Simplr Has Been a “Huge Benefit” for Paula’s Choice’s Online CX

See how Paula’s Choice, a global beauty powerhouse, uses Simplr to scale a 25-year legacy of excellence in customer service.

Paula’s Choice has been a force in the beauty industry for over 25 years. The skincare stalwart boasts generations of loyal customers who believe in the brand’s unique and ever-adapting product line. A pioneer in ecommerce (selling online since 1995!), Paula’s Choice welcomes millions of new and repeat web visitors every month.

A typical Paula’s Choice customer is looking for a personalized product with an experience to match. In the hyper-competitive online beauty industry, a dazzling customer experience is what keeps many Paula’s Choice customers coming back for more.

“We were pretty much at capacity”

Josh Hamman, Director of Client Services at Paula’s Choice Skincare, has been in the beauty industry for about 15 years and has worked for many popular cosmetic companies along the way. He started as a consultant with Paula’s Choice Skincare. Over the course of his seven years at the company, Josh has witnessed year-over-year online growth.

By the end of 2019, his CX team was feeling stretched. “We were pretty much at capacity, and we were looking for ways to scale,” recalls Josh. “It made me, personally, feel a little nervous because we couldn’t sustain hiring more and more people… during the slower times of the year, they wouldn’t have anything to do.”

Josh knew that a “hiring-and-firing” cycle would clash with the company’s (and his own) ethos. The team was looking for a better solution to help scale up the company’s legendary customer experiences without sacrificing quality or neglecting anyone along the way.

“We could tell Simplr was different”

Paula’s Choice partnered with Simplr to address the immediate need for extra customer support. Of course, quality was the top priority of Josh, the company’s CEO, and the rest of the Paula’s Choice leadership team. The company decided against the traditional BPO route due to issues around quality control. Josh knew that Simplr was different.

“Our customer service team has always taken a lot of time and care in writing our email responses, taking calls, and helping customers over chat just to make sure that the quality is there. We provide a lot of education to clients. So we’re a very education-focused company overall. So yeah, to be honest, we were nervous about the quality.”

Thankfully, concerns over quality dissipated as soon as Simplr Specialists started taking tickets. “Honestly, if I put a Simplr Specialist’s response next to a [Paula’s Choice] consultant’s response… I couldn’t tell the difference. I think they’re really great,” Hamman explained.

The Results

The partnership between Paula’s Choice’s in-house CX team, expert beauty consultants, and Simplr’s vast network of Simplr Specialists ensures that no customer falls through the cracks. Whether a customer is inquiring about a shipping status or needs an entire skincare routine overhaul, they are met with speed, quality, and personalized care.

Other results include:

• Elite response times on email. The tickets handled by Simplr Specialists are answered in an average time of 57 minutes, with an average CSAT of 4.7/5.
• Instant scale. During the company’s anniversary sale in June, Simplr was able to handle over 6,000 tickets.
• Backlog relief. Simplr helped Paula’s Choice dig out of a 4,000 email backlog in the wake of COVID-19.