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When companies opt to outsource, they can effectively concentrate on business growth while skilled professionals handle customer support operations. Utilising cutting-edge technologies and bringing a wealth of knowledge and vast experience, specialists ensure consistent, high-quality interactions across first-line support and back-office operations.
Outsourcing your customer support operations demonstrates a heightened prioritisation of your customer’s needs while also focusing on your business goals. According to Zendesk, “80% of leaders plan to increase customer service budgets over the next year” to ensure increased levels of support.
When choosing to outsource, it’s essential to find a company that understands your customers’ unique needs and preferences and your organisational goals. Your partner must go above and beyond offering a technology platform to handle interactions and bring teams with high levels of experience and expertise to deliver that standout service, setting you above your competitors.
It really is time for organisations to invest and prioritise their customer experience
The right outsourcer aligns with your business objectives. Asking the right questions and, in turn, aligning solutions that address challenges is critical – how your customers make contact, when, how often, and what some of the fundamental questions are. Technology also plays an important role as the outsourcer must have a technology stack that is built not just to route queries correctly but also to provide analytics and reports based on interactions with your customers, and that technology stack should be scalable and capable of integrating with your existing customer service tools.
Equally, companies in the Payments sector should opt for a personalised customer experience solution. It brings a wide range of benefits, such as increased customer satisfaction and engagement, efficiency boost, improved ROI, and ultimately elevated customer satisfaction, leading to improved business outcomes. According to Gartner, “86% of B2B customers expect companies to be well-informed about their personal information during service interactions.”
Above all else is trust; companies must have high levels of trust as outsources handle their most important asset, their customers.
Key areas that companies in the Payments sector should ask themselves before outsourcing:
Prepare in advance
Develop a detailed plan to cover all the business and operational goals, objectives and expectations of the outsourcer. Having clear objectives supports you in getting a solution that is designed specifically to your requirements. This also removes any ambiguity or surprises later down the line that impact the partnership.
Prioritise expertise
Ensure the company you want to outsource with has the expertise, knowledge, and experience to respond to your customer support needs. Look for outsources who have specific experience in your industry, as they will more likely understand your challenges and how to build solutions that work. Ask them for case studies and testimonials, which they should always be happy to share.
Brand identity and voice
Your company’s brand identity is crucial, and it must be maintained through all channels, internally and externally. Your brand and tone should be consistent throughout every point of customer interaction. It’s essential to share your brand guidelines with the outsourcer and ensure they will maintain your brand’s voice throughout all communication with your customers. Ask to be involved or host dedicated sessions with their team to embed your brand.
Maintain proactive communication with your partner
Ongoing communication with the outsourcing partner is crucial, allowing you to discuss progress, pain points, and support strategies, as well as share updates, reports, and analytics about interactions with your customers and touchpoints.
Personalisation is key
Ensure the outsourcer can provide personalised solutions based on your business and customer needs. Also, ensure they can easily scale their services as you grow and expand to new territories. No solution ever looks the same; clients and their customers’ needs will differ, and a great outsourcer should identify this and share a bespoke solution. Personalisation can come in many different forms, from the channels used, hours of operation, language skills and MI.
What are the common challenges outsourcers can overcome with ease?
- Language barriers – different languages and cultures can lead to miscommunication and might affect customer satisfaction. Companies looking to outsource must choose an outsourcer that provides support in multilingual languages and the opportunity to add the languages your customers speak. Outsourcers have a unique ability to scale teams quickly and efficiently but they also have access to leading tech to address those language challenges.
- Time zone challenges –Teams are already in place operating 24/7, so companies can offer high levels of continuous customer service but pass on economies of scale to clients.
- Leveraging new technology—Outsourcers will continually develop and enhance their technology stack, and as a partner, you will have access to leading CX technology without the need for internal investment. Outsourcers should be ahead of the tech curve when servicing your customers.
Outsourcing has long been a topic surrounded by myths and misconceptions, so what are the most common?
Myth 1 – Outsourcing is just for large organisations
One common myth is that outsourcing is only beneficial for large enterprises, but in reality, businesses of all sizes can benefit from outsourcing by gaining access to specialised skills and resources that may not be available in-house.
Myth 2 – Outsourcing takes longer than in-house development
Another misconception is that outsourcing takes longer than in-house development. In most cases, outsourcers bring a wealth of experience and expertise within the industry along with all the resources in place, so they might finish your project faster than an in-house team, as their focus is on delivering specific objectives. Often, outsourcers already have the tools and resources that in-house teams may have to build from the ground up.
Myth 3 – I might lose control over the project while choosing to outsource
This perception might be understandable, but choosing the right outsourcing partner guarantees adequate control, visibility, transparency, and ongoing collaboration. The outsourcer will become the extension of your company while maintaining your company’s brand voice through all the interactions with your customers. A good outsourcer will continually communicate key milestones.
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