Kane International has dominated the manufacture and supply of hand-held exhaust emissions testers in the UK and globally for 60 years. The family business pride themselves on providing award-winning, world-class technical customer service.
Kane International were looking to grow its customer service team. However, they were struggling to find the right capability at the right cost at their Hertfordshire HQ.
Increasingly, they were competing for talent with high-paying London firms.
They needed experienced Customer Service Representatives who would embody Kane’s ethos of “professional empathy” and who were committed to customer service excellence.
Philip Judd, Senior Manager at Kane, was averse to outsourcing customer service due to poor prior experience. He especially did not want to lose control over this key part of his business and compromise Kane’s hard-fought reputation.
Kane was interested in piloting Potentiam's proposition of an "insourced" solution offshore that Kane controlled, fully supported by Potentiam’s local HR and talent acquisition.
Most importantly, Kane felt in control of the selection of their team and management of their staff and was assured of the quality control that was so critical to their competitive advantage.
The partnership with Kane began with developing a strategy to enhance their company’s growth. Charles Fenton, Director at Potentiam, outlined the process of selecting the most suitable team configuration by evaluating various locations for their capabilities, availability, cost-effectiveness and cultural compatibility.
The initial step involved launching a pilot with two Customer Service Consultant positions in Potentiam’s Cape Town office.
After establishing the right strategy with Kane, Potentiam’s talent acquisition team embarked on finding the perfect candidates to fulfil Kane’s needs.
It was important that candidates ascribed to the ethos of the company. What they needed was a professional empathy, a willingness to be helpful and take personal accountability for resolving our customers’ issues.
Potentiam's understanding and expertise in offshore locations were crucial in assisting Kane with their decision-making process. Identifying the strengths of each location was a key factor for Kane during the initial phase of offshoring, ensuring they chose the best place for their offshore team.
Kane was particularly impressed with the capability of Potentiam's HR team, whose local knowledge ensured that Kane felt confident and supported, despite being thousands of miles away. This made their Cape Town team feel like an integral part of their Hertfordshire operations.
The success of the customer service team in South Africa has led Kane to expand this team to nine members, including roles in procurement and finance. Remarkably, Kane also started hiring sales and marketing staff in 2022, a move that was previously not considered.
Kane also considered exploring other Potentiam locations for expansion. They found the language skills in Romania attractive for growing their European operations, and India was considered favourable for roles that offer the right skills at a very cost-effective rate.
Philip noted that the need for more resources to support growth was clear, as finding the right talent locally proved difficult. Taking a leap with offshoring through Potentiam was truly rewarding.
Philip acknowledged his initial hesitation about offshoring but noted that the success with their Cape Town team has fully integrated them into the Kane family, changing his perspective on offshoring.
We have a 94% success rating on Trustpilot. You can’t fake those kinds of reviews. It was vital that whoever Potentiam employed bought into that concept of a ‘world-class company with world-class customer service’. The South African team has made a meaningful contribution to our overall success.”
Philip Judd | Senior Manager