A Buyer's Perspective with Lisa Diehl from Freshpet

Milan Batinich 00:00
Welcome everyone to our first episode of season two of the Build a Better BPO podcast. We are very excited today to have a special guest on this first episode, and we have Lisa Diehl with us. Lisa is the Senior Director of Consumer Care at Freshpet. Lisa, thank you for joining Amanda and I on today's podcast.

Lisa Diehl 00:23
Love it. Thanks for having

Amanda Quinn 00:23
Welcome.

Lisa Diehl 00:24
me.

Milan Batinich 00:24
Yeah, so Lisa, why don't you start off by telling our listeners and viewers more about you and your role at Freshpet and what you do?

Lisa Diehl 00:32
Yeah, love to. so as Milan said, I'm Lisa Diehl. I am overall responsible for global consumer care at Freshpet. I started my journey with Freshpet almost five years ago already. And when I when I started, I had three internal employees and we I think had like eight FTEs at our out outsource partner. and since then we have grown very rapidly and this is just a testament to Freshpet and their growth as a company. And so right now I have eight internal employees and we are over sixty-five plus in the contact center and so it's been really great to watch the growth and how we're supporting now different lines of business within Freshpet. So it's it's it's it's been a great journey.

Milan Batinich 01:19
That is amazing. That's a lot of growth in five short years, less than five years. That that is

Amanda Quinn 01:25
Yeah, it's a huge change.

Milan Batinich 01:27
yeah. Wow.

Amanda Quinn 01:28
So much is changing in the industry right now, Lisa. Like what are your top priorities right now?

Lisa Diehl 01:35
So basically what I'm looking at, you know, as as I look to support, you know, future growth, future business, at Freshpet, you know, I'm looking at where where are some of the things that, you know, when we start to look at cost savings and we start to look at you know, I can't always add ahead, right? And so looking a lot more at technology, what are some of the the things out there where I can get a little bit more conversational AI? Can my bots help me a little bit better? especially when we look at not only our master brand, but also around our Freshpet delivery, you know, and our D2C model. And, you know, we've had to learn quickly over the last year and a half. So you take your agent, you know, who's so used to just answering, you know, nutrition questions or feeding questions and things like that. Now all of a sudden they have to order they're they're focusing on order management, you know, changing your subscription, pausing, changing recipes, you know, things like that. and so now looking a little bit more at some technology that might be able to handle some of that volume that's coming in, especially as our business continues to grow in that area. just looking at ways that we can better support. So that's been front and center on my radar over the last probably six to eight months. and what am I looking at as I start to build my roadmap for twenty seven, twenty eight and twenty nine, and where the business continues to grow and how I help support it.

Amanda Quinn 03:04
Awesome. Are you, would you say that, 'cause I heard you say that, you know, you don't always get additional headcount when you want when you need it necessarily or budget, it sounded like. are you having to do more with less or is your budget pretty flat or kind of what's your overall corporate

Lisa Diehl 03:22
Yeah, I mean, you know, we we I I I'm trying to I don't know the best way to put this so, you know, where we need the headcount, we add the headcount, right? I'm gonna make sure that I have the support where we need it, and adjust the the budget accordingly. but you know, we can't always look at every time, you know, our business changes or grows that we're putting, you know, adding in more heads. And so looking at technology, is really the way of the future, not that we're eliminating jobs, but you know, it's by course of natural attrition, right? Do I need to actually backfill that position? probably not because now I've got, you know, some AI technology that can help fill in some of those gaps that we have. But it doesn't mean that I'm gonna have less people because it helps me to be able to reskill set those agents, to be able to handle some of those more complicated issues if a pet parent, you know, has a little bit more you know, needs a little bit more around, you know, there's an illness involved or, you know, you think about pet and baby as being very similar. you know, you're the pet parent, you're the voice of that animal. And so you don't always know what's going on. And so in in in most people's worlds, you know, their pet is part of their family. and so you're treating it like that's my baby and they're sick and I need to understand why. And so having our agents being able to be a little bit more skill set on handling those types of, you know, emotional type issues where I can

Milan Batinich 04:49
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 04:49
have bots and AI and all that handling some of the, you know, change my order, can I change my recipe? Can I add a recipe? Or, you know, even on our master brand, on the retail side of things, you know, where can I buy your product? Can I microwave it? Can I do this? Can I do that? Some of that what I call low hanging fruit, right? And so what what is the best way to utilize technology? And the best way to use, you know, the human. So we have that you know, that combination of human and AI, and working simultaneously, not one replacing the other.

