How your company can benefit from outsourcing customer service?
Having your own customer service team can help your business, but it’s also something that can take up a lot of your time and your company’s resources. While all companies should definitely be open to feedback and ensure that their customers leave with nothing but good memories of the business, customer service can easily distract you and your staff from key tasks that can help expand your operations, especially if you’re a startup that’s focused on business growth. HOPLA, a leading Philippines outsourcing supplier, shares its insights on this topic.
How do you provide excellent yet cost-effective customer service, then? One answer you might want to look into is outsourcing or employing another firm to do it for you. By paying a company that specializes in customer service, you can provide added service to customers without getting distracted from your other tasks.
If such a concept has piqued your curiosity, then check out the following benefits you and your company stand to gain by outsourcing customer service.
It’s easier on your workforce.
While every company is expected to have its own customer service these days, the fact of the matter is that not every company has the resources to pour into a customer service team or department, especially if the business is a startup with a relatively small headcount. Sustaining such a team will not only force the company to reallocate resources, but it will also take the staff’s focus away from activities that will help the business grow. Plus, your staff may not be comfortable providing customer service, as they might feel that they’re being forced into doing something they didn’t sign up for or that’s outside their job description.
Outsourcing your customer service means that your existing workforce can keep doing what they’re supposed to do: bringing revenue to your company and contributing to its growth. Your employees won’t have to stress or overwork themselves trying to juggle their own daily tasks in addition to attending to your customer’s questions or needs. They’ll be able to focus on what needs to be done, becoming more efficient and productive as a result.
It’s cost-effective.
Let’s say you’re not going to have your current workforce do double duty when it comes to customer service. In fact, you’re going to hire people specifically for the role of the customer service agent. While this is how big businesses traditionally do it, you may end up spending more than you think with this particular solution. This not only means that you’ll be adding more employees to your payroll, but you’ll also have to think of the added overhead on top of that, such as renting more space and purchasing more equipment.
Outsourcing can easily cut even your most conservative customer service expenditure costs by a considerable amount. This is especially true when you outsource to offshore BPO firms that are based in countries with a lower cost of labor, such as the Philippines. The low cost of living, utilities, and infrastructure in these areas attract the business of companies like yours, but the lower cost of labor ensures that outsourcing will only cost your business a fraction of what you would be forking over should you decide to handle customer service in-house.
It’s immediate and agile.
Let’s say you can actually afford to hire a small customer service team, as well as invest in the infrastructure and equipment necessary for them to function. Still, there’s a very good chance that your small team will not be able to attend to each and every customer call. This, in turn, can easily affect your company’s reputation, especially in this day and age where irate customers can quickly complain about social media. You also have to take into account the added training and quality checks that your new team will need.
In comparison, outsourcing allows you to immediately get a team of trained professionals to handle your customer service needs. The moment you enter a contract with a BPO firm to handle your customer support, you will have their team of professionals as well as their infrastructure at your disposal. The team’s training and expertise also ensure that your customers get responses that measure up to your company’s exacting standards.
Outsourcing may seem like a complicated affair at first, but once you take a good look at how it’s done and you get the help of outsourcing experts, you’ll realize how beneficial it is for your business.
HOPLA is a leading outsourcing supplier, specialising in customer service as well as other verticals.