It’s no wonder that outsourcing has become a cornerstone of efficiency and scalability for many organizations. Given that Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers offer a wide range of services, from customer support to back-office operations, enabling companies to focus on their core competencies while delegating non-core tasks to specialized professionals.
However, amid the myriad of options available, the question arises: Are you truly happy with your current BPO provider? In this blog post, we’ll explore the critical factors to consider when evaluating your BPO provider and ensuring they meet your expectations for success.
Assessing Performance Metrics
One of the first steps in evaluating your BPO provider is to assess their performance against key metrics and benchmarks. Are they meeting or exceeding agreed-upon service level agreements (SLAs)? How do their performance metrics compare to industry standards? By analyzing metrics such as response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction scores, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your BPO provider and identify areas for improvement.
Gauging Reliability and Consistency
Reliability and consistency are essential qualities in a BPO provider. Can you depend on them to deliver consistent results day in and day out? Do they have robust contingency plans in place to address unforeseen disruptions or emergencies? A reliable BPO provider should demonstrate a track record of stability, resilience, and adaptability, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery and peace of mind for their clients.
Evaluating Communication and Transparency
Effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful partnership with a BPO provider. Do they provide regular updates and insights into their operations? Are they responsive and proactive in addressing your concerns and queries? Transparency is also crucial—do you have visibility into their processes, performance, and pricing structure? A BPO provider that prioritizes open communication and transparency fosters trust and collaboration, laying the foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship.
Reviewing Scalability and Flexibility
As your business evolves and grows, your BPO needs may change as well. Does your current provider have the scalability and flexibility to accommodate your evolving requirements? Can they quickly adapt to fluctuations in demand or changes in business priorities? A BPO partner that offers scalable solutions and flexible engagement models empowers you to respond effectively to market dynamics and seize new opportunities with confidence.
Cultivating a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is a hallmark of excellence in any partnership. Does your BPO provider demonstrate a commitment to ongoing innovation and optimization? Do they actively seek feedback from their clients and implement measures to enhance their services continually? By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, a BPO provider can drive efficiency gains, cost savings, and performance enhancements that benefit both parties.
FrontLogix can increase your service levels by over 20%
Claiming the title of the world’s best BPO might be a stretch, but hey, we’re aiming for the stars anyway! And if actions speak louder than words, let our numbers do the talking. Check out what we’ve accomplished for just one client in under a year:
Revenue increase: 37.54%
Order count increase: 40.68%
Increasing headcount: 50%
All types of calls increase: 32%
WFM visibility in real-time adherence (currently at 90%)
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?
In the pursuit of business success, it’s easy to fall into the trap of prioritizing customers above all else. In the ever-evolving landscape of business outsourcing, the relationship between a company and its BPO provider is integral to success. By carefully evaluating your BPO provider based on factors such as performance metrics, reliability, communication, scalability, and continuous improvement, you can ensure that they align with your business objectives and contribute positively to your bottom line. Remember, your satisfaction with your BPO provider should not be a passive acceptance of the status quo—it should be an ongoing dialogue and collaboration aimed at achieving mutual success.
FrontLogix not only delivers remarkable results but also creates deep and meaningful relationships. Our clients aren’t just partners—they’re friends!
Capacity gaps within an organization can occur in one or more departments or areas. The disparity between the current capacity and the capacity required to achieve a goal or objective is known as a capacity gap.
With customer expectations being at an all-time high, companies are facing new pressures affecting their businesses ‒ the Customer Engagement Capacity Gap.
In this blog post, we’ll cover: what is a Customer Engagement Capacity Gap, how it prevents the development of long-lasting customer connections, the significance of customer success management for bridging the gap, and the ideal solution for your company to apply.
What is the customer engagement capacity gap?
When dealing with customers, there are a few essential factors to consider. On the one hand, there’s the product/service you provide or offer, and on the other, client demand for the products/services you provide. However, there’s one more thing to consider: the resources you have at your disposal to meet your customers’ needs and demands.
One of the most valuable resources is time and the workforce. And for the past few years, there’s even more. Factor in social interactions, conversations, and communications into your equation. Multiply the number of customers with the multitude of ways they can contact you, and you see the problem. In order to be accessible, your customer support team can get overwhelmed. Behold the customer engagement capacity gap – the discrepancy between your available resources to meet the customer demand and the rapidly growing volume of interactions and communication channels.
This “capacity gap” began with social media customer interactions, and today things are even more challenging for companies and brands. A business must deliver the desired and expected customer experience (CX)even better, faster, and over more platforms than ever. As we enter the third post-pandemic year, most companies are still incapable and ill-equipped to close this Customer Engagement Capacity Gap.
Offload the growing workload
Today’s rapid pace of change is causing companies to predict engagement challenges will increase over the next couple of years. They either don’t have the people, technology, or knowledge to address this customer engagement capacity gap while still focusing on core business goals.
The importance of customer success management
Nearly half of the world’s population is now using social media for more than just browsing photos of their distant relatives. An astonishing 80% of customers expect companies to interact with them on social. In the past two years, more than 43% of customers have increased their use of social media to discover new products and brands. More than 45% of customer interactions happen via social media, and they use social media for everything from seeking product information, offering praise, leveling complaints, and everything in between.
78% of the customers are ready to make a purchase based on positive interactions with a brand. 76% of customers will recommend a brand to others, 72% will increase their spending amounts for a brand they have a connection with, and 77% will choose a brand over its competitors based on engagement.
Today, customers want immediate interactions. Customer success management has entered an entirely new era and level of importance. Handing your customers isn’t enough; you must be there for them every step of the way. It’s all about anticipating their needs and providing exceptional solutions.