Amanda Quinn 05:21
What are you doing today on the tech front? Like what's your current tech stack looking like?

Lisa Diehl 05:27
so, you know, we've got we've got some bots on both of our websites. you know, we've got you know, our phone integrated into our CRM. So, you know, it's a lot of it is is still, you know, even though it's changing, the evolution of of of my tech stack continues to change. I don't think it's where it should be or needs to be. and so looking at, you know, how do I stay at the forefront without and I always like to say I don't want to chase the shiny object because that shiny object moves very quickly as we know and it's it's like if I chase this one, what's gonna come out next? And so really just taking a step back, understanding the technology that I need and what's gonna take me from, you know, from twenty twenty six to twenty twenty nine without having to look at, okay, this didn't work, this didn't work, this didn't work, but what's going to actually help me? and so I'm really trying to do a little bit more deep dive on you know, what is some of the technology out there? What are the needs? What am I projecting that I'm going to need in the next year, two years? and make sure we're making the right business decisions because there is a lot out there in the marketplace and everyone seems to, you know, we've got the best AI, we have the best this, we have the best that. And, you know, for somebody in my role, in my position, is trying to determine, is it really? And what makes

Amanda Quinn 06:48
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 06:49
you different and, you know, how how How do I decide between A and B and so it it's it's a challenge. I mean, I I suppose it's a good thing to have, you know, but it can be overwhelming as well. You know, y you wanna make the right decisions and the best decisions for your organization. and sometimes it's you know, it's a little scary out there.

Milan Batinich 07:10
For for sure. Lisa with with looking out over the next three years and you had mentioned AI and technology is always changing, constantly changing so quickly and everybody's the states to be the expert in AI, how do you how do you plan out that far ahead as things continue to change?

Lisa Diehl 07:28
Well, I mean I think I have a a basic roadmap. you know, something that I've been working on. And, you know, w we pivot quite often as most companies do as things change, you know, the economy changes, the needs change. you know, and so looking at again, I'm I'm following, you know, what it what is our marketing team doing, what is our comms team doing, what's happening out in, you know, in the digital space so that I can be prepared to support whatever comes along. and then again looking at the right technology, you know, does my digital team have the technology that they need to be able to, you know, not only social listening, but you know, are they looking at what's coming, how do we handle crisis, how do how do we handle all of that, and are we set, you know, if something big happens, you know, 'cause it could happen tomorrow for all we know, right? in the world that we live in in a C P G company, especially a food company. and so those are the things that you know, not only keep me up at night, but also, you know, making sure that I'm prepared and we have all of the right tech in place if something changes or if something changes very quickly. So I don't

Amanda Quinn 08:34
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 08:35
know, Milan, if that really answered your question, but as I look at my

Milan Batinich 08:38
This.

Lisa Diehl 08:38
roadmap, you know, I have a lot of forks in my road. And so I have to pivot very quickly around some things. and that's why I'm always trying to stay at the forefront of what's out there, what technology is there. And what's gonna sustain me, you know, for the next couple of years so that I'm not like, my gosh, okay, that didn't necessarily work. Let me try again, you know, in another year or whatever. It's like I don't wanna I don't wanna be flip flopping back and forth with partners. I wanna be able to work with partners that are gonna actually grow and pivot and be flexible. And that's one of the great things I have about the contact center partner that I have today. they do just that, right? They don't put me in a box because I can't be in a box. It's you know, my everything changes so quickly in my world. and my contact center partner has been really, really great in helping us to support the right pieces of the business at the right time. So they're a great partner to work with.

Amanda Quinn 09:37
And how do you view your contact center and technology? Some brands seem to be in the camp of we want to own it all, we just want our contact center partner to bring the people. Some are more open to the BPO bringing technology. Some really haven't formed a view or maybe are

Lisa Diehl 09:56
Yeah.

Amanda Quinn 09:57
depends technology by technology. Where would you say you are as a company?

Lisa Diehl 10:02
I like to own the technology. and my contact center partner and I, we go we we we go back and forth on on a few things and I think he'll agree. you know, I love when they bring things to the table. you know, maybe things that I haven't thought of, but I could be more of a control freak there. you know, I nobody wants to be held hostage, if if that makes sense. I don't want to be if if if I have to for whatever reason I say I have to leave my contacts and a partner, I don't want to have to go then go out and buy a new phone system. I don't want to have to go out and do that. I have my sandbox in place. and anything that comes into my sandbox has to be able to connect to my environment, not the other way around. So yes, A on that one. I I like to own the technology.

