XACT

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of operations for a catalog company called Donna Salyers Fabulous-Furs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

We didn’t have an internal call center to take calls from our catalog search or customer service for our website orders. We hired XACT to take over these responsibilities for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through an onboarding process with training materials and taught them about our systems, processes, and basic customer service protocols and service guidelines. XACT acts as our third-party call center. 

They primarily handle incoming calls from customers who are placing orders, and they facilitate and enter those orders into the system for us. They also follow up with customers if they have questions regarding return service labels, sizing information, or tracking information on their products. They work directly in our software system. 

They’ve also integrated a chat script on our website, and they’ve done phone Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) work after hours. For any individuals who have struggled with our service guidelines, XACT has provided extra training for them. 

What is the team composition?

We work primarily with five members of their core management staff. This includes their IT representative, CEO, and three account managers. 

How did you come to work with XACT?

They were a referral from someone else in our industry. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $100,000 with XACT. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2021, but we really started using their services in August 2022. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are working through higher average call times, but they’ve been presented with some challenges, and they’re stepping up to try and solve those issues. 

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

They have an excellent management team. We usually have a task list, and we send it to them and then review it over the phone or on Microsoft Teams. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very satisfied with the work that they’re providing and have been highly impressed with how they’ve been trying to understand our needs. We’re working with a new software system, and they’ve been great about providing us with feedback. They’re very interactive and act like a partner for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their base model is a little difficult for some new agents within XACT to adapt to, so they don’t always have the highest level of proficiency right away. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be concise about what you're looking for. You might need a little patience, but they're worth it in the long run.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Sr. Director of Business Process Operations for the Business Head Quarters of TK Elevator Company; which services and installs elevators for customers

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have a large amount of customers that pay via credit card, which equates to our company paying millions of dollars in credit card fees. We used Xact's call center to contact customers paying via credit card in an effort to get them to switch to ACH or check. The goal was recover 1.3 million in fees. Additionally, we changed bank accounts 2 years ago and we still had customers paying 20 million a month to the old bank account, which we are trying to close. We used Xact calling center to contact customers making payment to the old bank account in an effort to inform them and help them switch to making payments to the new account.

SOLUTION

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

We worked with a consultant on this project and Xact was one of the BPOs they recommended.

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

We provided Xact a list of approximately 15K customers paying via credit card and/or customers still making payment to our old bank account. We set them up with an email account and gave them access to our customer payment portals. Xact and TKE collaborated on a script for both campaigns. Xact trained their agents to make the calls and provided a weekly update of # of calls and the disposition of each call.

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

We initially worked with the VP to get the project started. We were then given a project manager and an Administrator to support the PM. The initial PM didn't work out, so exact found another PM to put on the project. We had weekly session with the Xact team to review metrics, provide feedback, and recommend process changes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Service work great, in addition to some other process changes, we were able to save 1.8M vs a goal of 1.3M. Additionally, we reduced the monthly payment to the old account from 20M to 5-7M per month.

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

Weekly updates via TEAMs meeting and weekly metric package submitted to keep me informed. On occasion, I had to prompt submission of the metrics package, but this did not happen often.

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

I was impressed by how quickly they ramped up and once they changed PMs, how quickly the calls were getting completed. I also like that they provided me with # of hours used and # of hours remaining on a weekly basis, which allowed better planning and determining if a change order was going to be needed. They also gave some concessions, which was very help in establishing a great working relationship. I thought their escalation process was good and it uncovered lingering issues we needed to fix with our customers.

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

Some of the agents documented/dispositioned calls differently. Some agents didn't sound really enthusiastic and this led to customer complaints and thinking the campaign was fraud. However, for the number of customer contacted, this didn't happen much at all.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations manager of a startup software development company based in North Carolina.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

We were in search of a customer service partner to manage some affinity branding programs we were running. That included a few fan clubs we were managing on behalf of a few different organizations. When we first launched those clubs, I was handling all phone and email support on the customer service side. We needed a partner that could help us scale that support to allow us to grow.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start the partnership, we had to educate their agents and teammates that were staffed to the programs on the types of benefits we were offering to paid members. Once they were up to speed on our programs, they were responsible for assuming the role of a customer service employee for those programs. Each of the three programs was focused on a different industry and had unique benefits and access granted to involved fans. We asked XACT to handle incoming calls and emails from customers and direct them appropriately, as requested by the member. 

