Customer experience is one of the key focus areas in business today. Companies look for viable and effective ways to provide good customer service and ensure high client satisfaction.
Those aspects are especially important for companies that are looking to establish themselves in a competitive market. Unfortunately, not all businesses have the resources to create a great customer support system.
Outsourcing is one of the most common ways to address that problem. A customer service outsourcing provider takes care of training agents, provides them with equipment, and most importantly manages your customer inquiries.
Although many organizations prefer having an in-house customer service team, outsourcing remains a widely popular practice among companies, especially those in global business. Why is that so? We’ll be answering that question in this article. More specifically, we will talk about the top reasons companies choose to outsource their customer support services to external providers and in what ways it benefits them.
Improved Business Focus
Customer support has become a separate niche that requires expertise, special technology, and a strategic plan to make it work. It’s no longer practical to have some of your employees handle customer inquiries and at the same time carry on with their primary responsibilities. Delegating customer service tasks to a team of specialists allows your workers to focus solely on their core duties, ultimately improving company productivity.
Cost-efficiency
Usually, the cost of outsourced customer support is considerably lower compared to an in-house team. According to the Deloitte 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey, the primary reason companies outsource is cost reduction. Now, there are several reasons why outsourcing is cheaper:
Avoiding Maintenance Costs
Hiring and maintaining an in-house customer support team involves spending money on the workspace, equipment, training, benefits, and more. Outsourcing liberates companies from those responsibilities offering a sort of package deal instead that costs less.
Lower Labor Cost
Wage rates vary depending on the country an employee is based in. For example, the salary of a U.S. customer support agent is significantly higher than that of an agent from Eastern Europe or India. Many companies take advantage of that to save resources and direct them towards revenue-generating activities.
Fewer People to Pay
Normally, an average customer support team has representatives, a team lead, and a QA specialist. But if you outsource you don’t have to worry about filling all of those positions and, most importantly, spending money on them.
Considering all of the expenses mentioned above an estimated cost of one in-house agent is $60,000 a year. Whereas outsourced rep would cost you around $9000 per year.
Greater availability
A multi-channel presence is essential for companies as customers use different ways to get in touch with a business including phone calls, email, live chat, and social media. But some businesses struggle to handle it on their own.
Customer service outsourcing agencies usually offer omnichannel support which allows businesses to be widely available to their customers. On top of that, outsourcing companies provide 24/7 client support which is also a contributing factor in improving company availability.
Larger talent pool
Since outsourcing is a global thing you get to choose your provider from pretty much anywhere in the world. Your choice is not limited to just agencies in your city or even your country. So you can outsource to the most highly rated and reputable customer support providers in the world. Many companies find it to be very convenient especially if there is no decent vendor in their region.
Scalability
Companies need to expand their customer support team as their business grows and ticket volume increases. This is especially true for startups and small businesses.
Outsourcing agencies provide scaling-up options that allow you to add more agents to your support team and cover that rising volume of inquiries. This is a far more convenient alternative to a recruitment hustle you have to deal with whenever you need to hire a new employee.
Another great thing about this is that scalability doesn’t have to be long-term. Many businesses experience seasonal spikes in sales and ticket volume. During such times outsourcing vendors can provide extra help and after the high season is over they can scale down your support team to normal size.
Expertise
Customer support outsourcing agencies have in-depth knowledge and experience in their niche. They know how to communicate with different customers, handle critical situations and most importantly increase customer satisfaction and engagement. Moreover, agents in these companies possess adaptability skills and accumulated knowledge of different fields from working with businesses in different industries.
This valuable insight and expertise positively impact the overall quality and efficiency of the company’s work. In addition, with hiring an outsourced customer service provider you’re getting an expert team that knows how to build rapport with customers in the right and efficient way.
Multi-language support
If you are an international service provider it is most likely that you need multilingual support. Not only does it set you apart from your competitors but also boosts your customer loyalty. However, it’s difficult to create in-house multilingual support because it requires either hiring people that are advanced in multiple languages or several individuals who speak one language very well.
Not all businesses have resources for that. Outsourcing companies offer a better alternative. They have a wide selection of languages your support can be provided in.
Final Thoughts
Though it is commonly thought that customer support outsourcing is mostly good for reducing expenses it offers more benefits than that. Outsourcing a customer support team is more convenient and affordable than maintaining an in-house one.
An outsourcing provider takes care of the training, integration process, team management, quality assurance, workplace equipment, and more. In other words, when you hire a call center partner you get a package deal.
Moreover, outsourcing enhances business availability by offering 24/7 coverage, scalability, and omnichannel support. Also, it allows businesses to hire specialists from all over the globe and provide customer support in multiple languages.