Background
- Headquarters: Dallas, TX
- Locations/Offices: 7
- # of Employees: 215
- PCT Top 100: #28 (2020)
ABC is a family business. Starting humbly in San Antonio with one small branch specializing in pest control, the Jenkins family has expanded ABC’s reach to Austin, College Station, Bell County and Corpus Christi with over 1000 employees now providing multiple home services to their loyal customers.
It takes only a few seconds on their website to see that ABC takes their responsibility to their employees, their customers, and their community very seriously. Their involvement in several volunteer, outreach and charitable community programs, proves ABC’s commitment to uphold their motto, “It’s not just about what we do, it’s about who we are.” With an attitude like that, it’s clear this company’s reputation and integrity rank supreme among their core values.
Challenge
When John Crouch, VP of Customer Relations and Inbound Sales at ABC, was looking for new strategies to differentiate themselves from other home services providers, he sought out solutions for more effective and efficient customer communications. Crouch felt that being available to customers 24/7 was an essential component to staying ahead of the competition. “Most operators understand that if customers reach out and you’re not available, they’re going to call the very next person on the list,” Crouch says. “If they happen to leave a voicemail, by the time we get back to them, they’ve probably already found someone else to resolve their problems. Being immediately accessible and having a team ready to give those real-time, live quotes, really impacts your bottom line.”
But having staff available to answer those calls and make those sales at all hours of the day or night comes with a cost. Not just in increased pay for overtime, training, benefits, etc. but also in company culture and morale. “We put family life, and the ability to have a family life, as a top priority,” emphasizes Crouch. “We really wanted to create an atmosphere to give weekends and evenings back to our employees, while still being available to our customer.”
With these priorities in mind, John set out to find a partner that would facilitate quality customer interactions while providing his employees with the flexibility they needed to have a life outside of work. His search led him to Slingshot.
Solution
Partnering with Slingshot, a 24/7 sales and customer support solution for home services providers, created that atmosphere Crouch was hoping for not just in providing customer support around the clock, but also in supplying reliable data from which he can determine what’s working and what’s not in marketing, sales and customer communication.
As a self-proclaimed numbers man, Crouch appreciates the quality and convenience of Slingshot’s reporting tools. “The best thing Slingshot has made possible for us is our 24/7 availability. That’s an important thing that customers have come to value. The second piece is that Slingshot has made things very easy, which is fairly uncommon for industry tools. I can dig into the data and know my service level, accuracy rate, and close rate all from Slingshot’s investment in technology and reporting.”
While Slingshot’s reporting tools and constant availability have now become an integral part of Crouch’s sales and communication strategy, when deciding to align ABC with another company, he also had to keep in mind ABC’s reputation and integrity. “Partnering with another company to take calls is a very intimate thing, because they’re now networking with your customers,” explains Crouch. “Having an agent that cares for your customer and works to understand the different plans you offer — this is one of the biggest benefits to us in this partnership.”
John’s high level of experience in customer relations and sales gives him a unique perspective when evaluating the pros and cons of collaborating with other businesses. “Slingshot is a company that, in my experience, is always willing to put in the work. That’s the type of partnership I’m looking for in a business.” A partnership that has now lasted 4 and a half years, has resulted in thousands of successful customer interactions, and increased revenue all while helping ABC maintain their respected reputation.
By the Numbers:
- Monthly Calls: 1,000+
- ROI: Q1&Q2: 610%
- New Revenue: $321k
