Latest / The Tech Matchmaker / When a Good BPO Isn’t Good Enough | QMetrics x Five Star
Transcript
- Gina Gibson: Welcome back to the Tech Matchmaker. I'm Gina Gibson, founder of Think Forward, where we take the guesswork out of technology decisions by matching organizations to the right solutions based on their desired outcomes. Today we're pulling back the curtain on the matchmaking process itself, because the best way to understand what we do is to hear it directly from the people who have done it. So I'm joined by two guests who are no strangers to the Tech Matchmaker podcast, Liz Subia and John Coulter. Welcome back, guys. Liz Subia: Hello. Gina Gibson: Liz, thank you so much for being here and it's great to have you on again. And for anyone who missed our first customer spotlight, can you give a quick picture of Q metrics and your role there? Liz Subia: Yes, absolutely. my name is Elizabeth Subia. I go by Liz. I am the director of communications and engagement with Q-Metrics. Q Metrics is a consulting firm based out of San Diego. And what we basically do is an array of different things, but mainly assist health plans in meeting their regulatory required surveys, as well as helping with health outcomes, accreditation, any kind of audit audits that need to be prepared for. reporting, value based reporting, primary source verification, so a lot of different things. We do have subject matter experts for each of the different things that we do, so mainly supporting health plans achieve their goals and and meet their regulatory requirements. Gina Gibson: Wonderful. And Mr. Coulter, welcome back to you as well. do you want to give us a quick overview, John, of who you are and a little bit about what Five Star does and Five Star solutions John Coulter: Yeah, John. Gina Gibson: now? John Coulter: Five star solutions now, yeah. I've got I've got a beach ball for you with your name on it, by the way. That was the I was pulling out earlier for ya. yep. John Gina Gibson: Lá John Coulter: Coulter, Vice President of CX Strategy with Five Star Solutions. We are an outsourced contact center, so we are a platform of people and technology. so we We've partnered with Q-Metrics for the past year. ultimately we provide the staffing and Q-metrics provides the technology. For some of our partners, we provide the tech and and half the time they provide the tech, so it'll be kind of fun to hear Liz's story and journey as we go through this. Gina Gibson: Awesome. And so today we are going to be talking about BPOs. And Liz, QMetrics has been outsourcing for a while now. And so for anybody kind of wrestling with that decision of, geez, I don't know if I want to hand over my my data and my my customer experience to a third party, why did you choose to do the outsourcing in the in the first place? Like what was the decision that you made versus keeping it in-house? Liz Subia: Yes. so the type of work that we do is very uncertain when it comes to the times that we can field or complete our surveys. And hiring internally is difficult. You know, we don't know if we're gonna need to ramp up, ramp down, you know, when we're gonna have surveys, if they're gonna be consecutive or if there's gonna be, you know, dip periods in between. so really working with a BPO that can support us in that area and that knows, hey. You know, we can dedicate ten agents to you or fifteen agents, whatever you need, and as long as you give us enough notice, then we could ramp up or down. that's really been helpful. It's a it's a stress off of my shoulders that I gladly give over to John and his team. but Gina Gibson: Yeah. Liz Subia: it it really helps with with the staffing because of the uncertainty of when we're starting, how many clients we're gonna have ready, how many phone calls we're gonna be making. So it it's really great to partner with a BPO that can support us in that area. Gina Gibson: And you were partnered, you had an outsourcer in place, and something brought you back to the table looking for a change. So what went wrong or what were you hoping or trying to do better this time around? Liz Subia: One of our biggest things is quality assurance and providing quality results to our clients. and we had reporting, we had recordings, phone calls that we could listen to with the other BPO, but really being able to use our system with five star solutions and their team being on our system, it makes it so much easier. Everything is collected in one platform, we have access to everything. We could do quality assurance, you know, as much or as little as we see fit, depending on the surveys that we're completing. So it really helped that they were willing to work with us, allowing us to use our technology, allowing us to take care of quality assurance one hundred percent. and the team also does their own quality assurance, right, to make sure that their agents are doing what they're supposed to or following our guidelines. But It really helps us stay in control and only have that one data source and not multiple ones. Gina Gibson: That's excellent. And I know one thing that you and I talked about before we had kind of brought anybody to the table was the cultural fit. And one of the things about a cultural fit is it's really hard to tell if that's there just when you're meeting with somebody or interviewing a vendor. So how did you approach that and how do you kind of test for something like that that's intangible up front? Liz Subia: I think what really helped was the fact that I was able to meet Joel in person at a conference in Arizona and really getting that one on one time and talking to him and him him having responses right then and there, you know, having those answers and being able to really assure me that they had the solution that we were looking for and it being able to explain it. But also meeting with the rest of the team, they all had this sense of to me it was like peace. You know, don't worry, you're in the right hands. Like we're go we're gonna handle your projects as if they were our own and we're not client we're not clients, we're partners. That's really what it is. We're working as