There appears to be little, if any, misunderstanding among business leaders when it comes to the importance of customer experience. In any industry, and particularly those that are commoditized, the quality and consistency of customer experience is what differentiates brands from their direct competitors.
And this is especially true in times of financial or economic uncertainty. It’s the cumulative connection with a brand that minimizes attrition rates even when consumers are at their most fiscally responsible.
But despite this CX consensus, there are still doubts and misunderstandings regarding the role that a BPO could, and in most instances should, be playing in helping organizations remain customer-centric. And those doubts can be traced back to a longstanding list of myths about outsourcing.
BPO myth 1: Outsourcing is just about cost-cutting
Yes, while it’s absolutely true that a leading BPO will have no problem in managing an organization’s existing CX delivery and maintaining the same levels of customer satisfaction at a lower rate, the leading BPOs are about driving up quality and performance without driving up their clients’ total cost of ownership. Many cost savings will come from economies of scale, while improved performance and efficiencies come from providing clients with access to the best technologies, a wider talent pool and proven best practices.
BPO myth 2: Outsourcing is about answering phone calls
While contact centers that support all means of communication from email and online chat to social messaging and the telephone are still an integral part of customer experience, the BPO industry has evolved significantly over recent years. Today, the leading organizations are experts in every aspect of supporting a brand in supporting its customers, whether it’s back-office services, social listening, artificial intelligence and analytics for granular customer insights, or simply resolving a customer’s issue as quickly as possible.
BPO myth 3: Outsourcers provide a one-size-fits-all service
The competition and capabilities within the sector mean that if a BPO can’t tailor a solution that exactly reflects an organization’s needs today and can flex in line with the future, it won’t remain in business very long. The leading BPOs do so because they are dedicated to building long-term reciprocal business relationships with their clients where the goal is to continually add value, not continually add more agents to an existing service.
BPO myth 4: Outsourcing means a lower-quality service
The reality is that with the right outsourcer, your organization will be delivering a higher-quality service with greater levels of consistency. Part of this is due to how BPOs recruit and train contact-center and other customer-facing staff but much is also down to their ability to leverage AI and analytics to automate elements of delivery such as quality assurance. For instance, A BPO can analyze 100% of conversations between agents and customers to ensure adherence to scripts, the following of best practices or to highlight potential training gaps.
BPO myth 5: Outsourcing is only for large organizations
A BPO gives any organization of any size access to the tools, techniques and processes that would otherwise be out of reach. There are huge benefits for smaller businesses that want to align their customer experience with the quality or innovation of the products and services that they’re offering, and leading BPOs will tailor a solution or combination of services to suit those needs, even if those needs seem comparably small to begin with.
A trusted partnership
When it comes to letting go of what was an integral element of your business, there should be questions to ask and a search for reassurance. But those concerns, be they about communication, quality or security, should be based on reality and not preconceptions. The best BPOs are not simply vendors or suppliers. They’re trusted advisors that build relationships with their clients to ensure that their customer experience delivery aligns with metrics and, more importantly, meets your customer expectations.
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