7 Customer Support Services That Make Sense to Outsource

0
1256

Share on LinkedIn

Customer support services will make sense to outsource if quality and cost considerations are in line. Of course, you do not want bad karma to descend upon your business if your support service breaks in the process. Right off the bat, you do not want to outsource intensely cultural operations that may be difficult to emulate properly. Likewise, you do not want sensitive information to have to travel overseas.

At the same time, outsourcing as a function is maturing, with centers available worldwide from Asia to Eastern Europe to the Middle East to Africa. Throughout the world, service providers are becoming more familiarized with the specific needs of businesses of all sizes. Marginal equity for added functionalities has also gone up over the years.

Accents have improved, while high paying customers have also come to expect service provisioning abroad. All this makes for a general case for the outsourcing of customer support services. Let us look at some of the most frequently outsourced services.

1. Peak Time Support Inquiries

Outsourcing can also supplement internal customer support efforts, especially during peak timings. This helps reduce wait times in the support process, getting customers the help they need faster.

You can choose to outsource during peak times in different ways, either directing all calls to an outsourcing center so that customers that require special attention can be transferred to the internal team or by transferring only repeat callers to the outsourced team. Either way, this reduces the wait time for customers who are first-time callers, customers trying to make a purchase, etc.

2. Inbound Call Centers

Of all customer support services, inbound call centers are one of the most frequently outsourced. This is because the metrics associated with performance are quite different. Agent success is measured in terms of revenue earned per call, money spent, number of calls completed in a unit time, etc.

This is a good option for companies that know exactly what they are looking for, giving them greater control over and confidence in the whole process. This also helps them assess agent performance before proceeding. It’s important to note that inbound call centers are far easier and often less work than outbound call centers.

3. Chat Support Inquiries

Organizations can also outsource business functions that exist in the form of a relay chat. Moving chat support services offshore can result in substantial cost savings since chat support requires a professional to sit and invest long hours in helping customers online. Also, because of the nature of chat support, customers may not even realize that the chat agent is sitting a world away.

Standard responses can be coded in, making it as easy as pressing a couple of buttons to herald perfectly written language responses. Besides, chat support inquiries are typically supported round-the-clock. Even if the business maintains this functionality in house, they may outsource this process for after hours.

4.Technical Support

For any business, technical support can be costly. It requires professionals that understand the technology and a variety of technical processes to debug and walk customers through rebooting or correctly using the system/product. By sending your technical support queries overseas, you can hire reps, train them, and give them the necessary resources for much cheaper than if you were to keep these processes in-house.

Outsourcing your tech support also gives you the ability to scale your business quickly since it is often easy to add agents to the support team. Opting to outsource your technical support can be especially beneficial if the work is monotonous and the cognitive work involved is minimal.

5.Specialized Support Services

Unfortunately, there are times a business faces a situation where customer accounts may be damaged whether it is through hacking, leaked information, etc. Outsourcing specialized support services related to this damage could be beneficial. Customers affected by the breach would be able to call a specialized support line to get information about their affected accounts.

On the other end of this support line will be an outsourced team of agents trained to look up customer information in a vast encrypted database. They would be able to relay to the customer what personal information was leaked and can work with the customer to take the necessary steps to protect their accounts. These agents can also relay what the company is doing as a response to the breach.

6.Startups Support

Outsourcing can also be a good option for startups. When companies are first getting started, they are often working on a shoestring budget. Opting to outsource various processes could result in substantial cost savings and could even mean the difference between staying in business or closing up shop. Likewise, the cost savings could mean you have room in the budget to expand and grow the business.

Startups can outsource several customer support services including chat support, social media channels, customer support emails, etc. Startups may also consider outsourcing technical development and app development to further improve the customer experience with their brand.

7. E-commerce Support

E-commerce means you are selling 24/7. There’s no time restriction when customers may be using your site, and therefore, your customers may need help at any time of the day. This is why it can be helpful to outsource your e-commerce customer support services. This means that your customers will have a way to get their questions answered, concerns addressed, and overall uncertainties resolved no matter what time it is via chat support, email support, call-center support, social media support, or mobile support.

Giving your customers this option can set you apart from your competition and gives your company the professional customer service experience that customers expect.

Options for Every Business

Outsourcing customer support services can be an option for businesses of all sizes whether your business is a startup, an SME, or a major corporation. With outsourcing centers available in various locations throughout the world, you are sure to find a solution that is the perfect fit for your organization.

While this list may not be comprehensive, as companies and service providers are realizing avenues of growth and future collaboration, expect to see more additions to the list of customer support services that are frequently outsourced.

Margarita Hakobyan
CEO and founder of MoversCorp.com, an online marketplace of local moving companies and storage facilities. Business women, wife and mother of two with bachelor's degree from the University of Utah with a concentration in International Studies and a Masters Degree also from the University of Utah with a degree in International business.

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Please use comments to add value to the discussion. Maximum one link to an educational blog post or article. We will NOT PUBLISH brief comments like "good post," comments that mainly promote links, or comments with links to companies, products, or services.

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here