partners. I don't see them as a vendor, I see them as a partner and I don't think they see us as a client. I think they see us as a partner as well. And that really came across when I met the entire team. Gina Gibson: I love that. And John, that must be music to your ears because I know that's a really important part for five star solutions. So how do you other than w what Liz has described for us, how do you guys impart that knowledge to your potential customers? John Coulter: Yeah, you know, I'm I'm gonna save Liz 'cause she mentioned Joel. So Joel actually so she met Joel Sylvester traveling. So she got the name right for sure. But just so everybody on the podcast knows that watches this, she didn't name Joel. So that's Gina Gibson: I John Coulter: good. so she met Joel and you know, I think the partnership's big, you know, I think we're we're out in the industry, meeting people, you know, I think we've built a really good network of people who trust us, and rely on us. So people like Eugene have known us for gosh, six, seven years now. you know, we've been around for a long time, so people have really just gotten to know us in the industry. and we know what we're experts at and really good at, and then we know when we need when we've got needs, we know people like you who we we can reach out to that can support us. Gina Gibson: And I just want to add your reputation proceeds, right? Like you guys have a phenomenal reputation in the industry as well. So kudos to you. And then Liz, when it came time for your requirements, they weren't really that difficult, right? Like I think we had a geography, they had to be located in the US, right? And and to your point, we needed somebody that could be flexible in scaling up and scaling down based on your business needs. There was some specific skills I think you were also looking for, right, in the healthcare. And John, I know you had a team rolling off and the timing just seemed to work perfectly. But when you actually sat down with John and and Joel, and what did you see or hear that kind of made you go, that's the ones, right? Like was there a specific moment or a specific item where they said something and you're like, okay, without a doubt, this is who I want to work. Liz Subia: yes, there was. And it was definitely the team not only supporting us and being willing to follow our trainings and our guidelines, but also knowing and them reassuring us that hey, we have our own trainings, we have our own, you know, set of procedures that we follow that we expect our agents to follow as well. So really no really knowing I I have the knowledge, you know, of the surveys that we're completing of the projects that we're doing, but having the support of Five Star Solutions saying We're also gonna do additional training to support, you know, that customer experience and everything else was really I'm huge. I've been in customer experience for when it was customer service, not customer experience, you know, for over twenty years. and it's not easy when it comes to healthcare. It's not easy when you have to deal with providers or with members, you know, there's a lot of confusion. And knowing that they also have trainings that they put their a their agents through, was really, really helpful. And to me it was a Again, a load off my shoulders that I gladly gave over to John and the team. Gina Gibson: And John, do you want to talk a little bit about the supplemental training Liz Subia: Let me Gina Gibson: that you give to your agents and why you think that's necessary and kind of how that differentiates you from other BPOs out there? John Coulter: Yeah, I think one of the big things that's out there now is always compliance and security is a big piece of any business. so we do a very, you know, very robust training on that. You know, we're PCI HIPAA SOC SOC two. So to make sure our agents stay compliant within each client, whether it be healthcare, financial services, you know, retail, kind of whatever vertical they're in, there's specific trainings that each agent has to go through. So usually what in Liz's case, they send us their training and then we kind of enhance it, making sure it meets all of our security standards and every every one of our clients ultimately has to has some sort of level of security within it. Gina Gibson: That's excellent. And so then we move on to the contract, Liz, and the contract signed, the inkst dry. How long did it take the guys at Five Star to ramp up? And and what did the ramp up look like? So, you know, was it a couple of weeks? How long did it take before they were performing where you needed them to be? Liz Subia: I think they were actually pushing us, you know, more than we were pushing them. They were ready. They were ready to start and you know, it kind of took us a little longer than expected. it didn't take long. I met with the team that supports us, so the manager supervisor that we're gonna be working with the agents assigned to our project. I think we met three times over two weeks, explained what the training structure looked like, you know, the amount of time the agents were going to have. really went through it with them so that they learned it and were familiar with it before the agents came on board. it really didn't take long. It was less than month than a month for us to actually have everything set in place and for them to understand our project and what it was that the agents were going to be doing. Gina Gibson: I love that. And John, Liz admittedly saying, Hey, we were kind of the long pull in the tent here. How long or how quick would you say you can ramp up for a customer and and what's the average that it takes? John Coulter: Usually we say thirty to forty five days. In Liz's case, her team was very buttoned up, very prepared to outsource because they've obviously done it before. So that for them it was, you know, very quick for us to do that. You know, for some of our partners, they don't have anything built, so we actually have to go on site for two weeks and process map and document. so those take a little bit longer. And then Liz's team is very I would say on the