Flatworld Solutions

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.

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.

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.

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.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

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.

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.

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.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

What challenge were you trying to address with Flatworld Solutions?

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

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.

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.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

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.

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.

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.

Why does your firm need inbound services? Did you previously handle these needs in-house?

For a firm, it's a must to have inbound services. It provides varioous forms of support to your customers by telephone.

How many inbound calls did your company handle every day? How much time did your employees spend on the phone every day?

They come in all the time, so we found the service pretty essential to our business.

What challenge were you trying to address with the service provider?

We wanted to better support our customers.

What was the scope of the service provider's involvement?

They support us by supporting our customers over the phone.

Could you describe the pricing structure and how they billed you?

I prefer not to answer.

How did you come to work with this service provider?

Our head director decided.

How would you assess the service provider for answering calls, customer service, and communication?

Yes, they are really quick in terms of communication and support.

How much time, in hours, does this service provider save you each month?

They save us a lot more time and money.

What takeaways and measures of success can you share about working with this service provider?

It has been a great experience.

What are the service provider's strengths?

Overall, they provide a great service.

How can the service provider improve?

None that I can think of.

How long has your company been working with this service provider?

Since 2015 and it's ongoing.

How much money do you spend annually with this service provider?

I prefer not to answer.

Why does your firm need inbound services? Did you previously handle these needs in-house?

Flatworld Solutions' service is very attractive and necessary for its low costs. It is very useful.

How many inbound calls did your company handle every day? How much time did your employees spend on the phone every day?

We handle more than 5,000 incoming calls a day.

What challenge were you trying to address with the service provider?

Our goal was to have a perfect, comfortable solution.

What was the scope of the service provider's involvement?

They provide a call reception service.

Could you describe the pricing structure and how they billed you?

We cannot provide that information.

How did you come to work with this service provider?

We found them through an internet search.

How would you assess the service provider for answering calls, customer service, and communication?

N/A.

How much time, in hours, does this service provider save you each month?

They take on about 15% of our time.

How much money does this service provider save you each month?

This is confidential.

What takeaways and measures of success can you share about working with this service provider?

The primary advantage is the time we can now use in productive processes in the organization.

What are the service provider's strengths?

Their strength is the breadth of services they can provide.

How can the service provider improve?

I do not know since, they are quite competent.

How long has your company been working with this service provider?

2015 - Ongoing.

How much money do you spend annually with this service provider?

More than $10,000,000.

Why does your firm need inbound services? Did you use to handle these needs in-house?

We needed a company our customers could call and speak with live agents who could handle any of their needs. We previously handled this ourselves, but as the business grew we needed to look for more cost-effective solutions.

How many inbound calls did your company handle every day?

We were handling about 75% of the inbound call volume.

What challenge were you trying to address with the service provider?

Our main goals were to reduce company costs and to improve the customer service and response times.

What was the scope of the service provider's involvement?

Flatworld Solutions is our front line to our customers. They make our clients feel comfortable and more inclined to keep doing business with us. Their professionalism is the biggest service they provide us.

Could you describe the pricing structure and how they billed you?

We are billed on a monthly basis and it is based on the monthly call volumes.

How did you come to work with this service provider?

We researched a wide range of order processing professionals, which involved detailed background checks and customer satisfaction ratings. We conducted lengthy interviews with each prospected service provider before making our decision to go with Flatworld Solutions.

How would you assess the service provider for answering calls, customer service, and communication?

We keep track of their success and failure calls. They have a 98% customer satisfaction rating in a study we did with our customers. The highest individual rating within the entire study was their communication, which we had made a high priority when we first hired them.

How much time and money does this service provider save you each month?

We estimate they save us about 40 hours of manpower and $150,000 a month in savings.

What takeaways and measures of success can you share about working with this service provider?

They have gone above and beyond to make our customers happy. On one such occasion, Flatworld Solutions saved a customer 50% of the cost of a product because they took the time to figure out there needs and get them all the discounts they could.

What are the service provider's strengths?

Their dedication to making their customers, like us, as successful as possible. They excel at communication with their customers, to ensure their experience is as pleasant as possible.

What areas can the service provider improve?

They could use some help in the technical aspects of their services.

How long has your company been working with this service provider?

We started working with them in January of 2012, and continue to use their services.

How much money do you spend annually with this service provider?

We've been spending around $200,000 to $999,999.

Why does your firm need back office services? Did you use to handle these needs in-house?

We did do this in-house, however we added an additional provider and felt that a faster process would benefit everyone.

What types of work can your internal staff avoid by utilizing a back office service?

They decreased our payroll by 10 hours per week.

What challenge were you trying to address with the service provider?

They mostly give us less stress.

What was the scope of the service provider's involvement?

They give us medical billing, insurance claims and Medicaid claims work.

Could you describe the service provider's pricing structure and how they billed you?

They bill daily.

How did you come to work with this service provider?

We had a prior relationship.

How would you assess the service provider's ability to turn around quality work quickly, their client service, and communication.

They have a faster turnaround time.

How much time and money does this service provider save you each month?

They save us $500-$750 per month.

What takeaways and measures of success can you share about working with this service provider?

They have a great process and are efficient.

What are the service provider's strengths?

The support.

What areas can the service provider improve?

There should be less updates and glitches.

How long has your company been working with this service provider?

It's been three years.

How much money do you spend annually with this service provider?

Confidential