1. How to get it right in the "Age of the Customer"
Are you making smart
sourcing decisions?
2. Outsourcing in the "Age of the Customer"
In this era of customer empowerment driven by technology and data, what it takes
to thrive as a business is constantly evolving. To remain competitive, companies
must apply technology and data intelligently, using it not only to optimize business
processes, but also to enhance the customer experience with every contact. The
challenge today is to know what customers want, before they want it.
It’s a tall order, and not surprisingly, many companies are struggling to get it right.
For expert support, organizations are turning to outsourcing providers for the
strategic benefits they can offer. This trend is driving further growth in business
process outsourcing (BPO) and shifting the focus from cost reduction to customer
experience enhancement.
Done right, outsourcing customer care not only can improve business processes
and operational effectiveness, but can also help to deliver a seamless customer
experience. But, in an environment where customer expectations are increasingly
high, there’s little leeway for a poor customer experience. Even once.
As a result, selecting the "right fit" outsourcing partner is the first and most
important decision to make in the outsourcing process.
1 |
Intro
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
According to Forrester, the
top strategic priority for BPO
decision-makers is to “improve
the experience of customers.”i
3. 1 2
4 5
3
2
Intro
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
It’s not just
about cost out
Location, location,
location
Seamless delivery
requires seamless
technology
Smart sourcing builds
long-term success
The relationship
matters
|
Before you enter into a business partnership with an
outsourcing provider, consider these critical elements:
4. 1
3 |
It’s not just about cost out
As you begin down-selection for an outsourced customer care
provider, it’s important to look beyond cost reduction as the
primary rationale. While cost savings remain important—with most
companies still saving as much as 25–50% on back office costs—the
real value comes from the level of customer care and engagement
that a great BPO partner can deliver to your customers.ii
With growing expectations from customers for more engagement and
better responsiveness from brands—including digital care options,
quick service, and fast issue resolution—companies are now turning
to outsourcing providers for more strategic services. These services
include planning support, business insight, process optimization, and
customer experience transformation. In fact, findings from a 2015
Deloitte survey predict "business insight" will replace cost as the
most important strategic objective for the contact center industry.iii
utsourcing partners with large scale, proven processes, and
advanced analytics can help you raise the customer experience
bar faster than you could alone.
It’s not just about cost out
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions? 98%of U.S. consumers
surveyed said customer service
was either somewhat or very
important in their choice of and
loyalty to a brand, according to
recent Microsoft report.
Additionally, 56%of
surveyed customers reported
having higher expectations for
service than in the prior year.iv
5. 4 |
Outsourcing is no longer just a cost play.
savvy buyers are looking at the big picture and how an outsourcing partner can
deliver on all fronts—and you should be, too.
Smart Sourcing Tip:
Weigh the value of an outsourcing partnership
An experienced outsourcing partner can help you navigate the changing waters of customer
experience delivery. But for the partnership to deliver real value, you must select a partner who can
help you gain a competitive advantage by elevating the customer experience, while simultaneously
reducing support costs.
So, how do you know if an outsourcing BPO partner can deliver—and most importantly, flawlessly
execute—to expectations? When evaluating options, ask questions, talk to references, and assess
how well a potential partner can help you to:
It’s not just about cost out
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
◦ Leverage experience and best practices
for customer service delivery.
◦ Provide insight into how the broader industry
solves common challenges.
◦ Focus your company’s energy, innovation,and
investment on delivering its core product.
◦ Offer diversity, scalability, and flexibility in
your delivery model, particularly when volume
is volatile or has large seasonal peaks
and valleys.
◦ Reduce the need for capital investment
to build and manage your own facilities.
◦ Take advantage of the cost savings
offered by labor markets where
you don’t own facilities.
◦ Capitalize on the economies of
scale provided by a larger
customer service operation.
6. Location, location, location
When buying a house, location is the most important consideration. Will you want
to live there for an extended time? Will it suit your lifestyle? Is it in an area that
is appreciating in value? In the same way, selecting the location for outsourced
customer care operations is just as important. Just as no one location is right for
all home buyers, selecting the right location for each company is a unique decision.
5 |
SIZE
SUPPORT
LANGUAGES
CULTURE
STRATEGY
RISK
Location Considerations
Location, location, location
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
2
FOOTPRINT
TIMELINE & SEASONALITY
7. 6 |
Location, location, location
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
Just like a home
Smart Sourcing Tip:
Similar to telling your real estate agent what characteristics are important to
you as a home buyer, you should discuss in detail with potential partners:
Location Considerations
◦ Consider today, but also
look into the future.