Amanda Quinn 10:50
Okay. and I hear that like or tell me what are there certain technologies, especially I mean the core technologies, the CRM, the C Cast, like that makes sense that you would want to own that. Are there ancillary technologies that you're okay with the BPO owning? Like, I don't know, AIQA or something.

Lisa Diehl 11:11
Yes, absolutely. and we actually have that right now. So there's some agent assist type programs that our the contact center partner owns, you know, quality monitoring, you know, all of those types of things that really help on the agent side. And so actually some of that we tap into as well. you know, they've built some dashboards out for us so that I can monitor, you know, things that we may not be watching on my side. but I'm looking at it from their side. You know, when I look at, you know, service levels and I look at, you know, how we're performing, you know, against the KPIs that we have set up, there's some dashboards that they have built out for us that have been really, really helpful because they're going to have a lot more of that information than I'm going to have. So I guess in that respect, yeah, it's a two way street. you know, the the phone, the CRM, all of that, yes, I want to be in control of. But the things that are gonna really help my agents be better from the contact center perspective, that's where the tools that they're bringing to the table really come in.

Amanda Quinn 12:15
That's a good distinction.

Milan Batinich 12:16
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And it's nice that they've built out dashboards so you can tap right into theirs. I was gonna ask that question. If you had to

Lisa Diehl 12:20
Mm-hmm.

Milan Batinich 12:23
have your own system, like for AI a AI QA. so Lisa when when your BPO partner or any BPO pitches you you know it's AI capabilities, what do you actually wanna hear? What are what are good selling points when it comes to the AI capabilities?

Lisa Diehl 12:39
You know, I again I it it's you know, they have to play nice in the sandboxes the way that I always put it. you know, what what are the things that are gonna help enhance my business? you know, whether it's, you know, helping our agents or is it consumer facing? you know, those those are the things that I'm certainly looking at when I'm looking at AI capabilities. You know, are there things that, you know, I'm putting into, you know, my traditional IVR? Am I eventually going to get rid of the traditional IVR where you're going to have a little bit more conversational AI? but then how does that then, you know, plug into my phone system and into my environment? So those are really, you know, core important pieces for me. is how do you play well in my my environment and how would this work and you know is this a heavy lift on my team to get this, you know, implemented or do I rely on that particular company to do the heavy lift because I don't may or may not have the resources available to be able to implement something in the timeline that I need to get it implemented. And so those are probably some some key things for me when I'm looking at technology and you know where where we're going and it has to fit somewhere in my roadmap. and so when we when we look at I I don't want a vendor, I want a partner. And that's key.

Amanda Quinn 13:58
Hmm. And what do you think separates a in your mind, what separates a vendor from a partner?

Lisa Diehl 14:04
Partner is someone that A understands my business, understands my focus, is willing to flex and pivot you know, the way that I need them to. I don't wanna fit in their box. They need to I I always like to say this, it's like I don't wanna be a little fish in a big pond. I wanna be the big fish in the little pond. and so, you know, working with a partner that understands that and understands my business and my needs, that is actually key. And that's what really distinguishes a vendor that's just selling me something to a partner who's willing to work with me, who's willing to be flexible, who's willing to build a side by side relationship, not only for today but for tomorrow. and that's what a true partnership is.

Amanda Quinn 14:56
How have you seen some of the businesses that you've worked with get to understand your business well enough to become a partner? Like what are some of the tactics that they've used to be able to break out of that vendor mold and and really meet you where you are?

Lisa Diehl 15:11
you know, I think it's you know, it's it's it's having everyday conversations and having regular conversations. I mean I meet with my contact center partner you know, every other week. I mean we have weekly, you know, business reviews with the team, but then I have some one on one conversations so that there is a clear understanding of, you know, my needs, my capabilities, what are the things that they can bring to the table and really what makes the partnership work. and so again, it's having those conversations and the dialogue I think makes a difference in, you know, a partner versus you know, versus that vendor and who's willing to actually sit down and listen and work with me. you know, I don't I don't wanna I don't say I'm difficult to work with but I'm not, you know. I just want you know, I just

Amanda Quinn 16:02
Are you having this

Milan Batinich 16:01
Ha ha.

Lisa Diehl 16:03
I I just I just wanna be able to have really

Milan Batinich 16:05
Yeah.

