The trend to outsource customer service has been around for years, but it has become increasingly popular to businesses throughout the world. The decision to outsource has many benefits, but there are also negative aspects.
Outsourcing Pros
Helps with Stress
When a company is outsourcing their customer support, they can rest with the satisfaction of knowing they have a fully-committed team taking care of the duties. The company should keep a close eye on their performance, but they will not have to deal with every enquiry, which will help keep the stress of running customer support out of sight.
Save Money
One of the biggest reasons companies choose to outsource their customer support is to reduce costs. By outsourcing, the company can have customer support work done for a fraction of the price. This also allows companies to skip costs such as vacation pay and health insurance. Research has indicated that a company can save up to s60% in operational costs when they outsource their customer support.
You Won’t Have to Train Them
Sure, most people are capable of using a phone or sending an email with ease. However, it isn’t as easy to make a call inviting and personable. By outsourcing your customer support, you will be able to hire representatives and managers that already have these skills and knowledge, so you won’t have to waste time and resources training them.
Make a Great Impression on Customers
If you’re a business owner, then you probably already know how far excellent customer service can take you. By using a reputable company to outsource to, you can be sure that your customers are going to receive top notch communication. There are centers that are extremely talented and can represent your company just the way you’d like it – in a professional manner.
Outsourcing Cons
Confidentiality
It’s hard to trust someone and be confident that your clients data is 100% safe and this is one of the most worrying aspects of outsourcing customer support. Before you sign a contract, it is important that you research the team and get some references from others of the contracted company.
Loss of Control
Sure, you can ask for “standards,” but you’re not going to have control. You won’t be able to go up to your outsourced service agents every single day and offer advice to them or give them tips on how they should be dealing with various problems.
Conclusion
Excellent customer service is the foundation of any business. By outsourcing the customer service jobs, you may be able to offer 24 hour customer service. The decision to outsource your customer support should be well throughout out. It is important that you ask yourself if the outsourcing party is capable of delivering as good of a service as you can. If the answer to that is “no,” then you should take into account the opportunity costs that result from outsourcing. Of course, this isn’t a simple calculation, because it is going to be hard to estimate exactly how many referrals and customers you’d miss. The outsourcing part may be capable of delivering a service that is much better than yours due to their experience and knowledge in the area. Make sure you take all of the above factors into consideration.