The Texpert Global Village
Nearly all Texperts work from home, which I’ve written about before, but what impact does not being tied to an office have on the quality of service?
The first benefit has to be the quality of the Texperts that answer the questions. Recruitment isn’t restricted to the good people of Cambridge, the best staff are recruited from all parts of the country and even the world. The quiz machines don’t stand a chance when we get together for a party!
Cheesy though it sounds, when the service is busy with lots of staff on shift Texperts really is a ”global village”. Nearly all parts of the country are represented and we can draw on that knowledge. I’m based down in Hastings and have given first hand recommendations to tourists, whereas Texperts in Edinburgh have helped me give directions around the city. One day a customer was having a terrible time on holiday in South Africa, with the help of the S.A. based Texperts we gave suggestions where to head to find better weather and hotels that we couldn’t have done just using the internet.
Working from home has helped us to solve tricky questions countless times:
- How many baked beans fill a car? We knew how many cans would fit, but to convert that to beans several Texperts raided their cupboards and started opening tins and counting
- How much does it cost to post a 4 disc DVD box set? With the help of a DVD collection and some kitchen scales that was soon answered.
- What are the ingredients of X Y Z food products? Chances are someone has the tin or jar handy to check the label.
- What is the opening chord to this song? Cue Texperts running off with guitar and CD in hand to work out the answer.
The flexible working approach means that a lot of staff also work or study in a number of different fields, so we can cover a vast array of subjects in some depth. If partners are around they are also sometimes roped in for their expert knowledge, basically we’ll do everything we can to track down an answer.
Once in a while it would be handy to have a good reference library on hand, but most times we make up for it with each Texpert having their own collection of books available, which together is better than any similar company could ever have.
