The Client
Jaybro Group is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of construction and infrastructure consumables, with a product range spanning everything from hard hats to precision-engineered road barriers. The business has grown exponentially since its
inception in 1996, rapidly acquiring a portfolio of complementary companies over the past few years.
With more than a dozen brands in the Group, and each acquisition adding a layer of complexity to the company’s tried-and-tested processes, the management team at Jaybro needed a flexible and multidisciplinary team to ensure the core processes continued to run smoothly at all times as the business continued its growth trajectory. Additionally, Jaybro was looking to launch many complex projects across key departments and needed a staffing solution that could be implemented faster and cheaper than traditional hiring methods.
The Challenges
When the
Acxelsus team first started working with Jaybro in 2016, the company was fast becoming a leader in its market. With CPE Capital investing private equity in Jaybro in 2017, the management team had specific financial and operational goals to achieve to deliver the forecast returns of its equity partners. Each new acquisition came with its unique staff approach, technology and operating procedures. It requires a flexible and tailored approach to bring it into the Jaybro ecosystem that could be scaled up or down quickly. Jaybro needed a versatile and adaptable team that could grow alongside the business from day one.
How we helped
Acxelsus originally came on board with Jaybro to assist in several business departments, including sales, marketing, IT and administration. Over the years, the Acxelsus support team has grown, with each person offering their specific skillset and capabilities.
Reducing risk in the IT team
One of the critical areas Acxelsus has been involved in is within the IT team.
Rebecca Meli, Jaybro’s Group IT Manager, explains that her department has grown from 2 staff a few short years ago to 16 staff today, delivering projects that would not have been possible with a complete in-house team.
“Having a team in Manila allows us to have redundancy in our support models, ensuring that any technology or staffing crisis in Sydney would not impact the wider business,” says
Rebecca.
“A lot of what we do is about being proactive and minimising risk, supporting the business behind the scenes. To do that, we’ve needed to take on quite complex projects that need specific skill sets, which would not have fitted our budget if we had narrowed our focus to onshore, in-house roles.”
“With Acxelsus on board, we’ve created a headcount cost-effectively, rounding out our team with specialists such as BI developers, applications support specialists and web developers. Some of these roles are being delivered at 60 - 70% less than the cost of a full-time local hire, with zero difference in deliverables and outcomes.” Rebecca notes that in contrast to some alternative offshoring models, working with a team in the Philippines has presented almost no cultural, language or time-zone challenges.
“There is no disconnect between our internal and external teams and no culture clash. Incorporating offshore specialists into our team has been seamless. In fact, we’ve gained some benefits we wouldn’t have had otherwise - with Perth and Manila in the same time zone, we’re better able to support our fast-growing WA office without having staff on the ground there,” adds Rebecca.
“Ultimately, we’ve delivered complex projects faster, more cost-effectively, and less risky by working with Acxelsus.”
Allowing the sales team to focus on growth
National Group Sales Manager Michael Liebmann is another of Jaybro’s management team seeing great benefits from working with an outsourced BPO company. Michael sees no separation between the Acxelsus team and his in-house staff, noting the flexible nature of business process outsourcing has been instrumental in allowing his team to maintain focus on outbound sales activities.
“Our Manila team now totals around 20 people, all of whom play a vital role in keeping our business running smoothly,” says
Michael.
“We have seven (7) people looking after various sales functions, another five (5) or so supporting the marketing team, and then the operations and IT specialists in Rebecca’s team. Jaybro has very clear and robust values and expectations, and we’ve found it easy to keep everyone aligned because the Acxelsus team has very similar values to ours. Our offshore team understands the Australian way; they’re easy to work with and are open to feedback, creating a perfect culture fit with our in-house team.” Michael notes that proper training has been key to fully integrating the Manila and Sydney Head Office teams, which Jaybro has always put at the forefront of its HR processes.
“We work with individuals with a range of different skill levels, but ultimately we’re one team, and we’ve been able to train up key people into much more complex roles,” says Michael.
“Combining sales specialists like RJ, Josh, Kristel and Adam with a dedicated support team that looks after critical data entry and operational roles mean we’ve maintained the core processes crucial to our business. We can keep driving the business forward with our in-house team focusing primarily on outbound sales and marketing activities.”
Ultimately, the long-running partnership between Jaybro and Acxelsus has been mutually beneficial, with Jaybro seeing faster, more cost-effective process management and the team at Acxelsus having opportunities to grow and develop into complex, specialised roles. Giving businesses the time and resources to get on with revenue-generating activities is one of the critical benefits of having an outsourced BPO team in your corner. To find out more about how we can help your business grow and prosper, get in touch with the team at Acxelsus.