This change toward a swifter, more customer-centric service system has driven many businesses to outsource customer success management to meet customer requirements successfully and efficiently.
Identify customer information
As the customer engagement capacity gap has been a hot topic for the past few years, everybody will now tell you what’s essential for closing the gap. Data companies will tell you that the key is managing engagement data. Technology companies will sell you software as a solution. But, in reality, there’s so much more than a single solution. Ideally, you’ll need a set of solutions, skillful people, and technologies to manage your customer interactions.
First, you’ll need to identify and gather all the information about customers and their experiences. You undoubtedly need to have the data figured out and sorted accordingly. Focus on the customer journey and all its touchpoints. That’s your data.
Collect data using omnichannel technology
Next, you’ll need the right technology to collect, monitor, manage, process, and deliver your data into measurable results consistently and across every interaction and channel. And finally, you’ll need the right number of skilled people to improve engagement and provide customized experiences at scale. And no matter what AI can do, you still need the people. Now, more than ever!
Provide technology, people, data, and experiences
Here, we’ve simplified everything into a single, handy checklist:
Gather, understand and utilize engagement data;
Use technology to your advantage: use automated and various self-service tools to answer the consumer demand increase;
Get the most skilled, knowledgeable, and high-performing workforce;
By integrating human expertise and experience with high-end technology and automation, you’ll be able to provide enhanced customer experiences. Including various solutions can help you and your company answer your customer’s demands and potentially close the engagement gap. It’s easier said than done, right? With the right tools and partners, all of this is achievable and deliverable.
As digital transformations accelerate, customer demands rise, but companies struggle with resources to answer those demands. With increasing consumer demands, every organization must understand how this digital transformation pace impacts its operations and goals. Companies need to create new, better (and most importantly) faster ways to connect with consumers. Today, it’s all about customer success and customer experience. So, companies must thinkabout CXin entirely new, broader, and technologically advanced ways. However, the companies need to decide which way they will go, whether they will rely solely on technology or combine technology with the right people.
In today’s world, everyone in the business (not just the customer-facing teams) should focus on providing outstanding experiences. Getting the right people, tools, and technology partners to work with will help companies better understand and forecast customer expectations and behaviors. To close the customer engagement capacity gap, companies need the help of a carefully selected technology and service provider. A technology partner to design, build, manage, and maintain company-wide data solutions and integrations through automated and AI-powered solutions and tools. And a service partner with exceptionally knowledgeable and skilled employees who will deliver truly exceptional customer experiences.
Don’t think you’re limited to the number of people you have on hand. Or even worse, don’t settle for a technology solution and abandon your customers to automated voice responses or chatbots. Keep in mind that your customers still want the white glove treatment. No matter how much technology evolves, they still want the care and attention a real person can offer.
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?
FrontLogix is here to help you collect all customer insights and use the data to identify patterns in how your customers feel at each interaction. Together, we’ll learn your customers’ intentions, motivations, pain points, and why they would choose your company among competitors. FrontLogix’s CXRs will:
contact your customers to learn more about their needs;
offer your products/solutions;
guide your customers along the comparing process, pointing out the benefits of your products/solutions and why they would work best for them;
be available during the research process via chats and email support;
will onboard your customers, ensuring they are happy with your products/solutions;
make your customers comfortable using your products/solutions and be there for them along with the usage;
provide support and help with the items they do not understand.
That is the map to an exceptional customer experience and success management. All of this ultimately closes the customer engagement capacity gap but, more importantly, creates happy customers who will recommend and refer your business to their friends, coworkers, or family and, at some point, renew their subscription.
Wondering why you’d go for offshore outsourcing instead of keeping it local? Sure, it might seem a bit out there to send work across the ocean, but there are some pretty solid reasons why going offshore can actually work out better for you.
But, before we dig deeper into the benefits of offshore outsourcing, we need to look into the difference between onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing.
Basically, there are two ways to distinguish BPO providers: based on their location and the services they offer. This article will go through the divisions based on site ‒ onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing.
The 3 types of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) based on location
Following the extensive analysis of the Pros and Cons of Business Process Outsourcing, in this article, we look into the three most common outsourcing location types ‒ onshore outsourcing (or domestic BPO), nearshore outsourcing, and offshore outsourcing. Below we dig deeper into each one’s advantages and disadvantages.
What is onshore outsourcing
Onshore, ordomestic outsourcing, is the act of outsourcing and receiving services within the borders of the country where a company is based.
Various circumstances might cause domestic outsourcing to be advantageous, including the availability of specialist talents in specific areas, regional imbalances in rates and expenses, and the company’s culture and skill requirements.
What are the benefits of onshore outsourcing?
Below are three benefits of onshore outsourcing compared to other outsourcing locations:
Same laws and regulations: Onshore outsourcing offers reduced risks since both companies follow the same rules and regulations, such as proprietary rights, IP protections, and copyright laws.
Easier communication: As both companies are from the same country, communication is generally more straightforward. Also, onshore outsourcing offers the possibility of in-person meetings if needed.
Same time zone, same culture, same work styles, same holidays: There won’t be any dealing with cultural differences and different work styles. Also, there won’t be problems arising from not being able to handle emergency issues due to mismatched holidays.
What are the disadvantages of onshore outsourcing?
When compared to other locations, there is one major disadvantage of onshore outsourcing:
Not cost-effective: The two main reasons for outsourcing are freeing time to focus on core competencies and reducing costs. While the former is covered with a domestic BPO, you will see no significant cost reduction.
Because your BPO’s country is the same as yours, the cost of services will be the same as having your own team do it. You might save on recruitment and training expenses, but not much more.
With the standard of living being much lower in offshore countries ‒ and with it the median wage ‒ offshore outsourcing offers the same level of expertise but at a MUCH lower cost.