Their main deliverables were helping us understand the nature of the calls and emails through reporting. That reporting also included metrics around call or email handle time, which was used to determine what we would be billed on a month-to-month basis.

The email and phone service provided was pretty much 24/7. Across the world, they’d address calls and emails at all hours. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with a couple of personnel managers as well as 30 individuals on our account. 

How did you come to work with XACT?

Someone likely referred either our CEO or COO to them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our pricing was based on hourly support, including any applicable overages. We spent approximately $2,700 each month with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from March 2019–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were efficient, and very few complaints from customers were ever escalated to me. I was impressed that we didn’t encounter any critical issues from a customer service standpoint, based on the volume of calls they were taking. They did a great job serving those accounts, which was shown in the success of those programs as well as the feedback we received. 

The programs they supported were designed to support the most passionate fans of those entities, and they wouldn’t have stuck with us had our customer service been subpar. Their team’s handling of this part of the business allowed me to focus on other parts of the business. Some technology changes that affected their work were rolled out during our time together, and they did great with that transition as well.   

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a shared Slack channel that included their entire team. They were very engaged and curious about the programs. When someone on their end had a question, they did a good job of addressing it among themselves. They were always open to my suggestions and feedback based on the information I presented to them. As our programs changed over time, they were able to use their own community to find answers to questions without always escalating to a manager.

During our reporting meetings with the managers, they were open to addressing any changes that were occurring within the programs and making sure initiatives were thoroughly communicated across the team. It was a seamless process.    

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were a large team that was expected to come together and be passionate about and interested in the business they were supporting, and they succeeded in that. I was impressed by their level of commitment and enthusiasm for the role. Their genuine interest in the members they were servicing stood out as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If anything, it may help to revisit some aspects of training as our programs evolved. As there was turnover within their organization, they were very thorough with training and documentation. Revisiting those at certain periods may have been beneficial to both parties. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Build a strong relationship with their management team. We had a collaborative, open relationship from the start, and it remained that way throughout our dealings. Be willing, accessible, and engaging to help them help you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Until about two weeks ago, I was with a company called Udacity, which is one of the leaders in the online learning education space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

We handled what we called assisted sales, or B2C sales. We primarily used chat, and we wanted to explore the option of leveraging phone as a very top-of-the-funnel experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

XACT took inbound calls from customers that were just entering the Udacity funnel. People often called with questions about the company or our courses. Many of the courses are more technical in nature, so people want to confirm that they’d picked the right course or have the appropriate proficiency level. Some qualification was done as well.

Another example of how they handled calls was activation in the sense that when people called to cancel their membership, the XACT team would try to keep them engaged. For instance, if somebody called saying they couldn’t complete the course, XACT tried to convince the caller to continue with the program and highlight career opportunities for them if they succeeded and got their certification. 

Udacity used Salesforce internally, including Sales Cloud. We also used Intercom for chat and Blueshift for email. We put XACT on our Salesforce instance, so they had permissions and access to enter information. We used RingCentral, but they used inContact. When a call came in on our IVR (interactive voice response) system, it was forwarded to their infrastructure. They handled the call and used our Salesforce instance.

What is the team composition?

It fluctuated over time. We worked with an average of 10 people at a time. Of course, you’re not really hiring 10 people; you’re hiring more than that because people are backfilling for each other, etc. There was a trainer, as well as two people who helped with infrastructure issues. One infrastructure would be ensuring that the script that we wrote was updated and fit into their infrastructure. 

The other person handled training. There was training before the program, and then they updated the call reps on new programs we were launching. We added the retention program, which required updated training as we went along. 

How did you come to work with XACT?

We did a pretty extensive search. I talked to about 10 different places. It had been several years since I’d done call center activities, so I really started from ground zero. I did a lot of web searches and talked to other companies and narrowed it down to 10. I spoke to all of those companies on the phone, sent a loosely defined RFP to six of them, and then narrowed it down to three. Those three companies met our CEO and marketing person.

