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Ocean Business Solutions |
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Company Background |
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Ocean Business Solutions was
founded in 2004 as a
small telesales
operation selling mobile
phones and telecoms
solutions to consumers.
From these humble
beginnings, the
Birmingham based company
have taken massive
strides and grown
rapidly by consolidating
their position as a
primary reseller for
mobiles and expanding
and diversifying into
other areas to provide
high levels of quality
in these newly emerging
markets. Managing
Director, Mohammed Mashedi, is optimistic
regarding further growth
of what is now an all
round telemarketing
operation with both
outbound and inbound
calling capability. |
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The Business Challenge |
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The environment in which
Ocean Business Solutions
operates is extremely
competitive and
companies that use
services provided by
call centres demand full
transparency and
accountability. Employee
churn is another factor
within the industry that
all call centres must
deal with. Therefore,
should the correct
technology not be
deployed and an agent
left the company, their
knowledge would depart
with them. |
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The primary business
challenge faced by Ocean
was simply to be
productive and
competitive enough for
larger organisations to
consider them as a
supplier for their
outsourced telemarketing
operations. |
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Mohammed Mashedi
explained: “We were
contacting leads via a
manual phone system
which served our purpose
for a while as the
operation was small.
However, as we started
to grow the business and
our own knowledge curve
grew, we realised that
we were not operating as
effectively as we could
be. We found we were
coming across masses of
dead data and our agents
were not talking to
customers anywhere near
as much as we would have
liked”. |
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Ocean grew from the
initial set up of four
to 30 within a couple of
years. It was now
apparent that they
needed to deploy call
centre dialling
technology that could
overcome these
shortcomings. And at
around this time,
regulatory control was
tightened to protect
consumers from ‘silent
calls’. Therefore, the
chosen technology would
have to be implemented
to operate within the
new legislation. |
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Why Did Ocean Business
Solutions Choose
TouchStar? |
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Ocean conducted their
initial research for a
call centre solution
provider via the
Internet. They were
presented with a wide
array of solutions and
short-listed a few of
those companies
including TouchStar, who
in turn visited Mohammed
and company director
Abdul Kauser to
demonstrate their
solutions. Initially
they agreed to trial a
competitor product based
on it being the cheapest
on the market. However,
they quickly discovered
that this product had
none of the
functionality that they
required and was hardly
the ‘leap forward’ they
required to really grow
their business and was
subsequently returned.
At this point Ocean
spoke to TouchStar
again. |
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Mohammed was forthright
by saying: “We thought
we could get everything
we wanted by choosing
the cheapest option but
within a couple of days
it was blindingly
obvious it couldn’t. We
had been very impressed
with TouchStar at the
initial pitch stage.
What set them apart from
their competitors is
they looked at our
business first and
proposed a solution
based around that. Other
companies who came
simply gave us their
proposals and expecting
our business to fit
around that.” |
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Ocean were also
impressed with
TouchStar’s growing
reputation in the call
centre industry.
Mohammed added: “We
asked around, we believe
in referrals and people
coming back to us were
very positive about
TouchStar both as a
product and the surround
services and support
that goes with that. It
seemed to us that
TouchStar could be more
like a business partner
than simply a software
supplier.” |
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Other ‘clinching’
factors included the
wealth of knowledge
presented by the
TouchStar salespeople
that introduced Mohammed
and Abdul to the array
of scripting possible on
the TouchStar Connect
system. Mohammed stated:
“The scripting was very
important and a system
to develop and change
scripts at the click of
a couple of buttons was
needed. In addition, the
capability to add to the
system, the scalability,
was also there. The
TouchStar solution
really seemed to give
the best value for money
with an array of
features at a very good
price.” |
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TouchStar’s offer of 24
hours support, 365 days
a year was something
Mohammed felt was a
major point of
differentiation: “To be
able to speak to someone
at any time of day or
night is brilliant.
