THERE ARE MANY FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO OUTSOURCE. HERE IS A TOP 10 LIST, BUT MAKE SURE TO CONDUCT THOROUGH DUE DILIGENCE ON THE OUTSOURCING PARTNER YOU CHOOSE. NOT ALL COMPANIES ARE CREATED EQUAL, BUT IF YOU CHOOSE THE CORRECT PARTNER YOU WILL BENEFIT GREATLY. OUTSOURCING WORK CAN PROVIDE CONTINUITY, OPERATIONAL EXPENSE CONTROL AND RISK MANAGEMENT. OVERHEAD REDUCTION LETS A COMPANY SHIFT CAPITAL AND RESOURCES TO OPERATIONAL GROWTH.
Outsourcing has become popular among organizations of all sizes, as it provides companies with flexibility, fewer hiring responsibilities and eases the burden of constantly monitoring a team’s activity. Some of the responsibilities that outsourcing companies handle are sales and marketing tasks, customer service, and tech support. Is your organization thinking about making the jump towards outsourcing? Here are 10 items to consider if you’re thinking about taking the leap!
1. Access to resources and technology
BPOs research and invest in cutting-edge technology for multichannel solutions. These are software tools that offer features such as cloud-based platforms, VoIP, email, chat, SMS, social media and more. These tools however, require training, knowledge transfer and monitoring. One of the prime benefits of outsourcing work is that companies are able to tap into the people, expertise and technology without the burdens of adoption. Reputable outsourcing providers are up-to-date with the latest capabilities and features these tools perform and can assist companies in leveraging sophisticated products and technologies.
2. Lower operational & labor costs
As mentioned in item #1, setting up a call center requires major investments in resources, technology and staffing. Outsourcing companies dilute these costs across their clients, who benefit by paying only for the dedicated services needed on a transactional or per-hour basis. If outsourcing to nearshore operations, minimum wages and labor costs in those countries tend to be lower, making your conversion rates and hourly rates more cost-effective.
3. Risk management
When outsourcing to nearshore locations, operations can be quickly fine-tuned and adjusted to meet a skyrocketing demand of new product releases and campaigns without complications of managing it on premise. Companies can focus on their primary business operations while their outsourcing partner ramps up their operations if call volume rises.
4. Improved efficiency & performance
Successful outsourcing companies are experts in upselling, cross selling, collecting or customer care functions. As experts in different fields, outsourcing companies know the ins and outs of specialized services and shorten the time required to start a new campaign or business unit.
In contrast, companies that manage all aspects of their business in-house, spend months recruiting the people required to staff a key department within their organization, consequently delaying or completely missing out on new business opportunities that could’ve been addressed by an outsourcing program.
5. Quality Assurance
How many employees can your company support to listen to recorded calls? Most call centers have a dedicated internal quality assurance team. Their role is to listen to recorded calls and grade them. The quality assurance team in an element for ongoing training. They flag certain calls so team leads can reinforce what the agents are doing well and flag others to be used for coaching purposes. They also listen to make sure that corporate guidelines are being followed. So, I ask again. Can your company devote the resources needed to adequately perform these tasks?
6. Scalability
Unpredictable spikes in call volume can lead to longer hold times for customers waiting for support, longer queues for customers placing orders and overall frustration with the experience. outbound,inbound sales and customer service can experience high-traffic or peak activity periods but still need someone on duty at all times. Outsourcing providers have the flexibility to service your customers in an on-demand, overflow method or help you scale with additional dedicated, highly-skilled brand ambassadors.
7. Focus
Rather than having to increase your payroll, utilizing employee time on non-revenue generating tasks and training newly hired staff, a company can tap into the services and resources of an outsourcing provider and focus on their primary operations without these distractions.
8. Overflow and after hour support
If your program requires temporary adjustments or there’s a high-volume season coming up, these factors if not handled properly could negatively impact your customer’s experience. Outsourcing providers can tailor their services to this unpredictable demand around-the-clock, which might not be a feasible option for most organizations that decide to manage it in-house. Customers abandon calls and shopping carts if they can’t get immediate assistance. Don’t let this happen!
9. Hiring and training highly skilled staff
Recruiting and training can easily become a tedious and costly endeavor for a company. Between bad prospects and hiring mistakes, your turnover rate can quickly go in the red while your high performers request higher compensation. By outsourcing, you can collaborate in trainings without the need of micromanaging performance and quality.
10. Environment
Lastly, a successful call center environment is different from the typical office setup. Frequent games, employee interaction, “get the juices flowing” activities are built into the day. Call center employees are vital to a business’s success and customer retention. Keeping agents upbeat and motivated isn’t necessarily hard, but requires a dedicated staff to continuously focus on these tasks. Outsourcing companies have mastered these skills though years of trial and error. Choosing the right outsourcing partner will keep your company away from these pitfalls.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, learn about outsourcing through the due diligence process and take time to make sure that you hire the right BPO for your line of work. You don’t need to rush the decision to outsource, but at some point be ready to take the leap. Chances are that you will enjoy the business relationship that outsourcing provides.
