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Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season and How to Manage High Demand

The holiday season isn’t just a time for celebration – it’s also a game-changer for businesses.

Shopping sprees, heightened customer expectations, and an overall surge in demand, companies must go above and beyond to deliver exceptional service. For many companies, this means stepping up their customer service operations to handle the influx of queries, complaints, and requests and face the opportunity to shine. A primary concern for businesses during this time of year is managing these high volumes effectively without missing a beat.

Businesses increasingly turn to contact center outsourcing to meet customer expectations and stay competitive. In this article, we will explore the evolving customer expectations during the holiday season, the challenges of high demand, and how leveraging contact center outsourcing, WFM tools, managed services, and how FrontLogix’s services can help companies manage these challenges efficiently.

Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season

The holiday season is a time of increased spending, excitement, and often frustration. Customers expect a seamless and personalized shopping experience across multiple channels, including social media, email, chat, and phone. The surge in demand means that customer service teams need to be on their toes, ready to handle increased contact volumes and provide quick, efficient responses.

Some of the key customer expectations during the holiday season include:

1. Fast and Efficient Resolution

During the holidays, time is of the essence. Customers want their issues resolved quickly, whether it’s an order inquiry, delivery issue, or a technical problem with a product they’ve ordered. They are less willing to wait in long queues or deal with inefficient service. Customers expect prompt responses and immediate resolutions, especially with delivery timelines being a critical factor during the holiday rush.

Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season

2. Personalized Experiences

It’s no surprise that holiday shoppers have specific customer expectations during the holiday season, often expecting personalized attention. Whether it’s tailored recommendations, order updates, or customer support that feels individualized, customers want to feel valued and understood. Automation and AI can help a lot here, but personalized service remains a priority for customers looking for human interaction.

Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season

3. Omnichannel Availability

Customers expect companies to provide services across multiple channels during the holidays, including social media, phone support, live chat, email, and self-service options. Unfortunately, the days when offering customer services via one or two channels were enough are long gone, and today, this is no longer acceptable. Living with their phones almost inseparable from their hands, customers want the flexibility to reach out through their preferred medium at any time of day or night.

4. Accurate and Timely Information

Over the holiday season, the top concern for shoppers is the delivery time. Customers expectations during the Holiday season are for companies to provide accurate and real-time updates about their orders, especially in this time-sensitive period. Whether it’s a simple inquiry about shipping status or more complex concerns regarding delays or availability, customers want fast, accurate, and up-to-date information at their fingertips.

5. Consistency Across Channels

Another interesting fact is that when customers interact with different touchpoints of a business (e.g., email, chat, phone support), they expect a consistent experience. The information they receive, as well as the quality of the support, should remain consistent whether they’re speaking to an agent on the phone or messaging via social media.

The Challenges of High Demand During the Holidays

While meeting customer expectations during the holiday season is essential, it’s not without its challenges. Some of the most common difficulties businesses face during this period include:

1. High Contact Volume

The most obvious challenge is the sheer volume of customer inquiries during the holiday season. Whether it’s questions about products, shipping, returns, or technical issues, businesses can be overwhelmed by a sudden influx of contacts. Handling this volume without sacrificing service quality requires careful planning and resources.

2. Staff Shortages and Overworking

Even with increased demand, companies may struggle with adequate staffing, especially as the holidays are often accompanied by vacations and leave requests. In-house teams may not have the capacity to handle the surge, leading to overworked employees and a lack of adequate support.

3. Seasonal Staff Training

New or temporary staff, who are often hired to help with the holiday rush, may not be adequately trained or familiar with the company’s systems and policies. This lack of knowledge, experience, or preparedness can lead to inefficiencies, poor customer experiences, and long resolution times.

Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season

4. System Failures and Technical Issues

With increased demand, systems such as order management, CRM, or contact center software may experience glitches, delays, or outages. Technical issues can lead to slow responses and frustrating customer experiences, further compounding the pressure on customer service teams.

5. Managing Multiple Channels

As customers reach out via different communication channels, businesses face the challenge of ensuring that all channels are well-staffed and functioning. Customer expectations during the holiday season dictate that whether through phone support, live chat, email, or social media, companies must ensure consistency and quality across these touchpoints.

Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season

How Contact Center Outsourcing Can Help Manage High Demand

Outsourcing contact center services during the holiday season is a proven strategy for managing increased demand. By partnering with an experienced outsourcing provider, companies can scale their operations quickly and ensure that they have the right resources in place to handle the seasonal surge.

1. Scalability

Outsourcing allows businesses to quickly scale their customer service teams up or down depending on demand. This means you can hire seasonal agents who are trained and ready to assist customers without the long-term commitment or logistical challenges of in-house hiring. Outsourced contact centers have the infrastructure and staff to support fluctuations in demand, ensuring your business can handle high volumes during peak periods.

2. Cost Efficiency

Outsourcing offers a cost-effective way to manage customer support without the need for additional permanent hires. Many outsourcing providers offer flexible pricing models, allowing businesses to pay for the support they need when they need it, without the burden of permanent salaries and benefits for temporary staff.

3. 24/7 Availability

Outsourced contact centers can operate around the clock, providing 24/7 customer support. This ensures that customers can reach out at any time, even outside of regular business hours. With customers spread across various time zones, 24/7 support is a valuable asset during the holiday rush.

4. Expertise in Holiday Demands

Experienced outsourced contact centers are well-versed in handling seasonal spikes and can apply best practices for efficient support during the holidays. With a keen focus on customer expectations during the holiday season, they often have specialized tools and strategies to ensure they meet these expectations while reducing wait times and improving the quality of service

Role of Workforce Management (WFM) in Meeting Holiday Demand

Workforce management (WFM) is another essential tool that businesses can leverage to manage high demand during the holiday season. WFM tools and software help organizations optimize their workforce by forecasting demand, scheduling agents, and managing performance in real-time.

1. Demand Forecasting

WFM tools allow businesses to forecast call volumes based on historical data, trends, and external factors (like holiday shopping patterns). By accurately predicting when demand will spike, businesses can better plan for the number of agents needed to handle peak periods.

2. Efficient Scheduling

Once demand is forecasted, WFM tools help create optimal schedules to ensure that the right number of agents are available at the right times. This is especially important during the holidays, as businesses need to ensure that support is available during peak shopping hours and times when customers are most likely to reach out.

3. Real-Time Monitoring

WFM platforms allow for real-time monitoring of agent performance and customer wait times. This helps identify potential issues quickly, allowing managers to make adjustments to staffing levels or prioritize certain customer queries during high-demand periods.

4. Balanced Agent Workload

anaging staff burnout is a key challenge during the holidays, especially when considering customer expectations during the holiday season. WFM solutions help distribute workload evenly among agents, preventing the overworking of specific team members and ensuring optimal performance across the boar

How FrontLogix Services Can Support Your Operations

FrontLogix offers specialized outsourcing services to businesses looking to streamline their operations year-round, especially during the holiday season. Our services are designed to support high-demand environments by integrating efficient workflow management, automation, and scalable contact center solutions.

1. Omnichannel Support

FrontLogix provides seamless omnichannel customer support, allowing businesses to handle customer inquiries across various channels—phone, email, chat, and social media. This ensures that no matter how customers reach out, they receive consistent, high-quality service.

2. AI-Driven Insights and Automation

Using AI and machine learning, FrontLogix helps businesses optimize their customer service operations by providing real-time insights into customer behavior and performance metrics. This allows businesses to make data-driven decisions to improve customer experience and manage demand more effectively.

3. Advanced Analytics

FrontLogix provides businesses with advanced analytics that enable them to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify areas for improvement, especially during the holiday season. By understanding customer behavior and service trends, businesses can make more informed decisions on resource allocation and customer support strategies.

4. Scalability and Flexibility

FrontLogix offers scalable outsourcing solutions that allow companies to adapt quickly to changing demand. Whether it’s increasing agent capacity, expanding channel support, or integrating additional tools, FrontLogix helps businesses meet high demand efficiently and flexibly.