What is nearshore outsourcing
Contracting outsourcing vendors’ services between neighboring countries, or geographically close countries, is known as nearshore business process outsourcing.
For example, this might include Canada, Mexico, or Central America for US-based companies. Nearshore outsourcing most often happens when companies need specialized skills at lower costs, but specific criteria, such as time zones and language proficiency, must still be considered. One example of nearshore outsourcing can be when a Silicon Valley company outsources some services to software specialists from Mexico.
What are the benefits of nearshore outsourcing?
Below we list four benefits of nearshore outsourcing:
Same time zones: Your BPO being in the same time zone enables real-time communication during your regular business hours. This allows for improved collaboration and reduced time lag between project completion.
More cost-effective than domestic outsourcing: Nearshore outsourcing offers the added benefit of cost-cutting compared to onshore outsourcing, as wages and other costs may be lower.
Similar mindset and culture: Smaller distance often implies smaller cultural differences.
Low(er) travel costs: When partners are in close proximity, the expenses for face-to-face business meetings are lower than with an offshore outsourcing BPO.
What are the disadvantages of nearshore outsourcing?
Limited talent pool: The talent pool in a neighboring country might be limited for some industries.
Political instability and limited infrastructure: Nearshore BPOs might be located in an area of political and economic instability. Also, developed countries have a more reliable internet connection and power supply.
What is offshore outsourcing
Offshore outsourcing is the third example of outsourcing business customer operations and other company activities. When a company hires a third-party supplier to run some of the operations from an outside country (most often overseas), it is known as offshore outsourcing.
Available resources, political structure and stability, lower labor costs, tax reductions, and other factors encourage companies to outsource offshore.
What are the benefits of offshore outsourcing
Seven benefits of offshore outsourcing are listed below:
BPOs are professionals at what they do: You can rest assured that the services they offer are backed up by years of experience in the field. They’ve already provided the training and found the best managers for the task. If you decide to hire and train in-house staff, there will be months, if not years, until they reach the level of teamwork and expertise the BPO offers.
Global talent pool: Offshore outsourcing opens up the doors to access highly trained and talented work teams. Thanks to globalization, companies may now connect with and hire individuals from all over the world.
Capitalizing on a well-educated workforce: Some of the most popular outsourcing destinations have a high percentage of upper secondary or tertiary education in the workforce. For example, North Macedonia, a country with a thriving outsourcing economy, boasts a tertiary degree attainment rate of roughly 64%. In the United States, that figure is 47.8%; in England, 42%, and 20% globally.
Cost-efficiency: Taking your business offshore means taking advantage of the lower cost of living expenses in outsourcing countries. This can result in significant cost savings for the company, as wages and overhead expenses are often much lower in countries with a lower cost of living.
No employee benefits, health insurance, and retirement costs: Because the BPO partner handles these, you will pay no additional benefits, as opposed to hiring an in-house workforce.
Tax reductions and tax exemptions: Companies may be eligible for tax exemptions and tax reductions in certain countries. The eligibility for tax reductions and other financial incentives varies from country to country. It is generally based on the type of business activity, the location of the business, and the level of investment the company makes.
24/7 work schedule: The time difference might be a benefit in certain aspects. For example, your team and the outsourced team can cover opposite shifts. Precisely because of the time difference, Customer Service is covered around the clock.
What are the disadvantages of offshore outsourcing?
Potential language barriers: If the mother tongue of the outsourcing country is not the same as yours, there may be some language barriers. However, when it comes to English, this is rarely the case, as some offshore countries have mandatory English as a second language taught from the first grade.
Potential cultural differences: Great distance might indicate significant cultural differences, which can cause misunderstandings and difficulty in collaboration. But that is only sometimes the case. Some countries have been riding the wave of Globalization much more than others. Go through this Checklist for finding and choosing the right BPO partner before committing to one.
Different time zones and mismatched holidays: Meeting coordination and real-time communication can be difficult due to the time difference. Ensure that the offshore BPO covers shifts during your regular working hours and has a plan for covering days when a national holiday conflicts with yours.
Drawing a conclusion
While many companies need outsourcing services, offshore outsourcing seems to be the most beneficial and the right choice for companies that don’t need to have all operations done in the same time zone.
Offshore outsourcing is highly cost-effective due to lower living and labor costs, tax reductions, and lower administrative expenses. This is particularly the case with emerging and developing countries.
Also, hiring an offshore BPO will provide you access to a global talent pool, with high availability of specially qualified, skilled, and motivated people who operate fast and efficiently.
FrontLogix is an offshore outsourcing provider that offers exceptional 24/7 Customer Experience, Customer Success Management, Sales Generation and Support, Billing, Software Technical Support, Workforce Management Services, and various Digital and Back-office Services.
Outsourcing is a business practice that involves subcontracting a third party to perform certain business activities on your behalf. Outsourcing non-essential business processes can help improve the bottom line by cutting business costs and improving productivity while freeing up time and resources to focus on your core competencies.
Outsourced services can include customer-related services such as customer experience and customer success management, back office services such as accounting and finance, billing support, research and development, IT and software tech help desk, as well as marketing, sales, HR services, and many more.
As different businesses have different goals, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to outsourcing. Choosing to outsource the right service must be aligned according to your specific business goals. This blog post is an extensive guide on what to do and how to determine which services to outsource so you can focus on your primary business goals.
You want to start outsourcing some non-essential work, but you’re uncertain where to start
Different industries, different businesses, different goals, right?