Lisa Diehl 16:06
great conversations on a regular basis with my partners and it makes a difference in building that relationship and us understanding each other's needs. You know, what are the things that they can bring to the table, what are the things that I need. And then, you know, we're we're walking, you know, together down a path. And so it it makes a difference.

Amanda Quinn 16:25
Yeah, gr good communication is the key to

Milan Batinich 16:27
Right.

Amanda Quinn 16:28
every healthy relationship, right? Are you this conversation that you're having every other week or every yeah, every other week you said, is that with your CSM or are you meeting with the CEO? Like who are you meeting with that you're having these strategic conversations?

Lisa Diehl 16:42
I yeah, it's I'm yeah, I'm I'm meeting with senior leaders within the contact center, within my contact center partner. and it makes a difference. you know, on our weekly W you know, it's it's it's our operations manager, it's members of my team, but I need to step out of that to say, you know, hey, here's the issues that we're having, here's the here's where I need senior leader help in trying to push some of these things that, you know that may come out of the WBR that I'm not, you know, not necessarily happy with. And so being able to have those candid conversations make a huge difference.

Amanda Quinn 17:17
Mm. And what do you

Lisa Diehl 17:19
And it's not just with it's not just with one one of my partners. I have the same conversations with several of my partners, so

Amanda Quinn 17:25
Yeah. I hear this a lot of I think there's a big delta between where the average CSM is and the type the level of strat strategic conversation they're able to have and senior leadership at the BPO and the level of conversation that they're able to have. What would you say are like the one, does that is that echo in your experience? And if so, what do you feel like are the the skills or what would you want your to be your CSM to be able to what do you think your CSM needs to do to be able to meet you at that executive level?

Lisa Diehl 18:02
Well, I mean I think you know, if I if I look at some of my current partners, some of them don't have the authority to make some decisions that need to be made. So, you know, being a little bit more looking at more high level, right? It's like I need this, I need this, I need this. How are we going to make this happen? They may not have that that authority and like, I gotta go talk to my manager, to my manager, to my manager. and I want to be able to have those conversations at a higher level to say, look, you know, this this is this is how I need to be successful in my role and here's where I need your help to help me be successful. and I think, you know, having those conversations at a higher level seem to make it a little bit easier in being able to again, you know, move together as a partner. in being able to to meet the expectations.

Milan Batinich 18:57
Yeah, for sure. so Lisa, I want to talk about BPOs and differentiators. So I know I know your your partner sounds like you're a big fish in their smaller pond, right? And you meet with executive or senior leadership every other week. it seems like most BPOs, if not all BPOs, really like to talk about their different differentiators and what makes them special. from your perspective being a buyer of BPO services. Do most BPOs actually sound different or and in addition to that, what is it that attracts you as a buyer of BPO services to a specific BPO?

Lisa Diehl 19:36
yeah, I mean to me they all s sound the same. I mean, I get fifteen, twenty emails a day sometimes, you know, all telling me that they all have the same thing. at least that's what I read. You know, now if y w when I do read it I'm like, we have this AI, we have they have the best they

Amanda Quinn 19:49
Yeah. What are they all telling you, Lisa? What are they all telling you?

Lisa Diehl 19:54
have the best AI. That that's that is the that is the the phrase of the year. you

Amanda Quinn 19:59
Mm.

Lisa Diehl 20:00
know, our AI can do this, this and that. Yeah, great. Maybe you can, but so can the next guy and the next guy and the next guy. and so it's just really understanding, you know, once you have that partnership, now I can go back to my contact center partner and say, Hey, here's some stuff that I'm hearing or seeing out in the marketplace. Is this something that you guys are looking at? and I also do it with my CRM provider. I just met with them last week, when I was at a conference and I said, you guys are getting left behind because there are other, you know, providers out there that can do what you're saying that you can do in six to eight months. They're doing it yesterday. and so being frank and very being honest with my partners, you know, that's the way that you build the relationship. It's like, you know, okay, yeah, you guys can get that up and running in eight months. I don't need it in eight months. I needed it, you know, two days ago. And I'm there's I'd get eight emails eight emails that'll tell me that they can do it yesterday. and so again, a lot of it is just for me, it's just noise. because I trust in the partners that I have in place today, but I have to push them because there are other companies, you know, and a lot of startup companies, because AI is is the buzzword, that they say they can do it quicker, faster, better. Whatever. So

Amanda Quinn 21:21
Mm.

