“Contact Centre Panel sourced some really fantastic companies and then expertly guided us through the selection process to enable us to find the right contact centre partner. We’ve recommended Contact Centre Panel to many other companies going through the same process and will continue to recommend them.”

Butternut Box is a high end online fresh dog food retailer. They make freshly prepared dog food which is cooked as you would at home and delivered in perfect portions. They believe dogs deserve to eat the healthiest, most natural food with none of the nasties.

Butternut Box is a rapidly growing business, operating within the subscription based fresh dog food market. Their business was positively affected by the pandemic, with people changing their shopping behaviours and having a higher deposable income, this has resulted in considerable growth for their business and increased customer interaction.

Client challenge & requirements

Butternut Box’s rapid expansion meant that their inhouse customer service team were becoming overwhelmed by the volume of calls. They realised that increasing headcount quickly within their London based inhouse team would be a challenge. They also wanted the flexibility to enable them to quickly ramp up and down advisor headcount.

Butternut Box wanted a cost-effective solution that would allow them to maintain the high levels of customer experience delivered inhouse. They were also looking to gain flexibility through an outsourced relationship.

Butternut Box wanted an outsourcer to deliver the highest level of customer experience, across a range of channels and maintain or even improve their Trustpilot rating, whilst delivering a flexible advisor resource and at an affordable price.

The senior management team at Butternut Box had no preference as to the location of the outsourcer. They were happy to consider the UK, nearshore or offshore but wanted locations where the population were animal lovers.

Butternut Box has a very distinctive culture and wanted an outsourcer who could align to this.

Solution – how we helped

We worked closely with Butternut Box to understand their specific requirements including variable FTE numbers by month and channel. We got a clear understanding of average handling times, type of call and their technology platform. Butternut Box had just implemented a new system and it was vitally important that the partners understood how they would interact with it.

Butternut Box opted to go with our briefing process rather than using a more formal RFI/ RFP structure. The process was very interactive, following several specification sessions with the client, we drafted and agreed a Network Brief.

From our network we were able to identify a wide range of outsourcers, across the specified locations, which were ‘best of breed’ within their sphere of customer service and had a range of price points.

Butternut Box wanted to get an understanding of each outsourcer’s culture, the advisors who would be delivering the service, as well as the outsourcer’s experience, locational benefits, solution and cost.

The result

We managed to identify Butternut Box’s core requirements and then select a panel of outsourcers that could meet them. This was achieved by finding out the key information needed for the brief. After that, we used our insight to skillfully match Butternut Box’s needs with the most suitable outsourcers from our network. We were able to deliver a robust and interactive selection process, providing Butternut Box with tools to help them with their decision, these included a scoring matrix, commercial comparison spreadsheet and meeting agendas. This enabled them to make the right decisions at key stages of the process.

As a result, we managed to help Butternut Box to find an outsource partner that could deliver against their expectations. Contact Centre Panel provide ongoing support, when needed, to both the client and the outsourcer – helping them to forge a strong lasting partnership.