Customer experience is at the top of successful businesses’ priority lists. And it’s no wonder. Recent research shows that 86% of customers are willing to pay up to 16% more after a good customer experience.
Additionally, research shows that happy customers stay loyal to a brand for five years longer than unhappy, and a positive experience can increase customer lifetime value (CLV) and spending by up to 140%.
However, you know that it isn’t cheap or easy to find and train quality staff that can handle customer service. If your in-house team is already overburdened, you run the risk of offering poor customer service and creating unsatisfied customers ready to switch sides.
By outsourcing your contact center operations, you can increase customer satisfaction while improving the efficiency and productivity of your in-house employees.
What is contact center outsourcing?
Contact center outsourcing is the business practice of hiring an external customer service provider to staff and manage a company’s customer interactions from a separate location.
Turning to outsourcing is a cost-effective solution for customer communication and engagement that provides companies with exceptional customer service at a lower cost. This allows companies to focus their time and resources on core aspects of their business.
Contact center outsourcing: best practices
Here are the best practices that should be followed when outsourcing contact center services.
Find the right partner
BPOs cater to various industries, providing a wide range of options to choose from. First, find a contact center outsourcer that specializes in your industry. Other considerations include the following:
- The size of the BPO
- Their experience and track record
- Access to talent and their recruitment and hiring processes, as well as the employee turnover rate
- Supervision techniques and whether supervisors are remote or on-site
- Utilization of technology
- What the most important metrics are, and how are they measured
- Company geographic location (time zone) and fluency in your customers’ native language
- Company culture and values
- Management team experience
- Compliance and quality standards policies and practices
- Cybersecurity protocols, including IP protection and safeguarding customer confidentiality
Read our blog posts on the difference between a bigger and smaller contact center to find out which one is more suitable for your business.
Set a budget
Consider what you want to spend and express your expectations with potential outsourcing partners. They will give you a clear picture of what is and isn’t attainable at that price point, and you will decide whether that is acceptable. Ensure that you understand what is included and that there are no hidden costs.
Set clear goals and objectives
Take the time to define your objectives and use them as a guide. SMART goals that are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound are the most useful. Make a detailed list of the services you want to outsource and how you want them handled. Include your remote partners in the early planning stages because they will have valuable experience to offer.
Communicate your requirements
Set clear expectations for your relationship before meeting with potential partners, and then clearly share them with the outsourcing company. Outline your business development plan, priorities, and values, so everyone is on the same page. Establish how frequently reports and updates should be sent. Set specific KPIs to track progress.
Assign roles and responsibilities
You must establish the reporting chain from the start to ensure optimal productivity and create a more transparent workplace. Your outsourced managers should know to who they should send updates and reports.
Establish communication channels
Another crucial step is to establish the communication channels from the very beginning. Uninterrupted communication is critical for success, especially when you and the outsourcing team do not share the same physical space.
Conduct regular audits
Remember that your customer’s perception of your brand is influenced by the service, the product, and the customer service experience. They will not separate your company from the outsourcing partner when they give you a review.
As a result, you must ensure that your partner’s service level meets your standards. When working with an external partner, a best practice is to conduct regular audits of the quality of customer service.
6 simple yet powerful strategies to improve customer retention
Can you remember the last time you re-engaged with your customers and tried to win them back?
These strategies will do exactly that and more.
The bottom line
Customer satisfaction is, in the end, the essential aspect of your business. To accomplish this, you must thoroughly research the BPO pool before deciding on a partner.
FrontLogix offers contact center outsourcing services designed to increase customer satisfaction, grow revenue, and reduce costs.
Together, we’ll create strategies that drive customer loyalty. We’ll assist you in making the most of your customer data, developing new customer experiences, and optimizing business processes.
Most importantly, our years of industry experience guarantee that we will provide you with the best service possible. By investing in better customer service, you will have more satisfied customers who will stay happy for longer — all while saving you time and money! Get a quote.