Yes, BUT the one true goal of every business, no matter the industry, is revenue growth. Every business owner wants happy, returning customers, a return on investment, and an increasing market share. We can also add reducing employee turnover and increase satisfaction and productivity. Overall, improving company value, becoming a leader in the industry, and improving customer satisfaction. Quite a long list, right? And certainly not an easy one – especially if you’re just starting. Outsourcing some of your non-essential work will undoubtedly help you in the long run, no matter how big or small your goals are. This is an extensive guide on what to do and how to determine which services to outsource so you can focus on your primary business goals.
Begin by developing an outsourcing strategy
Because outsourcing is a business investment, having a clear plan and implementing an outsourcing strategy is crucial. But what should an outsourcing strategy include?
Outline the business goals. It is critical to clearly outline the business goals you intend to achieve through outsourcing for a project to succeed.
Set a project structure. It will help you manage the project and ensure that the outsourcing team will meet the requirements.
Be specific. Make a clear and extensive list of tasks you’d like to outsource and how and when you’d like them completed.
Carefully plan the budget. This will affect the timeline, the number of hires, and the technologies and equipment you’ll be able to use.
Determine your preferred outsourcing model.You can either go with a project-based or dedicated team model. In the first case, you’ll have the entire project handled by the BPO partner you choose. While in the second case, you can select a team from the BPO partner to work only for you and report directly to you.
Carefully select your BPO partner. Examine portfolios, previous work, customer feedback, and referrals – carefully. Ascertain that they have the required knowledge, technology, and infrastructure (including, but not limited to both hardware and software)
Define clear processes, roles, and responsibilities. This will help the project run smoothly.
Have clear and frequent communication. Starting with a kick-off meeting, weekly follow-up meetings, and monthly report meetings. Make sure you determine the right channel and communication flow. All of this will keep you up to date with the project status and progress.
Measure the productivity, progress, and results. This will allow you to see how the project is progressing, and whether it will fulfill your goals.
What services to outsource easily?
You know that outsourcing some of your jobs will save time and energy. That way, you’ll be able to focus on your primary business objectives. But do you have a clear idea of what services to outsource efficiently?
Customer success management
Every company nowadays relies on positive client interactions, particularly favorable consumer feedback. Companies that deliver solutions using a SaaS mode benefit from customer interaction. The customer support manager (CSM) is your conduit to the customers. They ensure everything goes well after a purchase is made and smooth over any other customer-related friction, issues, and critical concerns.
Customer support & experience
The quality of customer service has a direct effect on sales. The damage one unhappy customer can do to a business is significant! Especially today when people publicly express their thoughts on products or services all over the internet. Customer service and experience (CS and CX) is a genuinely challenging aspect of running a business. If one does not have enough workforce to meet customer support demand, it’s best to consider outsourcing to a BPO call center. Outsourcing your CX will save you time and money (usually because of the lower-cost labor). But also it will deliver better results (because of trained agents with the specific skillset).
Back office services
All services like accounting and finance, billing support, research and development, and IT and software tech help desk can be outsourced. And this is especially recommended for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It would make your life so much easier if you didn’t have to know everything about compliance standards connected to bookkeeping, tax regulations to follow, and internet security infrastructures. Leave all of it in the hands of dedicated professionals.
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?
Small enterprises usually don’t have big sales teams, often only having one person for the job. Sales management is one of the essential parts of running a company. You’ll never attain your profit goal if you’re not closing deals. Therefore, outsourcing sales support will help you locate and nurture leads. It will help your business grow, make sure you are always speaking to potential customers, and allow you to focus on converting instead of administration!
Human Resources
Recruiting is a long, complex, and time-consuming process. It requires developing job descriptions, hunting for suitable candidates, and endless rounds of interviews. All of this will not only cost you time and money but energy and focus as well. And having good HR managers in-house is quite expensive, too. All of this makes outsourcing human resources the smart choice.
Marketing, Research, and Development
Whether launching a new product, adding something to your marketing mix, or simply expanding to new markets, you’ll need thorough research. You need to know the competitive environment, the product, the competition, and the entire industry. As a result, you’ll need hands-on research, development, and marketing expertise. However, if you lack the necessary knowledge, expertise, skillset, or people on board, this will be another challenge. Outsourcing all those operations is something to consider.
The key takeaways
By now, you should have a good idea of which services to outsource to BPO professionals and how you can choose your best BPO partner. We at FrontLogix provide exceptional outsourcing services for all of your needs. We’re committed to delivering and developing a customer-centric business model that will boost customer satisfaction, improve revenue, and lower costs. We’ll work together to develop strategies that will increase customer loyalty. We will help you make the most of your customer data, create new customer experiences, and optimize your business processes. Contact us today to discuss your needs.
Does the size of Contact Center Business Process Outsourcing providers really matter?
Well, this can be quite a difficult question. When choosing a BPO provider, there is a lot to know and be aware of, just like when choosing any other business partner. In this guide, you will learn whether you should go with a mid-sized (or smaller) Contact Center BPO over a larger one, and if and why the BPO’s size matters.
How big is your company and what are your outsourcing needs?
The size of the contact center BPO provider depends on the size of the organization looking for those services. Companies often choose the wrong-sized outsourcing partners as they fail to anticipate their outsourcing needs. If you held a party for 100 people and only planned for 50 you would have a lot of hungry guests and overworked waiters. If you planned for 500, you would have food going to waste and staff being paid to stand around. Either way, your party would be a flop.
It’s more or less the same in Business Process Outsourcing. You need to have a clear idea of the >>what<<, the >>how<< and the >>how much/how many<< so you can successfully choose a BPO partner that will be able to deliver appropriately.
The major decision: bigger or smaller contact center BPO?
