The challenge

As the pandemic led customers to increasingly buy and upgrade products and services online as opposed to in-store, a leading telecommunications company needed to quickly expand the sales support it offered via chat and messaging channels.

Given the tight labor market, the company’s best option was to expand its workforce offshore – but leaders worried offshore associates would be too unfamiliar with the company’s workflow and processes, and feared offshore workers wouldn’t provide the right level of customer support.

The company was new to offshoring and needed an experienced partner to help guide the shift from onshore to offshore with their non-voice support.

Our solution

TTEC provided offshore associates who specialize in chat and messaging, and also designed and implemented a customized training program to ensure those associates were brought quickly up to speed and able to meet the company’s needs.

A cornerstone of the training program was TTEC’s identifying and training U.S.-based associates to act as mentors. These mentors, who each had two mentees, remained in regular contact with new, offshore hires for at least 30 days after the new hires graduated from classroom training.

Under the program, this dedicated team of leaders and mentors focused on helping new hires become more confident, knowledgeable, and efficient. Training included a mix of on-the-job live sessions and more traditional classroom-style training. TTEC also trained leaders in how to launch the training program at other sites.

TTEC piloted the program in the U.S. and, based on its success, rolled the program out in India and the Philippines. The new associates focus on receiving inbound messages via the company’s website and mobile app. They engage with customers who want to add or upgrade service, or add or upgrade devices.

The results

After piloting this program, the client was so pleased with the results that it continues to grow its number of offshore full-time equivalents (FTEs). It plans to have around 400 offshore associates by the end of the year, up from 11 the year before.

Customer experience improved as a result of augmented associate training, which has led to bottom-line results for the company. The upgrade close rate rose 32%, the new customer close rate increased 10%, and 5-star Rep Interaction Scores (RIS) jumped 18%.