Unity Communications

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO and head of operations at a growing E-Commerce business that sells primarily DTC as well as 3rd Party Marketplaces.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unity Communications?

As a small business with limited human capital, our initial challenge has been handling the inflow of customer inquiries via various communication channels as well as various tasks including report generation, bookkeeping, and data analysis

SOLUTION

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

I had primarily searched google for a firm that could handle the services we required and had found them on clutch.co - their stellar reviews had prompted me to reach out for an initial consult. Being impressed with our initial conversation we had decided to move forward with our partnership

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

Unity had provided one staff member initially to handle inbound customer communications through various mediums. We had done some brief training to start on how to handle the various calls and what resources were needed to effectively manage different challenges that would arise.

As we grew, tasks included checking daily orders, shipments, report generation, analytics, managing a CRM and reaching potential leads for business opportunities, bookkeeping, and managing implementation of our business analytics platform. Unity helped us add additional resources over time to manage all these various tasks so we could effectively operate as a larger, more efficient company

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

After discussing our initial requirements Unity had done the vetting and interviewing process on our behalf with potential candidates. At that stage, we were asked to further speak to the candidates picked out and make sure they were a good fit based on our requirements as they would effectively represent our business. All of the candidates have been incredible and have stayed on since starting working with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been nothing but impressed with Unity's ability to understand our requirements as a small business, and translate those requirements to an effective and successful solution that has helped us scale beyond anything we imagined possible. Again they have helped us operate, scale and provide a great deal of customer success that wouldn't have been otherwise possible.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow has never been a problem as we together have developed a set of shared resources and documentation that has allowed enough cross-knowledge so every member on the team has the information required to effectively manage their tasks.

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

Simply put, the ability to go above and beyond all of my expectations and treat and care for our business as it belonged to them. The culture at Unity demonstrates a great deal of kindness, honesty, hard work and determination to go above and beyond in every case imaginable

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

Nothing could have been done differently up to this point - my experience has been perfect thus far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a payer relations manager for a five-week-old dental practice solution and a PPO management consulting firm. We work with dental offices across the US to try and elevate their people and get them better reimbursements, by negotiating with insurance companies. I manage the people who are working with those companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unity Communications?

Insurance companies are complicated to work with, so the rules are always changing with them. With Unity Communications, we wanted to achieve the ability to follow up with our insurance companies at a rate that we could not possibly do in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re constantly calling to get contracts and updates from insurance companies, and Unity Communications are the ones who are making those phone calls for us at a maximum rate.

They’re currently completing for us whenever we get a client, is they call about 30–35 insurance companies per doctor. They get information such as the doctor’s contracts and their fee schedules, which they will then report into our CRM — this is so the teams can see the information internally, and read them on a note level, instead of actually making those calls themselves.

Apart from that, their HR handled the hiring process for candidates to come on to the campaign. They did the initial interviews, while I did the final interviews.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Diana (Director of Operations). We also work with Anna (Technical Support Analyst) who manages the team in-house in the Philippines, and Rachel (Country Manager) for the hiring process. For our campaigns, we currently have four people on the team.

How did you come to work with Unity Communications?

The president of our company discovered Unity Communications through networking. Patrick (CEO & Founder) came to our office, talked to us, and they understood what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent over $20,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2020 and our partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re getting us very good information, so we’ve been able to increase sales through bringing more clients and in other ways. Unity Communications is very quick-paced and detailed, so it’s definitely been a positive experience.

How did Unity Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

In my honest opinion, they perform unbelievably well. I’ve been hiring people for quite a few years, and these four individuals have been the most positive and beneficial hires I’ve ever done in my life. They want to work and they want to help for the greater and bigger picture — they see what’s going on, what they’re contributing, and I can’t say enough about them.

I’ve thought about moving to the Philippines at this point to be in an office with them, because they’re just the happiest and hardest working group of people I’ve ever met. 

We use an instant messaging system to communicate and ask quick questions. We also use email and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the best things about working with Unity Communications is they have such a positive culture —you can see it shine through all the way to their campaign employees.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no answer to this. I do audits on their work, and since November, I’ve never had to tell them the same thing twice. There’s nothing I could say that they should improve because they’re always willing to work — they even ask for extra hours whenever needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To work with Unity Communications, one thing you need to do is to be there for them because there are going to be a lot of questions. I’m always available for them to answer any questions, and I think that’s helped improve their day-to-day due to the fact that they aren’t waiting.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for Animation Explainers as the Project Manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unity Communications, and what were your goals?

We collaborated on a video project together. We aimed to succinctly and accurately ensure that the video was on-brand, had the right messaging, and was delivered to their specifications. Without their expertise, the project would not have been a success.

