“Customer service shouldn’t just be a department; it should be the entire company” – Tony Hsieh (CEO, Zappos).
Creating and maintaining closer customer relationships is the cornerstone of the financially sound and sustainable business of the 21st century. In today’s dynamic marketplace, modern consumers have a vast desire for a personalized product, swift solving problems, and round-the-clock available customer support.
And what happened with those who can not respond to those requests? In this competitive landscape, companies that fail to meet these expectations risk being overtaken by the leading market player.
Let’s explore how outsourcing a customer support center can empower your business and increase customer satisfaction.
Table Of Contents
- What does it mean to Outsource Customer Services for your Business?
- What do you need to know before hiring Customer Service Providers?
- Pros of Outsourcing Customer Service in 2023
- Cons of Outsourcing Customer Services in 2023
- In-house vs. Outsourced Customer Service?
- How much does it cost to hire a Customer Support Center in 2023?
- 7. Conclusion
- FAQ
What does it mean to Outsource Customer Service for your Business?
Customer Service Outsourcing is a business model in which the outer side manages its customer service on behalf of one company. The external side fully communicates with customers through phone calls, e-mails, live chats, tech support, staffing, etc.
The following results highlight the crucial role of good customer service:
48% of customers believe great customer service is more important than price.
82% of customers trust a company or brand more if they provide an excellent customer service experience.
In a vast sea of similar products, capturing the customer’s attention when standing out from the crowd becomes essential. The accurate measure of success lies not only in completing a purchase but in creating a foundation for repeat business, and this can only be achieved by establishing closer relations with customers who will eventually become loyal to your brand.
In the early stages of business development, maintaining close contact with clients and quickly resolving any issues is easily possible, but it is also an opportunity for growth. But with growth, it is necessary to delegate responsibilities to other team members is necessary to maintain business continuity.
By delegating tasks to different team members and distributing the workload, your company can efficiently handle customer demands while ensuring a consistently high level of service, and that is exactly what outsourcing does.
What do you need to know before hiring a Customer Service Providers in 2023?
Studies show that 68% of consumers are ready to pay more for services and products from a company that delivers a better customer service experience.
Pros of Outsourcing Customer Services
Outsourcing customer service center has a lot of pros. Let’s check a few of them:
- Access to Expertise: Outsourcing customer service center allows you to work with specialists in delivering exceptional support. They bring to your team new energy, experience, tools, and industry knowledge to help you achieve better key performance indicators.
- Scalability & Flexibility: Customer service providers know how to adapt to different conditions and quickly navigate potential risks. This proactive business will lead to greater scalability and faster conversion of potential clients.
- Cost & Time Savings: Outsourcing can often lead to significant cost and time savings compared with an in-house customer service team. This way, you will avoid costs like recruiting, training, managing, etc. In today’s fast-paced world, time is the most precious resource. When you work with experts like outsourcing agents, you will learn to manage time effectively and ensure you meet all tasks on time.
- Multilingual Support: In most cases, customer service providers, besides English, offer many other languages. It’s an excellent opportunity to expand your business and enter the global market.
- Access to Advanced Technology: Customer service providers who keep up with the latest trends often invest in cutting-edge technology and tools to streamline operations and improve efficiency. With 0 investment, you will have access to the best technology and quality tools.
- Expanded Service Hours: In-house customer service centers usually work eight hours per day, but outsourcing agents offer expanded service hours or even round-the-clock support. This ensures that your customer receives quality service no matter where they are.
Incorporating this model into your business operations offers a multitude of advantages. It conserves valuable time and resources and cultivates the efficient functioning of all teams with minimal disruptions and errors. Moreover, it’s highly adaptable to your specific needs, providing you with the essential expertise to scale your business and expedite its growth.
We suggest you read our blog, “Benefits of Outsourcing Customer Service,” where we delve deeply into this transformative topic.
Cons of Outsourcing Customer Services
Like any business model, this one has its cons. In the following text, we will analyze the shortcomings that have the most significant impact on the further operations of the company.