How much have you invested with them?

There were setup costs, such as integrating inContact and our Salesforce instance, and QA costs in some cases. There was also an hourly rate per rep. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and XACT is still working with Udacity. It’s my understanding that they’ll continue to grow with Udacity. Because of the success of the program, they’re looking at rolling it out further.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of retention numbers, they were performing greater than our chat functionality. When we started out, retention was a few percentage points, but we got into double digits pretty quickly. We reached mid-double digits after that. There was a lot of growth. They did a great job introducing us to the telephony world and quickly building up our acquisition and retention programs.

In terms of their work, they were great, and I evaluated that through SLAs (service-level agreements) and real-time updated reporting. We asked for a lot from them, and they definitely kept up. Their flexibility was also noteworthy, as the program evolved from acquisition to retention.

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

They had very strong project managers, which was something we were really reliant on; I was stretched too thin to do day-to-day management. They brought in someone who handled not only training but also project management. We were constantly doing new programs that needed to be tested, so somebody really needed to manage that integration, update scripts, understand the program, and then communicate the program to their frontline.

We had biweekly calls with the trainers at that level. We also put them in our Slack channel. We treated them as an extension of the team; while chat was handled by our employees, XACT handled the phone. Both teams met quite frequently. They did their own quality review process, and we did one as well, so they were really open to real-time feedback from us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to respond quickly and scale set them apart. We had 10 reps, but we moved beyond that eventually. They were really good thought partners who brought new ideas to the table.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s anything specific. The telephony space is changing pretty rapidly, so things they could think about are a more dispersed workforce and integration with different CRM systems. They also have chat offerings, and I think it’s important that they can leverage a client’s existing chat infrastructure.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront about expectations in terms of what you want and how you’re going to measure success. Constant check-ins during the first month are really key. I think they do a really good job providing daily reporting, but depending on how big your organization, it’s important to figure out how to automate that reporting. We depended on Google Sheets, which was good, but seeing how it fits into the bigger picture and infrastructure is important.

Whenever you do these programs, remember that patience is a virtue. Know that it takes a month to ramp up. You can do all the best training you want upfront, but they were also open to real-time training. I know they have offshore call center offerings; we didn’t test that out, but more and more customers are interested in that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Provide online delivery services Director Customer Success

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire XACT?

Call Center Representatives to handle calls.

What were your goals for this project?

Handle inbound and outbound calls quickly and provide excellent quality.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Wasn't part of that process, company relationship is 9 years old.

Describe the project in detail.

Inbound and outbound calls to/from customer and merchants for fast pace company, providing 7 days a week support. Took on additional tasks as requested. QA and call recording provided as well.

What was the team composition?

Reps were pleasant, team members would provide coaching as requested.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Freed up the team as they handled calls thus allowing the company to put resources on other tasks

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We conducted regular calls as needed, would jump on requests quickly as needed which was appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The management team was attentive and great to work with. Their tech support was great to work with when tech issue arose between both companies.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Continue training reps as needed for continued improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the customer service manager for Cherry Hill Programs. We supply shopping malls with Santa Claus and Easter bunny photo experiences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

We hired XACT to assist us with our seasonal influx of calls, which only happens during the times we are operating at malls.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed a company like XACT who could staff up for us in the short period of time that we needed them.

We have all sorts of different scenarios in which customers were either unable to claim their photos after they went to the set. We have an online digital photo option.

There is a bit of technicality involved with checking to see if the customer's photos were actually uploaded and if so, why they were unable to retrieve them. A big portion of what they did for us was looking through receipts to verify codes, times, malls, as well as figuring out whether this was sent correctly and uploaded.

In addition, we have complaints about the Santa set which can range from wait times, to photo quality and other things. There are a whole lot of things that can happen; sometimes mall-related and sometimes staff-related. They also field complaint calls and forward that information to me so that I can accelerate it to the correct departments and get it taken care of.