Milan Batinich 21:21
Yeah.

Lisa Diehl 21:23
I don't again I

Amanda Quinn 21:23
D do you wish you didn't have to push them?

Lisa Diehl 21:26
I do wish I didn't have to push them. I wish that they would be bringing, you know, more things to me to say, like these are the you know, here's what we're seeing in the marketplace and here's what we're competing. not me having to go back and say, I just saw that a demo that they did this and I've been asking you guys for this for the last, you know, five, six months and you're still not there. How do you get there and how do you get there quicker? And so you know we all know that AI is moving at the speed of light and it will continue to evolve very quickly. and it's not just really in the contact center space, it's it's everywhere. and learning and figuring out what makes sense and how to keep up with it, it's it's certainly a challenge and those that aren't keeping up are gonna get left behind, unfortunately.

Amanda Quinn 22:16
Absolutely. Absolutely. And you didn't the I I we hear this a lot from brands and buyers of outsourcing services about how they're always having to ask for things or always having to request in incremental improvements or new ideas. And I almost feel like that's that request feels so basic and I'm so frustrated for you on your behalf because the thing that I feel like you would probably also want, but I've never even heard anyone say because that probably feels like pie in the sky. Is my guess is you're you're thinking about so many things and you're you're thinking so broad. You're thinking about technology, you're thinking about your team, you're thinking about the future of your business. How do I save costs? I bet you probably want someone to challenge you too. Like to be like, hey, have

Lisa Diehl 23:06
Course.

Amanda Quinn 23:06
you what like I think this is you're doing this wrong. Like there's a better way to be doing this. You're You're like from what we've seen other clients do it, there's a you know, like just in addition to new technology, right?

Lisa Diehl 23:17
And and yeah, absolutely. And that and that's what you know, and that's what I want my partners to be able to bring to the table. It's like, hey, we are doing this now with other clients. Are you guys interested in in looking at this? and it may be yay or nay, but it may also, you know, open up a couple of, you know, like, wow, I didn't even think about that. I should be looking at something like this for, you know, for for my business for the future. so yeah, being able to challenge them. But you're right. I want I want someone that can actually bring me ideas, not something that I have to go to and say, When are you guys gonna do this? And you know, and not to hear back, w we can do that, but it would be custom and custom equals cost, right? I'm like, but why would this be a cost when there are eight other partners out there or eight other companies that are doing this for free? Why are you charging me? So, you know, it's it's always that kind of back and forth. I'm like Exactly what you said. This seems like it would be so simple. Why why is this a custom and why are we the only client of yours that's asking for this, which I don't necessarily think is the truth because I talk to other brands all the time. And I know what they're asking.

Amanda Quinn 24:30
Right, right, right.

Milan Batinich 24:31
Right. Right. Yeah, and a lot of those companies then would come across to you more as a partner if they were proactively sharing this with you, saying, Hey Lisa, we've s we noticed this, one of our other clients needed this, we were able to build this out. We think it would benefit your business as well. If they're proactively sharing

Lisa Diehl 24:48
Correct. Yeah.

Milan Batinich 24:49
this or it might solve X, might solve this problem for you, then you'll I would imagine you would view them more even more as a stronger partner than just another vendor that you're utilizing.

Lisa Diehl 25:00
Yep, exactly right.

Amanda Quinn 25:02
Lisa, let's imagine that your partner, like her hears this podcast, they're like whipped into shape. my God, we finally get what Lisa's been asking for. And they start charting down that path. And they're bringing you ideas and they're challenging you. And like, let's just could imagine this their relationship continues for the next couple of years. Where what would be your dream? Like, where would you like to see your outsourcing partnership go?

Lisa Diehl 25:30
gosh, that's a really great question. I mean, I think we're we're on a good path now. Can we be better? Can there be, you know, and and again, we don't even know what's what's coming down the pipeline because technology is changing so fast. So there may be something out there that I don't even know what I don't know, right? And so, you know, keeping things in the forefront. for me is really, really helpful. It and, you know, as I look at at my partners and they're out at different conferences and they're out seeing things that are coming in the marketplace that I may not be have access for, I may not have been. say, hey, I just saw this great technology. You know, is this something that would be great for Freshpet? Is it something that we should be looking at? is it something that you should be looking at? you know, I think those those are those are the types of things that I would love to be able to, you know, continue those conversations of like, wow, I never thought about that. but just bringing those ideas forward. you know, as things continue to change and evolve, that's what I'd like like to see and like to have my partners bring to me, not like, hey, we're working on this but we're gonna implement in it in the next eight to twelve months. That really does me not much good today.

