Company background
Sheffield based VOICE was set up in 2006 as an
outsourced telemarketing operation, with a mission to provide clients with
an outbound and inbound business-to-business and business-to-consumer
solution designed to exceed all expectations in terms of quality and
results.
The company ethos has been built around differentiation through quality –
that includes the provision of a high quality working environment, well
trained agents and robust, reliable, state of the art technology. Upon these
foundations, VOICE has grown rapidly from just a handful of agents to over
150. This has enabled them to become one of the key players and the brand of
choice for many within in the UK telemarketing sector.
The Business Challenge
As an outsourced provider targeting a wide range of
clients in terms of size and vertical sector, VOICE must differentiate the
service it provides from other telemarketing operations. As Managing
Director, James Hinchliffe explains: “From the outset, we have strived to be
industry leading in terms of higher investment in quality staff, providing
real transparency to our clients and in delivering a service that adheres to
a client’s brand values and image, whilst complying with all Ofcom, DMA, FSA
regulations and best practice.”
VOICE’s other main business challenge has been their rapid growth.
Increasing in size in such a relatively short period of time has been
challenging so the systems in place including the hub of the call centre –
the outbound dialling solution – have had to be flexible and scalable enough
to allow for this growth.
Why Did VOICE choose TouchStar?
Initially, VOICE employed a basic power dialling
solution. Commercial Director, John Robinson went on to add: “This was fine to
get us up and running when we had less agents, but we quickly realised that to
grow and provide the reliability, transparency and reporting demanded by
clients, a more complete solution was essential.”
The Directors at VOICE researched a number of call centre solution providers and
invited some in to demonstrate their products. Managing Director, James
Hinchliffe was immediately impressed by both the completeness and versatility of
the TouchStar system. He added: “TouchStar provided the one stop solution a call
centre such as ours would need. From the scripting, call recording through to
the reporting, everything was there in the package. It gave us the ability to
run inbound campaigns through ACD, IVR and skills based routing. The system has
given the team confidence that the more complex campaigns can be delivered
efficiently and effectively.”
By this time, James had ambitions for the growth of the call centre and it was
important that the solution had the capability to facilitate and respond to such
growth. He was also aware of the specific demands many clients place on
outsourced telemarketing operations such as VOICE. He went on to state: “Clients
need to know what’s happening with their campaigns in real time especially in
these tough economic times when ROI is monitored so closely. It is not enough to
simply provide reports on a weekly or even daily basis; in competitive sectors
it is essential that up to the minute information is constantly available. Each
client has specific needs in terms of reporting so the ability to handle
multiple campaigns is essential. Also, as part of our transparency promise to
clients, we offer the opportunity for them to listen to agents’ speaking to
prospects from any remote location with an internet connection which the
TouchStar system is able to facilitate”
The ability to coach agents was another selling point for the Directors at
VOICE. John Robinson added: “The TouchStar solution has whisper coaching which
enables our supervisors to listen in to agent calls and help them without a
prospect being able to hear. This has proven essential for agent training and a
real selling point when pitching for new client contracts and proved invaluable
for B2B contacts in which calls are often unscripted.”
As VOICE has grown, they have won larger contracts and this has included the
telemarketing operation for providers of insurance and financial services. These
particular sectors are heavily regulated by the FSA and any call centre system’s
capability must provide integrated call recording for the legally binding
agreements. James explained: “We simply would not be in a position to pitch for
these contracts if we were not able to record calls. This protects both
ourselves and the end consumer in providing evidence that the sale is legitimate
and complies with all the relevant regulations. In addition, stringent data
protection and security systems have needed to be put in place and TouchStar has
more than helped us achieve these.”
TouchStar’s ability to easily integrate the system with other software packages
has proved essential for VOICE. John Robinson added: “Working for a number of
clients has meant we have had to integrate with many CRMs, back office and
fulfilment systems. TouchStar’s versatility has enabled us to do this.”
The final reason why VOICE chose the TouchStar solution was provided by the
flexible finance options available. James explained: “As we hadn’t been in
operation for long and are a privately funded business, we had to find the
correct financial agreement. As TouchStar itself is a growing business, they
naturally understood and we quickly concluded negotiations. The agreement has
reaped the rewards for both companies as we have grown significantly since
then.”
Implementation
TouchStar engineers implemented the fully compliant
TouchStar Connect blended call centre system complete with ACD & IVR,
intelligent scripting, call recording and reporting within the agreed timeframe.
James commented: “Needless to say, in our industry, any downtime is unbelievably
expensive! The TouchStar guys understood this and installed the system through
the night which ensured we had minimal disruption. Such flexibility and
willingness to accommodate our needs is another reason why I would recommend
TouchStar.”
Features and Benefits of the TouchStar Solution
VOICE has built their business and expanded rapidly since implementing the
TouchStar solution. They have experienced the following results and benefits
since
-
Their agents’ talk time has
increased dramatically.
-
They have attracted a range of
clients including large blue-chip companies.
-
A system that fully complies
with and exceeds all Ofcom and FSA regulations.
-
They have gained reporting with
detailed statistics from all campaigns in real time and historically.
-
They have been able to provide
transparency to clients and consumers for all campaigns.
-
Their call centre managers and
team leaders have enjoyed free training on an ongoing basis which has
continually updated staff expertise.
-
24 x 7 x 365 UK based
engineering support has proved invaluable when requiring advice at any time
of the day or night.
-
An appointed expert business
development manager has optimised use of the technology and their call
centre processes.
James Hinchliffe concluded: “Touchstar has played a key
role in the expansion of VOICE offering their support and expertise. It has been
more like a partnership than a client-supplier relationship and we have just
taken this further in launching a software development partnership in which
VOICE will help provide future direction for the TouchStar product. Our
objective for the forthcoming 12 months is to increase to 200 agents at this
site and have an operational second site of an additional 300 seats– we expect
TouchStar’s expertise will prove invaluable during this expansion”.
Go back to Testimonials
back to top » |