Additionally, we have a reservation system where customers are able to book slots to see Santa. Sometimes, they want to change that reservation, need a refund, or have questions about the reservation process. Those were another huge portion of what the calls they were taking in were related to.

They are actually utilizing several different databases for me and depending on the type of call, they had to define where they were headed with it, whether a customer was looking for a receipt, a fast pass or a refund. They were really awesome at learning all kinds of technical things.

I wrote a whole lot of canned responses initially and gave Marianne (Senior Knowledge Manager, XACT), as much information as I could about how our systems ran. I also gave her a dashboard that connected her to all the pieces that she might need to satisfy customers. From that, she created their own Wiki where people could click, search, and find answers.

She was very instrumental there in taking a lot of canned information and conversations from me and creating a database that she kept up with. Sometimes procedures would change and things were added or subtracted from what we had to do and she kept it ongoing so that it was current to what was happening at that point. 

What is the team composition?

Marianne was our primary point of contact. Angela (Senior Manager of Client Services, XACT) also helped quite a bit with staffing. William (Vice President of Operations, XACT) did a lot of technical stuff behind the scenes, and Richard (Executive Vice President, XACT) did a lot of the scripting and IVR. We had about 25 dedicated team members and about 25 that would take rollover calls who were also trained but weren’t dedicated to the account.

How did you come to work with XACT?

I spent a couple of months going through everything I could find about the main leading companies that were out there. XACT came to the surface in several searches for me as a good company and one that might have the ability to handle a project of our magnitude. Other answering services that I spoke to were not ready for the kind of influx we could have taken. XACT had the staffing and even had the possibility of using international if we needed to.  

I reached out to about 10 different call service providers and there were several other companies that we actually flew out and visited, and my conversation with Kathy (Director of Sales & Business Development, XACT) was the most important part of my decision. When I told her what I was trying to do, she had a lot of ideas on how to do it.

Rather than me instructing some company about what I wanted, she told me what I needed. That was something I was looking for, having never outsourced before and really not knowing how to present myself. She was undaunted and given the information I gave them, Kathy came back to me with a whole lot of suggestions for ways that we could handle this. Both my boss and I were really impressed with that and decided to go with them. 

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent about $250,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2019, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After what they have learned from our first season, with all of this experience under their wings, we can't imagine going without their services at all. We are headed into Easter now with them and we feel very comfortable because of all the things they have learned. I would never want to start over at this point. We feel like we have really gained another part of our own team.

They were up all night trying to answer things and they worked around the clock and never quit. Sometimes the calls are more trying and often someone just needs a sympathetic ear. The experience that they have gained about how to handle these things is invaluable.

Of all of our tickets that came in, we found we had five huge categories that calls fell into over and over. Now that they've experienced most of the different calls we receive, they have the ability to actually categorize these things and take off in the right direction was there. We are speculating that they will be on the phone less time this Easter given that they have this way of attacking it and have learned how to do it more effectively.

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication with their team is great. We email all day long, call each other directly, and also employed Slack, so I never felt that there was a gap in communication at all.

We had a meeting on Wednesdays just to catch up and see where we were at. During those meetings, they would often give us suggestions that we felt were very valuable, and we followed a lot of their leads on those Wednesday meetings to stay ahead. It was an all-out effort on both our parts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are incredibly fluid and able to act on the fly. There was no stop and go and there was never a time where we had to figure out what we were doing. For any company that is trying to outsource, it is a very scary thing to hand all of your customers to a stranger.

I felt almost right away that they were working alongside me. My nervousness about letting someone else take over my job was eliminated by their ability to hit the ground running.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were days that we had to quickly staff because our volume suddenly spiked, but sometimes that was because of a technical problem on my end and had nothing to do with them. 

Perhaps as a team, we might start stronger at Easter with more people staffed in preparation of the idea that we might have these giant flows and swings in the number of calls.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Allow them the time to give you their input. Give XACT as much information about your business as you can, and they will begin to ask you very structured questions given what you describe. It was okay to ramble on and on, and they jumped on that. I was able to speak calmly about it and give them a lot of information, which helped me in the long run.