SOLUTION

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

They are industry leaders. Easy choice.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

We started with a discovery meeting. From there, we perfected the script together. Once they were happy, we produced the storyboard. We ironed out all the kinks at that stage. This meant that when they signed off on the storyboard, we got the voiceover recorded and then there were no changes to the animation.

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

I worked with Patrick, the founder. The feedback process was impeccable. Patrick was always available to answer any questions I had and this made for a thoroughly enjoyable experience

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I showed the video to my team and feedback has been amazing. People love the video. This would not have been possible without the work from Patrick.

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

Unity Communications communication was great. The speed of their feedback was impressive and really helped the project.

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

Their eagerness to help and creative approach to problem-solving.

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

Nope!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

At Digital Silk we are a full-service marketing solution. We create custom web designs, paid ads, SEO and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unity Communications?

As our company has continued to grow, we have found the need for more resources. Our clients are all over the world, so having a global employee base made sense.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to find professionals that could handle things administrative tasks and even junior marketing members to our team to help with smaller marketing tasks.

SOLUTION

How did you select Unity Communications?

We found Unity Communications though a referral from a company who was currently using them. They were happy with their work and we decided to give them a shot.

Describe the project in detail.

The project consisted of putting us in contact with global professionals that would supplement our core team.

What was the team composition?

Before Unity Communications the bulk of our team was not abroad. Now, we have a healthy mix of team members around the globe.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since hiring Unity Communications, our team has grown, our senior members have had more time to focus on larger tasks, and we have seen an exponential increase in production output.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. They were extremely responsive and always came to us with updates and solutions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing about Unity Communications is the talent that they are able to find. Every additional resource that we added to our team exceeded our expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Work in the Aerospace industry, as a customer business director

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unity Communications?

Hired Unity to create a Tier 1 customer commerce site.

What were your goals for this project?

Wanted to purchase, rather than build, an infrastructure to help bring products and services on line and keep customer support at the highest levels.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

RFP

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Unity helped design and build a customer support workflow that included multi channel communication between customers & vendors. They created a global team environment for integration and onboarding, and helped specify KPI to assure ROI.

What was the team composition?

5 customer support agents, and 1 team leader.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The team has proved very capable, in this, our first step in using a 3rd party for an e-commerce site.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

My point of contact worked directly with their point of contact seamlessly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Flexibility, and ability to deal with change. This is an organization with a lot of experience — they had seen the kick-off issues before, and knew how to address them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

All companies have room to improve. Only nit would be that time scheduling issues sometimes came into play.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of an e-commerce merger and acquisition company.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unity Communications?

When we first started, we reached out to them for help with business process execution to focus primarily on customer care.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work included responding to customer messages, monitoring seller review comments, and engaging with them to resolve issues. Since that initial concept, we’ve expanded to have the team monitor other components of our brand health.

They capture data through screenshots and other forms so that we can have a data repository we can leverage. We’re also using them for contact data-mining. Essentially, for lead generation for mergers and acquisitions program.

What is the team composition?

We have one dedicated account representative, and will soon have a second. We have a management level contact with support.

How did you come to work with Unity Communications?

They came to us from a referral. We evaluated them against a couple of other service providers. We appreciated their rapid responsive nature. They’re very engaged, follow up diligently, and were quite responsive. We also liked their pricing and partner orientation that they continuously expressed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $1,500. That doesn’t include time spent training and supporting the relationship, which adds about $500 more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in April 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The success metrics are currently around task completion, including monitoring customer service response levels, and we maintain that service level. They’ve maintained follow-through on all of the monitoring we’ve asked them to do. For the current measurements, they’re performing as well as they could.

By other measurements, we’re generally pleased with the partnership and the quality of work. We’re looking to expand the relationship and have them help with another level of data collection.

How did Unity Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is great. We have a Slack channel and we’re in constant communication as the business requires it throughout the day. Our dedicated representative also sends a daily summary, with tasks completed and notes, which we find helpful.

I can tell from the way the summary is formatted that they’re using Excel to track the work completed. They’re very proactive and flexible, as we’ve evolved our scope of work to include both task completion and a dedicated account representative. They’re always willing to help us achieve our goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The emphasis on communication really stands out to me, as well as the flexibility of accommodating new tasks.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What's most helpful is having documentation of exactly what you’d like to have done. They were very quick to learn new tasks, and where we did provide documentation the team used it, read it over, and referenced it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a former business consultant for an IT services and telecom company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unity Communications?

I relied on Unity Communications for a variety of administrative and processing tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unity Communications offered a back-office team who provided a wide range of admin and sales support. They put together proposals for my customers, handled data-entry, and reconciled overage as well as incorrectly filed items. They even placed orders in the system and provided me with the information I needed to support my customers.

What is the team composition?

Around three of their team members were involved in the engagement. There was a project manager overseeing the work.