There’s one common misconception: the larger the contact center BPO, the better the quality of the service. On the contrary, compared to larger BPO contact centers, mid-sized or even smaller contact center BPOs can provide exceptional and cost-effective services. These smaller players are also more likely to offer tailored, dedicated, and detailed solutions to meet specific requirements. Smaller contact centers usually deliver better outcomes because of the higher levels of staff engagement and offer more customized attention and service to clients.
Excellent service comes from outstanding teamwork
There’s one common misconception: the larger the contact center BPO, the better the quality of the service. On the contrary, compared to larger BPO-contact centers, mid-sized or even smaller BPOs can provide exceptional and cost-effective services. These smaller players are also more likely to offer tailored, dedicated, and detailed solutions to meet specific requirements. Smaller contact centers usually deliver better outcomes because of the higher levels of staff engagement and offer more customized attention and service to clients.
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?
Slightly smaller team, but immense customer satisfaction
Customer happiness is, ultimately, the most crucial aspect of your business. To achieve this, you must thoroughly research the BPO pool before choosing one to partner with. At the end of the day, regardless of the size, it must produce satisfactory outcomes and deliver the best solutions.
So, does the size of the Contact-Center BPO provider really matter? It most certainly does! It’s one of the most crucial considerations to make at the start of your BPO partner hunt. You are the only one who can say if “bigger is better” or “less is more” is the right approach for your business.
One of the most commonly asked and frequently searched questions is: How are call centers different from BPOs?
BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and call/contact center are frequently used interchangeably. People often confuse the services both offer and treat them as if they’re the same thing. Even though these terms might seem related, they are not the same. Here, we’ll help you learn more about the definitions, fundamental differences, and similarities between call centers and BPO service providers to make more informed selections as you outfit your facility with new technology and prepare to outsource to fulfill customer demands.
What is a BPO?
Before we dig deeper into comparing BPO and Call centers, it’s absolutely crucial to know what each of these organizations is before comparing and contrasting. The BPO is hired to complete the work that another company may not have the time or resources to address during regular business hours. BPOs are often hired to cut costs and free up time. Partnering with a BPO is frequently significantly lower in cost than directly employing in-house personnel to perform the same tasks – mainly because BPOs are often based offshore. While the BPO takes over some administrative functions, the in-house staff can focus on the essential work.
What are Contact Centers?
A contact center is often an in-house, centralized facility that handles communications-related operations to answer client requests for product or service support or information. Although the modern contact centers include everything from email to chat, instant messaging tools, and video calling, the main focus is telecommunications. Contact centers may also be utilized for other functions, including research, customer service, technical support, medical advice, and more.
Contact centers or Call centers: what’s the distinction?
Both call centers and contact centers provide customer service and inbound and outbound outreach, but the communication channels differ. While call centers are limited to phone calls, contact centers use various integrated channels. As customer service personnel, call center agents respond to consumer inquiries via phone, and they may also perform services like telemarketing, debt collection, billing, and other customer-related tasks. Unlike call center agents, contact center agents connect with consumers through various channels, including instant messaging, phone, applications, text, email, and social media. Here you can learn more about the difference between a Contact center vs Call center
What are the differences between BPO and Contact Centers?
Now, we’re ready to clarify the main differences between BPO and contact centers. A BPO offers a variety of functions, including contact center services. A contact center can be considered a subset of a BPO’s provided services. The main differences can be structured in functionality and operations, service providing, and process management.
Functionality & Operations
BPOs handle client relationships and key back-end business tasks behind the scenes. On the other hand, contact centers only operate on the front lines, focusing on interactions between callers and agents and providing customer support by ensuring existing customers are kept happy, or new customers are acquired. While some front-office jobs are shared among the two, contact center employees never handle many back-end processes. Here are a few examples:
Market research
Sales and marketing
Data entry
Payments
Finance
Accounts
Management tasks, etc.
Services provided
A call center is a subset of BPO that primarily focuses on telephone calls. BPO, on the other hand, focuses on tasks. While a call center service is essential for direct consumer connection and cultivating a company’s relationship with its clients, BPOs are hired to work on an organization’s back- and front-office work to contribute to reputation management. Interacting with customers may or may not be required. BPOs look after non-core processes to increase efficiency and lower expenses.
BPOs can provide services for the following industries:
Finance and Accounting (Accountants, Bookkeepers, and Debt Recovery )
Back Office Support (Human Resource Managers, Encoders, Virtual Assistants, Data Entry, and Account Managers)
Marketing Operations (Digital Marketers, Social Media Managers, Copywriters, Video Editors, and Graphic Designers)
Customer Support (Customer Service Specialists, Telemarketers, Email Support/Chat Representatives, Lead Generators)
IT (Software Engineers and Developers, Network Engineers, UI/UX & Website Developers)
Call centers can provide services for the following industries:
Billing and Collections (Billing Specialists, Collections);
Lead generation (Survey generation, appointment setting);
Customer Service (Email assistance, customer care);
Technical Support (System Engineers, Network Engineers)
Process Management
Data entry, management, payments, surveys, accounts & finance are part of the back-end process. Contact centers manage only front-office processes, mainly inbound and outbound calls. Among the front office procedures, customer management services like telemarketing, appointment setting, customer care, inbound and outbound sales, market research, technical assistance, and help desk services via social media, phone, email, and live chat.
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?
A Cоntact center is not the same thing as BPO. And the difference is quite significant. A contact center is a subset of a BPO that focuses on handling customer-related items.
Contact centers and call centers differ via the communication channels covered: call centers usually just involve phone labor, while contact centers involve many different communication channels.
Business process outsourcing examples include tasks such as call center services, human resources management, accounting, payroll, customer service, marketing, and information technology. There are many reasons why companies outsource their business processes. Mainly because optimizing the business processes is both crucial and challenging to manage in-house. By outsourcing these processes to a third party, companies can save time, reduce costs, improve efficiency, focus on their core competencies, and gain a competitive advantage.
