"They’re the most genuine business partner I’ve found.”
Babylist, one of the biggest online baby registry platforms, needed a stable and scalable way to grow its customer experience (CX) team while maintaining quality and retaining its existing team members. Having faced challenges from their previous independent contractor management, they sought a long-term partner to help them formalize and scale their operations.
Boldr provided a tailored Employer of Record (EOR) Solution that enabled Babylist to transition from an informal contractor model to a structured, scalable CX team.
Babylist was not new to offshore support, they had experience hiring independent contractors across the Philippines. However, as their business grew, their internal team found it hard to find the time and capability to source, interview, and hire while dealing with IT concerns.
Here are a few of the challenges they faced:
Babylist faced data security and IT management issues as contractors used their personal devices to work. With the acquisition of Expectful and upcoming launch of Babylist Health, they also had added pressure to meet HIPAA standards and ensure their customers’ data was protected.
Their expected growth from 20 to 100+ CX agents was not sustainable under a one-on-one contracting model. The administrative burden of managing everything from admin management, handling payroll, device logistics, benefits, support, etc., was unmanageable for a company scaling at that pace.
By having an EOR Partner take this on, the Babylist management team was able to offload these operational tasks to better focus on training and onboarding.
Babylist was looking for efficient ways to grow the team, but also retain at least 80% of their team members who had worked with them for three years. Their priority was to provide them with job security while retaining their knowledge.
Following the acquisition of Expectful, Babylist faced increasing pressure to meet HIPAA compliance standards, making it necessary to shift from hiring individual contractors to working with an official EOR partner. However, their entire Customer Support team was composed of contractors who expressed strong resistance to the change.
We took the concerns of the team very seriously. Through transparent planning and proactive communication, Boldr addressed their fears and concerns and built trust around this new employment set up. As a result, Babylist successfully retained 100% of the entire contractor team through the transition.
One of Babylist’s biggest priorities was finding a values-aligned partner who cared for their team as much as they did.
Taking care of their growing team was no easy feat. Babylist needed a partner who could solve their operational challenges while providing solutions to the different stages of their growth journey and evolving needs.
Babylist ran a six-month RFP process to evaluate offshore partners, focusing on scalability, compliance, and cultural alignment. They ultimately chose Boldr for its ethical outsourcing model and people-first approach as it aligned with their cultural values.
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“I talked to dozens of offshore potential partners. Boldr felt the most genuine that they cared about their people. It rang true from the first call I had with the first sales rep all the way through when I talked to David. It was cool to see: This is the core of what we do here. Boldr checked all our boxes and outshone others in the area and gave me the most confidence to retain most of our people.”
- Chris Murray former Head of Support
Through Boldr’s EOR model, we handled all employee-related responsibilities and liabilities while managing the team members’ daily tasks. Here is how Babylist scaled seamlessly and strengthened its team’s performance:
Since the beginning of our partnership, Boldr worked hard to not only retain existing team members and knowledge but also provide them with a tailored solution that could guarantee long lasting success.
Throughout the years, our partnership has evolved into a flexible, strategic collaboration, one that goes beyond just scaling their operations. Babylist has been able to focus on its core business while we ensure its team remains engaged and empowered.
Here are our results:
Our partnership with Babylist continues to evolve throughout the years. Due to our ability to successfully deliver a high-performing team, Babylist is currently leveraging Boldr's expertise and testing out the traditional BPO Model, handing off overall management of their teams.
Chris Murray, former Head of Support at Babylist, shares: “The growth of our team is the key evidence of the success of our engagement. We’ve found multiple ways to grow. The most impactful metric I can share is that we’re now saving $6 million a year because of this partnership. If we were staffing the team ourselves, it would be notably more expensive each year. [...] Their support has enabled us to not worry about all the administrative stuff but be able to keep really great control over what they focused on and how they executed. This was really key to our success.”
Is your company ready to scale with impact? Connect with Boldr today to learn how you can build a high-performing team that adapts to your values and needs.
Aitana Rangel Garibay is Boldr’s Marketing Specialist and she is passionate about writing purpose-driven stories.