Amanda Quinn 26:47
Yeah. If your partners were able to kind of grow with you, as it sounds like that's kind of what you're looking for, do you envision a world where you're giving them more like keys to the kingdom or opening like being more open about what types of work they help with, what involvement they have in your technology. I don't I know I know it's a little bit hard because we don't know what that future looks like, but like Do you think there's a n not knowing where we're going, do you

Milan Batinich 27:20
Yeah.

Amanda Quinn 27:21
think that there is a potential for like a very different looking relationship in the future if if they show that they were growing with you?

Lisa Diehl 27:31
I th I think so. I mean I think I think it really strengths strengthens the relationship. you know, when you're working together for along the same goals, right? And again, that goes back to what I said earlier. They have to really understand our business, they have to understand, you know, where Freshpet continues to grow, and bring some of their expertise back to it, you know, it's like, you know, hey, I've got a lot of expertise around D to C. Here's some things that you guys should be looking at. You should be really looking at retention. You should be looking at this. You should be looking at that. Because this is a new world for for you know, for me, you know, being being able to support a D to C business. Now I if I have I learned an awful lot in the last year and a half? You betcha. and I've been a hypo being able to grow. but my contact center partner has some background in this. So he's been able to bring some things to the table to say, you should be focusing on this. You know, what if you built out a a VIP retention desk? What if we are focusing on those, you know, that are looking to cancel a subscription. you know, are there things that we can, you know, we can get the agents to have a few more levers, you know, that they can pull to see what we can do to retain. Because retention in a D to C business is huge, right? It's getting them from first order to second order. You know, once you get past like third, fourth, fifth order, chances are they're going to stay with you because they love the product, they love the convenience, they love all of that. And so trying to understand what are the things that we can be building out and having some of that background really helps me look at things a little bit differently on how I can support it. and we did we actually did just that. We built out a r a retention desk and giving those particular agents, you know, more of a calling them kind of like of our executive care desk, giving them a little bit more things in their back pocket without sounding like a used car salesman. It's like, you know,

Amanda Quinn 29:23
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 29:23
what what are the things that we can do to help a consumer? What what is their issue? Is it convenience, is it I'm not home, is it, you know, this just it's the pricing, it's this, it's that. What is it that, you know, when you and and most D to C's you'll see, you're like, give fifty fifty percent off your first order. People jump on that. But then when they feel realize like, wait, this is gonna cost me what now to get to second and third, that's where we want to be able to have those extra levers. And you know the contact center partner, you know, measuring that and helping us to determine Is this the right thing? Are we offering the right things? you know, is this desk successful? those are the things I'm kind of leaning on them to say, you know, this you're doing the right things, you know, or we think we can tweak it here, or maybe if you did this, this would be helpful. So having some expertise in that area of the business certainly helps me and I welcome their feedback on how I can continue to grow and support this program. as it you know, as it continues to grow in the Freshpet world. So

Milan Batinich 30:26
Yeah, definitely. for sure. So Lisa, switching gears a little bit here, when we talk about, you know, being a buyer of BPO services, what do you wish BPOs understood about the procurement process?

Lisa Diehl 30:41
Ooh, that's a good question. you know, it's it's interesting 'cause I haven't been I mean I went out for an RFP, was it three years ago, three and a half years ago, and I haven't been out since. and so, you know, just really understanding again, it's it's understanding the needs and and I was very involved in the RFP process, you know, and knowing what our procurement w was looking for, knowing what, you know, the services that were able to provide. and then of course the cost structure and all of that. So really having all of that up front and you know, that's how procurement wants to know. How much it's gonna cost, right? And so are you are we getting the best thing for our for our money? and so when you're looking at, you know, BPO services, I work I partner very closely with our internal IT team. you know, because they own some of the technology budget. and so making sure that I'm aligned or they're aligned with my vision. you know, when looking at some of the technology that I'm looking at, you know, bringing on board and you know, make sure it's going all the way up, you know, to that everybody's aligned with why I'm doing it. We're building out business cases. you know, here's here's what I think, here's where if we invest here, there's gonna be some cost savings here. you know, those are all the things that, you know, even from a procurement perspective or even from, you know, our IT where that where that budget sits, you know, making sure that everybody's aligned and on the same page and you know, here's why Lisa's doing what she's doing, or here's why Lisa wants to do what she's doing. It's really understanding and building the right business case to be able to present to say Hey, here's some great technology. Here's here's where I think it's going to help our consumers. Here's where I think it's going to actually save some money because we won't be investing here. You know, we could take this off of our line item. All of those types of things really come into play when you're looking at some technology is making sure that you are building the best business case that you can. not only it and it has to really fit in different areas within your organization on, you know, depending on how your approval process is and all of that. But that's that's the key. and understanding, you know, and Milan, I don't know if that really w went towards your procurement question, but at least in our in

Milan Batinich 32:58
It's it.

