Every question you ever wanted to ask.
► How much do you charge for your services?
The best answer is, "that depends." We don't do price lists or standard pricing since every client need is unique and requires some thoughtful consideration. Our goal is to create a cost efficient support service partnership that is mutually beneficial and brings value (and happiness!) to the client.
► What type of services do you offer?
FarmOut can do most any support function that can be handled offsite and facilitated with online systems, apps or tools. Our focus is English speaking support primarily servicing North America and Western Europe. Connect with us here to get started.
► No really, what type of services do you provide?
We got our start in tech support handling motherboards and graphics cards in the very savvy end user world of pc gaming. Now our agents handle phone, email and chat support, RMA facilitation, rebates, social media management, feedback and forum support, online content management, surveys, transcription, app development and content curation. Generally, we can provide Virtual Assistance that can relieve your team from timely and labor intensive tasks.
► Where are FarmOut operations located?
Our main support agents are based in the Philippines but we work with a global network of support sites in Asia, Europe and the United States. While our operations are virtually managed, our US base mailing address is:
FarmOut USA
315 Meigs Road, Suite A-421
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
FarmOut USA
315 Meigs Road, Suite A-421
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
► Why choose Farmout?
Choose FarmOut because of our agents, our experience, and our approach.
We understood early on that the community of BPO providers snagged business purely on the basis of being cheap. If you have outsourced before, you understand that your brand can suffer and you can lose customers if you are not careful. FarmOut endeavors to support your customers and business functions as good as any in-sourced team. This means engaging with your customers and performing tasks in a way that brings value to your organization. Many BPOs operate in an uninspired environment with staff and agents that are robotic and have little understanding of the impact of the tasks they perform. A positive and respect based work culture helps cultivate an extremely low attrition rate (zero - based on agent dissatisfaction) for FarmOut agents in an industry defined by rampant high turnover. We offer agility and a nuanced understanding of the consumer market and we wrap it all up in a budget friendly price!
We understood early on that the community of BPO providers snagged business purely on the basis of being cheap. If you have outsourced before, you understand that your brand can suffer and you can lose customers if you are not careful. FarmOut endeavors to support your customers and business functions as good as any in-sourced team. This means engaging with your customers and performing tasks in a way that brings value to your organization. Many BPOs operate in an uninspired environment with staff and agents that are robotic and have little understanding of the impact of the tasks they perform. A positive and respect based work culture helps cultivate an extremely low attrition rate (zero - based on agent dissatisfaction) for FarmOut agents in an industry defined by rampant high turnover. We offer agility and a nuanced understanding of the consumer market and we wrap it all up in a budget friendly price!
► Who are your clients?
We serve large corporations that are leaders in their space and we work with start ups that are crowdfunded or boot-strapped -- and, everything in-between! Typically, our clients are expanding into English speaking markets or enhancing their established support. We work with many US/Canadian based ventures along with global businesses from Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia. Product and service categories include consumer electronics, pc accessories, telecommunications, etailers, online marketplace support, digital agencies, and advertising. In addition to the cost savings, our clients require flexible and thoughtful customer support that reinforces their brand.
► What size projects can FarmOut handle?
As a boutique support center BPO, we thrive in environments where the quality of the customer contact is more important than the quantity. Overly scripted contact centers that "process" customers are not our thing. These are better suited to our larger counterparts that look for high-volume traffic activity that is not as customer centric. The clientele we work with puts a premium on customer experience and believe that service after the sale leads to more business (we believe that too!).
► How did FarmOut get its start?
- FarmOut was the answer to a question that kept coming up over and over again in the founders business circles. That question was, "Do you know anyone that can provide cost effective customer service that won't actually alienate my customer base?"
- It started in 2007 with one client (a friend's business), one agent, a phone, a computer, a learning curve, a sincere desire to have positive customer experiences and it grew from there!
- Moving forward, the concept was to leverage the advisors experience and network from diverse industries to provide a uniquely well rounded, real world customer support that actually added value to the client's business along with saving money.
► Who are the FarmOut agents that might handle our customer support?
It all starts with having a positive attitude. It has to be part of your DNA with the long hours and constant contact. A typical agent is college educated and has experience in different industries as a customer support person. Many of our agents are cross-trained on different accounts so they have built up value and become an important resource for our business. The agents have accent training and culture coaching specific to the community they will be supporting.
► If your agents are based in Asia, what hours do you work?
That depends on what you need. We can staff agents around the clock if it makes sense. Some of our clients use us after hours to give a longer support coverage time for their customers. For some, we just work weekends when regular staff is off. Often times we work hand in hand with an escalation or logistics team during regular business hours acting as the first line of support to help direct and field a set tier of troubleshooting. What coverage time makes sense for your business?
► What kind of information do you need to determine our support needs?
Here are a few questions:
- Schedule - what days and hours do you need support?
- Will our agents be responding to calls, real time chats, and/or emails?
- What are the tasks?
- Is there a ticketing and/or another web based system our agents will be logging into?
- Will we be taking calls through your pbx system?
- What training materials do we have access to?
- How long of an agreement are you looking for?
- How are you currently handling these tasks you look to outsource?
- When would you like the actual outsourcing to begin?
► Apps, utilities, resources and platforms our team of agents are acquainted with include:
- Canva
- Heroku
- Mailchimp
- Trello
- Upwork
- Wordpress
- Weebly
- Flow
- Later
- Slack
- Loom
- Github
- 8x8
- Kayako
- Salesforce
- Skrapp
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Viber
- Dropbox
- Box.net
- To-do by Workast
- Skype
- Videolink2.me
- Google Drive/Hangouts/Calendar
- Lightshot
- TeamViewer
- Asana
- Constant Contact
- Workflowy
- Kyber Project Management
- Lucidchart
- Calendly
- Evernote
- Amazon Vendor & Seller Central
- Shopify
- MailClark
- Gruveo
- PureChat
► Can you help with RMAs and logistics?
Yes. Right now we can cover RMA/logistics for North America. If replacement product stocking and/or testing is required, we use a location in Chicago, IL.
► We are interested in using FarmOut. What now?
Great! What you can expect is an agreement covering the expected hours of work, expertise needed and key performance index goals. Payment dates, length of service, work process contacts, and any information needed to perform the support tasks will be outlined as well. Together we will determine training needs and the start date. We know from experience that simple is better so we try to distill this process into manageable events understanding that this transition is important and consequential.
Call 805-617-4540 or contact us online here ►
Call 805-617-4540 or contact us online here ►