Any company looking to use XACT should get their input and not be surprised at how much they can offer you, even if you think you know what structure will work best. Give them enough information to let them help you with that design, and it will work out better than most people could plan.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner at MediaWorks 360. We work with publishing companies to develop outsourced marketing services, membership programs, and premium-price subscription opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

Many of the subscription programs that we develop and launch on behalf of our clients have a customer service portion. We’ve used several types of companies in the past, but XACT offered a service that we thought would be effective for our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

XACT handles customer service for several of our clients via email and phone. We set up introductory calls at the beginning of the partnership. My team trained their phone and email reps to understand the products we deliver and what issues some consumers might have with our products. We also set up scripts.

If a customer has a problem or question, they can contact a member’s support email address. This connects the customer directly to XACT, who can answer questions and provide support on a range of topics, from pricing to password issues.

XACT can handle many different issues, but if they come across something that they need to escalate, they can do so with me or somebody else on my team. 

How did you come to work with XACT?

One of our partners and clients uses XACT as their customer service agent, and they raved about their experience and ability to manage that process. We gave XACT a test run with some of our campaigns, and they worked very well. 

The pricing was also excellent, and the quality of their services was much better than the competition. For those reasons, we’ve moved pieces of our business over to XACT in the past six months.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t handle bills on a direct basis anymore, but when we were looking for a provider, their costs were better than those of other companies we were using. We feel that from pricing and quality standpoints, they’re a solid company.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in December 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We receive regular reports on customer service interactions, which we measure weekly based on different categories, such as pricing or customer issues with the product. This allows us to check on XACT’s abilities to provide support and to see the volume and type of complaints we’re getting from our own customer base. At this point, we’re very happy with the service we’re getting from XACT. 

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very good. XACT is eager to perform. They provide great reporting and are very responsive when we have issues or questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality stands above and beyond what we’ve used in the past. The pricing is good and might even be better than that of US-based competition.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. We’re very happy with them so far.

Any advice for potential customers?

Just by doing due diligence within the industry, I think any potential client would see the advantages that XACT brings to the table: their quality of service, their pricing, and the fact that they’re US-based, which was important to us. The combination of those factors makes them a great candidate for customer service work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a manager at a dental support organization (DSO). We had about 165 dental practices in various states, and I was in charge of scheduling for all of these practices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

We brought XACT on board to create a 24/7 call center to answer new patients and schedule appointments. The challenge is that patients don’t just call to schedule appointments. Typically, they have questions or claim to already know what’s wrong with their teeth, and answering these types of calls requires extensive training.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

XACT took care of the hiring and reporting for me, and confirmed that we had the right number of agents in each time slot. They also trained agents on how to communicate with our patients and schedule appointments. I used their documentation to plan other trainings as needed.

Additionally, they worked with our IT team to create a directory of information about each of our practices. Agents could look up the procedures and services offered, doctors, available time slots, hours, and other information for the relevant practice.

What is the team composition?

Will (Vice President of Operations, XACT) was our account manager, and we worked with Kathy (Director of Business Development, XACT) on contractual information. We also had a reporting specialist and an agent supervisor. The agent supervisor helped with QC for our phone calls, managing somewhere between 23–25 agents.

How did you come to work with XACT?

I wasn’t directly involved with hiring XACT, but I know that my company interviewed quite a few other call centers. My background is in call centers, and I tried to stay in-the-know about the search process. Their response time and their interest level set them apart. They seemed to care about our needs and had a desire to help us improve.

Our vice president of marketing at the time had high standards, and was a no-nonsense kind of person. For him to have picked XACT, they had to have known their stuff and been on top of everything.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2013. The partnership lasted for three years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The abandon rate was exceptional, basically zero. XACT scientifically determined how many agents were needed for each hour of the day. I used to do scheduling, and those calculations are not easy. Our executives repeatedly commented on how great those numbers were.

With an onsite call center, there’s typically a lot of chitchat, but we never ran into that issue with XACT. The conversion rates and QA scores were also impressive. We carried about a 35% conversion rate, from seeing a TV commercial to making a call and setting an appointment, and they maintained that.

