Staff Outsourcing Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Commercial Manager at The Flights Guru. We are a UK based travel company selling a wide range of travel products to clients in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Staff Outsourcing Solutions?

Sales and Marketing

What were your goals for this project?

To implement a new sales team to work alongside our existing sales teams in offices worldwide.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We researched a number of companies online, and Staff Outsourcing Solutions were the most responsive and felt like the best fit for our company.

Describe the project in detail.

We have a team of 6 sales staff working from 5PM to 5AM to mirror UK office hours doing inbound sales for our company

What was the team composition?

We were assisted in the set up by the site director, BDM and team manager, who organised the recruitment, hiring and set up of the sales team, along with the initial and ongoing staff training.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The sales teams performance has increased month on month in line with our expectations, and they are regularly exceeding the set customer service expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have daily contact with the BDM and Team Manager, who keep us up to date on sales, attendance and any other issues, and provide us weekly reports.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing is the ability to adapt to our requirements, as our account is quite complicated. Their response times are impressive and always work with us to get to the desired outcome.

Are there any areas for improvement?

At present we are very happy with the service.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Mass Depot, LLC. Our company has about 40 employees and we work together to serve the e-commerce consumer for the entire United States and some international countries. We are a $50 million company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Staff Outsourcing Solutions?

Our company prides itself in excellent customer service and providing an overall smooth experience. Our challenge was that we only provide one shift, an early morning shift into the afternoon. This puts our customers that send us their questions later in the afternoon on a wait-list to be answered in the morning. The longer the wait time, the more the experience shifts into a negative aspect. We debated on a skewed shift for customer service, but our employees enjoyed their current shifts as one of the great benefits of the job. We needed to find a way to have the customers taken care of even while we weren't in the office.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed somebody available when we weren't and as an end goal create a chance of opportunity to move our current in-house customer service employees into better positions.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We actually came across this company as a recommendation from another local company we've kept in touch with. We happened to come across the issue as a conversational topic. We met with the right people and the decision was made quick to get a solution rolled out.

Describe the project in detail.

I set up an easy to follow onboarding process in preparation of our new SOS employee. It just needed an update for somebody who has never touched our products or messed with our system. (We previously only promoted employees who had been with us for a while into the customer service position, so it was never an issue) Once onboarded, the new SOS employees adapted impressively quick and were able to answer customer questions in fluent English for all of our marketplaces including our own website.

What was the team composition?

Our now current team is composed of 1 SOS customer service employee for this project (We hired from them again for other projects) and 1 in-house customer service manager. We manage the SOS customer service employee directly, provide them with clear direction and they take care of it without issue. Now we can answer customers 16 hours per day, and this can be extended if needed with an additional hire.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now get less customer tickets due to our SOS employee being able to provide a catch all answer in the first response. This dwindled down back and forth messages to a fraction. There were improvements in our response times, resolution times, and overall experiences. This led to us extending their responsibilities to more than just tickets to better aid with customers. Our in-house employees were also able to move up into better positions which led to us making more of a profit than what we've spent with their services

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There is excellent communication between both parties, this has never been an issue. So much so, that I never thought about it previously. We use Reply Manager as a tool to manage all our customer tickets in one location. I think this is a major key in making it easier for all parties.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There was quite a first impression left by how fluent in English their employees could speak and type. They were quite adaptable to our needs as well.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There's never a truly "perfect" rating for anything, but I think Staff Outsourcing Solutions came as close as possible.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

These services help my business be more efficient and improve customer satisfaction. I frequently change it up to get the latest version.

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

I have no comment here.

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

We wanted our customers to be satisfied with their calls.

SOLUTION

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

Staff Outsourcing Solutions runs most aspects of my business by answering phone calls, placing orders, and handling customers’ needs.

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

I get billed once a year. It’s very convenient because we only need to pay once all year.

How did you come to work with this service provider?

I researched online and decided to choose them as my service provider.

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

Our customer satisfaction rate has risen over 25%.

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

They save me a lot of time and money in place of hiring new employees to handle the volume of calls.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provide quick responses that are sufficient to customers’ satisfaction.

What are the service provider's strengths?

They provide a level of service that can handle any volume of work, all while being efficient every day. They help my business run smoothly.

How can the service provider improve?

There’s nothing I can think of right now.

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

We began working together in February 2014.

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

We’ve invested $200,000 to $999,999.