Discover the power of staffing customer service with independent agents: 6 proven benefits

In the world of startups, facing customer service challenges is inevitable. However, managing these pain points effectively is crucial for growth and success. One way to overcome these obstacles is by partnering with an experienced outsourcing partner, which can grant you access to improved customer experiences, scalability, cost savings, and international expertise. In this blog, we'll explore how outsourcing can help companies tackle customer service challenges and accelerate growth. We've got some great insights from a real-life case study done with Outdoorsy.

In this blog, we'll be unpacking:

• Customer service thriving or surviving while growing: the challenges of experiencing rapid growth and navigating external factors

• Staffing customer service teams: strategies for effectively managing a global team of independent customer service specialists, quality control and customer satisfaction

• Unlocking customer satisfaction: comparing advantages of using independent agents vs. traditional outsourcing and in-house solutions

• 6 proven benefits: exploring 6 main game-changing benefits to support your customer service with independent representatives

• Outdoorsy cracking the code: insights learned from a recent case study featuring Outdoorsy, a company that successfully navigated the ups and downs of rapid growth

Growing a business can be exciting, but it also comes with challenges. 

One of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to keep costs low while still providing great service to customers. This can be tough, especially if your business is growing faster than you expected. You might have trouble keeping up with demand and providing the level of service you want to provide.

You also want to make sure you're investing in things that will help your business grow. This could mean investing in new technology, hiring more people, or developing new products.

However, as your business grows, communication can break down, and it can be harder to keep every customer service representative on the same page. This can hurt your business and your customers, especially if you're faced with a backlog of customer service inquiries that need to be addressed.

Finally, there are external factors to consider, like changes in the market or increased competition. These can make it harder to keep costs low and still provide great service to customers.

Managing a global team of independent customer service specialists can bring its own set of challenges. Lets look at how you can maintain quality control and deliver an outstanding customer experience.

Start by partnering with a reliable provider to access a pool of qualified candidates. This gives you the flexibility to choose the best fit for your business needs and ensure high-quality results for your customers.

Consider implementing cross-training to boost your team members with versatile skills. By equipping them to handle various customer issues, you can maintain consistency and deliver reliable customer support. To achieve success, prioritize rigorous training, effective communication, and embracing the diverse talent within your team. 

These strategies will help you smoothly navigate the challenges of managing your customer service team, ensuring quality standards are upheld, while also tackling the backlog of customer service inquiries. With these approaches, you'll not only meet but exceed customer expectations along the way and empower your Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT).

Finding a quality solution to rapidly expand your customer service workforce can be to partner with an experienced outsourcing provider "Meeting Customer Expectations: Balancing Support Quality, Cost-Efficiency, and Agility".

Today's customers have high expectations for omni-channel support, personalized experiences, and prompt action on their feedback. However, conventional customer support solutions often struggle to meet these demands while also ensuring cost-efficiency and agility for your business.

Understand the difference between independent agents, traditional outsourcing and in-house solutions.

When deciding between independent customers service representatives and traditional outsourcing and in-house solutions, these are the 6 main benefits to revolutionize your customer service with independent representatives:

Finding customer service representatives in multiple regions and time zones that speak the same language as your customers, having experience in your industry, and are passionate about what youre doing. With no contract lock-ins and a two-day hiring timeline, this is a new level of customer support agility.

Boost your capacity with some extra customer service representatives during the busy season or expand your customer service team for the long run. Whatever your hiring needs, create a bespoke hiring solution that drives business growth. Dana Golding, Director of Customer Support & Operations at Outdoorsy explains "My existing pain point happens every year 'seasonality', the ability to have WFI come in and put candidates in front of us and fill that gap quickly, is a huge bonus for us.

Work for Impact is affordable and flexible. You get access to top-rated customer support representatives from $9 per hour. And when youre working with independent talent, you have the agility to scale your team up or down at any time. What I found now that we've converted over to contractors; I'm actually getting greater savings. And that we're in control of the training", Dana says.

Struggling with the quality of traditional outsourcing solutions? Our team will build a hiring strategy, find experienced talent that believes in your organizations purpose, and help you manage them to improve customer satisfaction.

By centralizing HR functions, such as handling invoices, payments, non-disclosure agreements (NDA), and contractor relationships, companies can simplify their operations. Streamlining your HR processes can free up your focus and allow you to put energy into other aspects of your business. It's all about making processes simpler, more efficient, and boosting overall productivity.

What truly distinguishes WFI is their commitment to social responsibility, a value that Outdoorsy also holds dear. Additionally, Outdoorsy values the receptive approach of WFI towards their recommendations for improving reporting, the platform, and other processes.

When you team up with an experienced outsourcing partner, you gain access to a top-notch squad of contractors who've been carefully screened and handpicked. It's not just about finding talented folksit's about finding people who share the same values and goals. That's where the real magic happens and the perks multiply.

As the largest and safest community-driven recreational vehicle (RV) marketplace, Outdoorsy faced the challenge of quickly ramping up its customer service workforce during peak seasons. To overcome this challenge, the company decided to use a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) approach. 

Check out our interview with Dana Golding, Director of Customer Support & Operations at Outdoorsy and learn more about the challenges and the solutions to a happy customer service ending. 

Find out how Outdoorsy successfully hired, onboarded, and managed a global team of independent customer service representatives, ensuring consistent and specific skill sets within their customer service team. 

Read the case study and learn more about how Outdoorsy overcame their customer service challenges with the help of Work for Impact and the benefits of their innovative approach to workforce management.

Our team will provide bespoke recruitment, onboarding and management services according to your changing customer support needs. Book a call today! https://www.workforimpact.com/for-customer-support-teams