Also, the guys are UK
based so they understand
us better and it gives
us the opportunity to
build a relationship
with the guys at the
sharp end who in turn
form a complete
understanding of our
business.” |
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Our Solution |
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TouchStar implemented
the fully compliant
TouchStar Connect
blended call centre
system complete with ACD
& IVR, intelligent
scripting, call
recording and reporting
at Ocean Business
Solutions
in a matter of days. |
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Ocean were immediately
impressed with the speed
in which the system
dials and subsequent
increases in
productivity. Mohammed
went on to say:
“Obviously there was an
initial capital outlay
and as a businessman, my
instinct thought of any
such outlay as a
potential risk. However,
I needn’t have worried
as within days it was
apparent the system was
going to more than pay
for itself as sales
increased dramatically.
Furthermore, any
concerns about OFCOM
regulation were also
unfounded as the system
easily dials within the
law.” |
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They were equally
impressed with the
systems capability to
handle inbound and
outbound calls
simultaneously. Mohammed
added: “We had recently
started an inbound
function and it was
important that the
system was ‘blended’ in
that it could also
handle inbound calls and
switch inbound agents to
making outbound calls at
less busy times. Until
the solution was
provided, we didn’t
realise how simple this
would be to operate. It
is impossible for agents
to make mistakes!” |
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TouchStar also provided
network services (LCR)
for Ocean Business
Solutions
as part of the overall
solution. Mohammed
agreed that having all
their call centre needs
served by a single
supplier helped
streamline their
business processes and
as time has progressed,
the relationship has
been solidified to a
true partnership. |
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The system provided all
the elements Mohammed
was looking for. He
added: “In terms of MI,
reporting and call
recording, it’s second
to none – we have since
won a reseller agreement
with a major high street
telecoms company that we
would not have won
without such
accountability
features.” |
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TouchStar Connect has
also proved adaptable as
Ocean have diversified
into other business
arenas and founded a
second company, Total
Refund Ltd, that
specialises in debt
management services,
IVAs and reclaiming mis-sold
insurance policies.
Mohammed stated: “The
versatility of the
system has meant we can
use the same agents to
operate in all our
business areas and
obtain maximum economies
of scale.” |
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Implementation |
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Implementation was
completed within a
single week without the
need for any agent
downtime. Mohammed was
impressed with the
commitment shown by the
TouchStar engineers:
“They were here before
anyone came in and were
here after everyone
left! They really did
make sure the work was
done in the absolute
minimum of time. And
when a small part of the
hardware kit was
missing, there was no
panic and it was
immediately couriered
from their headquarters
and was with us within a
couple of hours!” |
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The TouchStar engineers
went on to show both the
management staff and
agents exactly how the
system worked and how to
make best use of it:
“They made it look easy,
showing us the basics of
how the Administrator
and Supervisor functions
worked and a little bit
on scripting. They hold
free of charge training
sessions every month and
we can attend as many as
we like – we now send
any new administrator
level staff on the
course as part of their
induction.” |
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Features and Benefits of
TouchStar Connect |
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Ocean Business Solutions has
experienced the
following results and
benefits since
implementing TouchStar
Connect: |
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- Their agents’
talk time has
trebled.
- A huge increase
in sales meant a
very quick return on
the investment.
- A system that
fully complies with
and exceeds all
OFCOM, DMA and FSA
regulations.
- The ability to
report with detailed
statistics from all
campaigns in real
time has made
management of the
call centre business
more focused.
- Flexibility to
build campaigns in a
variety of sectors
has allowed new
products to be
introduced.
- A seamless
integration with
their current
accounting system
which meant
streamlined business
processes.
- Free training on
an ongoing basis,
has continually
updated staff
expertise.
- 24 x 7 x 365 UK
based engineering
support proving
invaluable when
requiring advice at
any time of the day
or night.
- An appointed
expert business
development manager
to optimise use of
the technology.
- A suite of value
added services
(including network
services, cabling,
headsets, data
backup, data
management, etc) has
meant they have to
make one single
phone call to one
supplier.
- Ability for
further developments
as their business
grows.
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Mohammed Mashedi
concluded: “TouchStar
has helped facilitate
the growth of Ocean and
the diversification with
Total Refund. We feel we
have a reliable business
partner that genuinely
does care about us and
bends over backwards to
serve our needs. They
have taught us to work
smarter and in following
that philosophy Ocean
has become a major
player in the call
centre industry.” |
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Copyright 2008 TouchStar Call Centre Software. All Rights Reserved