We didn’t have any issues with missed calls, and the agents were always polite. Patients always assumed that they were part of the practice. We also created a bonus program to reward agents for high performance.

I couldn't have done my job without XACT doing theirs. They were a major asset. The admin work behind running a call center is huge, and they were constantly helping me improve. I was more capable of doing my job because of the training they did with their agents. I was able to trust that they were saying the right things to our patients.

It took some time to create the practice information directories, but once we had that up and running, the results were amazing. The agents could tell exactly where the call was coming from and answer with the doctor’s name. I’m not sure how they built the directory, but it was extremely helpful.

We were much more able to focus on our patients and how they were being treated. XACT made my job a thousand times easier and made my whole team more productive. They were answering about 2,500 calls every two weeks.

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

Their people were wonderful, especially the agent supervisor. She would pick up problematic trends with agents and correct them before I even knew about it. She was on top of everything and always available. She audited at least 5–10 calls a week per agent and always provided the documentation that I needed for trainings.

We had all day meetings every other Tuesday. We had to stagger them because we couldn’t have every agent there at the same time. Even compared to having an onsite call center, the communication was XACT was always quick and seamless.

Between the different specials for individual practices and the documentation that we needed, it was a lot to keep up with. Also, if something was ever wrong with their reports, I could send an email and get a new, accurate report within a day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with how quickly they were trained. We would onboard about 15–20 practices at a time, and they were always ready to go live with a new cohort within a week.

At first, I was the one tracking everything, and I was sending panicky emails to Will without knowing it. He was always very responsive and never passed me off to anybody. Whatever the issue, he’d send a response and have it fixed. Launching with them was a breeze.

I felt like XACT was part of our team. I could’ve called anyone at the company, and they would’ve welcomed the call and helped me out. They’re very approachable and responsive.

They also never made excuses, which was significant for me. I hear excuses a lot. They were always upfront and transparent with us about any issues that they were facing. We knew what was going on at all times.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Actually no, I would still be working with them if it were up to me. We eventually transferred everything back to the practices, and the numbers plummeted. Personally, I wouldn’t have terminated the contract.

There are hiccups in every project, but with XACT, issues were fixed immediately. They knew exactly what needed to get done, and they delivered.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you know what you need from them, and what they need from you. Build up a schedule with them based on your constraints. If you give them what they need, you won’t have any problems. They can get the job done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the customer experience manager for TCI. We publish social studies and science curriculum for K-12. My main responsibility is managing our call center vendor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT?

We needed a company to

1. Be our customer support arm and answer customer questions about orders and programs
2. Do data entry (order entry) work
3. Execute these with a high level of professionalism

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

XACT answers customer questions about orders they’ve placed, orders they’re looking to place, or any questions about the products themselves. We have an in-house product that they don’t have access to. We set up an expectation that the agents should understand the type of questions they can assist with and the ones that need to be directed to our in-house team. They were also trained on entering purchase orders in our system.

XACT hosts an in-house knowledge base. We initially wrote a job-aid for XACT which was then uploaded to this knowledge base. While I’m used to Google Docs, where any changes are almost instantaneously communicated to the agents, we have to run through a few steps before the in-house knowledge base gets updated. We went and trained their trainers before they trained their agents.

What is the team composition?

There are a trainer and two operations managers who are involved with the TCI project.

How did you come to work with XACT?

After searching Google, I shortlisted about ten vendors. We made site visits to our final two. XACT was chosen because they came with a clear plan after seeing our scope of the project. They understood what we were looking for, what support we needed, and what systems they had to integrate with.

When we visited their call center in Florida, it was professional and business-like. It didn’t seem like a call center mill, and the people appeared to be happy working there. We also met with their head of IT who answered a lot of our questions. We needed agents to work in NetSuite and Salesforce, and the head of IT had a clear insight into what we needed and how they would work with us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $30,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with XACT in December 2018, and the services are ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We set up a QA process that checks the interactions of each agent via email and phone calls. It happens once a week, and agents have to score above 85% to pass. Our team expects the orders to have as few errors as possible. A 25% error rate is the acceptable rate as far as order entry goes.

