08.29.2023 Jonathan Kirkland
Are you looking to outsource your customer service program to a strategic partner?
If you’ve outsourced any of your business functions before, then you’ll know just how important a seamless plan is to the success of that partnership.
Just like any outsourced partnership, launching a new outsourced customer service program is a science. The smoother the launch and the more strategic the plan, the higher ROI your business will realize as a result.
That’s why, in this blog, we take a look at four crucial steps to the launch of any success outsourced contact center. We hope this helps your business achieve superior customer service results!
Before we get into that, however, let’s first take a quick recap of what a BPO contact center actually is, and how your organization can benefit from outsourcing its customer service program to a third-party expert.
What is a BPO contact center?
Business process outsourcing (BPO) is the process of delegating non-core business activities to a third-party BPO vendor. By outsourcing these activities to an expert partner, your business is able to focus on core business operations.
A contact center BPO is a way for your organization to outsource your entire customer service strategy. That means outbound and inbound call handling, omnichannel support, customer experience advice, help desk services and much more.
Through specialized technologies, highly-skilled (and trained) customer service representatives and customer experience tactics, an outsourced contact center focuses on improving your internal efficiencies, reducing customer service costs and improving customer satisfaction.
What are the benefits of contact center outsourcing?
When you partner with the right outsourced call center, the BPO will be able to implement and maintain a customer service program that enhances the customer experience and saves your business money.
The result? Your company’s customer base becomes highly satisfied, incredibly loyal and advocates of your brand - driving up your profits.
Here are just a few of the key benefits your business can realize when it partners with an outsourced call center:
- You’ll save money on the extensives resources, expertise and technologies you’d need to invest in for successful in-house customer service.
- You’ll have access to innovative customer service technology and expert advice.
- You can scale up or down seamlessly, depending on seasonal demand.
- You can offer 24/7 omnichannel support that dramatically enhances the customer experience.
- Your employees will have more time to focus on the core competencies that truly drive business growth.
Interested in learning more? You can read about the complete pros and cons of working with an outsourced contact center on our blog, What are the Pros and Cons of Contact Center Outsourcing?
How to successful partner with an outsourced contact center
- Create an RFP
When outsourcing, selecting the right partner is crucial. You want to make sure the third-party that you are working with aligns perfectly with your organization’s goals and company culture.
The best way to do just that, and set your partnership up for success, is through an RFP process. You can discover the importance of an RFP and how to build one in our blog, How to Create the Ultimate Contact Center RFP.
- Plan a structures launch of your contact center partnership
The launch of any new process, technology or strategy requires a carefully considered implementation to be successful. The stress and difficulty of any new launch is significantly reduced when you have a strategic plan in place.
Create a structured plan that identifies deliverables, program owners, timelines and KPIs. This will ensure both your organization and your outsourced contact center are working closely together to achieve the same results.
- Develop two-way communication
For any smooth outsourcing partnership, frequent, clear and transparent communications between the leadership of both organizations is crucial. Your company should know exactly what your call center is working on, and your outsourced contact center should be kept updated of any new organizational goals or changes within your service.
The more your outsourced contact center knows about your business, the better service they can provide to your customers.
- Continuously monitor your vendor’s results
The best way to maintain the quality of your customer service operations is to consistently monitor the results achieved by your outsourced contact center. This is often focused on KPIs such as call volume, average handle time, average time in queue and first call resolution.
Data on how your vendor is performing will give both your business and the outsourced contact center actionable insights into how to grow and improve your partnership moving forward.
Interested in learning more about outsourcing your customer service program to a contact center? Get in touch with Advantage Communications today. We would love to help.
