From Overwhelmed to Operational: How 1st Mile Scaled Their Merchant Base by 67%.

THE CHALLENGE

A Growing Business. A Support Team That Couldn't Keep Up.

1st Mile provides credit card processing software that enables merchants to offer payment solutions to their customers. Their primary market is auto repair shops across the United States. A high-volume, high-touch customer segment that relies on responsive, technically accurate support to keep their businesses running.

As 1st Mile's merchant base grew, so did their inbound support volume. Sales staff were being pulled away from their core work to handle customer inquiries. Hold times were increasing. The team was stretched and leadership could feel the impact on both the customer experience and internal operations.

The challenge was not a lack of care or capability. It was capacity. 1st Mile needed a support function that could absorb growing inbound volume, handle technical inquiries accurately, and free their internal team to focus on product and growth without building an entirely new internal department.

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THE SOLUTION

A Dedicated Bravada Team, Built Specifically for 1st Mile.

Bravada began the engagement by taking the time to deeply understand 1st Mile's software, their merchant base, and the specific types of calls their support team was receiving. Rather than deploying a generic support team, Bravada built a dedicated function aligned entirely to 1st Mile's workflows, systems, and service standards.

The integration included direct access to 1st Mile's CRM and ticketing systems, ensuring seamless handoffs between the Bravada team and internal staff. Inbound calls were handled by Bravada agents who then transitioned resolved issues into support tickets for efficient follow-up — creating a connected support loop that gave 1st Mile full visibility into every customer interaction.

Onboarding was not without its challenges. The first agent required additional training from a 1st Mile support manager to fully understand the software complexity. Rather than treating this as a setback, the Bravada team used it as a foundation — building a more structured queuing system, supervising live calls during the ramp period, and refining the process until performance met the standard.

By March the system was fully operational. Every call was being answered. Every ticket was being tracked. And the 1st Mile internal team had something they hadn't had in a long time: the capacity to focus on what they were actually hired to do.

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THE RESULTS

Measurable Performance. Consistent Quality. A Partnership That Has Lasted Four Years.

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96%

First-day resolution rate — most customer issues resolved in a single call.

33%

Reduction in average call handle time — from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

90%+

Resolution rate maintained consistently, regardless of call volume or team size.

67%

Growth in the merchant base — from 12,000 to over 20,000 merchants — supported throughout by Bravada.

10/10

Client satisfaction rating from 1st Mile's VP of Customer Success.

4 Years

And counting — an ongoing partnership that has grown alongside the business.

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The results were not just numerical. According to 1st Mile's VP of Customer Success, the Bravada team's installation programs significantly reduced setup times for new merchants freeing internal managers from repetitive onboarding tasks and allowing them to redirect their time toward product development and strategic work.

Bravada also took on an internal coordination role within the 1st Mile team acting as a point of communication and continuity between support, product, and operations. The relationship evolved from a vendor engagement into something closer to an embedded function.

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IN THEIR WORDS

“We rate our overall satisfaction with Bravada a perfect 10. Quick response times, effective support, and a team that has grown with us. Bravada has allowed us to leverage our internal resources more effectively and focus on what matters most.”

— John M. Stewart, VP Customer Success, 1st Mile

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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

One Dedicated Team. One Fixed Cost. Four Years of Consistent Performance.

The 1st Mile partnership demonstrates what Bravada is built to deliver: not a quick fix, but a sustainable, managed support function that performs consistently as your business grows.

1st Mile did not have to build an internal support department. They did not have to manage hiring, training, or turnover. They did not have to compromise on quality to control cost. They engaged Bravada, defined the standard, and let the team run.

If your business is growing and your customer support function is struggling to keep pace — we'd love to show you what this partnership could look like for your operation.