Outsourcing Customer Service: The Key to Your Successful Business Strategy
It’s a consumer-driven market, with information and multiple products or services available to customers around the globe at the touch of a smartphone screen. To stay competitive in this environment, your business needs all the advantages it can get. And excellent customer service can be a big advantage. In fact, customer service is a deciding factor for 90 percent of Americans when choosing whether or not to do business with a company.
The good news is that there is more than one option for businesses who want to up their customer service game. Many companies outsource their customer service to save money, resources, and hassle. It might also be a smart move for your business, and an important part of a successful business strategy.
Benefits of Outsourcing Customer Service
There are many benefits of outsourcing customer service that companies take advantage of. While cost may be one of the biggest considerations, outsourcing can also meet other business needs and give your customers a better experience. Take a look at some of the benefits:
Reduced Costs
The most obvious benefit to outsourcing customer service is reduced operational costs. Not having to maintain a local support center can make a huge difference in how much this costs you in the long run, and if you handle it correctly, it won’t drag down your customer satisfaction rates. Many times, outsourcing your customer service staff is a less expensive alternative to hiring a full-time support team.
Flexibility
Outsourcing to a call center allows a company to be more flexible to changing needs. If a business opens a new market or launches a new product, it can be hard to accurately estimate how to scale (new facilities and number of new employees, for example). A call center is set up to handle a wide range of customer service interactions, and a business only pays for what is actually needed.
Responsiveness
A call center with many employees may mean a significant reduction in response times, which will make customers happier. And during peak times, such as the holidays, a business that outsources doesn’t have to find, hire, and train seasonal customer service workers to handle the temporary increased demand, only to lay them off a few months later.
Access to Latest Technology
Like all technology, telecommunications infrastructure can become worn, unreliable, or outdated. An unreliable, outdated system can reduce competitiveness, but maintaining or replacing it is costly. An outsourced call center gives businesses access to the latest technology that they may not have otherwise—and takes care of all the updating and maintenance.
More Coverage
Outsourcing gives you the opportunity to offer extended after-hours and weekend support. In addition, many call centers can offer support in different languages as needed. For many, the cost of outsourcing for multiple language support is well worth not having to do it themselves.
Invest Resources Elsewhere
Having customer service handled by someone else frees up resources and effort to invest in other areas of your business, like product development or marketing.
Issues and Areas of Concern
There are some problems that may come up when your customer service is handled by an outside provider. Some of those issues might include:
- Lack of control
- Insufficient knowledge of your company’s products/services
- Inadequate understanding and support of branding and strategy
- Quality of service that might not match what you want
- Restrictive contracts
These issues can be addressed and mitigated with an outsource provider who is not only a strategic partner, but also invested in your company’s mission and committed to good service.
Is Outsourcing Right for You?
Good customer service can greatly impact customer satisfaction and retention. The right outsourcing provider can offer scalability and affordability without risking your brand or business strategy—and give customers a great service experience.
ROI Solutions provides world-class customer service outsourcing for companies big and small. Experience the competitive advantage with a team of qualified and experienced call center representatives on your side, without the hassle of having to find, hire, and train them yourself. Contact ROI Solutions to see how we can elevate your customer service.