Conclusion

The holiday season is a pivotal time for businesses, marked by heightened customer expectations—particularly customer expectations during the Holiday season—and an influx of demand. The challenge lies in managing this surge effectively while ensuring that customer satisfaction remains at the forefront of operations. Customers are not only expecting quick resolutions, personalized experiences, and omnichannel support but also a consistent and seamless service across all touchpoints. Meeting these expectations during such a busy period can be overwhelming for many companies, especially without the proper infrastructure, resources, and expertise in place

Customer Expectations During the Holiday Season

By leveraging contact center outsourcing, workforce management (WFM) tools, and managed services, businesses can navigate the complexities of the holiday season with ease. Outsourcing provides scalability and flexibility, allowing companies to adjust their staffing levels in real-time. WFM tools enhance scheduling and performance management, ensuring that the right number of agents are available at peak times. Additionally, FrontLogix’s managed services offer specialized solutions tailored to high-demand environments, helping companies streamline operations, maintain quality service, and keep up with the fast-paced holiday rush.

With the right support systems in place, and with a partner like FrontLogix, companies can not only survive the seasonal surge but thrive in it. By optimizing workflows, integrating automation, and utilizing advanced analytics, they can effectively meet customer expectations during the holiday season, creating a seamless experience that builds loyalty extending beyond this peak time

At FrontLogix, we understand the unique pressures that the holiday season brings. Our tailored outsourcing services are designed to enhance operational efficiency, provide scalable support, and ensure that your business is prepared for the holiday rush. Post-holiday customer engagement is crucial for building lasting customer loyalty and capitalizing on the momentum gained during peak shopping periods. Customers often reach out for post-holiday returns, exchanges, or inquiries, and companies must maintain high service standards to leave a positive impression. With FrontLogix by your side, you can offer customers an enjoyable, frustration-free experience, ultimately driving long-term success and ensuring they return year after year.

Stress-Free Black Friday Customer Support: 5 Strategies to Handle Holiday Demand Spikes Without Breaking a Sweat

As the holiday season approaches, businesses across industries are bracing for the shopping frenzy of Black Friday and the successive holiday rush. With customers eager for deals, companies must be prepared for an inflow in demand.

This will stretch out contact centers, customer support, and workforce management to the limits. Don’t worry, though; with the right strategies in place, these holiday season demand spikes can be handled without breaking a sweat (or the bank).

In this article, we’ll discuss 5 strategies for successfully navigating Black Friday and maintaining exceptional service quality.

1. Optimize Workforce Management for Efficiency and Flexibility

Workforce management (WFM) is a game-changer, especially when it comes to handling demand surges. The holiday season is the time of year when customer support demand fluctuates dramatically, and having an effective WFM strategy ensures that your team is not just prepared but optimized to meet every challenge.

With the right WFM approach, you’ll have the insights and resources to maintain ideal staffing levels, adapt to real-time demand changes, and ensure smooth, consistent service across every customer interaction.

Here’s how to make it happen:

  • Forecast Demand with Precision: Use historical data from previous Black Fridays and holiday seasons to forecast your contact center’s staffing needs. Identify peak times, ensuring you’re well-prepared for every phase of the holiday season.
  • Dynamic Scheduling: Incorporate flexible scheduling to address last-minute shifts. Agents with varying skill sets can help you pivot quickly, covering for unexpected absences or reallocating resources to high-demand areas like online customer support or social media.
  • Utilize a Mix of Full-time and Temporary Staff: Seasonal staff can be a tremendous asset, especially for industries like retail and e-commerce, where customer inquiries significantly spike. Use WFM tools to train and integrate these temporary hires efficiently, blending them seamlessly with full-time employees.

2. Empower Your Team with Tools and Training

Your agents are your frontline holiday heroes, and they need the right resources and support to shine. Apart from Santa hats and Christmas decorations, this holiday season, make sure to invest in:

  • Knowledge Base Updates: Keep your knowledge base updated with holiday-specific FAQs, return policies, and product information. This will allow agents to access information quickly and provide fast, accurate responses during high-stakes interactions.
  • Holiday-Specific Training: Provide training sessions focused on the unique challenges of holiday shopping. Equip your agents with the skills to handle common inquiries, troubleshoot problems, and manage heightened customer expectations with patience and empathy.
  • Omnichannel Support Systems: Customers today expect fast, seamless support across channels, whether it’s chat, email, social media, or phone. Empower your agents with a unified system to track and respond to inquiries across these channels without losing context.