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
Business process outsourcing (BPO) handles both front-office and back-office service outsourcing. For easier understanding, we’ll group all outsourcing examples and best practices into front-office outsourcing and back-office outsourcing examples.
Front-office outsourcing examples
The first and probably the best example of business process outsourcing is customer care outsourcing. Both outbound and inbound calls and digital customer experience (CX) services are part of customer care outsourcing. Companies are increasingly using customer care outsourcing services to provide better CX and support, which in turn helps them retain customers. Many companies outsource their customer care services to countries with cheaper labor costs. The most common examples of customer care outsourcing are:
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
Another common BPO focus is IT and software development outsourcing. Even big companies like IBM and Microsoft outsource some of their IT and software development to countries where it’s easier to find skilled programmers at lower prices. The most common examples of IT and software development outsourcing include:
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
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
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?
At FrontLogix, we offer various BPO services that can help you streamline your operations and improve your bottom line. Above all, we have years of experience in the industry, so you can be sure that we will provide you with the best possible service. We’ll work together to develop customer loyalty tactics. We’ll assist you in making the most of your client data, developing new consumer experiences, and streamlining your business operations. In conclusion, you’ll have more satisfied customers who stay happy for more extended periods of time if you invest in superior customer service—all while spending less time and money! Contact us today!
What does Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) mean, and why do companies outsource their business processes? There are a variety of reasons that justify partnering with a BPO company. You can save time, cut costs, improve efficiency, and focus on your core competencies by outsourcing some non-essential processes to a third party. Here, you can find some excellent and detailed BPO examples.
Outsourcing some of your non-essential work will undoubtedly help you out in the long run. No matter how big or small your goals are.
In this guide, you’ll get key takeaways in many areas of Outsourcing, CX Innovation & Strategy, and Technology Services. But most importantly, you’ll understand the services FrontLogix covers and the value we can provide your business.
Collaborates with businesses to create strategies that drive customer loyalty
It helps businesses make the most of their customer data
Creates positive new customer experiences
We cannot stress enough how important it is to invest in better customer service. Your business will reach new heights by building better relationships with customers. You’ll gain more satisfied customers who stay happy for more extended periods of time—all while saving time and money
Customer care outsourcing services
You already know the importance of providing excellent customer service at every turn in the customer journey. Maintaining a top-notch CX team in-house can be costly. Outsourcing customer care will let your company use multilingual omnichannel support, bilingual agents that will handle all inbound and outbound calls, non-verbal client communication support, and a wide range of other customer services. By outsourcing your customer service, you’ll:
Easily build customer trust – you’ll lower the wait time, decrease unanswered questions and help your customers in a matter of minutes and not in hours (or god forbid) days.
Efficiently scale your customer experience function – you’ll don’t need to recruit and hire new people, as you’ll have our agents at your disposal 24/7
Build a brand that customers love – your customers will feel heard, appreciated, and, most importantly, taken care of, so you’ll be able to give them yet another reason to love your brand even more.
Save money and time – you’ll be able to enjoy some big-time savings as the BPO partner will handle everything for you. Read more here.
FrontLogix Outsourcing Services
You might, at this point, still wonder what the difference between BPO and contact centers is. You’re not alone. This is one of the questions we are most frequently asked. Even though these two terms might seem related, they are not interchangeable.
FrontLogix’s biggest and most important goal as a BPO provider is to transform customer engagement into customer loyalty and increase customer lifetime value. We firmly believe that combining data-driven and customer-driven experiences brings the highest value and ROI. There are several ways this can be achieved, and we’ve listed all of the services FrontLogix offers for small, midsize, or large businesses:
Without a doubt, delivering mind-blowing customer experiences is one of the hardest yet most important parts of every business. The sale is only the first step. Taking care of customers and increasing CLV is the key to long-term success. The latest trends are shifting companies from profit-centric to customer-centric. But building a customer-centric business model along with a great customer experience requires a company-wide commitment and trustworthy partners. This is precisely what FrontLogix offers.
Exceptional Customer Experience (CX)
Providing an amazing Customer Experience is what we do best and what we’re most proud of. We’ll put your brand and your people first. The better experience your customers have, the more repeat customers, referrals, loyalty, and positive reviews your business will have.
Think of the CX as the holistic perception your customers have of your brand – every interaction they have, from navigating the website to talking to the support agent, will impact their brand perception and, ultimately, their decision to come back to you or not. FrontLogix is here to make them come back and bring their friends along. Our custom-tailored support helps you capture more leads and improve conversion rates. Because we genuinely care about your customers’ feedback, having the highest CSAT is the core of everything we do. We aim to keep on reducing your TCO so you’ll be able to meet all your business needs.
Sales and Lead Generation Outsourcing Services
Generating sales leads is one of the critical parts of any successful business. Attracting, nurturing, and converting leads into existing customers is one of the biggest challenges companies face. FrontLogix can help you generate more and more quality sales by:
Having remote sales development reps
Finding the right contacts to attract
Building your email databases
Calling and emailing the prospects
Setting up introductions and booking qualified sales meetings
Our professionals will help you nurture and convert leads, and they’ll be there for you to help you grow and make sure you always have great and happy customers.
Contact Center Support services
Billing Support Outsourcing Services
FrontLogix offers billing services and support for your business. Everything from account information, updating details, bills, payment guidance, postage funding, purchase power, and other account management topics – we’re here to help. Effectively and efficiently. A dedicated support Desk will handle your customers’ queries, and a FrontLogix representative will immediately and comprehensively respond to your customers.
