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Business Process Outsourcing examples and best practices

Which is the best example of outsourcing

Team discussing business process outsourcing services examples

Reasons for outsourcing

Some of the reasons include the need for flexibility in staffing, cost savings through labor arbitrage, and access to skills that are unavailable in-house. Another reason for outsourcing is that BPO providers typically have extensive knowledge and experience in the areas they offer services. They can often provide a higher level of quality and efficiency than a company could achieve internally.

Outsourcing examples and best practices

Front-office outsourcing examples

  • Cold calling
  • Follow-up calls
  • Scheduling appointments
  • Updating contact list information
  • Onboarding new customers
  • Answering all customer queries
  • Resolving customer complaints, issues, and disputes
  • Payment processing
  • Order processing
  • Upgrades and renewals
  • Scheduling appointments

Marketing, Strategy, Sales, and Research outsourcing

Marketing outsourcing is another typical business process outsourcing example. Many companies (especially  SaaS providers) outsource their marketing services to third-party companies. These third parties include advertising agencies, event management agencies, digital marketing providers, strategic marketing and management agencies, etc. The most common examples of marketing outsourcing services are:

  • Market and competitive research
  • Marketing strategy  
  • Content writing
  • Content creation/production
  • Design
  • CRM 
  • Marketing automation
  • Social media marketing
  • SEO
  • Event management
  • Public relations

Often companies combine sales and marketing outsourcing. This means hiring a BPO (or third-party specialized sales agency) to handle the sales process for them. This example is popular among start-ups or smaller companies with insufficient time or the right people on board. Apart from outsourcing the sales processes, some companies choose to outsource the after-sales services as well. This means supporting the customers after they make their purchases.

Another popular front-office business process outsourcing example is market research. Professional market research outsourcing companies use tailored strategies and specific methods for each client. They have skilled personnel in place to efficiently and effectively conduct the research providing the best possible results.

IT and software development outsourcing

  • Website development
  • Website Hosting
  • Application (software) development
  • Application (software) support or management
  • Database development
  • Database management
  • IT infrastructure & management
  • Team planning and mapping outsourcing strategy
Team planning and mapping outsourcing strategy

Back-office outsourcing examples

While front-office services are mostly client-facing, back-office services are not. One pretty common example of business process outsourcing is the use of a third-party company to handle payroll functions. Similar to the other examples, by outsourcing the payroll process, a company can save time and money while also ensuring that employees are paid accurately and on time. Payroll outsourcing most often includes:

  • Processing paychecks
  • Tracking vacation and sick days
  • Managing other benefits

Another common back-office outsourcing example is accounting outsourcing. Many companies hire third-party accountants or accounting firms to handle accounting services, including:

  • Cost Accounting
  • Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable Management
  • Tax reporting and filing
  • Bookkeeping
  • Financial statements and reports
  • Financial planning, analysis, and strategies

HR outsourcing is also one of the most popular back-office outsourcing examples, where a company transfers management and responsibility for certain HR functions to the external provider. Popular HR outsourcing options available to employers include:

  • Monthly HR support
  • Strategic HR Initiatives
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee data management
  • Benefit and leave administration
  • Relocation services (international and domestic)
  • Recruiting and hiring operations
  • Learning and training services
  • Reporting and analytics

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The right BPO option for your company