Month: December 2023

Modern start-up companies have endless opportunities with several technological tools available at their disposal. Several companies now outsource their customer support process to offer better services to their customers. In this post, we’ll have a look at how outsourcing customer support actually helps startup companies.

With increasing competition across all sectors, it is now very important for every company to lay a major emphasis on the quality of their customer service. Especially if you are a startup looking to establish yourself in a competitive market, it is very important for you to offer the best to your customers and stand out from your competitors.

Increasing number of startups all over the world now prefer outsourcing their customer support process to countries like India to offer better support to their customers. Let us have a look at what makes outsourcing so beneficial for the startups.

Optimizing Business Costs

One of the most important reasons for startups to outsource their customer support process is the cost savings. With the help of outsourcing, fixed business expenses can be turned into variables, allowing startups to save and invest in other important business activities. With the customer support process outsourced, a startup is no longer required to hire, train or fulfill other in-house employee demands while only paying for the availed services.

Industry Knowledge

Professionals to whom your customer support process is outsourced have enhanced knowledge for several industries. The managers and agents of the outsourcing firms have an excellent understanding of the demands of modern consumers and they use time-proven strategies to help you achieve your business goals and offer the best to your customers. Better service to the customers will automatically help in increasing your customer base which will directly improve your bottom line.

Flexibility and Scalability

Call volumes rise and fall. As a result, your in-house agents would often be idle when the call volumes are low. Outsourced firms work with multiple clients which reduce the strictness of the changes in call volume. Thus, the outsourced agents are able to work with more efficiency and their managers are able to better schedule the staff to help in significantly reducing the call costs. Moreover, these firms have the manpower to quickly ramp up when the call volumes rise significantly due to a major marketing or seasonal activity.

Quality Control

The agreements with outsourcing firms require all the calls and messages of the customers through all the channels to be handled very professionally. Resolution at the first call and revert time are two of the most important priorities for these firms. For this, they use many different types of monitoring tools, improvement plans, and routine assessment in place to make sure that the support quality is world-class. On the other hand, the in-house customer support team might not have access to the tools or resources for consistently monitoring the quality of service.

Understand Your Customers Better

As a startup, it is very important for you to under your customer, their preferences and their behavior to grow. With the help of this information, business managers can offer better services and products to the customers which are in line with their expectations. However, startups generally do not have the expertise or the tools to be able to extract these insights. It is by outsourcing their customer support that they can understand their customers better and attract more buyers.

These are some of the reasons which make outsourcing customer support highly beneficial for startups. With the help of trained professionals to handle queries of the customers, businesses can better focus on offering better services and products to their customers and improve their revenue.

Starting a business requires a business idea along with the availability of infrastructure, logistics, and capital. But in today’s competitive market where there is cut throat competition and where everybody is trying to snatch his competitor’s customers or clients, it has become necessary to revisit these business essentials and see if they are sufficient or whether there is any need to find some other factor which will give your business the ‘edge’ over your competitors. One such option could be to set up or have a dedicated call center or BPO either of your own or outsourced. This post will help examine the benefits of having a tie-up with a call center and how that will create a positive impact on your business.

Easy accessibility for your clients or customers

In today’s fast-paced and competitive world, it has become extremely important for businesses no matter how small, to develop a personal rapport with their clients or customers. Thanks to the different social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, you can promote your business there. Nevertheless, these platforms exhibit your products or services. They don’t give your customers, both existing as well as prospective the appropriate opportunity of interacting with the actual product sellers in order to find more details and to sign up. But when you have a dedicated team to handle all the queries or complaints, suggestions etc. you tend to give a personal touch to the business which will only help in amplifying your business.

Provide useful assistance on building your business

Call centers or BPO servicesdo not just take care of handling queries, suggestions as well as complaints of your existing customers, but they can also provide their valuable assistance on getting new clients with the help of ‘cold calling’. Customer engagement confers the brand with desired good will. Businesses usually come up with some attractive offers for their products and then delegate the call centers or even BPOs to pitch these offers to the prospective customers and make them buy their product or avail their services.

Help in creating and maintaining a good will

Call centers or even BPO operators play a crucial role in providing useful assistance to your customers by appropriately directing the queries posed by your customers tactfully, resolving queries as well as complaints, helping them overcome any technical glitches and at the same time even help the end customer to escalate in case he or she is not satisfied with the product or services. You may not realize this, but this helps in creating a long lasting impact on your customers as then the customers are sure that in a case of any problem, your company will offer the best possible redressal to their grievances. This will go a long way creating a strong goodwill for your brand and at the same, happy and satisfied customers will definitely spread good words about your product or service which will help in your company getting newer clients.

Helps in building a long-lasting relationship with the customers

Believe it or not, but having a dedicated call center or BPO also helps in establishing a long lasting bond with your customers. Once your business takes off, you will keep introducing new offers, discounts etc on your products. If you want to spread the word about your new offers to your end customers, then call centers or BPOs are the best bet to do that. They will perform the task of calling up every single customer and inform him or her about your latest products or offers, discounts etc. This will help your customers feeling that you still care about their association with your product and will hence, not think of switching to your competitor engaged in providing the similar product or services.

Continuous 24×7 support

Last but certainly not the least, today’s businesses are expected to be available at the customer’s disposal 24X7 and that too, 365 days in a year. And knowing that your end customer can face the issue at any point during the day as well as the night, the professional call center will do just that for you. Hence, in your absence, it will be your call center or the BPO which will act as your representative and perform all the necessary services and functions thereby leaving no scope for any complaints or escalations for your customers.