Lisa Diehl 32:58
in my world, you know, making sure that the stakeholders and the purse string holders really understand why we're doing what we're doing and where we think it's gonna be a benefit not only for the business but for our consumers because that's front and center for us.

Milan Batinich 33:14
Sure.

Amanda Quinn 33:14
What I'm what I'm hearing you say, Lisa, in that is the the need to be able to like understand and navigate a multi-stakeholder sale. Is that right? Like not

Lisa Diehl 33:25
Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda Quinn 33:26
only do they need to convince you, but then they need to convince IT and this is kinda part of gonna come from

Lisa Diehl 33:31
Correct.

Amanda Quinn 33:32
their budget, they need to get it past procurement and this is what they're gonna need to hear.

Lisa Diehl 33:35
Correct. Yeah. I mean I'm I'm the first line, you know, to say the yay or nay, right, but then it has to be that, okay, now we're going beyond me, you know, because I've got to get alignment with, you know, these different areas within the organization. and again, having them even help you to build that business case is also very helpful. and those that are willing to do that, makes a hu makes a huge difference in not just saying, here's what we can do and we can make this quicker, faster and whatever. Help me build a business case so that I can go back to, you know, the people that I need to within my organization to say, here's why I want to do what I want to do and here's the benefit that we think we're going to get from it.

Milan Batinich 34:15
It seems like every

Milan Batinich 34:17
stakeholder within the organization has a different priority. Like you had mentioned, procurements

Lisa Diehl 34:20
Yes.

Milan Batinich 34:21
heavily on price. other IT might be something different. What you're looking for is something different as well. so what would make you willing to pay more to a provider versus someone else?

Lisa Diehl 34:34
I think it's I I I guess it really would be the level of what we're trying what we're trying to accomplish, right? If we're looking at AI technology, you know, is it going to be, you know, how the best way to say this is, you know, is it going to be able to meet my needs not only today, but is it going to be able to meet my needs, you know, in a year from now? are we able to build things into a phased approach? I may only be looking at this for our Freshpet delivery side of the business, but will it also be helpful on our master brand? You know, and so all of those things come into play. and so when I'm looking at all of these different partners, they have to understand that, you know, I've got different lines of business, you know, that I work with on a day to day basis. And what may be good for one line of business may not be good for the other. We're not going to invest in something like that because we're looking at things more holistically, especially from the consumer care perspective. You know, the majority of our the bigger side of our business of course is our retail master brand. and so it has to work on that side as well. now there are there are a lot of things that are just for D to C. Trust me, I I I know that. But when I'm looking at overall consumer care and how we're supporting our consumers, you know, it will this technology work on both sides? that's really critical for me. and so If there is a partner that can do that versus one side or the other, yeah, would we pay probably a little bit more? Probably to get what we want.

Amanda Quinn 36:05
Hmm.

Milan Batinich 36:05
Yeah, that's good to have it streamlined and that holistic approach to be able to use it across multiple areas of the business versus having one for one area, one for a different one for a different area. so yeah. Love that.

Lisa Diehl 36:17
Exactly.

Amanda Quinn 36:18
Going back to more like BPO procurement, there's a lot of talk today about the shift to new pricing models, new commercial models, outcomes based pricing. have you started down that route yet or what's your perspective on it?

Lisa Diehl 36:37
We have not. you know, we with one of my partners we've we've we've changed around some some pricing based on different modules that we use. so but that's more in the CRM world. And the contact center, we haven't really changed around a lot of our pricing yet. we're still on, you know, agent cost depending on you know the time of day that they're working, the languages they speak, all of that. So it's a per hour kind of rate still. and then if there's any kind of ancillary things that we're adding on, it's just kind of added on. Like incentive program is kind of a line item, you know, agent assist kind of a line item. but we really haven't gotten at least with the partner that I'm working with today in really looking at a different type of pricing model. So still more traditional.