- Potential Lacks of Brand Knowledge:
One of the main disadvantages of outsourcing some services is a lack of knowledge of the values and culture that the brand stands for. Fortunately, this problem can be solved with adequate communication, comprehensive onboarding, and constant cooperation with the company.
- Loss of Direct Customer Relationships:
When the customer service center is outsourced, there is a risk of losing direct relationships with customers, but like the previously mentioned problem, it can also be solved with an onboarding process and good communication between the company and the outsources team.
- Security and Privacy Concerns:
2023 is a year of great challenges and changes for companies. It is difficult to trust someone and give access to essential data that can directly threaten your business. Before outsourcing customer support, you should establish a strong relationship and nurture one built on trust and understanding with your potential outsourcing partner.
- Quality and consistency issues:
Providing effective customer service can be challenging, especially in 2023. Choosing a reliable partner who shares your vision and will support your business growth is crucial. - Potential Communication Challenges:
When the customer support center is outsourced to another location, there are often communication barriers, especially regarding different cultures and languages. All of this can lead to miscommunication with the core team and customers.
- Potential Loss of Company Knowledge:
Outsourced agents may not have the same level of parity with your products, services, and other internal processes. All of this can impact on providing accurate information, comprehensive support, and quality of your service.
Each business model has its pros and cons, and it is necessary to adapt it to the nature of your business. Before starting work, comprehensive training is necessary for the outsourced agent to understand your organization, its culture, and the values it stands for.
This training ensures that team members fully “live” your company culture, allowing them to integrate with your existing workforce and deliver exceptional customer service experiences.
In-house vs Outsourced Customer Service?
The answer depends on the nature of your business and many external circumstances. For small family businesses engaging in local retail, an in-house team should be the better decision.
However, for businesses targeting a broad audience and aiming for the global market.
In general, hiring customer support is a good option for the following types of businesses:
Startups: Often have limited resources and need to be able to squander their limited budget. Also, they should allocate limited resources effectively and focus on developing a business idea. Hiring an in-house software team would be more cost-challenging.
E-commerce Businesses: Outsourcing is a familiar practice for this type of business. They are accustomed to working with remote or external software providers because it’s easier, budget-friendly, and more efficient in terms of customer service.
Companies with Seasonal Peaks: Companies facing seasonal fluctuations can gain better leverage working with outsourcing software providers. By hiring an in-house team, they will face huge labor costs throughout the year, regardless of the season.
Businesses Expanding into New Markets: The decision to enter the global market requires understanding the various market demands and adapting to them, starting from the appearance and composition of products to the way of providing services. Working with outsourcing customer support centers with specialized software capabilities, you can easily accomplish this.
How much does it cost to hire Customer Support Center in 2023?
The answer depends on the nature of your business and many external circumstances. However, outsourcing, especially for customer service, is often more cost-effective than establishing an in-house team.
How is it possible? One of the key reasons for the cost advantage of outsourcing, especially in customer service, is the elimination of various costs related to hiring and managing an in-house team.
Working with an outsourcing agent for customer service, you will not have costs like recruiting, training, organizing, equipping the workspace, and many others.
If you are interested in this topic more deeply. In that case, we suggest you read our blog “How Much Does it Cost to Outsource Customer Service?”.
Conclusion
In conclusion, HR outsourcing has emerged as a strategic approach that empowers organizations to optimize their HR functions, reduce costs, and enhance overall efficiency. The seven reasons discussed in this article highlight the undeniable benefits of outsourcing HR in 2023: cost efficiency, access to expertise, enhanced focus on core competencies, scalability, regulatory compliance, technology advancements, and risk management.
In today’s competitive business conditions, customer service plays a leading role in creating a better consumer experience and creating loyalty relations with customers, which will lead to good positioning on the market and long-term business.
The main characteristics of strong brands are:
- STRONG RELATIONS WITH THE AUDIENCE
- INNOVATION
- FLEXIBILITY
- PROACTIVE THINKING
By enhancing these characteristics, brands establish strong differentiation and recognition in the market. Customers choose brands that truly care about their needs consistently deliver innovative solutions, adapt to changing times, and demonstrate a proactive approach.
