How Josh Royal is a big deal in internet services

Josh Royal is a 36-year-old homegrown Charleston entrepreneur whose direct-to-consumer e-commerce  service company, Aventus, is growing like gangbusters.  Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the company employs more than 500 people across the world and is a significant player in Charleston’s Silicon Harbor.

To celebrate how he and the company are doing in a banner business year, he sat down with the Charleston City Paper to talk about what Aventus is doing  here and globally.  Here is a summary:

CITY PAPER:  You’re a Charleston County boy who has a sort of rags-to-riches story.  Can you share with readers how you built your company by working with  awesome brands like Burt’s Bees Baby and Hexclad providing contact center services?

ROYAL: I’m a high school dropout. I left high school at 15 after I started an internet business handling digital marketing to internet companies.  This was in 2003 – just over 20 years before anyone was even thinking about really making money online.

I had some insecurities about my future and whether what I was doing would really take me out of the situation I was born into. My father was absent and my mother had issues, raising me on disability checks and food stamps. The odds were NOT in my favor. But I had something going for me –thinking outside of the box is what I do everyday.

CITY PAPER:  You now have 500 people working with you around the world.  Give us an idea of what they generally do and the countries in which they’re located?  In other words, what do people in the direct-to-consumer market actually do?

ROYAL:  Our 500+ employees are based all over the world, including the Philippines, Kenya, Mexico, Canada, among others. A majority of our global employees are call center agents who go through rigorous and ongoing training.  When they get a call from a customer who has bought a product directly from a company, our agents are trained to provide an extremely personalized customer service experience. And that sets us apart from the cliched experiences you sometimes get with a person on the other end of the line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct-to-consumer brands offer products in which the need for unparalleled customer service is definitive.  We’ve all experienced everything from product defects to receiving wrong products, errors or quality mishaps. That’s why we train our agents to handle very specific needs and go above and beyond the customer’s needs to exceed all expectations. No one likes jumping through hoops on the phone just to have frustrations increase because of bad customer service.

CITY PAPER:  How does someone here in Charleston find out more about Aventus, and its services ?  I’m sure there are folks who might want to partner and utilize your service offerings?

ROYAL:  We are in the heart of downtown Charleston on King Street. We not only work with local companies such as Bomb Co., but have a few large clients on our roster, such as Burt’s Bees Baby, Hexclad and NuFace.

Bottom line:  We turn our client’s customer service into a revenue-generating engine by solving customer frustrations and ensuring customer retention.. We offer specialists throughout the world to handle all vital support channels, such as live chats, phone/voice, emails, social media and more.

• If you’re interested in learning more, email hello@aventus.com or call 800.523.1318

CITY PAPER:  How did you get started in this business?  And what about it excites you to keep you in it?  

ROYAL: In  2012, I built a health product that became very successful, but our customer service that was outsourced was dragging us down. We built our own call center and that was crucial to our success. A friend saw the significant change and asked if he could outsource his customer service to us. From there, it snowballed into something much bigger.

We soon quit our health product and started Aventus, quickly acquiring 10 clients within the call center in that first year. Ten years later, we’re reaching new heights and continue to push the boundaries of tailored customer service. We’re so grateful we get to work with big brands along the way and see how our services are critical to their success.

The ever-changing world of customer service is exciting in itself. I’m so excited to see how the new innovations we’re taking will further our bottom line, reputation and skillset.

CITY PAPER:  We ‘ve talked in the past about how important it is to you and Aventus to give back to communities across the Lowcountry.  Can you tell us specifically about the kinds of things you’re doing to support local families and communities?

ROYAL: I always enjoy working with Lamar Bonaparte from Republic Hospitality Group each year, buying hundreds of gifts for underprivileged children in the community during Christmas. We are committed to helping with the Shaw Community Center and Wanda Bazemore with MUSC, including donations to their back-to-school drive. Giving back to the community that raised me is one of the most rewarding endeavors in my professional life.

CITY PAPER:  It took you 10 years to grow Aventus to more than 500 people.  What do you think the company will look like in 10 more years?

ROYAL: I know I’m capable of scaling my company to greater heights, but to be honest, I know at some point I will have to hire a CEO to see even greater growth I envision for the company. Aventus is on track to reach over 1,000 employees, but I want to ensure each and every one has the chance to grow his or her career with their tenure in the company, starting with highly-skilled leadership at the top.