A global client base is the aspiration of many small companies. Starting local and developing a reputation as a trusted service provider is typically the first step of a successful start-up. And having achieved that, they look further afield. Perhaps taking the business to a national scale, or maybe global. Either way, as the business expands its operations, the back-office functions need to expand too, and this often introduces time zone challenges.
The critical function of customer support, customer service, customer care – whatever you choose to call it, can make or break the reputation of a growing business. And when time zone challenges arise, there are various ways to meet the demand.
- Use On Call arrangement for existing staff
In the arena of technical services, the first stage of providing support to a growing company is often to lean on existing staff in an on-call arrangement. In addition to their normal shift, staff are asked to be available for additional hours to attend to any queries that arise. They need to be in a mobile coverage area or have strong wifi and to have access to their tech. This is a proven way for technical service to branch into 24×7 operations, but it doesn’t always work well for customer support.Customer support staff are typically lower on the payscale than technical staff, and won’t willingly agree to an on-call arrangement. They often don’t have the necessary technology required to do their job outside of their normal workspace. And if they are junior, they may not accept the responsibility and obligation that on-call requires. - Engage a Call Centre
A more robust solution than on-call is to engage a call center to take after hours calls. This can be a cost effective and efficient solution for large businesses, but for smaller firms, the minimum headcount or minimum spend can make this option a non-starter. In addition, for smaller businesses, the heavy process orientation and script-following of the average call center doesn’t align with the agile, friendly, responsive culture of a start-up. - Boutique Outsourcing
24×7 Advantage falls into the category of a boutique outsourcer. Large enough to have robust recruitment, retention and training processes for its talent pool, but small enough to be able to provide world-class service to the smallest client.
24×7 Advantage recently launched a customer support offering specifically to solve a problem for the client of our MSP customer, and it’s been enormously successful. If you or your clients are experiencing challenges with non-technical support, we’d love to chat to you about how we can assist you in adding this service offering to your catalog.