Thus, to sum up, call centers or BPOs are the latest ‘in-thing’ which every business must have if it intends to grow and expand. Call centers provide priceless support of understanding your business needs, on the basis of which they will develop a structure which will only help in taking your business higher.

Business process outsourcing is now commonplace for businesses all over the world. By outsourcing their business processes, companies experience a wide range of benefits including cost savings, better services, strict quality controls, etc. In this post, we’ll have a look at how outsourcing services actually work and deliver the desired results to their clients.

Increasing number of companies, be it startups or Fortune 500 companies, now outsource their diverse business processes to outsourcing companies in different parts of the world, like India. With outsourcing, businesses get to experience an extensive range of benefits which have a significant impact on the bottom line of the business.

Sales and marketing is one of the most commonly outsourced business processes and allows companies to reach more audience in a cost-efficient way as compared to hiring an in-house team. However, have you ever wondered how these outsourcing companies actually work? Let us try to find out.

Strategy

The sales and marketing teams are first required to create strategies along with their client to exactly cater to the target audience of the client. A common strategy is created to address the needs of the client and the same is followed by the outsourced agents to get maximum sales. The team managers and team leaders play a significant role in implementing the strategy and getting best results for the client.

Creating Script

Outsourcing companies also make use of a script which the agents follow when making a call. It includes pleasantries, detailed information about the product or service along with instruction about how to proceed with the sale. Apart from sales and marketing, for instance, if it is an inbound technical process, the script will have detailed solution to common customer queries which the agents can use to resolve the queries of the customers. The scripts are generally provided by the client and are updated regularly.

Lead Generation

Once the strategy is in place, the next step is lead generation. There are many different ways in which a company can generate leads. Moreover, there are companies that offer leads to the outsourced firm to work on them. These are generally targeted leads which fit the services or products offered by the client.

If the leads are being generated by the outsourced firm, they have certain criteria on the basis of which they qualify and disqualify the generated leads. Some of the most important considerations include an overview of the customer, an overview of opportunity, bid or no bid recommendation, eligibility and teaming agreement. If the lead fits the pre-defined criteria, it is then passed in the sales force development cycle (SFDC).

Closing Sales

Closing the sales is the most important part of the whole process. Closing sales can have different meanings for different call center outsourcing processes. For some, it can mean selling a product or service while for others it might mean collecting the details of the customer and passing to the client. Once the sale is closed successfully, it is updated as closed-won in the SFDC.

Outcomes

The sales won and lost throughout the week and months are closely monitored by the managers to look for ways in which the services can be further improved. The client remains informed throughout the process with regular exchange of calls and emails. If any kind of changes is to be made to the sales plan or script, the team are provided adequate training for the same to deliver the desired results.

This is generally how things work when businesses make use of outsourcing services for their sales and marketing. The strategies are implemented and continually improved by the outsourcing service providers to offer better services to the clients and customers. Even the agents go through regular training and the quality is regularly monitored by the team leaders and managers to make sure that every agent is able to deliver the best.

Can you imagine the world without online shopping? Over the past couple of years, there has been an increase in the number of e-commerce websites and that has brought everything at people’s fingertips (literally!). From shopping clothes and everyday groceries, electronics and appointment scheduling, travel bookings and everything in between, e-commerce business is thriving and for good reason.

The e-commerce websites are new-age firms that are founded by young and dynamic techno-entrepreneurs and they have ventured into almost all domains, as well as, the category of products and services. It is not an exaggeration to say that almost every need of an individual is being satisfactorily serviced by the various e-commerce companies online.

Some of the e-commerce companies have achieved the cult status with a billion dollar valuation while there are others who are still struggling to make a mark in this highly competitive industry. Industry reports suggest that the rate of failure is much higher than the rate of success and one of the reasons for this is that entrepreneurs try to do too much. They fill their plate with more than what they can handle and that leads to confusion.

Do you know that at an elementary level, e-commerce business models are all identical? They either run on an inventory-based model or on a marketplace model. So, when the models are similar, what is it that distinguishes one e-commerce company from the other? While technology is definitely a determinant factor, most experts suggest that customer service and sales support is the most significant factor that decides the success of an e-commerce business.

Efficient and quick customer support is the secret to a successful e-commerce business

Do you want your e-commerce business to be a raging success? If yes, pay attention to improving your customer assistance and service. In an era when consumer activism is so heightened, even a single disgruntled customer can deal a heavy blow on your company’s reputation through daily updates on various social media platforms. Therefore, the adoption of the best practices of customer relationship management is imperative. This way, you can look forward to gaining a competitive edge. Always remember that when doing business online, a customer may forego receiving a damaged product thinking that “it happens”, but they will never forgive a lackadaisical attitude when it comes to customer support.

Seems all too much to handle? No problem! Outsource your customer support to be able to give your customers a seamless experience. To know more benefits of e-commerce call center outsourcing, keep reading.

You will be able to focus more on your core business

By engaging a third-party customer support service provider, you will be able to focus more on your core business. Your internal resources will be freed and you can lay emphasis on important business functions, such as accounting, engineering, marketing and sales, analytics and data mining, among others. This way, along with your customer service, you will also be able to strengthen your business, think about expansion or introducing a new product line.

Be able to offer customer industry-focused services

In e-commerce businesses, customer support involves the adoption of cutting-edge technology, specialized skill-sets, and tools. If you want to grow your business, you will have to take up a multi-channel customer support approach. You need to focus on various communication touch points, such as live chat, voice calls, SMS, email support and so on. This will ensure that you are able to provide your customers with a seamless and satisfactory experience. By outsourcing customer support to an industry-specific company, you can be sure that they have all the tools and technologies necessary to meet your exact requirements. They will also be able to deliver customer services flawlessly and help to increase the number of satisfied customers.