Technical Support Outsourcing Services
Deriving maximum value from your software and having high-end Technical Support adds value to your business, product, or service. FrontLogix has a team of highly experienced technical support representatives who are ready to help, support, maintain, and enhance your software, product, or platform and obtain the best customer experience. We also include remote troubleshooting, installation and usability assistance, process monitoring, and optimization.
Customer Success Management Outsourcing Services
Positive customer relationships, and incredibly positive customer feedback, are something every business depends on. Particularly companies that provide solutions through a SaaS format. So, as a business owner, it’s up to you to set your business goals, and it’s up to us to help you move toward the ever-evolving desired outcome. The FrontLogix team’s ultimate goal is to help you be as successful as possible for as long as possible.
Today, traditional account management is a thing of the past, and customer success-driven growth is here to stay. FrontLogix will approach each of our clients individually by:
Analyzing and Segmentation;
Setting up and managing the expectations;
Leveling up the communication
Measurement of the operations and results
We’ll provide experienced Customer Success Managers (CSM) that will track established success metrics by monitoring specific customer KPIs and the likelihood of churn in addition to other indicators such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES). What we truly care about is maintaining and increasing your customer base.
Sales Support Outsourcing Services
Like you, FrontLogix also loves CLOSING DEALS! FrontLogix will help you find sales opportunities and do all the background work so that your sales reps are free to focus on selling. Our people start working even before your salespeople meet your potential customers. With the help of automation and digital tools, we gather, analyze, and sort all the relevant data for your sales team. And after closing the deal, FrontLogix’s work really starts! We’ll continue our work with customer outreach and follow-up, ensuring we deliver a mind-blowing customer experience!
Digital Support Outsourcing Services
While every business and brand is unique, so are the customers. Knowing them means asking questions, listening to their responses, and acting on their feedback to create an excellent customer experience. To help you achieve all this, FrontLogix’s top priorities are:
Implementing a system for collecting feedback, analyzing it, and acting on it while solving specific problems and answering specific needs
Combining customer preferences and data intelligence with cutting-edge technologies and white-glove service to deliver consistent and mind-blowing omnichannel customer engagement, actionable analytics, personalization, and overall customer experience
Our omnichannel presence helps brands connect with customers anywhere and anytime. We provide support via Email, Chat, SMS, Social Media, and In-App messaging.
Email
When it comes to customer service emails, it’s important to stand out! FrontLogix emails do exactly that. We sound natural, friendly, and eager to help—just how we’d talk to the customers if they were standing right there. Maintaining the quality of each email is a challenging job! FrontLogix, driven by customer-centric culture, knows the importance of quality emails, which is why we never compromise. Customers will always get the attention they need and desire without spammy sales or irrelevant information clogging their inbox.
Chat
Without a doubt, chat is the fastest way to support customers, especially when they’re already on their devices. This helps resolve problems as they appear, providing answers within seconds. Being fast and convenient adds up to an amazing customer experience.
SMS
Targeting those who don’t use the live chat, FrontLogix also offers SMS customer service and support – providing relevant answers and solutions to your customers via SMS text messaging in real-time – right into the customer’s native text messaging app.
Social Media
Meeting the customers right where they are is another very important part of the customer-centric culture. And most of them are on Social Media. No matter the channel, FrontLogix offers responses through social channels, quickly and conveniently. Because solving an issue right away is the most important part of awesome customer support.
In-App Messaging
No matter if the customers need onboarding, technical support, or simply to be welcomed or engaged, FrontLogix is here to assist. We’ll identify the user’s pain points, assist them moving forward, and facilitate various customer support processes and scenarios with our in-app messaging. We seamlessly support massaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Apple iMessage, WeChat, LINE, Telegram, Skype, and many more.
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?
In need of BPO services? Contact us today to discuss how FrontLogix can help streamline your business operations with our specialized outsourcing solutions.
What you need to know before choosing the best BPO partner to outsource your business operations in today’s challenging times
Choosing a CX BPO Partner: The checklist
Now that you know all the pros and cons of outsourcing, you’ve decided it’s time to outsource some services. Great! But how do you decide on the best BPO to outsource your operations? How do you know what to look for in a partner? Luckily, this article covers it all. We combined all the essential bits and pieces into a simple 10-item list. This way, you’ll be able to choose the best and most trustworthy partner (especially important at a time as challenging as now).
The Covid 19 pandemic and the business world’s tipping point
2020 and 2021 were challenging for many businesses, both big and small. Lockdowns and country-wide shutdowns have pushed some companies to pursue work-from-home models. In contrast, others have turned to Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as a solution for continuing their operations.
The solutions haven’t been easy: both are challenging and require a lot of organizational and people management skills to implement. BPOs have had to adapt to the new normal as well as diverse client needs. In order to choose the best BPO partner, companies have to sift through hundreds of BPOs, find the perfect solution that fits their unique needs, and ensure the BPO can take over without a messy transition. Companies rarely have the resources or experience to support a thorough selection process. Companies pick an ill-suited partner that often causes far more issues than it solves.
10 items to tick off before choosing a BPO partner
At a minimum, selecting a BPO means making a cost-effective deal, negotiating a solid contract, establishing the scope of work, planning the knowledge transfer and training, implementing specific technology solutions, and starting the business cooperation. None of this process can be outsourced, and it’s a significant investment in time and resources.
1. Be aware of the services you want to outsource and look for partners that have deep experience with those precise services
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of BPO companies offering all sorts of services. Look only for the ones that suit your business needs and will help you achieve your business goals. By narrowing the search, you can avoid getting lost in the ocean of BPO providers and ending up with one who is a bad fit or lacks the necessary experience. If you need digital or tech support, look for BPOs with experience in supporting software and glowing testimonials from these kinds of clients. Another important thing to look for is omnichannel BPOs that have experience helping companies transition to digital support.
