The challenge

A sports betting company offering sportsbook, online casino, and daily fantasy sports services was growing fast and its in-house contact center was overwhelmed by the volume of nonvoice inquiries from customers. 

The company had not outsourced before and had reservations about delegating the important responsibility of customer interactions that needed to be handled with care, speed, accuracy, and in compliance with all relevant laws.

Our solution

Initially, because our client was wary of outsourcing, we staffed up to their recommended level of 715 full-time-equivalent associates (FTEs) at nearshore locations in Mexico and Canada. Once we demonstrated our expert team could capably handle the volume, exceed quality and other performance goals, we scaled back the workforce to a more cost-effective 300 FTEs, all working from home. Rather than overstaff during periods of high demand, we used predictive modeling to determine precise staffing levels necessary to meet line adherence objectives without excess manpower. This methodical approach enabled us to achieve line adherence rates of 90% to 99%.

We maintained a roster of additional, trained, “on call” associates ready to mobilize on short notice in the event of an unexpected surge in demand and during expected volume spikes triggered by Monday Night Football, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fights, PGA golf tours, and March Madness, for example. Our back office processes were integral to verifying customer identification quickly and accurately, an especially important function in the gaming industry, which is more vulnerable to fraud than other industries.

To drive efficiency and ensure high standards of written correspondence to customers, TTEC pilot-tested an AI-enhanced writing-assistance tool. The solution used algorithms to analyze associate-drafted customer emails and made editorial suggestions to improve written communications, emphasizing clarity, conciseness, grammar, spelling, and a professional yet friendly tone of voice to deliver the best player interactions.

The results

Quality scores surged to 90%. We overdelivered on another important customer satisfaction metric, email close rate (ECR), which is likened to its companion KPI, first call resolution (FCR). TTEC achieved 76% ECR, exceeding the target of 70% ECR.

Adoption of the AI writing tool surpassed expectations. The client’s goal was 70% usage but our team’s usage, the frequency with which associates accepted the solution’s editorial suggestions, ranged between 85% to 90%, a winning endorsement of the new tool.

Employee satisfaction was evident, achieving extremely low attrition of just 1.65% with absenteeism at only 3%.

As a result of TTEC’s guidance, our client grew more confident with outsourcing and nearshore delivery, and is now expanding operations offshore to our brick-and-mortar center in Bogota, where TTEC ramped up new hires in just 2 ½ weeks.

Our client designated TTEC a Partner of Choice with accolades from a senior vice president: “The team is crushing it … hit it out of the park.”