Do you know why a happy customer is important? Because they being your sales and revenue! Also, they might advertise you for free (word of mouth advertising) that will grow your brand awareness and recognition.

Outsourcing will give you access to a highly specialized workforce

 

Customer service is actually a specialized service and it quite tough. It requires highly experienced and qualified professionals to manage the whole process efficiently. By outsourcing, you will be gaining access to professionals who have years of expertise and experience in customer service. They understand the needs of customers and will be able to assist you in retaining them. Also, you do not have to invest in training them!

Round-the-clock customer support

Since your business is online, it means that there is no closing or opening time. Your shop is basically open at all times. So, suppose a customer is purchasing a product or service in the middle of the night or during the wee hours of the morning and he/she faces a problem. Who will he/she turn to? Unless you are a call center/e-commerce company, you will not be open 24/7 and you might actually lose out on potential customers. But, if you outsource customer service to a third-party, it will be their responsibility to cater to every need of your customers whether day or night. They will be functioning for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You never have to worry about losing a customer.

Outsource e-commerce customer service to actually guarantee enriching conversations with customers. Since that is their sole function, they are able to handle every aspect of it quite efficiently. But, when you have too many things to worry about, you automatically become a little careless while solving your customers’ query or issue. Now, when running a business, you would never want your customers to feel that they are not important to you. This is where outsourcing plays a really important role and can be the difference between gaining customers and losing out on them.

Do you agree that outsourcing customer support offers loads of benefit to e-commerce businesses? Do you have any experiences that you would want other entrepreneurs to know about? Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions.

Did you know that improper deployment of Business Process Management (BPM) can jeopardize the efficiency of your business? Now, you wouldn’t want any potential setbacks hindering your chances of achieving your business objectives, would you?

After years of successful and not-so-successful experiences in process management, we have arrived at some of the best practices. By following the given fundamental principles, you will be able to better optimize returns for your company, delivery business results to end-users and satisfy the needs of the stakeholders of your organization.

So, take a look at the top 10 Business Process Management practices. Here we go…

1. You must build your model on how your business actually works

As with everything else, you need to establish a clear-cut starting point. You need to identify benchmarks for how people are currently performing to achieve the best results. Based on your findings, you need to model the process. It can either in the form of graphics or narrative. By establishing benchmarks that are actually based on measurable performances, it will be easier for you to create a workflow model. Once the model has been validated, you can then begin to apply improvements.

2. Start Small but think big

Instead of forcing changes on all the interconnected processes at once, your approach must be incremental. When you begin with an easily manageable, small project, you are going to be able to produce quantifiable results that will help pave the way for a wider implementation. Do remember that your first implementation is important, even though it is small. This is because the results achieved on your first implementation are going to make a huge difference to your organization. Not a single person is going to appreciate or be impressed if your very first application of Business Process Management fails to handle unimportant or useless tasks. So, the key is to start small and then take on more complex projects.

3.Don’t forget to involve all the project stakeholders in the development and testing

You must encourage as much participation and collaboration as possible between the developers and the consumers, through every step of the project. During the process modeling phase, it is important that you try to involve the people who have an in-depth knowledge of how exactly the process works and those who are responsible for the effective use of the process. The IT department is equipped with the capability of transforming the process model into a user application. They will also be able to connect the process application with all your existing systems.  Your consumers will be able to make use of the deployed applications. It is always wise to conduct a quick test during the development of the applications so that you can get hands-on feedback from users. These tests can really make a difference between the deployment of BPM that is adopted quickly and one that is abandoned quickly.

4. BPM Applications come in varied forms, you need to select the tools based on your specific needs

BMP implementations must answer the demands of the corporate IT, executive suite and end-users. This is why there are different forms of BMP applications that are specifically designed to suit the needs of different audiences. For instance, developers usually prefer open-source BPM solutions due to the transparency of the code while business executives need to track their business processes and lays emphasis on visibility, control, and efficiency. On the other hand, end-users just want something that is easy to use and simple. Individual needs, as well as, budget requirements need to be taken into consideration when selection BPM tools.

5.Select a champion for managing the implementation process

It is not mandatory that the champion has to come from management, you just need to appoint someone with a strong technical knowledge. The primary role of the champion is going to be supporting the choice of routines that need to be included in the BPM and to take necessary measures to overcome resistance to such changes. The champion is also going to be responsible for protecting the BPM implementation and the staff who are involved in the process from outside interferences.

6. Set milestones

In order to address the goals and scope of using BPM in your company, you need to develop a really robust business case for both short and long-term implementation of BPM. It needs to have planned milestones and an achievable deadline for each one of the phases. By simplifying the implementation plan into a series of measurable steps, you are going to minimize the risks and also make it easier to adopt.

7.Quickly provide results

The benefits of BPM implementation must quickly show up. You need to define the deliverables based on the results and it must be something that people can see or observe.

8.Promote collaborations

You need to make sure that there is an adequate participation and communication among all the stakeholders during implementation. The champions must closely work with everyone who is involved in order to prevent management disconnect problems. it is important that the management will able to fully understand the day-to-day issues that the workers face in the process.

9.Step-by-step measurement of the results

In order to find out if the new procedures are functioning properly or they need adjustments, you need to measure the results at every step. Analyze the type of data that you need to gauge and how much value has been added. You need to have well-placed means to collect data, such as KPIs (key performance indicators).

