5 Overlooked Reasons to Outsource Your Customer Service Team

The number one reason that companies partner with a third party is to save money, but cost savings isn’t the only benefit when it comes to outsourcing your customer service team.

In fact, if saving money is your main motivation, then it may be time to consider whether you’re missing the boat on how a BPO can actually help your company. It’s not always about growth, at least in the traditional sense. Sometimes it’s more about creating efficiency, covering influx, and aiding in overall decision making.

Here are five overlooked reasons to outsource your customer service:

1. Extend Your Internal Team

Contrary to popular assumption, partnering with a third party provider doesn’t automatically imply that you’re replacing your existing team in favor of a nearshore team. You may prefer to keep your internal team while also expanding the capacity of your company to serve more individuals. In that case, outsourcing with the intent to add members to your existing team is a viable option.

For example, if your company services a large number of calls during the day causing long wait times, then opening up customer service hours beyond the normal business day may alleviate some of the burden. This is particularly beneficial because not every company is ready to expand their office hours; however, offering more customer service hours means they’ll be creating a need that will have to be filled.

With an extended nearshore team, you won’t have to disrupt your internal environment, but you’ll alleviate the burden of the high call volume which gives your internal team more time to attend to other job responsibilities.

2. Cover Seasonal Influx

If your company has extreme highs and lows during certain times of the year, then it may be easier to partner with a nearshore facility to cover the influx. This option will help you maintain the internal structure of your company without being forced to hire and train temporary help.

A nearshore call center caters to hiring and training agents to meet the needs of a particular vertical, so it allows your internal team to continue their work and prepare for the influx within your other departments. Once the seasonal demand is over then the call center agents will be moved to others projects where there is a greater need.

The best thing about this option is that agents who cover seasonal influx are learning more skills, depending on the department they cover. So in the future they’re be pre-trained for when you need them again, and they’ll come with more skills in the event that you need more than one department covered.

3. Decide On Your Direction

When your company is experiencing a moment of growth then you may need more people taking care of the growing customer service while you figure out where to place the bulk of your internal resources.

A nearshore call center is a great option for moments of uncertainty within your company. This goes for both a company who is expanding as well as a company who is still figuring out their direction. As long as the agents understand the current direction and attitude of a company, they can act as placeholders within the day-to-day operations.

After you decide the direction to take your company, if it makes sense to bring your entire customer service team back in-house, then at least your customers will have been serviced as you came to the decision. On the other hand, if your resources are better spent elsewhere, then you’ll already have an experienced, nearshore team working on your behalf and ready to help you expand as your company begins its new direction.

Related Article: Is the Cost of Business Process Outsourcing Worth it?

4. Create Efficient Processes

Since customer service positions are often covered by younger, inexperienced employees then they may be creating a roadblock to company efficiency. This is because it takes time to train them, and it takes time for them to be confident in the business world and within their new position. In the event they don’t stay long, their leaving will add strain and ultimately slow down company operations.

In order to evaluate whether your current customer service team is aiding or inhibiting business efficiency, it’s best to collect data on the number of people who call your company each day, how long it takes to help them, and if they feel like they’ve been helped to the fullest extent. This data will provide a full picture as to whether your team is helping your business grow.

In some situations it makes more sense to contract with a nearshore facility who is able to hire and train qualified individuals who are less likely to leave their positions. This is also a great option considering the fact that a call center may have the capacity to place greater emphasis on customer service than your internal team meaning you’ll end up with exceptionally qualified individuals.

5. Offer 24/7 Communication Across Multiple Channels

Customers now expect their questions answered at all hours of the day and night using every communication channel available. In the past a company could get away with daytime phone and email, but now text and live chat are becoming easier and more popular.

For some companies it just doesn’t make sense to keep offering more customer service options when the additional outlets are pulling the internal team away from their other job responsibilities. Offering additional outlets may also mean purchasing additional software, training your team to use it, and possibly hiring additional internal staff to cover the additional need.

Contracting with a nearshore call center makes the process of offering more for your clients an easy transition. They’re already set up for the additional communication channels, and they’re prepared to meet the additional customer service hours that accompany these different channels.

As your company grows, you’ll constantly be confronted with the decision of whether to hire internally or create an external partnership. In the event that a third party makes financial and operational sense, it’s not an all-or-nothing decision given the high levels of flexibility within a quality call center.

If your company is not only ready to save money but is ready to expand its capabilities with the help of a nearshore facility, then contact ABC Marketing Services today to get started!

Related Article: Is the Cost of Business Process Outsourcing Worth it?

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