We needed someone to provide us with call center support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I hired Flatworld Solutions to schedule and monitor appointments, answer emails, manage phone call overflow, and make reminder calls to patients.

We started with a couple of virtual training sessions with their virtual receptionist. We provided them with all our procedures and instructions and moved from there after the successful engagement.

What is the team composition?

Our main points of contact are three supervisors and one virtual assistant.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

We came across their company through online research and decided to work with them based on their excellent training program and cost-effective solutions.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Flatworld Solutions does great work for us, as they’ve been able to handle all our overflowing calls, book more patients, monitor and answer emails, and schedule more appointments.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The team performs well from a project management perspective, and we typically communicate through a text app called Signal.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their cost-effective solutions, training program, and responsiveness.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m quite satisfied with their work, so I don’t have anything they need to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise you to give their services a try because I believe they’ll be able to listen and help you achieve your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the sales manager at a Florida-bar-certified lawyer referral service that specializes in the consumer debt relief industry. We connect consumers that have over $10,000 in unsecured debt and aren’t qualified for a traditional debt consolidation loan with a law firm to help them dismiss their debts o settle them for a fraction. We also defend our clients from lawsuits they may have pending with their creditors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

We basically needed help with staffing. We were working with a BPO office at the beginning of 2022, and they performed well for a short while. However, they had some issues with the agents they were outsourcing to us at the end of March 2022, and they suddenly shut down our campaign with very short notice. By April 2022, our entire lead generation team was over because we were relying heavily on this BPO, so we started looking for a new partner to help us with our efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Flatworld Solutions provides us with a lead generation team and a team of sales agents to support our lead generation efforts. I’m in charge of drafting the scripts for our phone campaign, and they’re in charge of training their agents to get them phone-ready. Additionally, I’m currently training my floor managers to be able to provide additional training down the line.

Initially, we met with Flatworld Solutions and were connected to their Indian team. However, after assessing our prospective campaign, they recommended working with their Philippines team instead.

What is the team composition?

We work with around 20 people from Flatworld Solutions, including 17 agents, a floor manager, a head supervisor, and a recruiter.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

When we were looking for a new BPO service provider to work with, we came across Flatworld Solutions.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Flatworld Solutions’ lead generation team is doing great so far — our partnership has been a blessing. However, as far as the sales team goes, it is too early to provide any real feedback because we’re still working intensively to get their agents phone-ready. Still, the sales team is doing a great job so far.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Flatworld Solutions’ communication is great. I have real-time chats with their management team, and I also can communicate directly with the sales team. The management team is very responsive and professional, and they do a great job managing their staff, making adjustments, providing coaching, and ensuring attendance policies are being followed and available hours are being met.

As far as the technology involved goes, we use a CRM system, a credit reporting software system, and a phone dialing system. All of these systems are secured for sensitive client information, and Flatworld Solutions’ team handles them appropriately. Additionally, we communicate via Skype and Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to our previous BPO service provider, Flatworld Solutions’ agents are more well-versed in English, and their compliance and professionalism on the phone are better as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any negative comments on Flatworld Solutions. The only thing I would like to see is a faster hiring process to build the sales team we need. However, it is a more demanding position, and they have to find the right candidates to avoid high turnover rates farther down the line.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a bit of patience. Flatworld Solutions has very talented and hardworking people, but it may take them a bit longer to adjust than someone local.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at Great Northern Insurance Agency Inc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

We needed a company that could provide us with call center and backend administrative services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Flatworld Solutions to handle our call center and backend administrative work. Some of the team members work in-office, and some of them work remotely. We've recently started making them handle outgoing marketing calls for us.

What is the team composition?

We work with 10 people from Flatworld Solutions.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

We found Flatworld Solutions through online research.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're not getting any negative feedback from our customers, and my whole staff thinks the Flatworld Solutions team is great. They're very smart people — every department that I've moved into their location has been a success.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Flatworld Solutions has performed well in terms of project management. We typically communicate through phone calls, email, Zoom, and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with Flatworld Solutions’ knowledge and collaborative approach. They do exactly what I tell them to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a real estate investment firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

We were looking for call center agents to contact potential home sellers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we provided Flatworld Solutions with targeted areas and a lead list of where we were trying to acquire real estate. They interviewed and hired potential candidates and implemented the call strategies to acquire the real estate in those targeted areas.

They’ve provided callers to contact real estate owners and inquire if they’d be open to potentially selling their homes. Regarding the sales cycles, their callers handle the top of the funnel, and then the lead is transferred to somebody on our team to close the transaction.

What is the team composition?

We work with about five people from their end, including the project manager, project lead, and supporting staff.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

We were looking for and interviewing potential providers; Flatworld Solutions were among them. We ultimately chose them because they were easy to work with. They helped with the initial acquisition and search process for the agents. Also, they were eager to work with us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly about $8,000 so far.

What is the status of the engagement?

We kicked off the project in March 2022 and are still engaged with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Metrics have been decided based on the leads they’ve provided. In reality, we’ve had little ROI on some of their leads. For example, some of them had the potential for ROI, but we couldn’t close the transaction. Overall, the RFI hasn’t been great, but we don’t blame them.

On the other hand, our goal was about 10–12 appointments per week, and they hit that about 70% of the time. In some instances, the lead flow is quite low, but about 15% of the leads they’ve sent have qualified. However, we don’t have hard-set goals. Also, they provide daily metrics. We can’t gauge the quality of the calls because we don’t have the recordings.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate with them via email and don’t use project management tools. We also have a CRM that they've integrated into the processes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communications between teams are excellent. If we ever have a question, they act fast. Moreover, we have many lines of communication open.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should provide call recordings for clients to gauge their project.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have a structured process and goals around what you want them to accomplish. For QA, I'd recommend making call recordings a regular thing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of lobbyTV, a digital signage solutions provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

They provided call-center and level-one support for our commercial product. Previously, we had all our support in our Dallas office, but it was expensive, so we decided to outsource to India.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We trained Flatworld Solutions staff on how to use our support CRM, which is based on HubSpot. They created tickets and handled most things by themselves,  such as troubleshooting and basic support with our customers. The issues that are more technical and require level-two support are passed on to the US. We have support procedures for them.

What is the team composition?

We used to have two support professionals on their team, but we just have one now because the need for support has gone down due to COVID-19. I normally talked to their project manager.

How did you come to work with Flatworld Solutions?

It was a referral from one of my other vendors.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost so far has been $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Flatworld Solutions around May 2019 and it’s ongoing. The only parts we’re running in-house are level-two support and marketing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I get weekly updates on how many calls they made and what the efficiency was. Flatworld Solutions is pretty good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have continued working with them for two years.

How did Flatworld Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

The Flatworld Solutions team is super responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have backup resources in case one of their support people can’t make it to the office. That’s phenomenal, given their low cost of operations. I’m using only one resource, so if that person gets sick, my support is down. Flatworld Solutions can put in someone else to handle the calls within half an hour. We had no interruptions during COVID-19.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t come across anything they could improve.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Initial training is very important, and the client needs to have patience to do this, especially on the customer support side. After that, Flatworld Solutions will do a phenomenal job of training replacement resources. They have a nice process for that.