Client Profile

Swim USA

Founded in 1936, SwimUSA is a privately owned, multi-generational company that designs and manufactures branded, licensed, and private label swimwear for the largest retailers and brands in the world, such as Target, Amazon, Walmart, Ralph Lauren, and Salt Life. Headquartered in New York City’s garment district, SwimUSA also operates offices in Pennsylvania and Los Angeles while sourcing and manufacturing products globally. The legacy worth of SwimUSA is more than $400 million.

Challenge

Rising Costs and Heightened Client Demands

SwimUSA has achieved tremendous success over the course of nearly 80 years. However, recent trends forced leadership to rethink day-to-day operations. Offering competitive pricing to clients while balancing the cost of operations in New York City was a challenge. However, increasingly time-consuming administrative tasks necessitated additional staffing.

“Our clients have been requiring more of us and at sharper costs,” said Josh Sesser, Associate Vice President, Business Management at SwimUSA. “Hiring another person in New York would have come at a pretty steep premium. Quite frankly, we didn’t have the budget to do that. With increasing costs across the board and other pressures in the market, something had to give.”

SwimUSA was facing a potentially harsh reality of being unable to meet client demands while absorbing higher costs. This could have resulted in less competitive pricing, loss of business opportunities and market share, and potentially shrinking the heritage company as a whole.

Solution

Virtual Assistant Services for Administrative Support

Given the high cost of hiring locally, SwimUSA was intrigued by the possibility of outsourcing through BBC Global to add a virtual assistant.

“We saw this as an opportunity to control costs and improve the value we provide to clients,” Josh said. “A virtual assistant would free up the rest of us to focus on more strategic initiatives and client service at a far more manageable cost.”

BBC Global appealed to SwimUSA because there was a domestic team to evaluate the company’s specific needs, find the right candidate, and assist with onboarding. BBC also addressed reservations about having a virtual assistant working in a different time zone.

“BBC gave us a cultural lesson about the ecosystem in the Philippines, where people are accustomed to working through the night,” Josh said. “Although the cost is low for us, these are well-educated individuals working middle-class jobs through a facility managed by BBC. We were concerned about consistency and turnover, but BBC explained that the same virtual assistant would work for us every day, and employee attendance and retention rates were high because they treat their employees very well. That was very reassuring.”

Although the virtual assistant is an employee of BBC Global, SwimUSA was involved with the interviewing process. BBC recommended a group of candidates, and SwimUSA held virtual interviews and made the final choice.

“Anna (SwimUSA’s virtual assistant) is truly a team member and fits the family culture we’ve built for 80 years,” Josh said. “She’s wonderful and pleasant, and we’ve been very happy. In the unlikely scenario that Anna leaves, BBC has helped us document our job responsibilities, procedures, best practices, and training so we would never have to start over from scratch.”

The Results: Faster Fulfillment of Client Deliverables, Seamless Communication, and Freedom to Focus on Strategic Growth

SwimUSA made it clear from the outset that they needed a virtual assistant who would be accurate and efficient. A significant portion of Anna’s time is spent taking inventory, updating data in the company’s inventory management system, and sharing current information with retail and brand partners.

“We emphasized the importance of double-checking work, accuracy with numbers, and strong communication skills,” Josh said. “Anna has been fantastic. BBC helped us set up communication channels and business software and coordinated with our tech group to make sure everything was compatible. Anna’s supervisor in the Philippines was there for every minute of training to follow up on everything we prepared, which saved us a lot of time.”

Six months later, as Anna’s speed has increased, SwimUSA continues to add to her responsibilities, which lightens the workload of their team and allows them to focus on strategy and growth. Anna understands the flow of products from manufacturing to the warehouse, how inventory is tracking, how to prepare reports for retailers and manufacturers, and how to communicate through client portals.

“The speed we have as a unit in completing tasks and meeting client deliverable requirements has dramatically improved,” Josh said. “We have more knowledgeable hands and eyes on every project, and we have more time to devote to high-value tasks. For example, we’re developing our 2026 swimwear line for Target. By relieving pressure from our team, Anna has allowed us to focus on this critical process instead of getting bogged down with repetitive administrative tasks.”

Josh appreciates the continuous check-ins with BBC Global’s domestic team to ensure current needs are met. In fact, SwimUSA has held preliminary discussions about expanding their relationship with BBC and adding a second virtual assistant. Of course, partnership is a two-way street, and Josh and his team have been integral to a highly successful process.

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