In today’s rapidly changing marketplace, business executives often have to make tough choices when it comes to customer support strategy. One of the biggest decisions they may have to make is whether to outsource customer support or keep it in-house.
Of course, there are advantages to both paths. For instance, an in-house solution allows for closer management of day to day support processes, and some small businesses don’t really need an expanded workforce to handle customer issues.
However, there are many compelling reasons why you should consider outsourced customer support as the superior option. This article will discuss 7 key factors to take into account when deciding on a customer support solution that will work for your company. Let’s dive in!
1. Cost-Effectiveness
Many businesses have found that outsourcing customer care operations to a third party vendor saves them a significant amount of money each year. If you think about it, it only makes sense that this would be the case. Outsourced customer support vendors already have:
- The necessary infrastructure to handle most, if not all customer support needs from a given client
- The trained personnel on hand to provide adequate coverage
- The streamlined processes to maximize efficiency without trial and error
Implementing an in-house solution would likely require a big investment in time, money and resources — whereas going with the outsourced option avoids those huge costs.
2. Enhanced Scalability
Along with cost-effectiveness, outsourced customer support offers the ability to quickly scale your operations according to current and projected business needs.
For example, imagine that a company’s call volume is projected to increase by 50% during peak season. If the company is committed to an in-house solution, what options to meet this need would realistically be available?
- The company could maintain the current size of its customer support workforce, and risk frustrating and alienating its consumer base, or…
- The company could hire more staff and expand their infrastructure, incurring heavy costs in the process.
With an outsourced solution in play, you wouldn’t have to worry about scaling support operations on your own. A third party vendor, with all the necessary resources and experience, would do the heavy lifting for you.
3. A Highly Specialized Workforce
Training is a key component to any successful customer support strategy. Agents must have the technical expertise to navigate company software and deliver effective solutions to the customer. At the same time, they must follow best practices in customer service to provide an exceptional experience — one that will keep the customer loyal to the organization.
Training customer service agents in specialized technology requires a massive investment from their employer. If you decide to go this route in-house, you may have to deal with major growing pains, not to mention serious distractions from your company’s core mission. On the other hand, outsourcing technical support allows you to gain the benefits of a highly specialized workforce without having to pay the upfront costs. That’s a big win for your business!
4. Access to Best-in-Class Technology and Processes
Reputable outsourced customer support vendors understand the importance of meeting (and even exceeding) customer expectations. For example, studies have shown that almost 60% of customers that call into support centers are not willing to wait on hold for longer than one minute. Therefore, a world-class customer support vendor ensures that processes are in place to reduce average wait time (AWT), such as the presence of dedicated QA auditors that coach agents on how to minimize “dead time” between calls.
In addition, the vendor will leverage best-in-class technology to maximize operational efficiency, like intuitive data capture software to record salient information from each call. Vendors that synergize functional technology and efficient processes in these and other ways can offer their clients an unmatched customer support solution.
5. Ability to Focus on Core Competencies
No matter what industry you’re in, your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Nevertheless, customer support may not be one of the core competencies of your company. For example, manufacturing firms specialize in manufacturing, not in resolving customer complaints.
The beauty of an outsourced customer support solution is that you can maintain your focus on what your company does best, without sacrificing customer satisfaction in the process. Even better, this can happen without a huge upfront investment of resources!
6. Increased Revenue
Customer experience is the next major battleground of the corporate world. Research shows that out of the companies that work hard to improve their customer experience, 84% report increased revenue as a result of their efforts. Conversely, businesses that ignore or neglect customer experience are lagging behind their competitors.
The truth is, many customers focus on how a company treats them as the main determinant in whether to purchase from that business in the future, as opposed to product quality or even pricing. If you want your company to earn higher profits, then you must give customer support its rightful due. In fact, an experienced outsourcing provider can turn your customer support from a cost center into a profit center.
7. Increased Customer Loyalty
When you partner with customer support experts, you’ll also engender a higher degree of loyalty within your consumer base. For instance, a classic Harvard Business Review study found that Customer Effort Score (CES) is the strongest predictor of future customer behavior. In other words, the easier a transaction is for a customer, the more likely he or she will give the company repeat business.
By leveraging outsourced support to eliminate key points of friction in customer interactions, you’ll build trust and confidence in your users. In turn, you’ll find yourself with a more loyal customer base, and a higher volume of repeat transactions.
It’s true that there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to an outsourced customer support solution. However, with the right partner by your side, you’ll be able to reap major benefits from going this route. At GlowTouch, we’ve built our reputation on offering world-class customer support outsourcing solutions to a wide range of clients. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you reach your business goals, reach out to us today.
