Best company for outsourcing customer service?

Paul Loeb Founder, DropTrack

Last updated on May 11th, 2018

I am running a startup, and I find myself spending at least an hour every day answering customer service emails. I know it's not the best use of my time, and it's time to delegate it. What are some of the best outsourcing companies for startups? (read: affordable)

Bart Kuipers Digital Marketer @ 5CA

Last updated on May 11th, 2018

Hi Paul,

While I agree with some others here that gathering user feedback is hugely important for any startup, I wouldn't discount outsourcing as a viable option altogether. The key is to find a customer support vendor that you collaborate with rather than simply outsource to. You'll want to make sure your vendor provides complete transparency about the work that's being carried out and that they report all user feedback back to you.

I work with 5CA. We work with multiple startups with whom we foster close working relationships, provide daily reports to, and are constantly implementing support improvements for. We're used to working with smaller volumes and can do so flexibly, which means we can provide high-quality support and a personal working relationship while remaining affordable.

Alex Brutin CEO & Founder at Your Remote Assistant

October 7th, 2016

Hi Paul,

If you are at the stage where this takes about an hour a day I agree that you still want to learn from the customer service requests and have the flexibility to step in when you deem necessary or when the person handling the hour's worth is calling out a outlier request to you. Because you are in this stage I think you are better off with a dedicated person handling these requests rather than an anonymous service that will have various people respond to the requests and where you will not get the same learnings.

Tom DiClemente Management Consulting | Interim CEO/COO | Coach

October 5th, 2016

You don't say what stage you are in but, for a startup, responding to Customer Service emails and phone calls is one of the very best uses of your time.

Aaron Greenlee

September 7th, 2018

The customer experience is all that matters. Personally, I would never outsource it. Good luck.

Max Garkavtsev CEO at QArea, TestFort

October 4th, 2016

That's a regular customer support function. I was ready to write yo ua long message how to select provider properly.. but the volume you need is so low, that maybe you don't need a company at all. Just virtual asistant or something? How technical should be the person answering?

Musab Navish Initiator at IAM GREEN

October 4th, 2016

Frankly speaking, you know better your situation but if I was given a choice, I would not outsourced the customer service work . Because, for any startup or for that matter, for any company. Eventhough, it might be time consuming but believe me connecting directly with the customers would give a real knowledge about the product and services you are in and a room to improve. Afterall, no matter we believe, it is for the customers and their needs.

Vlada Piddubna Head of Business Operations at CyberCraft Inc.

Last updated on May 11th, 2018

Paul, I agree with the previous comments - if you spend not so much time for it, maybe it's not worth outsourcing it at this point. Consider how much time you'd spend to actually delegate this function (to find an appropriate person/company, train them and then check their work). Also consider possible damage to your customer relationships in case of unprofessional outsourced support. At this stage of your business such damage may be irreparable.

Naveen Coomar Enabling Organisational and Individual Performance Transformation

Last updated on May 11th, 2018

Hi Paul, I can sense from your message that you consider responding to customer mails is a redundant and low value job and therefore you are planning to outsource it. I do not know much about your business model and/ or the product. However, at a generic level for a startup firm this may be one of the most critical elements of our business value chain. This job is not only about responding to ‘redundant sounding mails’ but could deliver tremendous value of insight into customer requests/ demands/ complaints/ preferences etc. I shall therefore request you to consider keeping this with yourself and find some other elements in your daily routine that is lesser value. Regards, Naveen Coomar

Jeet Doshi Love helping businesses & investors with accounting & bookkeeping and managed IT services

October 4th, 2016

Paul, did you just mention outsourcing? delegate? and affordable? Guess what, we can help you here. We help startups with lot more than just customer service and back office which would save you tons of money and have much better control. We also offer private label services, just in case you don't want your clients to know of our collaboration and keep your brand image in tact.

Check us out at analytix.com. I've also sent you a message on LinkedIn. Talk soon.

mario chaves CEO & co-Founder, Avantica Technologies

October 4th, 2016

Don't know what stage your startup is in nor how many customers you actually have but if it were me, I would not consider outsourcing this function at the early stages of my company. There's nothing like hearing from customers and responding to them to know what you're doing right and what you're not doing right or could be doing better. Unless you are terrible at doing this, this should one hour a day well spent, IMHO.

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