technology front. forward thinking versus reactive. So some of the technology they already had in place made it very seamless for us to start using their tools as well. Gina Gibson: Love it. And Liz back to you, how quickly did they meet the KPIs of your internal team or Liz Subia: Yeah. Gina Gibson: exceed your previous BPO's KPIs? How quickly were you seeing the results come through? Liz Subia: Yes, so we have a very structured quality assurance program and we don't allow for more than two weeks to be below ninety five percent quality and the team was able to meet it from the get go. We do a lot of you know we do a lot of mock calls, a lot of training, you know, a lot of role playing with them before they actually jump on those phone calls. And I think that's very helpful to the agents. I love mock calls. I love being, you know, the mean provider or the one that's busy and it's gonna put you on hold, you know, ten times because I have patients in front of me. and I think that really helped the agents to really realize, you know, this is what we're gonna be facing on a day to day basis. And they they learn how to navigate it and they did mock calls on their own as well, to support in that area before they actually started calls. So less than two weeks. Less than two weeks for them to be above ninety five percent quality assurance scores. Gina Gibson: That's impressive. on top of that, what is what has five star made possible for you to do that you couldn't do before? Liz Subia: going back to the data is really that we collect the data in our system. We're able to do a lot more quality assurance real time because we already have that data. We don't have to wait for a report, we don't have to wait for recordings to be downloaded, we have everything. so really i it helps us with our reporting, checking our errors, making sure that if the call needs to be redone, we can put it back into the queue right away. so it's really helped our quality assurance team improve their quality assurance, but also get more done in a shorter period of time. Gina Gibson: Love it. And John, you have the enviable seat of you do this for a lot of different customers. So where are you seeing the greatest day to day impact for Q metrics? John Coulter: Yeah, as as far as you know, lots of impacts, lots of fun things for them. I would say the aging and the culture is the most important thing for them specifically. You know, team members that you know, you're making outbound calls, that's not for everybody, so the agents we do select are very specialized in this type of work. But then they're very patient, they're very, you know, process oriented. So the team members we put on their program are very specific to them. But again, the communication back and forth with Liz and our team is fantastic, right? Quality doesn't have to wait, you know, two weeks. We're getting real-time feedback throughout the day, making sure our agents are always hitting that high quality mark. Gina Gibson: That's and that's wonderful and it sounds like the relationship is working really well. Was there anything that happened that's kinda harder than what you expected it would be? Whether it's at the beginning of the project or you're experiencing out, was there anything that kinda was I didn't see that as a hurdle? John Coulter: Think we've seen you know, anytime you work with good people like Liz, her ownership team, they've come on site into Sioux Falls to hang out with us. I think you overcome a lot of obstacles very easily when you just work with good people. and those are the people we like to work with, those are the projects we like to take on. so Liz and her team have been fantastic to work with, so I wouldn't say we've had any major hurdles or obstacles by any means. Gina Gibson: Excellent. Liz, how about from your perspective? Was there anything that through the entire process that was harder than what you had anticipated? Liz Subia: I don't think so. to John's point, you know, really meeting the team and being able to sit with everyone and, you know, lay down our expectations and really, you know, explain what we're about and what we're moving towards. and having John and the team say, Hey, we can support you in other areas, you know, not just with agents, has really, really been great and helpful. I don't think we've had any hurdles except for, you know, us, not knowing when our clients are gonna be ready for us to start our phone calls. but aside from that Really nothing. Gina Gibson: Excellent. And w is there anything, Liz, that you wish you knew now that you or wish you had of known then that you know now about selecting a BPO? Liz Subia: I yes, definitely going back to culture and fit, you know, it it's nice to meet people in person and to be able to talk, you know, and express pain points and expectations and I came into this company with our BPO already selected, the one that we were with previously, and they were great. They were great. It was just, you know, we outgrew it. We outgrew it. We needed to move to something different, something better, something that was going to help us continue growing. and that's really what Five Star has has helped us do in the last year and looking forward to a lot more years of partnership. Gina Gibson: I love that. And now you guys have talked about the key personnel a lot. And so let me ask this because it's often a a case in in the BPO relationship. If somebody like a key person left tomorrow, the account manager, the site lead, how confident are you that the relationship holds? Liz Subia: I'm confident. I I mean, it's not just John that I talk to or it's not just, you know, one person in the team. I talk to like five, six different people and it it seems like they all pick off of each other, you know, so it's the if somebody's out sick, then somebody else is gonna pick up on whatever work they have. Like there's that knowledge, there's no silos of, you know, this person is the only one that can help you or support you in that area. It's everybody helping everybody. Gina Gibson: And John, maybe you wanna talk to people a little bit about that because that is