10.Make use of professional services, if necessary

When you are in need of better results and faster, you must take help from outside experts. The main advantage of using external consultants is basically the experience that they bring with them. In the case of software implementation, this is especially more important.

Process change is a journey and to achieve success, you need to pay equal attention to each and every step of the process.

What are the steps that you have taken for BPM implementation in your organization? Please feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions.

Call center outsourcing is a business practice in which a company contracts with a third-party service provider to handle its customer support and communication operations. Do you know that outsourcing call center services to developing countries are a recent development among some of the top companies in America and Europe?

Are you wondering what call center outsourcing exactly means? Well, it basically refers to contracting the call center services out. This can be done either in-house by creating a completely separate division within the company or given out to third-party companies specifically specializing in that function.

Dedicated call centers are adept at handling customer services problems from appliance warranties to credit card-related issues and more.

Do you know why call center outsourcing began? It all started when the big and well-established companies realized that it was far more cost-effective to simply locate call centers in areas where the cost of living is low. This way, the companies do not have to shell out an exorbitant amount to pay for their workers. Moreover, it helps if the call center is situated in an area that is not prone to a lot of natural disasters, interruption of services and enjoys a strong telecommunication network.

THE PROS OF OUTSOURCING CALL CENTER SERVICES IN INDIA

There are numerous benefits that companies benefit from outsourcing their call center services. If you are not convinced, take a look below at some of the advantages that are going to make you want to outsource your call center services.

Immense flexibility – By outsourcing call center activities, a company is able to gain more flexibility and be able to respond better to the changing needs. In case a business is moving into a brand new market or thinking of expanding their product offerings, it can often become a challenging task to estimate exactly how many call center employees need to be added or hired. If the expansion of business does not bring a lot of business or as much as is desired, the cost of the call center is still going to be fixed and have to be borne by the company. When the call center services are outsourced, the company will only have to pay for the time that the employees have actually spent on the phone and nothing more.

Opportunity to expand into the international markets – Are you a company looking to expand your business into the foreign markets? If yes, then you will have to establish a local call center that is staffed with people or employees fluent in speaking the local language of the country that you wish to expand your business in. Or, you can hire bilingual employees. However, then your cost of business is going to increase again. On the other hand, an outsourced call center will be able to manage that issue on the basis of as-needed.

Better focus on core strengths – Handling customer problems and issues is an extremely disruptive and difficult business function. This business function is going to be carried out a lot better in the capable hands of a professional company that has the competencies to handle such functions. This way, large companies will be able to put all their focus and emphasis on their core business.

CALL CENTER AGENCIES OFFER 24/7 SUPPORT TO CUSTOMERS 

– It is usually a daunting task and sometimes impossible to provide customer support for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week when the function is handled internally. However, since professional call centers already operate for 24/7, they are able to fulfill this requirement. By partnering up with a call center, businesses will be able to conveniently and easily stay connected with their customers all day and night. Customers are going to be extremely happy with such a service and a satisfied customer always means more business and sales.

Quick responsiveness – Having spikes in business is something that is common among all businesses across sectors and industries. For instance, during the holiday season, the sales for retailers increase manifold. At the same time, there are companies that lose business during the months of harsh winter. So, for every company, it is going to be absolutely difficult to train, recruit and then lay off the workers during the months that have high demand. By outsourcing to call centers in India, companies will be able to eliminate such risks. Call centers that specifically specialize in this area of expertise will be able to handle high demand months, as well as, lean periods effortlessly. 

• Impeccable customer service – The infrastructure of telecommunications can become unreliable, worn or outdated. Its proper maintenance can be very costly and replacing it can be even more. But, a company cannot continue working with an outdated system because that is going to reduce the competitive edge of the company. By outsourcing, a company is going to be able to fully focus on innovating its products and services, instead of constantly trying to stay updated with the latest call center technology.

Reduction of expensive capital expenditure – All the facilities and equipment needed to run the operation of a call center can be very expensive. Do you really want to invest so much of your money, when you can partner with a professional agency at cost-effective rates? The agency has already invested in the most advanced and latest technology and equipment required to run a call center operation. You can simply benefit from their investment and boost your business.

• Prompt access to highly specialized skills – The hiring process is never easy and it is always very long and expensive. Not to mention, the training process. But, by outsourcing your call center services, you will be able to immediately tap into an impressive and dynamic talent pool who are already trained and skilled in handling customer service operations. These skills are going to be easily available to you without any wage pressure or the headaches of the HR.

Gain a bigger consumer market – By providing your customers with excellent customer support, you can be sure that they are going to remain loyal to you. Also, you can expect that they are going to recommend your company or brand to everyone they know. A customers’ trust and reliability often increases when they receive prompt and instant response, as well as, resolution of their problem

At present, outsourcing is no longer only about cutting down costs and saving money. It is about enhancing the efficiency of the internal employees, maximizing the flexibility of the workforce, getting to the market faster than the competitors and gaining access to a group of extremely highly-qualified and talented employees.

The Cons of Outsourcing Call Center Services in India

There are pros and cons to everything and the same is with outsourcing call center services in India. One of the main reasons why an organization wants to keep its call center operations in-house is total control. This is particularly integral for companies for whom customer services serve as a competitive edge. In such case, the call center is going to be acting like a mode of connection with the end-users and the company must live up to its promise of an outstanding customer service experience.

Therefore, it is imperative that companies stay a little alert and careful when selecting a call center to represent them. If companies choose call center agencies that are too low-cost, they might run into the following problems:

• Communication problem – One of the biggest and rampant complaints regarding call center outsourcing was the comprehension of foreign accents. Although this complaint was higher in number during the beginning, it does not mean that it is non-existent. The problem was that the employees in the call centers could speak English, but the US customers were unable to understand what they were actually trying to say because of their accent.