If you need more than just one service outsourced, the best approach would be to look for a BPO that offers a wide range of services. That way, you’ll be able to get the most out of your BPO partner at a lower cost.
However, if you need to outsource services like data entry, finance, accounting, or HR, you should focus on finding a BPO that offers back-office outsourcing. Ideally, you should find one that offers both the most efficiency and value-add.
2. Be aware of your overall business goals and prepare a clear and detailed scope of work
Knowing your overall business goals and the path to reach them is crucial. Start by identifying the core problem you have and a clear roadmap for solving the problem. While a BPO may provide valuable insight, and no one knows your business as well as you do. Once you identify the problem, a potential solution, and the exact services you need outsourced, the search gets much easier and faster. The more specific your goals and roadmap, the better the partnership will be. An experienced BPO can also work with you on designing the right solution to solve the business problem.
3. Larger BPOs do not always indicate higher quality
It’s easy to identify the “biggest players” in the market and pick one of them. Be aware that numerous smaller BPO companies might better fit your needs. With just a little research into the market, you could be surprised how many smaller BPO partners you find that might be perfectly suited to your situation.
Smaller BPOs are often more flexible and able to adapt to your specific business needs. They are often more agile and able to pivot quickly to changes in your industry or company, whereas larger BPOs may have more bureaucracy and red tape that can slow down decision-making processes.
Also, smaller BPOs may offer more personalized service and attention to your business, and may be more cost-effective, as they may have lower overhead costs and can pass those savings onto the client – you.
4. Be thorough, categorize and cross-reference
Look for companies that match your specific criteria and have experience in your industry. You’ll want to find a partner with a reputation for delivering quality work and meeting deadlines. Once you’ve identified some potential candidates, it’s time to evaluate other important aspects, such as:
their experience and track record
access to talent
recruitment processes
employee turnover rates
supervision techniques
the technology they are using
what metrics they measure and how
the time zone they cover
cultural compatibility
fluency in your customers’ language
company culture and values
compliance and quality standards policies and practices
cybersecurity protocols to ensure the protection of intellectual property and customer confidentiality.
5. Be aware of the costs and make the most cost-effective deal
Before committing to a BPO partner, you need to estimate how much you will invest in outsourcing the required services. Even if you have a bigger budget, be cost-effective (this is yet another thing that the pandemic taught us). This doesn’t mean you can cut corners or, even worse, compromise on quality.
Once you know the precise services you need outsourced and the BPO players out there, you’ll be able to negotiate the best deal. However, make sure to communicate the budget and your expectations. When comparing the costs of a BPO to your in-house operational costs, conduct a thorough analysis. For example, you aren’t saving only on the expense of employee salaries. You need to factor in all the overhead costs, i.e., rent, utilities, recruiting, training, etc., as well as the costs for support from other internal departments. This is another reason why BPO will be able to provide a very cost-effective solution in most cases.
6. Be focused on finding a customer-centric company
Understanding customer behavior and improving customer experience at each customer journey stage is crucial for every business. You need to partner with a BPO company that will understand your customers’ behavior, know how customers interact with your brand, and how they make their purchase decisions. And because your customers are the ones who choose where, how, when, how often, and in what manner they will interact with you, you need a partner who will respond adequately, that will be present and interact at any given time, and grab customers’ queries and answer their questions seamlessly.
7. Be encouraged by technology-embracing BPO companies
Technical expertise and access to the latest technology are among the crucial elements you should be looking for in your next BPO partner. Many businesses overlook technical expertise, but you should never choose a BPO partner with limited tech experience or who is experienced in limited technologies. Usually, the quality of the outsourced services is higher if the BPO company has expertise in more customer engagement technologies.
8. Be vigilant and look for GDPR-compliant companies
And we cannot stress this enough, especially if you’re in the SaaS industry or work with customer data. You need to be fully aware of how the BPO will collect or share information, how it will be stored and managed, and the plan to protect it and abide by relevant regulations.
9. Be flexible and choose a partner who will be as flexible as you are
Flexibility is vital on both ends. However, your potential BPO partner’s end is a bit more critical. They must be aware that you might have rapidly evolving requirements or that urgent problems may arise. Your flexibility matters, but theirs is crucial. Especially if your time zones are different, you need to rely on their responsiveness and support at any given time, so be sure to state this loud and clear in the selection process.
10. Sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect your intellectual data
In the digital era, the most valuable asset is data. So be sure to protect yours. When outsourcing, you will have to share sensitive information with your partner along the way, so you must be 100% sure that your business’s privacy and data security is well-protected. If sensitive information is mismanaged, all of your data can be at risk. Along with signing the non-disclosure agreement, make sure that the partner you choose will have the highest level of security, does frequent security audits, and uses powerful tools to protect your sensitive data.
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?
Congratulations, you have now chosen a BPO partner to work with. Here are the final two items you need to check to make sure you have a productive and long-lasting relationship with your chosen partner.
1. Choose the team you want to work for you
Always hire the best people with the best skill set to do the work for you. Conduct short interviews with the team members. This will help you learn their hard and soft skills, and you’ll get a chance to get to know them better and the performance you can expect. This can really help you understand if that is the right team you are looking for.
2. Don’t be a control freak
You’ve chosen to use an outsourcing partner, and you have to trust them. That’s why you didn’t build an in-house team, after all. Keep in mind that dedicated teams from your BPO partner have all the necessary experience and a variety of ready-to-go solutions to help you achieve your goals. Focus on what you’re best at, and let them do the same.
In the end, a BPO partner is a good fit for every business. Finding one means defining your goals, visualizing a roadmap, asking the right questions, committing to transparent and flexible communication, and trusting each other’s experience and skill set.