Delegate CX Strives to Boost Productivity and Business — commonsku Blog

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Resources for the Promotional Products Industry
Delegate CX Strives to Boost Productivity and Business
Something just wasn’t clicking.
Craig Dunlap owned a promo distributorship in Dallas. He had a strong workforce and great clients, and he felt like all the conditions were right for consistent sales growth — but for some reason, he just wasn’t seeing it. So in 2015, Dunlap decided to investigate and see where his company was running into problems.
“He realized a lot of his employees were stuck in the mud, doing a lot of administrative work to the point where they couldn’t chase new opportunities,” explains Rory Young (above), who at the time worked for a different promo company and knew Dunlap through annual basketball games at PPAI trade shows.
When Dunlap realized many of his employees were tied up with significant amounts of work that prevented them from pursuing leads, he decided to make a major change. He hired 10 virtual assistants based in the Philippines who could complete the work that bogged down his in-person employees. In doing so, he hoped to free up his other employees’ schedules, giving them the time to secure new business.
Spoiler alert: Dunlap’s gamble paid off.
“Over the next 18 months, his business basically doubled in size,” Young says. “He finally had the support and resources on his team to actually take advantage of these opportunities.”
Five years later, the pandemic forced remote work into vogue. Dunlap knew he could leverage his expertise with remote work to help other companies, so he sold his distributorship and began setting up a new company: Delegate CX.
Young heard about Dunlap’s plans for a new company. He felt the time was right to leave his previous position, and also felt excited about Delegate CX’s potential in the new age of remote work. So he joined with Dunlap, officially becoming the company’s senior vice president of sales upon Delegate CX’s launch in early 2021.
Making a Difference
Delegate CX’s mission is simple: “We facilitate the hiring, training and onboarding of a remote workforce in the Philippines, specifically for the promo industry,” Young says.
But that’s not to say Delegate CX facilitates outsourcing in the traditional sense of the word. Young emphasizes that the company works hard to find talented candidates to match to promo companies, evaluating candidates’ backgrounds, skills and education levels to ensure the most qualified people are being chosen, just as they would for any other job.
After the candidates are identified, Delegate CX thoroughly trains them in the ins and outs of the promo industry. Young says the company is specifically limiting itself to the promo industry so that it can really make a difference in that industry, rather than spreading itself thin across multiple sectors. Then, when remote employees are matched with promo companies, Delegate CX helps with HR functions — including payroll taxes, health benefits, additional training and more.
Delegate CX also encourages its customers in the promo industry to fully integrate the “virtual” employees into their workforces. After all, in the age of COVID-19, many employees in companies of all sectors have gone fully remote; Young says Delegate CX’s virtual employees can be considered full-time employees who just happen to live in a different country, unlike the traditional perception of outsourced employees as “faceless people doing work behind the scenes.”
The ultimate goal is for the promo companies partnering with Delegate CX to receive a boost to their business courtesy of the remote workforce handling day-to-day administrative work, while simultaneously freeing up other employees to focus more on new business opportunities and growth areas.
“We are not looking to replace anybody,” Young says. “We’re encouraging most of our partners to spend more money on hires in the United States so they can bring in more people to make a difference in their business.”
So far, Delegate CX has seen major successes with its customers. One virtual assistant has been working for a company for roughly 14 months, since early in Delegate CX’s history. In that time, the employee has received two raises and a “tremendous” bonus, Young says, reflecting the employee’s importance to the organization.
In the span of a year, this person has earned a series of fantastic career opportunities, Young says. “Our partner in the United States is trying to figure out ways to keep that person on its team for the foreseeable future,” he adds.
Joining Brand Chain
Young is friends with Thumbprint’s Greg Gill, who advised him last year to check Brand Chain out. So Young did — and he liked what he found out.
“When I saw there was an organization that was really built on community, that had this amazing history of people, that’s been finding ways to grow, it just felt like a perfect fit for us,” Young says. “I love this kind of community and what it can do. [Joining Brand Chain] was pretty much a no-brainer.”
Within days of Young officially joining, he received more than a dozen welcome emails from his fellow members — an experience he describes as “one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.” With this positive first impression of the association, Young knew he had made the right decision to join Brand Chain.
In the early days of his membership, Young has sought out ways to get involved. He regularly checks the Community to see what his peers are discussing. Young also attended the 2022 Leadership Summit in Florida, where he appreciated the chance to meet so many of his fellow members. “I’d go back again in an instant!” he says.
In the coming months, Young hopes to connect with more Brand Chain members and show them the potential of partnering with Delegate CX. He is excited about diving into the association and making his mark.
“I’ve been blown away by this community and how passionate people are about being part of this organization,” Young says. “It’s great seeing how many different types of businesses are inside Brand Chain. There’s this really cool commitment to trying new things and seeing where this can go over the years.”
This article originally appeared in the July issue of PostScript Magazine. Brand Chain members receive eight printed issues each year as a member benefit and have access to the digital magazine library. Non-member subscriptions are available as well. Learn more here .