This problem is not really something that cannot be solved. In fact, if companies just invested a little time in doing thorough research, reading the reviews and then making their decision, this issue can actually be completely eliminated. Also, you must remember that cost is not the only factor when it comes to deciding a call center agency. Yes, your focus must obviously be on cost-cutting, but not too much that you end up compromising on the quality of service. 

• A huge culture shock – The employees working in foreign call centers were not very familiar with the common phrases, slang and even geographical references that were used in the US. This lead to reducing the consumer’s trust in the expertise of the employees.

Again, this problem can also be solved if only you do your due diligence. If you correctly vet the agency that you are looking to partner with, you are not going to face such problems. There are several call center agencies in the developing countries in Asia, especially India. Some are absolutely impeccable and have a great track record of success to show for it. Before approaching them, know exactly what you want and require. This is going to make the selection process easier.

• Lack of product knowledge – Call center employees working far away from the base of the actual company might actually lack the in-depth knowledge about the products or services being offered by the company. In-house call center specialists usually have a better edge in this case because they can physically see and comprehend the offerings of the company that they work for. The lack of knowledge leads to decreased confidence in dealing and resolving a customer’s problem.

Thanks to advanced technology, it is possible today to offer a live demo of your products or services to anyone, sitting any part of the world. So, hopefully, you are not going to be faced with such major disadvantages that others have faced during their initial days of outsourcing their call center activities.

How does call center outsourcing affect the economy of the developed nations?

With the standard of living in developed countries around the world increased, especially the United States of America, many US companies thought it wise and cheaper to identify call centers overseas. Call centers in India, Canada, Ireland and the Philippines were the most sought-after choices. Not only was it cost-effective for the multi-national companies, but the workers already spoke excellent English.

But, when the US was hit by the recession and the costs started becoming low, the outsourcing trend started to become reversed.

Unlike outsourcing manufacturing, technology, and high-skill industries, there is actually a much smaller wage difference between call center workers in the US and the emerging or developing markets.

Due to increased wages in India and a really high unemployment rate in the US, call center workers were merely making fifteen per cent more than their counterparts in India.

What are the unintended consequences of outsourcing?

If you ask this question to economists, they would always unanimously tell you that outsourcing is a great business strategy and it helps to improve the efficiency, cut down costs and accelerate the process of development. But, as with any other business strategy, outsourcing also has its own set of limitations that can lead to negative consequences, if they are not addressed.

• Customer may not be satisfied with the service received.
• The business model can be replicated, which means you cannot get too comfortable.
• The costs of partnering with a call center agency may not be as less as you might have thought.

Business process outsource is One thing that all  people need to learn is – you cannot do it all!

Companies that overexert and try to achieve too much, lead to putting their resources under a lot of strain and ultimately, makes them less productive. For a business to thrive, it is important that a smooth and manageable workflow is maintained that helps in completing all the necessary tasks. So, the question is – how can you make better use of your time and resources? The solution is Business Process Outsourcing. This involves in the delegation of certain responsibilities to well-equipped firms. Here, take a look at the benefits offered by Indian outsourcing companies…

ROUND-THE-CLOCK BACKEND BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING: 

One of the biggest advantages of business process outsourcing is that you will be able to streamline a number of different business processes at once. In the past, you may have to conduct extensive training in-house for helping your workforce gain insight about new tasks. But, by outsourcing, you will be able to work with a qualified team of professionals who are already well-versed with all the tasks that need to be performed. This way, you can remove a huge chunk of time-consuming tasks from your internal structure.

ACCESS TO THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY OF PROCESS OUTSOURCE: 

Technology upgrades lead to an added expense for a lot of organizations across sectors. The cost of continuously updating software and hardware can be quite burdensome. But, it will no longer be necessary if you are outsourcing your tasks to an agency. BPO’s have access to all the cutting-edge tools and technology to complete your task. Therefore, you can expect increased productivity minus all the headache of you having to keep up with the ever-changing times.

Quick turnaround time

This is another lucrative advantage of BPO. You can increase the turnaround time for your consumers and scalability will never again be an issue. You are going to have instant access to a highly-skilled and experienced workforce who is going to take care of your business needs 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Irrespective of what your customer needs and demands are, your offshore team is going to be well-equipped to manage it all.

More time to concentrate on important business operations

Running a business is more than just rendering a service or selling a product. You will also be required to handle tasks that may not be directly related to your area of expertise. Data entry, quality assurance, and application processing are just a few of the things that businesses have to handle on a day-to-day basis. Such secondary tasks may end up diverting your attention from the processes that are crucial to your organization. By partnering with a business process outsourcing agency, you will be able to get back to the key operations of your business. These firms specialize in a wide array of supplementary tasks and will assist you in putting your entire focus on the primary responsibilities of your enterprise.

Gain expertise from skilled professionals

In order to make the most of your business’s potentials, you need to play to enhance your strengths. This means that tasks need to be very carefully delegated. For instance, your team of salespeople could do a lot more than simply filing documents on a system. You must not restrict them. You can outsource such assignments so that your workforce is able to reach their full potential by doing what they are trained to do. Outsourcing will not only free more time for your employees, but you are also going to have dedicated professionals handling all your secondary or supplementary tasks.