How did you come to work with Unity Communications?

When I was at a previous job, I’d partnered with Unity Communications on different projects. Since they’re a local company, I was able to reach out to them again when I needed support. They’re familiar with our field of work, so they seemed like a natural choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

While we’ve worked together on and off for the last five years, our recent engagement started in January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While it’s hard to quantify the quality of work, I’ve been pleased with their services. Their work frees up time for me to be able to focus on my primary operations. They process things accurately and in a timely manner, which is why I continue to rely on them.

How did Unity Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good communicators. They respond right away if I need something. On the flip side, I get status updates as they’re working on projects, and they reach out immediately if there are any hiccups. They’re vocal about deadlines and always manage to meet them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to accurately place orders and accurately crunch data into a format that’s useful to me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. I’ve never had any problems.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear in what you’re requesting and make sure they understand the timelines you need them to adhere to. In any case, they’re good about meeting the expectations that are set.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Ran a regional sales team for B2B sales for one of the major US Telecommunications brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unity Communications?

Unity Communications was hired to generate leads for businesses in our territory. We had a team of 10 covering the state and responsibilities for the team members covered B2B quota but also supporting our retail stores and account management. Being that growth was what we were measured on, but the other goals were of equal importance to leadership, we needed to be more efficient with our time spent on projects and work streams.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to increase our funnel size and closed business while not over-indexing on the time spent calling on businesses. We anticipated being able to grow our closed business by 2-4 new logos a month above the run rate.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Patrick was a local business that we had relationships with through other opportunities. The company had a vetting process whereby financials and other points needed proof. Once Unity Communications was an approved vendor, the proof of work was delivered immediately above all other vendors who would promise a lot but depend on the sales team for a lot of extra reporting work. Unity Communications was very clear in understanding the market, the line of business and the buyer audience.

Describe the project in detail.

Unity Communications created their own calling scripts. We provided a list of targets, and they augmented the list with their own contacts and target audience. Daily calls were made between three people calling on our market. The callers would set appointments for our sales team to go in and close the business. They were paid on closed business only. Unity would consult with the clients on implementation and were key in multi-site complex deployments.

What was the team composition?

We had 5 people. Three called on businesses. Two would attend closing appointments to set up implementation. One person would handle implementations to take strain off our resources. The members stayed static and well known so communicaiton was healthy. There were hiccups at some points but it was easy to iron those out with the familiarity of roles and people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results for the 18 months we ran in conjunction with Unity were record-breaking for our market. We landed major regional brands due to the involvement of Unity creating conversations our sales teams could run with and the implementation support offered. The end to end sale support model thrived. The sales team was eager to win Unity's favor and support, knowing that they were bringing in half of the leads we were closing (sales team still responsibile to continue their contributions as this was a growth project, not a shift the work project). Our sales doubled. We had a very harmonious relationship between Unity and the direct sales team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly meetings between leadership at my brand and at Unity. We would review the status of leads, funnel stages, and deal with any communication hiccups. They were very organized, thorough and delivered on promises.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The results. Hands down Patrick understands sales and was able to relay that to his team. They met business customers' expectations and created valuable relationships and partnerships with the brands. They would work crazy hours to meet deadlines. But even with all of that, if the sales numbers didn't move it's just a "nice to have". Unity contributed 30-50% of our numbers during the program through the tight partnership, creating clear expectations and a regular rhythm of activity.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I thought long and hard about this one. The two teams were so in synch on goals that the small issues we did have were quickly resolved. I cannot think of anything that I would have done differently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a senior analyst at a university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unity Communications?

We needed additional IT resources so that our help desk doesn't get overloaded. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We're constantly upgrading our website and adding new online classes to compete with other universities. Whenever we put on a large catalog of classes online, our help desk and our IT resources get hit with a lot of user requests. Most of those requests are about user experience or compatibility issues. Unity Communications put together a step-by-step plan and then put a ticketing system in place. About two weeks after the onboarding, they were handling 90% of the requests we received from our users.  

What is the team composition? 

They assigned a team to our project.

How did you come to work with Unity Communications?

They have a lot of expertise in the IT industry and help desk issues, so we decided they'd be a great fit. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

We worked with them between January 2017–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They exceeded our expectations. They're very knowledgeable and they were always available to address the requests from our users. They're located in the other part of the globe, so it was a bit outside of our comfort zone, but everything worked out very well.

How did Unity Communications perform from a project management standpoint? 

They were very responsive and delivered ahead of deadlines. We mostly used phone, email, and text to stay in touch. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

You can trust that they'll deliver what they said they would. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

If we wanted to speak to their leadership, we needed to schedule the time two days in advance. But they were always willing to accommodate us, so it wasn't a big issue. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their rates are fairly affordable, so I'd definitely recommend them.