unique. Another unique thing about five star that you guys do and the way you set your programs and your leadership up. So why don't you talk a little bit about that? John Coulter: Yeah, so obviously we have people that are in the day to day weeds working with Liz on the quality and the program overview. I think one of the things that really differentiates us is myself, ownership team, our senior leaders, try and meet with all of our clients on a monthly basis. More on, you know, how is it going? Where are you headed? Where's what's your strategy for AI? What technology are you thinking about? I think that's really what differentiates us is we're always looking out for our our partners and where they should what maybe hurdles might be coming that they need to be thinking about. So we always try thinking ahead for everybody. Gina Gibson: I love that. And Liz, for any company Liz Subia: Right. Gina Gibson: out there that is maybe never outsourced before and they're nervous about handing over their customer interactions to a third party, what advice might you give them? Liz Subia: I would say you definitely don't need that stress on your shoulders. Give it to somebody else, you know. Give it to somebody that knows what they're doing and that are gonna support you in the product that you know you have. I that's really I can't say enough good things about five star solutions. Like they really have helped us and supported us, and everything that we're doing. And to me again, I have, you know, implementation of systems And I don't need to worry about staffing, you know, and having five star there and me saying, Hey guys, we're gonna start phone calls in August. We're already preparing for this year. So we have a meeting coming up in June. The team's already ready. They already know it's gonna be twice the amount of agents that you know we needed l last year. And to me it's I already gave you the information, now go forth and get me my agents, you know? Gina Gibson: And John, how about you? Any advice for people out there that have concerns or are trepidation? John Coulter: yeah, you know, I always say education is key to anything you decide. a thirty minute phone call with me or a thirty minute phone call with you or Liz goes a long way. So I always just encourage people to reach out and just have a conversation. I always am just there to more educate people on their options, whether it be me, whether it be someone else or technology that can s help so that would be my advice. Gina Gibson: I love it. And Liz, you you kind of alluded to it, but my one question was, where do you go from here and how do you expand the partnership? And you've mentioned both doubling your number of agents as well as John being able to offer resources that aren't just for the contact center. So do you want to talk a little bit about that and how the relationship is evolving? Liz Subia: Yes, so AI is a huge topic, especially in healthcare right now, right? Everybody's moving into AI, using AI, in one way or another. And we're headed in that direction as well. And when we got had the opportunity to meet and talk with the team in Sioux Falls, we really we brought that up and John's team jumped and said, Hey, we have these things that can help. There was a presentation that we saw that pretty much covered what we were looking for. so moving in that direction really is is utilizing the the technology that Five Star Solutions has to help us in our contact center and possibly in other areas. Gina Gibson: Excellent. And now you, Liz, have been through this matchmaking process twice, which gives you a perspective that a lot of the people don't have. So if a peer of yours dealing with similar issues or, you know, whether it's outsourcing or new technology and they were thinking about using a matchmaker but weren't sure it was worth it, what would you tell them? Liz Subia: it's definitely worth it. we're not experts in everything, you know. Technology is not my forte and I heavily rely on somebody that knows what questions need to be asked, that know what specifics are needed, you know, in order to be able to find the right system or the right solution. so definitely encourage, you know, to find a matchmaker that's gonna help you answer all those questions that you probably didn't even think of, but then when you hear it it's like, shoot, I should have thought of that, you know? Gina Gibson: Excellent. And before we close out, is there anything either of you would like to add? John Coulter: So I think I'd add, you know, it's interesting time right now as you're Genie, you hear it probably on a daily basis is people are always asking, do you build it internally or do you outsource it now? Gina Gibson: No, no. John Coulter: So that's where I think coming to you as an expert in the industry in the BPO and tech world makes the most sense. Cause you can say, Hey, five star or another, you know, outsourcer has these tools today, don't build it internally, just outsource it. Or it might make sense to build it internally. So I think you can give some really good direction to people with who have any sort of need in the technology or CX space today. Gina Gibson: Awesome. Thank you. Liz, anything from your side? Liz Subia: your matchmaking is wonderful. I I Gina Gibson: Well, thank you. And thank you both for coming on and sharing your experience with everybody. I think it really makes it valuable for people to actually hear how the process works, right? And and hearing that two weeks or hearing that it could take, you know, six weeks or whatever the case. So thank you so much, you guys, for your time. I really appreciate it. And for anybody out there listening, if you're leading a contact center or a CX operation and you've got a decision in front of you. Whether it's outsourcing, technology, workforce analytics, or something in between, and you want a structured process to help put your requirements first, reach out to Think Forward. You can find me on LinkedIn or at info at ThinkForward and subscribe to the Tech Matchmaker on YouTube and LinkedIn. And until next time, keep matching smart and thinking forward.