Save time and Money

Saving time may not necessarily mean money, but it refers to your company’s capacity to make money. When you choose to delegate your secondary tasks to well-known call center outsourcing firms, you will be saving yourself a lot of time to concentrate on other profit-making processes. Moreover, outsourcing companies do not charge as much as the cost of maintaining a full-time team. So, you are going to also be able to reduce overhead costs while enhancing your revenue.

Risks analysis

Business risk alleviation is another great advantage offered by BPO service providers. A part of the business responsibilities and risks are going to be shared with the BPO providers. Since they are highly-skilled and specialize in this field, they are able to quickly analyze the risks involved and accordingly plan strategies and procedures to be able to lessen them.

Flexible services that cater to the changing needs of the customers

Customers’ requirements and needs are constantly changing and so are business processes and models. At present, the craze is with online shopping and since e-commerce is a relatively newer model of business, there is still ample scope for improvement. If you are running a business, you will not be able to constantly focus on your product offerings and other primary functions, if you also have to keep an eye out for the changing trends. This burden is reduced by outsourcing. BPOs are known for their flexibility and ability to always cater to the needs of the customers. That is not all. They can even help you with consolidations, joint ventures and support company acquisitions.

The advantages of outsourcing your business processes are endless. Whether you are a start-up or a large enterprise, you can hugely gain from the expertise, experience, and knowledge that business process outsourcing companies have to offer.

However, it is important that you do your thorough research to find out the nature of services offered by different service providers. Your choice of BPO must meet your specific business needs and objectives.

What is your opinion about business process outsourcing? Do you think that businesses should keep all their processes in-house or they should outsource? Do you have any experience or tips that you would like to share? Please feel free to provide your suggestions in the comment below so that interested companies are able to make an informed decision.

Do you want to focus on your business’s core competencies? In the face of strife competition, it is a wise decision to outsource your company’s non-core work.

Over the years, call center operations have evolved to become one of the most critical components of a business strategy for organizations across the globe. So, it is important that you carefully choose the country for outsourcing your call center services and since the last 90s, India has proved itself a suitable match for the challenge.

Want to know the key reasons why call center outsourcing to India can be beneficial for your business? Here we go.

Round-the-clock support for your business

If you have business operations and consumers outside of your time zone, it makes perfect sense to outsource your call center services. With a twelve hour time difference, India makes for the best possible call center outsourcing destination and they can offer full after hour support for many North American and European businesses. For many businesses, providing 24/7 call center services in-house is not really a realistic choice. By outsourcing all your call center services to India, you will be able to offer support to your customers no matter day or night across the globe.

Highly-skilled and educated workforce

Indian universities have a stellar reputation for churning out a highly-educated workforce. On an average, India produces approximately 2 million English speaking graduates and 75,000 IT graduates in a year. This gives India a unique advantage over other call center outsourcing destinations in the world. This country offers an extremely high-quality workforce who are well-versed with the English language. In fact, French, Spanish and German languages are also becoming popular in India. Furthermore, the presence of a massive workforce definitely works in favor of the diverse IT outsourcing enterprises.

Experienced outsourcing destination

India continues to be one of the primary destinations for outsourcing multi-location sourcing strategies. For more than 20 years, India has proved to be an invaluable call center outsourcing destination. The country boasts of vast experience and expertise in this domain that can certainly boost your business. In addition to providing high-quality call center services, India is also capable of managing complex analytical services in the form of engineering, research, and product development.

Offers better pricing flexibility

In India, you can significantly cut down on the cost of labor because this country boasts of an abundance of the highly-skilled workforce at an affordable price. The country is extremely flexible when it comes to pricing and can help you in managing your company’s budget better.

Outsourcing to India is not complicated

Outsourcing your call center services to India is as simple as finding a reliable Indian service provider and signing a contract. However, before signing the contract, you need to have specific goals and requirements in mind and make sure that the service provider you choose is able to cater to your exact needs. You must clearly define your deadlines and deliverables to avoid any confusion later.

Assist you in determining the appropriate level of staff

Maintaining proper staff levels to meet the needs of your business is a tedious task and if you want to achieve success, you need to meet the needs of varied business activity. But, the problem is that if you have too less staff, you might not be able to meet the needs during increased business activity; and if you have too many staff, you run the risk of too much investment. However, by hiring an external team, you will be able to adjust to the fluctuating needs of your business. If your business activity increases, you can continue adding more bandwidth by outsourcing operations to India.

Assists in bringing down the operating costs

Did you know that you can bring your operating costs down by outsourcing your call center operations? Setting up in-house call center services will require you to invest considerably in infrastructure, equipment, facilities, overheads, staff and so on. On the other hand, by outsourcing call center services in India, you will be able to bring down your overall operating costs (approximately 50% or more). You can also forget about HR-related headaches and such other problems.

Provides opportunities for businesses to be more scalable

Business is often unpredictable with its own slow seasons and peak and you may not always have the right number of employees with the skills to handle your current workload. When it is about handling impossible or unpredictable situations, the diverse skill-set found in India will certainly help your business deliver results and reach great heights of success. Irrespective of your business requiring less or more resources, outsourcing can help provide your company with a certain degree of scalability.

India offers stability and attractive IT policies

India makes for the ideal outsourcing destination because it is supported by a stable pro-IT government whose policies on GDP growth, economy, power, taxation, industrial parks, telecom and special zones that have been extremely helpful in improving infrastructure, along with communication systems. In India, IT is regarded as one of the top five priority industries and the policies framed by the government are aimed at obtaining the maximum benefit from IT outsourcing.

The country is in midst of a digital revolution

At present, India is in the middle of a digital wave and with it, the government hopes to connect the entire country with robust IT infrastructure. Digitization is expected to help several tier II and tier III locations offer call center outsourcing services at lower costs than the tier I locations.

