5 ms·

People Delight sells outsourced (mostly) offshore customer support, so the source is only a little biased. Though having direct experience with this, these num

by dahdum 10y ago

People Delight sells outsourced (mostly) offshore customer support, so the source is only a little biased. Though having direct experience with this, these numbers are pretty good. Few places will need a dedicated VP/Director level for a 6 person team though, and if they did, that would apply to outsourced teams as well.

throwaway_xx9 10y ago
Of course, the only support you can easily outsource is that which can be script-based. Fine if you're a cable company or bank, not so much if you're a startup. Outsourcing support for early adopters and corporate users will gut your ability to address feature requests from guinea-pigging users.
fapi1974 10y ago
We definitely tried to keep the estimates reasonable. For SF we've found that a lot of companies prefer onshore, albeit out of state, for staffing their support.
- dahdum 10y ago
  Austin, Denver, and Portland seem very popular for SF area. Inexpensive office space and good labor pool with progressive values. We've stayed on the peninsula and done our best to raise productivity (and thus comp) through training, retention, and technology. Wasn't easy but working well now.
  - ethbro 10y ago
    Not judging, just curious, do progressive values really matter? I'm based out of a fairly cosmopolitan southern city, and I'd be hard pressed to construct a scenario where I could only find someone so unprofessional and conservative enough as to make a difference to the customer.
    - dahdum 10y ago
      For some companies progressive values are often important, to the founders, employees, or corporate image. SF has a lot of those is all.
      - ethbro 10y ago
        Agreed, but your phrasing was interesting: two hard business qualities and one social one. The other thing that made it stick out was it sounded like progressive values were a litmus test for candidates. Maybe it's living in the south (where my social views tend to put me in the minority and hence used to dealing with ideological disagreements daily), but SF in particular seems pretty intolerant of the idea that lovely people might also happen to have different social opinions.
        dahdum 10y ago
        Sorry - I didn't mean the candidates at all. The article was about SF startups, and many use progressive values as a selling point. I don't think you're wrong to see some intolerance. We've got 50+ people in the South (GA,SC,NC,FL), so I'm only calling it as I see it, not as I'm doing.
Sanddancer 10y ago
In other words, part of the problem. The coders get all the perks, the free sodas, stock options, the high salaries, etc. The front line employees get a commute from Stockton and an opportunity for an extra dollar an hour wage next year, unless there's a wage freeze.
- fapi1974 10y ago
  Yes!!! On the other hand, many of our agents are completely stoked to work for a cool company (e.g. a Bay Area startup), from home, without the commute. They are happier, stay longer, and have way fewer sick days etc. Great article on that here: https://fyiliving.com/uncategorized/telecommuting-linked-to-higher-job-satisfaction https://fyiliving.com/uncategorized/telecommuting-linked-to-...
  - fapi1974 10y ago
    Edit - it might not be clear, but I'm the CEO of PeopleDelight. Happy to answer any questions about support.
  - Sanddancer 10y ago
    What sort of stock options do your employees get? Yes, they get a "cool" tech job, but they don't get an ability to advance either.
    - fapi1974 10y ago
      That is correct, no two ways about it. That said, we do profit sharing, which few others do, albeit for the agents who do well.
    - jackgolding 10y ago
      Every company I've been in has had people advance from support to things like sales/marketing/sys admin - being in the company or at least in the industry has helped a lot!
      - 10y ago

by dahdum 10y ago

throwaway_xx9 10y ago

Of course, the only support you can easily outsource is that which can be script-based. Fine if you're a cable company or bank, not so much if you're a startup. Outsourcing support for early adopters and corporate users will gut your ability to address feature requests from guinea-pigging users.

fapi1974 10y ago

We definitely tried to keep the estimates reasonable. For SF we've found that a lot of companies prefer onshore, albeit out of state, for staffing their support.

dahdum 10y ago
Austin, Denver, and Portland seem very popular for SF area. Inexpensive office space and good labor pool with progressive values. We've stayed on the peninsula and done our best to raise productivity (and thus comp) through training, retention, and technology. Wasn't easy but working well now.
- ethbro 10y ago
  Not judging, just curious, do progressive values really matter? I'm based out of a fairly cosmopolitan southern city, and I'd be hard pressed to construct a scenario where I could only find someone so unprofessional and conservative enough as to make a difference to the customer.
  - dahdum 10y ago
    For some companies progressive values are often important, to the founders, employees, or corporate image. SF has a lot of those is all.
    - ethbro 10y ago
      Agreed, but your phrasing was interesting: two hard business qualities and one social one. The other thing that made it stick out was it sounded like progressive values were a litmus test for candidates. Maybe it's living in the south (where my social views tend to put me in the minority and hence used to dealing with ideological disagreements daily), but SF in particular seems pretty intolerant of the idea that lovely people might also happen to have different social opinions.
      - dahdum 10y ago
        Sorry - I didn't mean the candidates at all. The article was about SF startups, and many use progressive values as a selling point. I don't think you're wrong to see some intolerance. We've got 50+ people in the South (GA,SC,NC,FL), so I'm only calling it as I see it, not as I'm doing.

Sanddancer 10y ago

In other words, part of the problem. The coders get all the perks, the free sodas, stock options, the high salaries, etc. The front line employees get a commute from Stockton and an opportunity for an extra dollar an hour wage next year, unless there's a wage freeze.

fapi1974 10y ago
Yes!!! On the other hand, many of our agents are completely stoked to work for a cool company (e.g. a Bay Area startup), from home, without the commute. They are happier, stay longer, and have way fewer sick days etc. Great article on that here: https://fyiliving.com/uncategorized/telecommuting-linked-to-higher-job-satisfaction https://fyiliving.com/uncategorized/telecommuting-linked-to-...
- fapi1974 10y ago
  Edit - it might not be clear, but I'm the CEO of PeopleDelight. Happy to answer any questions about support.
- Sanddancer 10y ago
  What sort of stock options do your employees get? Yes, they get a "cool" tech job, but they don't get an ability to advance either.
  - fapi1974 10y ago
    That is correct, no two ways about it. That said, we do profit sharing, which few others do, albeit for the agents who do well.
  - jackgolding 10y ago
    Every company I've been in has had people advance from support to things like sales/marketing/sys admin - being in the company or at least in the industry has helped a lot!
    - 10y ago