3. Leverage AI and Automation to Reduce Agent Workload

One of the most effective ways to handle demand spikes is to leverage AI-driven solutions and automation. Such solutions can handle routine tasks, freeing up your agents to focus on more complex inquiries. And while no AI can replace human touch, these solutions can greatly help. 

  • Automate Self-Service Options: With self-service solutions, customers can find answers without speaking to a representative. Whether they’re tracking orders, viewing FAQs, or reviewing return policies, self-service options reduce the number of calls to your contact center, allowing agents to focus on more complex issues.
  • Implement Chatbots for Basic Inquiries: Chatbots can manage frequently asked questions and repetitive tasks, such as checking order statuses, processing returns, or sharing working hours. This not only improves efficiency but also provides customers with immediate answers, improving their overall experience.

4. Prepare for the Unexpected with Real-Time Analytics

Black Friday is unpredictable—huge discounts, sales events, promotions, and trends can drive unexpected spikes in demand. Real-time analytics can greatly help you stay ahead by monitoring and adjusting in real-time.

  • Adaptive Workflows: Such flexible processes are designed to allow you to respond immediately to changes in demand, ensuring your agents can efficiently manage fluctuating customer needs. Real-time data can help you decide when to increase staffing for certain support channels or alert team leaders if hold times or chat volumes increase. You’ll be able to make on-the-spot adjustments, such as increasing staffing for high-traffic channels or reallocating resources to prevent hold times from escalating. This ultimately helps you to act dynamically, enhancing responsiveness and maintaining a seamless customer experience, especially during peak demand.rformance while maximizing efficiency. Whether you need help managing your WFM system, improving real-time adherence, or optimizing workforce performance, we’ve got the tools and expertise to keep your business thriving.
  • Track Key Performance Metrics: Monitor response times, hold times, and customer satisfaction levels in real-time. This data will allow you to respond swiftly and effectively. You’ll be able to quickly adjust agent availability or reallocate resources to ensure your customer service levels stay constantly high.

5. Embrace a Customer-Centric Approach

This goes without saying, but at the heart of all successful holiday customer support strategies is a commitment to a customer-centric experience. By ensuring that your team remains focused on creating positive interactions, you can boost customer loyalty and foster positive brand perception long after the holiday season ends.

  • Anticipate Customer Needs: Identify recurring pain points from past years and work to eliminate them. By addressing these issues proactively, you can significantly improve satisfaction and loyalty. Here are some examples to consider:
    • Complex Returns: If your return process was a pain point in previous holiday seasons, simplify it by providing pre-paid return labels or clear return instructions. Highlight your hassle-free return policy on your website and during the purchase process to build customer confidence.
    • Delayed Deliveries: If this was a common complaint in previous years, proactively communicate shipping deadlines and offer easy-to-understand return policies. Additionally, if possible, consider implementing a tracking system that allows customers to receive real-time updates on their orders.
    • Overwhelmed Customer Support: If customers have experienced long wait times in the past, ensure you increase staffing levels, especially during peak hours.
    • Product Availability: If out-of-stock items frustrated customers in previous seasons, make sure to keep them informed about inventory levels. Use notifications for restocks or offer alternatives and suggestions for similar products when items are unavailable.
    • Payment Processing Issues: If payment failures were a concern before, now ensure your payment processing systems are tested and optimized for high traffic. Offering multiple payment options can also help cater to customer preferences and reduce transaction-related frustrations.

By anticipating these needs and addressing them ahead of time, you’ll create a smoother shopping experience and encourage greater customer satisfaction during the holiday rush.