Amanda Quinn 37:24
Are you is that something that you're interested in exploring or it's on your roadmap potentially, or is this something that you're not it's not like a top priority for you?

Lisa Diehl 37:32
It's not a top it's not a top priority today. will it be in the future? Probably, you know, any way that we can look at pricing that makes sense. you know, are there are there incentives back to me? Is there cost savings, you know, involved? You know, if they don't make KPIs, you know, are they held accountable? Is there is there an incentive that like, okay, that's gonna you know, that's gonna affect your bottom line, you know, monthly cost because we didn't make KPIs, you know, things like that. Yeah, I think are are are things that that I should really be probably looking at more down the road. in in just

Amanda Quinn 38:05
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 38:06
accountability.

Amanda Quinn 38:07
And what do you see as the biggest kind of hurdle in moving towards that model? Is it just the the time and investment that you would need to make in researching how to structure that kind of relationship?

Lisa Diehl 38:20
Yeah, I mean I think that that's certainly a big one. you know, we rely on some outside analysts for a lot of the things that we do. with our I especially with our IT team and looking at, you know, what what's in the marketplace. What's I think they call it the magic quadrant, is a

Amanda Quinn 38:37
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 38:37
is a big word that they use. It's like, are they in the magic quadrant? if they're not, why? so it's i It hasn't been as much of a focus until actually recent when I'm looking at some different technology, that we're we're bringing in some of our outside analysts to say, This this is good, this is this is may not be so great, they don't fall within their the quadrant, but they're a new startup and they're great and this you know, that type of thing. So yes and no. probably something I'll be looking at maybe in the next year or two is is looking at how do we restructure some of our pricing. and I'd like to know how some of some other companies, so probably a lot of research and talk on my side, like how do you guys

Amanda Quinn 39:18
Mm-hmm.

Lisa Diehl 39:20
from different brands, how are you how is your contact center pricing? And what does that look like?

Amanda Quinn 39:24
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think everyone's still trying to figure it out, but it feels like we're in very early days at this point of it. but it's an exciting it's I'm exciting I am excited that it's entered the the dialogue at least, because I think

Lisa Diehl 39:37
Yeah.

Amanda Quinn 39:38
it feels like that kind of alignment

Milan Batinich 39:39
Definitely.

Amanda Quinn 39:40
is where the future of the industry should go for that partnership to really be there.

Lisa Diehl 39:45
Correct. Yeah. Wholeheartedly.

Milan Batinich 39:47
Alright, so Lisa, final question. If if every BPO executive, every BPO salesperson in the world were listening right now, okay, what's the one thing you wish they understood about buyers? What would be like number one?

Lisa Diehl 40:05
Number one, I think, is understanding the buyer's business is is probably the biggest thing because it's not a one size fits all. and you know, working at a high growth company, you know, my my priorities shift all the time. and I need my partner to be able to shift with me very quickly. and I kinda had mentioned that earlier, you know, in our conversation is you know, really understanding the needs of the business because not everyone is the same and we can't all fit into that, you know, into that box. And so really, really critical to don't just tell me what you can do. Ask me what is it that you're looking for and can I provide it? It's probably a better way to answer that question.

Amanda Quinn 40:52
Yes, love that. Love that. Yes, love that. I I

Milan Batinich 40:54
Smart. So true.

Amanda Quinn 40:58
I I wanna see some strategic conversations happening. And I hope the next time we circle back with you, Lisa, you have great stories to share with us about about those kinds of conversations you're having with your BPO partner. thank you so much for joining us today.

Lisa Diehl 41:11
Course.

Amanda Quinn 41:12
Some of the takeaways that I that I noted down. we're just the the need to for CSMs to have authority to make decisions. BPOs listening, give your team the authority because you can't be the bottleneck on decision making. And help your brands and your prospects make a business case. That sounds like a very low-hanging fruit way to add value and move a sale across the line. and

Lisa Diehl 41:37
Hundred percent, yes.

Amanda Quinn 41:39
and make sure that you're showing up in ways that are driving the partnership forward and you're being inquisitive and you're trying to learn everything you can, like Lisa just said, about your clients and their business and you're not just waiting for them to come to you with ideas and questions.

Lisa Diehl 41:55
Right. Yeah. I love that.

Amanda Quinn 41:58
Perfect. Well, thank you so much. we're was so pleased to have you on this episode. and we'll see everyone else next time.

Lisa Diehl 42:06
Sounds great. Thanks for the conversation. I loved it.