So, what are you still waiting for? Outsource your call center services to India and avail all the above-mentioned benefits.

What is your opinion on outsourcing call center services to India? Do you think India has what it takes to handle the business requirements of the Western countries? Where do you prefer outsourcing? Please feel free to share your suggestions and thoughts in the comments below.

Outsourcing has gained widespread popularity as companies expand and their requirements become increasingly specialized, making it challenging to find suitable talent within the domestic labor market. Presently, outsourcing stands as one of the most proven and efficient models for achieving profitable business operations. Lately, there has been so much of buzz around every second company wanting to outsource their business processes to third-party companies. But, do you know what exactly outsourcing means?

WHAT IS OUTSOURCING ?

 Outsourcing or BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) is basically a process where an organization hires another company or individual to handle the business activities on behalf of them. You can choose to either hire domestically or internationally. Outsourcing has grown to become a very common business practice that enables businesses, especially small and medium companies, gain skills and services that they would normally find difficult to develop because they may either be financially weak or have some sort of manpower restrictions. It may also be the combination of both. Time and again, outsourcing has proved very profitable for companies of varied size. For organizations that want to grow their business when they want to without any such major investment, outsourcing is the best solution.

However, there are various other motivations behind a company’s decision to opt for outsourcing, including:

1. Accelerated Growth: When a company experiences rapid growth that surpasses its internal workforce capacity, it can opt to enlist a skilled team from an outsourcing provider. This allows for on-demand deployment of resources across different operational areas, ensuring smooth business operations without disruptions.
2. Short-Term Projects: Some companies may have processes or projects with limited duration, making it more cost-effective to hire temporary teams to handle specific tasks. In cases where a company introduces new processes, outsourcing the work to trained professionals becomes a prudent alternative to the investments in time, money, and resources required for in-house training and maintenance.
3. Risk Mitigation and Regulatory Shift: Companies sometimes turn to outsourcing to mitigate risks or transfer certain regulatory responsibilities to third-party providers. This strategic move helps companies navigate complex compliance requirements and reduce potential liabilities.

Want to know more about BPO outsourcing? It can allow you to lay emphasis on the core competencies of your business, enhance efficiency and cut down costs. You can do all this and more without any hassle.

Through the years, business owners have begun to realize the many reasons why big or small businesses prefer to outsource various functions and jobs.

Take a look below to become privy with some of the compelling reasons why you should think about outsourcing too. Here we go…

CALL CENTER OUTSOURCING SERVICES IN INDIA

Call center outsourcing services in India have gained international acclaim for their exceptional value proposition to businesses worldwide. India has emerged as a preferred destination for outsourcing due to several compelling reasons.

Firstly, cost-effectiveness is a hallmark of Indian call centers. The relatively lower labor costs allow businesses to maximize their operational efficiency while maintaining high service standards.

Secondly, India boasts a vast pool of skilled professionals proficient in English and other languages, facilitating seamless communication with global customers. The linguistic versatility of Indian agents is a significant advantage for companies catering to diverse markets.

Moreover, Indian call centers are renowned for their 24/7 operations, ensuring round-the-clock customer support tailored to different time zones. This accessibility is particularly crucial for international clients.

India’s robust technological infrastructure, including cutting-edge communication systems and IT support, ensures the reliability and efficiency of call center operations.

The spectrum of services offered by Indian call centers is diverse, encompassing inbound and outbound customer support, technical assistance, telemarketing, lead generation, and more, serving various industry sectors.

Furthermore, India prioritizes quality assurance through comprehensive training, constant monitoring, and adherence to global quality standards like ISO.

In terms of scalability, the Indian outsourcing industry is exceptionally flexible, accommodating fluctuations in customer demand as businesses evolve.

Lastly, Indian call center agents are trained in cultural sensitivity, enabling them to understand and respect the cultural intricacies of clients’ target markets.

In summary, India’s call center outsourcing services offer a strategic advantage for businesses seeking to enhance customer service, expand their global footprint, and optimize operational costs.

More availability of resources for carrying out core business processes :

One of the biggest benefits of outsourcing is savings. Businesses are able to free up a considerable amount of the company’s funds that they can make better use of to manage other important functions and processes of the business. If you really want to take your company to the next level, you need to significantly invest in new equipment, brand new advertising campaign, renovating the facilities by integrating state-of-the-art technologies, researching and gathering intel on brand new products or services and more. By having ample capital to strengthen the other processes of your business, you will be able to stand out from your competition.

Lower cost of wages

Without a doubt, one of the most important and powerful reasons that companies prefer to outsource is financial. As mentioned before, you will be able to save up on a lot of resources. But, that’s not all. You will also be saving significantly by not having to invest in expensive recruitment and training process. If you think practically, it costs a lot less to pay for the wages of employees from a foreign or offshore country than to pay for employees of one’s own country, especially if you are outsourcing to the developing nations, such as Singapore and India. Also, you do not have to invest your time and money in conducting really long and thorough hiring processes. The companies you decide to outsource operations to will already have everything in place.

Access to world-class capabilities

BPO service providers work with a team of highly-skilled, experienced and talented professionals who have the knowledge and expertise required to successfully carryout the tasks assigned to them. They do not need any special or extra training to understand your needs and deliver you measurable results. Since this is what they are recruited for, they will be able to handle all your business needs effectively and with great competency. With access to such a talented team, you will never have to worry about a part of running your business. You can simply let the BPO service provider know about your specific requirements. In most cases, BPOs provide bespoke packages and solutions so that you can gain complete peace of mind.

