5 Lesser-Known Solutions Provided by BPO Companies
Like any industry, the global business services sector, and in particular the operation of outsourced customer services is a far more diverse and interesting topic than the so-called outside world might think at first glance. There are many people who know what such a company does, how it works, what its core services are, and how it operates. More and more people know nowadays what we are talking about, if we say contact centers instead of call centers, and at least in broad terms, everyone knows what such companies do: multilingual customer services, technical support in all possible channels, support for sales activities from database building to lead generation to selling in capitals. But what are the specific tasks that at first glance you wouldn't even think of doing with a BPO partner?
Our compilation is primarily aimed at those who have thought about outsourcing already, but still feel they need more than what "a typical call center company” can provide in the general sense of the word. So instead of a further introduction, let's get to the point!
SPOC - single point of contact – support with dedicated operators
Although modern contact centers often work in a shared model, which means that operators can simultaneously service several clients in order to make better use of their time and reduce the monotony of their daily tasks, SPOC - single point of contact - can be guaranteed at any time by demand. In such partnerships, dedicated operators dedicated exclusively to the client's customers are available for all contacts, even with immediate, direct access. This significantly improves the customer experience, both B2B and B2B, as customers can work with a permanent operator for years, who they can contact at any time with any of their questions.
It is important to know that many BPO companies operate on a similar principle in terms of client contact. This means a continuous and direct relationship between partners and account managers of the company, which allows for a real flow of information.
End-to-end process
When we hear the word "outsourcing", we tend to think that we can outsource "only" some parts of the work to a third party. However, it is not uncommon today for customer service companies to be responsible for entire divisions, i.e. all levels of customer support, from database building to contracting, billing, or complaints management. And because any direct contact with customers is a huge opportunity in sales, the related tasks - inbound and outbound sales, upselling, cross-selling support - are often also performed by customer service.
Support of tasks requiring complex specialized knowledge
Closely related to the above is the fact that experienced, highly skilled operators can be deployed in virtually any area where the volume of contacts justifies the creation of customer service. Dedicated campaigns requiring SPOC management will need agents to acquire a complex body of knowledge, as the client may be a global FMCG company with dozens of brands, seasonal promotions, and winning contests requiring up-to-date knowledge. The same applies to the energy sector, where, for example, not only customer support experience is important, but the agents also have to know everything about the energy market players, the laws and regulations of the country, where their clients work. But we could also mention the electric vehicle industry or aviation: it takes several weeks or even months to train an operator all in these sectors.
Of course, this is also true when you want to launch an in-house customer service. But let us illustrate the difference with an example: if you need a limousine driver, it will certainly take less time and effort if you are looking for people who have a license or have driven a limousine and only need to know the type of limousine to park it in the tightest of spaces. Not to mention how much easier it is when we have a theoretically infinite number of trainable drivers at our disposal in case someone is on sick leave.
Cost-effective solutions for seasonal campaigns
It can occur in any industry, that you only need customer service at a certain time of the year, but in this period you need a highly-trained, professional team capable of handling hundreds or thousands of calls a day is essential. While BPO customer service departments have no problem with staff working on other campaigns during the client's off-season, it is much more difficult to do the same with a dedicated team. With outsourcing, it is possible to have virtually the same operators available to clients at the start of the season as the previous year, without having to focus on recruitment and training the support team before, say, the opening of the season at an event venue or the communication of a major campaign. We discuss this topic in detail in one of our latest case studies!
The possibility of creating a complete infrastructure and online presence
Just as the editorial department of a daily newspaper doesn't have a graphic designer just to have someone to do the image editing for the leading article, modern contact centers are increasingly focusing on a variety of additional services. Just as the newspaper's graphic designer can create the advertising material to be published on demand - if the advertiser does not have the expertise or simply does not have the time - BPO companies are able to provide the necessary infrastructure, whether it is the development of tools and software to support the service - such as chatbots or various phone-based payment tools in the customer service area - the design of online interfaces, or even the production of content for the client's social media platforms and the management of advertising.
This can be of particular interest, for example, if the client is a fast-growing start-up, where there is a need for spectacular development in these areas in addition to customer service in a relatively short timeframe, but really, as with everything, it is primarily a matter of need and concept.