XACT has made a positive impact because the number of questions we’ve had to answer has significantly lowered. Pressure has eased on our team. The routine order support calls have been taken over by their team. Our peak season is between July and September, which is why we brought them on a few months before to iron out any wrinkles. I’d be able to give a quantitative and qualitative backup at the end of September.

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint?

XACT follows through on what they promise. Once we communicated our needs and nailed down our QA process, they’ve been great at adapting to it and delivering on our QA expectations. Their team is involved in all of our meetings, which makes us feel supported.

They’re also open to suggestions. We’re working on changing how we train the agents because sometimes things get lost in translation. It’s challenging because there’s a time interval between when we prepare the trainers and when they train the agents. They’ve been good at making it as seamless as possible, allowing us to come in and train agents directly. Their team adapts quickly to our changing needs and requirements, which is also a plus working with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

XACT makes their customers feel supported. Their team is flexible, listening to their customers and adapting themselves quickly. Their response time is short. We’ve thrown a lot of changes at them since the project began, and they’ve been quick to respond to them. Their team makes it easy for me to work with them, being open to feedback and changes immediately.

Are there any areas they could improve?

XACT tends to keep the training in-house, which creates a time delay. It’d be good if they’d be more open to clients coming in and training directly. They could also keep us posted on any internal changes as well. We’re working with their team on these, and they’re listening to our thoughts.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should have everything documented. It helped us to have everything written down at the start. If the customer has specific expectations, talk to them and write it down. Get their buy-in at the beginning, so it becomes a smooth process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I'm the operations manager for a medical equipment rental company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XACT? 

We wanted to have a central answering service for all our facilities on the east coast and in the central areas of the country. At the time, we were trying to streamline the process and have a single go-to answering service.

By working with one entity, we planned to apply the same answering system policy throughout all our branches so we could train them to understand how we do business and interact with our customers. 
 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Getting any answering service acclimated to how our company works is a bit challenging since we're not a typical rental company. We provide various types of equipment. Depending on which product a customer is requesting to rent, there is a specific series of questions they need to answer. That information is crucial to our billing process at the end of the rental period. 

We worked with XACT to create scripts that include a list of questions and a menu of options. Based on the type of decision-making at hand, they need to ask certain questions and listen for specific information when a customer calls. 

XACT interacts with each of our branches. They send out notices to the drivers and tangible records of the call logs the following day or the weekend prior. The service is 24/7 and includes voicemail, texts, and emails. Having all of these options is integral to our business.

What is the team composition?  

We typically work with 2–3 people from XACT. A designated project manager involved helps oversee everything for us.

How did you come to work with XACT? 

Cost was our number one focal point in choosing an answering service. We compared the price points for each quote we received. Flexibility is an important factor, and XACT seemed able to change as needed and understand how we do business. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

We've been working together for at least 3-4 years now. XACT is still taking calls for us at this time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We receive logs for missed calls and opportunities, and we haven't seen anything tangible beyond day-to-day issues. After we initially received complaints from our customers, they changed the staff they assigned us and modified their training accordingly. I appreciate that they made improvements early on.

They text or call our drivers and call back a period of time later as needed. The documentation they provide, such as sending us emails the following day, has been critically important and helps us improve our customer relations.

How did XACT perform from a project management standpoint? 

XACT has gotten to the point where they understand how we run as a company. Even though they're under our umbrella, our branches operate slightly differently based on customer volume and the number of drivers.

QA is more reactive than proactive, in my opinion. In different scenarios, we figure out how to handle an incident and adjust accordingly. How they handle on-call requests fluctuates, since acclimating is an ongoing challenge.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

XACT's flexibility makes their team impressive. They communicate back to us very effectively about the demand for calls about pick-ups or deliveries. The level of service they provide per call is excellent. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

I would like to receive more updates for each of our branches, such as monthly or quarterly reviews. Maybe they could generate and send us recurring reports on the call volume so we can see if there's anything more we can do on our end to reduce costs. I'm interested in finding out how to address long phone calls and what it would take to reduce the duration per call. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

I advise future clients to be upfront and keep everything aboveboard. Have a plan ready when you approach them and be very specific.