Speed, passion, and results are hallmarks of a winning team. They’re also defining features of TTEC’s partnership with a global sports and entertainment brand. We delivered customer experiences worthy of their passionate fanbase that surpassed all expectations. And we did it while exceeding targets in a matter of weeks.

Challenge

There’s nothing quite as exciting as watching history unfold during a live sporting event. A walk-off home run, Hail Mary touchdown, or stoppage time soccer goal, just to name a few. You never know when history will be made, or when your team will create the play that’s talked about for years to come. 

In this type of environment, speed, expertise, and results are paramount — not only for the athletes, but also for the customer service organization. There’s no room for error, and every second counts.

One of the world’s leading sports and entertainment brands needed a partner capable of handling

high-volume, high-visibility customer interactions across two complex domains — subscriptions and fantasy sports — ahead of the U.S. football season. 

Additionally, the firm sought better visibility into why customers cancel services, as existing operational data did not provide sufficient insight into underlying customer behaviors or product-related issues. 

The cost of not addressing these challenges included poor customer experience, churn, and reputational risk during peak sports season.

Our solution

The company had a long-standing relationship with an incumbent provider that had supported the operation for several years. Introducing a new partner required demonstrating the ability to deliver measurable performance improvements quickly while maintaining operational stability.

The client put their faith in us to support two product lines simultaneously. Our 42+ years of CX industry excellence combined with relationships with similar clients in the media and entertainment industry gave the client confidence to trust us with their business.

And within just a few months, TTEC outperformed the incumbent in a number of areas. How did we do it?

Building a passionate team
TTEC rapidly launched a new customer experience operation in Denver in just seven weeks, building the team, training framework, and operational infrastructure from the ground up. Associates were quickly enabled to support streaming and fantasy sports programs across digital channels, ensuring the company was fully prepared to assist fans ahead of the season kickoff.

The team delivered customer care, technical troubleshooting, and verifications for customers around streaming, account access, and apps. Support included navigating legacy bundles and platform limitations.

Besides contact center expertise, associates were vetted based on their passion for sports and ability to understand the sports fandom.

We started with a recruitment target of 24 expert contact center associates and self-described “sports nuts” who matched the passion of the brand’s customers. Beyond contact center expertise, recruits had to pass a rigorous sports knowledge test before joining the program to represent the client as true brand ambassadors. We ultimately staffed 27 associates to support the client’s inbound contacts.

The site was designed to represent a sports enthusiast’s paradise, complete with table games, a locker room, and large murals of sports fans enjoying games. Associates were encouraged to wear their favorite team apparel, and customer conversations were expected to include sports discussions. 

More than just contact center competence, the associates brought a sense of community and passion to their interactions with customers and with each other. 

Gaining a deeper customer understanding
In conjunction with passionate employees, TTEC turned to data-driven customer intelligence to uncover meaningful customer insights.

Cancelations were a large percentage of customer interactions. We recommended adding a new disposition code to better capture why, rather than just group those calls under generic cancellation categories. 

The insight revealed that price sensitivity was a leading driver. This gave the client concrete data from which to inform future product, pricing, and retention strategies.

Elevating the relationship as a trusted AI innovation adviser
In addition, TTEC has recently expanded its support to include AI thought leadership and advisory sessions to help the organization evaluate potential AI platforms and provide guidance on evaluating AI vendors and use cases.

Results

The program was launched in just seven weeks. Once launched, TTEC overdelivered on performance, quality, and CSAT targets in six weeks and quickly surpassed updated targets in the months that followed.

Immediately after launch, we exceeded customer satisfaction goals by 9% to reach 89%. Within the first eight weeks of taking calls, the team outperformed its issue resolution target (we reached 70% on a goal of 65%). And for survey completion, we exceeded the target goal by 76% (30% completion rate compared to a target of 17%). 

Once the program was launched, we continued to deliver. We beat CSAT and issue resolution goals consistently. And we surpassed the incumbent in survey return rate within four months, which set a new standard in quality and insight generated from the client’s voice-of-the-customer program. 

The passion and enthusiasm of the employees also led to tangible business results. The client’s target employee attrition rate was 5%, and we achieved 0% employee attrition soon after the program’s launch. 

As a result, we are planning future expansion. The client is shifting work away from the incumbent to grow our program to 100 associates within a year, representing a 5x growth in volume from launch.

Customer testimonials:
•    “Austin reassured me and resolved the issue. Very happy.”
•    “Give Brenden a raise! Very friendly and helpful.”
•    “Kris was patient and committed… quick and frictionless.”