  • Provide Personalized Experiences: While automation is essential in enhancing efficiency, it’s equally important to maintain a personal touch, particularly for high-value customers. By striking the right balance, you can create meaningful interactions that resonate with customers. Here are several ways to enhance personalization in your customer service strategy:
    • Utilize CRM Data: Equip your agents with access to CRM data. This enables them to tailor conversations, offer personalized product recommendations based on past purchases, and address customers by name, making each interaction feel unique and valued.
    • Exclusive Discounts and Offers: Show appreciation for loyalty by providing high-value customers with exclusive discounts, early access to sales, or personalized promotions. This not only enhances their shopping experience but also fosters long-term loyalty.
    • Tailored Follow-Up Communications: After purchase, send personalized follow-up emails thanking customers for their business. Based on their purchase history, include recommendations for complementary products or services, enhancing their overall experience and encouraging repeat visits.
    • Surveys and Feedback Requests: Actively solicit customer feedback after their interactions, using tailored surveys that address their specific experiences. This not only demonstrates that you value their opinions but also helps you refine your services.

By providing personalized experiences that go beyond typical everyday interactions, you can create lasting relationships with your customers, making them feel valued and appreciated. This thoughtful approach not only enhances customer satisfaction but also drives loyalty and repeat business.

Final Thoughts: Building a Long-Term Strategy Beyond Black Friday

Black Friday and the holiday season offer an opportunity to show customers the best of your company (and contact center efficiency). By planning and leveraging WFM strategies, automation, real-time analytics, and a customer-centric approach, you’ll be well-equipped to handle demand spikes gracefully. Not only will you meet and exceed customer expectations during the season, but you’ll also set your company up for lasting success.

At FrontLogix, we specialize in helping businesses achieve this balance, providing tailored solutions for workforce optimization, advanced automation, and personalized customer experiences. With our support, your company can make a powerful impression this holiday season and beyond.

Let’s make Black Friday seamless and successful—one that leaves both you and your customers smiling. Wishing you an exceptionally successful peak season!

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Evaluating Your BPO Provider: Are You Truly Satisfied?

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.

Magnifying Glass on Top of Document with Charts

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.

People in a middle of a meeting

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?

These strategies will do exactly that and more.

Conclusion

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!

Get in touch today!

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Closing the customer engagement capacity gap

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.

Managers analyzing customer engagement metrics displayed on a document

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.

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.

[Тhe definitive guide to outsourcing services]

The key takeaways

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?

These strategies will do exactly that and more.

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.

Call Center Outsourcing Solutions - FrontLogix

What are the benefits of offshore outsourcing


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.

Jump to:

The 3 types of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) based on location

What is onshore outsourcing

Onshore, or domestic 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.
Onshore outsourcing pros and cons

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?

Nearshore outsourcing pros and cons
  • 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

  • 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.
Why is North Macedonia one of the best outsourcing destinations
  • 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.
Offshore outsourcing pros and cons

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.

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Technical Support Outsourcing Company - FrontLogix

What services to outsource to reach your 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.

Woman discussing an outsource strategy plan, pointing on a whiteboard

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?

  1. Outline the business goals. It is critical to clearly outline the business goals you intend to achieve through outsourcing for a project to succeed.
  2. Set a project structure. It will help you manage the project and ensure that the outsourcing team will meet the requirements.
  3. Be specific. Make a clear and extensive list of tasks you’d like to outsource and how and when you’d like them completed.
  4. Carefully plan the budget. This will affect the timeline, the number of hires, and the technologies and equipment you’ll be able to use.
  5. 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.
  6. 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).
  7. Define clear processes, roles, and responsibilities. This will help the project run smoothly.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.

Two girls looking at an outsourcing strategy document

Customer support & experience

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.

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Sales generation, management & support

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.

outsource team

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.

[Read Next] Definitive guide to outsourcing services

mid-sized contact center bpo

Bigger or smaller Contact Center BPO: which is better?

Does the size of Contact Center Business Process Outsourcing providers really matter?

How big is your company and what are your outsourcing needs?

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.

Agents with headsets in a Contact Center BPO

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.

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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.

Two man sitting at the office

BPO vs. Contact center: The difference, explained

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?

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?

Employees in an open plan office, working on computers

What are the differences between BPO and Contact Centers?

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.
A woman smiling while talking on a cell phone

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.

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What have we learned?

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.

Four colleagues discussing charts

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