Furthermore, BPOs will be able to provide you with skilled and highly educated people who have individualized skill-sets. No matter what process you wish to outsource, BPOs are going to have the right people for completing the job. You can be sure that your processes are going to be taken care of by experts.

A company to share risks with

Launching a new product or service is always a gamble. It can either be a huge hit or a big flop. Now, if you have hired contracted or salaried employees, you will have to pay them their wages, no matter what. This means that you will have to spend a lot of money, even if the new products or services do not bring you any profit. However, if you choose to outsource, the risk is going to minimize or be completely eliminated. You do not have to worry about paying wages and you can always ask the outsourcing service provider to discontinue, whenever you want.

 Free up time for the internal team to concentrate on what they do best

If employees with a particular set of skills are given the freedom to do what they are capable of or what they have taken professional training in, it is going to boost productivity at work. Eventually, better productivity is going to help the company to grow and achieve success.

So, now that you know the top 5 reasons why companies prefer to outsource some of their business functions and operations, what have you decided? And don’t worry, these are not the only reasons why outsourcing is good for the health and success of your business. There are also several other reasons, such as faster turnaround time, tax benefits, faster time to capture the market, elimination of uncertainty about business or political climate, better results in less time, contractual certainty and so on. As you begin to work with a BPO, you will be able to unlock numerous opportunities and advantages for your business.

Have you ever worked with an outsourcing service provider? Which country do you prefer to work with? Do you have any tips for new businesses owners who are still on the fence with the whole outsourcing topic? If you ha

Did you know that analyzing KPIs for call centers is important when evaluating its efficiency and effectiveness? You might be aware of that. But, do you know exactly which KPIs you need to track over time and measure to track for success? Given below are 11 of the top KPIs that you need to track to assess the excellence of call center.

Here we go…

Average time spent by callers in queue

Do you like waiting in a queue? Well, nobody does! This is the reason why you need to make sure that the waiting time for your callers is within a range that is acceptable. For complete customer satisfaction, it is imperative that you keep track of the average time that your callers spend on the queue. This can be calculated by dividing the time of the callers in the queue with the total number of answered calls by the agents. This KPI is a great indicator of whether your team is offering callers the service they deserve or not.

Percentage of calls that are blocked

A call center key performance indicator that has a major impact on customer satisfaction is the number or percentage of calls that are being blocked. This is basically the percentage of inbound callers who are receiving the busy tone when they are calling. This may be caused by any one of the following reasons:

• There are no agents who are available and the call queues are not configured or it could be that the call queues are full. This may lead to the callers’ hearing a busy tone when they call or they may be routed to a voicemail.
• The software of the call center is unable to properly handle the volume of the callers.
  This is one such KPI that should never be ignored because even one blocked call can actually be a missed opportunity to connect with a prospective customer or client.
  Level of service received by callers
  level of service is basically the percentage of calls that are answered within a specific number of seconds. This KPI for the call center is exhibited in real time to managers, as well as, agents in the dashboard of the call center software metrics. This helps in making data-driven decisions that are going to influence the KPI to remain within a range that is acceptable.
• Average rate of abandonment
  abandonment of call refers to the percentage of callers who hang up even before they reach an agent. This is a very common occurrence in a call center and leads to damaging effects on the customer retention ability of a call center. Therefore, it is important that customer-centric call center services keep track of this key performance indicator and ensure that it continues to remain below the targeted threshold.

• General speed of answering calls

  The average time taken for calls to be answered is calculated as the average speed for answering calls. This also includes the time that a caller has to spend waiting in the queue while the phone of the agent rings. However, this does not include the time that is taken for navigating through the IVR. This KPI is generally referenced by the managers when they are analyzing the efficiency of their team and trying to assess the level of accessibility that they have to their callers.

• Average time taken to handle issues

  This refers to the elapsed time and it includes the time from when an agent answers a call till the call has been disconnected. This is one of the most important KPIs that need to be analyzed because it is directly related to the satisfaction of customers. If the query or problem of a customer has been successfully solved quickly, it means that the customer is happy and likely to recommend the services.

• Resolution of Customer’s issues in the first call
  first call resolution is a KPI that is again related directly to customer satisfaction. And it is very easy to see why! This is the percentage of calls that an agent is able to address completely without having to transfer the needs of the callers or returning their calls. Resolving any issue on the first call is imperative because that can seriously affect the satisfaction of a customer. This is one KPI that should be measured and tracked without fail. Level of customer satisfaction

This is a KPI that can be obtained from different sources. The level of customer satisfaction can be acquired by conducting surveys and quality assurance measurements. Irrespective of the methodology uses, it is one KPI that must be taken into consideration to keep track of a call center’s excellence.

Absenteeism rate of agent

One thing that has a major impact on the functioning of a call center is the number of days in a year that is lost due to the agents being absent. This can actually lead to influencing the staffing, scheduling and bottom line of the call center. If you want to develop a budget or optimize the workforce, this KPI can certainly help you achieve your goals.

• Rate of occupancy

  This refers to the time spent by agents on live calls, along with completing other tasks associated with the calls. Even though most managers of a call center strive to optimize the occupancy rates, they also need to be aware of the workload of the agents, along with the level of stress when setting targets for call center KPI.

  Rate of agent turnover

  The final KPI is to track the rate of agent turnover. This is the percentage of the agents who leave the call center. This can significantly lead to affecting the level of customer satisfaction, team morale and call center scheduling. Hence, it must be included in the list of metrics to be tracked with time.
  What, according to you, are the metrics that a call center must analyze and track for success? Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinion in the comments below.