The challenge

A major U.S.-based retailer that sells home fitness equipment struggled to keep up with surges in demand, particularly during the lead-up to the holiday season.

The company had several captive contact centers in the United States and was hesitant to consider offshoring support because it was proud to maintain an American workforce. But it struggled with growing wait times for customers and sought ways to improve customer experience while keeping costs in line.

Our solution

We strategized with the client and developed a pilot program through which it would try outsourced customer support based in the Philippines. We ramped a team of 50 associates within five weeks.

Our associates were ready to hit the ground running, with specialized training in the client’s key contact channels: chat, email, and voice. We managed the hiring, development, training, and coaching of our associates.

Soon after launching the pilot, our team in the Philippines was meeting or exceeding CSAT of the client’s other customer support teams. While the pilot started with 50 associates, the program eventually grew to 200.

We also recommended and implemented several proactive solutions at the company, including knowledgebase improvements to make associates more productive and win-back training to help with customer retention.

The results

The company was so happy with our offshore work that we quickly grew from 1,300 ordered hours per week to 6,000. Since our associates weren’t FTEs, the client ordered from us how many hours per week they wanted our help.

Our work has resulted in a 60% cost savings, compared with the client’s other customer support teams.

TTEC has become the client’s leading outsourcing partner, providing a year-round level of 200 associates, and we continue to discuss ways to expand our partnership.