Building a strong brand identity requires building good relationships with the target audience, flexibility, and encouraging innovation that will contribute to always being one step ahead of the competition.
How to Outsource Your Customer Services?
Everything begins with the client’s idea. Our partnership will start by scheduling a call with you to understand your business requirements and goals.
Client’s Idea
Our partnership will start by scheduling a call with you to understand your business requirements and goals. Based on all the information, we will prepare a customized proposal with a scope of work, pricing, and other relevant details. The proposal will also highlight the benefits of outsourcing digital marketing positions, such as access to a more incredible talent pool and efficacy in executing your projects while being cost-friendly.
Setting up the right team
Once we sign the Agreement, our HR department will start with the screening and recruitment process, so we can set up a team of marketing experts to work on your project. Once we get a pool of qualified candidates, we will present them to you for review. You would be able to interview and evaluate the candidates in the last round to determine if they are a good fit for your business.
Facilitating and onboarding
Once you get your dedicated Belgrade team who works exclusively for you, we will start the onboarding process. This would include setting up their office and workspace, providing necessary equipment or tools, and ensuring they receive the required training.
Execution
The marketing team will execute the project as per the agreed-upon SLA. The team will use various methods to generate leads, including email marketing, social media outreach, cold calling content creation, running PPC campaigns, etc. We are keeping up to date with all the necessary information quickly since you have a designated project manager explicitly working for your business/project.
Maintenance and training
We will provide comprehensive training for the newly recruited marketing team. This training will include product knowledge, sales techniques, and other relevant skills. We will ensure that your freshly established marketing team is equipped with the tools and resources necessary to succeed in the industry in which you operate.
Managing and reporting
As mentioned, each project has from our side project manager who ensures everything runs smoothly in the office. He is your single point of contact, overseeing the project, so you can rest assured that all your requirements will be met and you will receive regular updates on the progress of your project.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What does it mean to Outsource Customer Service Center?
Customer Service 0utsourcing Center refers to the strategic decision made by a company to delegate the responsibility of managing customer inquiries, support, and related services to a specialized outsourced service provider.
This involves entrusting the outsourced provider with the task of delivering timely and efficient assistance to customers, ensuring their satisfaction, and maintaining positive relationships.
Why Should You Outsource Customer Service in 2023?
By outsourcing customer service, you can shift your focus from essential tasks to business development while ensuring reliable and knowledgeable customer support to enhance your sales funnel and business potential.
What are the pros of Outsourcing Customer Services?
Outsourcing customer service has a lot of benefits, some of them are:
Access to Expertise
Scalability & Flexibility,
Cost Savings,
Multilingual Support,
Access to Advanced Technology
Expanded Service Hours
What are the cons of Outsourcing Customer Service?
The disadvantages of outsourcing customer support:
Potential Lack of Brand Knowledge,
Loss of Direct Customer Relationships,
Security and Privacy Concerns,
Quality and consistency issues,
Potential Communication Challenges
Potential Loss of Company Knowledge
Should you have in-house or outsourced Customer Services in 2023?
The decision between an in-house Customer Support team and outsourcing depends on your business’s specific needs and nature.
For small family companies engaging in the local retail in-house team should be the better decision.
But, outsourcing becomes a crucial factor in achieving success for companies targeting a broad audience and aiming for the global market, outsourcing becomes a crucial factor in achieving success.
How long is it optimal to sign a contract with an outsourcing partner?
The duration of the contract depends on the nature of your business. Generally speaking, the first results of cooperation are visible after a year at least.
How to Outsource Customer Services in 2023?
It all starts with your idea. Our team supports and teaches you how to best develop and implement your idea in your business. Our task is to help you in the recruitment and selection process by finding the right candidates, providing training, and managing them effectively.
Before we begin, we suggest you schedule a consultation with our team, who will provide you with the necessary guidance and answer any questions you may have. After agreeing on all terms of cooperation, we sign the contract and start working.