SIZE of your operation
SUPPORT Channels
LANGUAGES Required
◦ Look for what you need:
Voice, chat, email, video,
text, social support?
◦ Check: Does your potential
outsource partner’s objectives
match well with your own?
◦ Determine the values that
your partner must embody
to uphold your brand.
◦ Consider the volume, types
and complexity of calls.
◦ Evaluate the languages that
you need, and also consider the
level of sensitivity to accent
types by your client base.
CULTURE of the company
STRATEGY
RISK
FOOTPRINT of current support
TIMELINE & SEASONALITY
◦ Gauge your comfort level
with geopolitical, time
zone, language, or cultural
barriers.
◦ Assess your critical
hours of operation: Are
there seasonal peaks and
valleys?
8. Finding the right arrangement
Depending on your responses to these details, your organization and its operations
may be better suited to one or more types of outsourcing arrangements. For
instance, if you have limited tolerance for risk, but are not hugely sensitive to price,
keeping your operations onshore will provide the greatest peace of mind, while
allowing you to focus on the core aspects of your business.
On the other hand, if price sensitivity is a driving force, and you have a large
footprint to support, offshoring to distant locations like the Philippines will be
most cost effective. And, if you find yourself somewhere in the middle—needing
a cost-effective solution, but with limited risk—you can keep your operations
nearshore in a region with similar time zones and a close cultural connection.
Ideally, you want a partner with a portfolio of locations that you can use across
your varying needs. But whatever arrangement you select, the good news is that
virtual co-location technology makes it possible for leading business process
outsourcers to deliver a seamless customer experience, regardless of geography.
7 |
Location, location, location
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
9. 8 |
Location, location, location
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
Smart Sourcing Tip: Did you know?
Outsourcing in the Philippines
The Philippines is one of the most popular offshore outsourcing destinations.
It is home to more than 1.2 million customer care workers, with more room
for growth.v
In fact, it is unlikely that there is another location with the
cultural affinity, labor pool, and scalability of people and infrastructure
currently available in the Philippines. Even with prices in metro Manila rising
in recent years, outsourcing in provincial areas is still highly cost-effective. In
addition, distributing volume across the provinces helps broaden the labor
pool and provides greater protection against weather-related events.
Outsourcing in Guatemala
For clients looking for an unparalleled nearshore experience, Guatemala
makes an excellent choice. With its close proximity and cultural affinity to
the United States, Guatemala makes doing business convenient and
cost-effective. As the most populated and stable country in Central America,
Guatemala continues to provide significant growth opportunities for
outsourcing. It offers not only the largest workforce and student population
in Central America, but also provides access to a large number of qualified
English-speaking candidates.
The Philippines
Guatemala
10. 9 |
Find a footprint that …
and makes future
expansion into new markets more viable. I
and provide insight into these six critical location considerations:
Human Capital—What is the level of education of the available work population,
and what language capabilities exist? Is there is a large-enough skilled and employ-
able population to support current and future needs? Assume that even if you are the
first to enter the market, you will not be alone for long.
Cultural Affinity—How readily will the employee population be able to understand
and relate to your customer market? Context is an important aspect of customer
experience. Most “language” complaints stem from a customer feeling as though he or
she has not been understood, rather than from an accent impeding communication.
Market Maturity—Are there other call centers, either captive or outsourced,
operating in the region? How successful are they? How much competition will you face
while hiring? What support will you need to provide to onboard your operation? Is
there local quality, IT, workforce management, and leadership bench strength, or will
you need to expatriate employees in the to support the facility?
Location, location, location
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
11. 10 |
Location, location, location
… balances your priorities.
Infrastructure—Is there sufficient and reliable voice and data infrastructure
available to the last mile? Are there multiple carrier options available for redundancy?
How easy or difficult will it be to source equipment or fixtures? Is a reliable utility
infrastructure in place in the region?
Geopolitical Risk—How safe is the region? How likely are civil unrest, natural disas-
ters, corruption, fraud, and other issues that could pose a safety or security
concern for the business, employees, clients, or visitors? Is the government stable
and supportive of the industry?
Cost—Will the proposed location allow you to deliver the experience you desire at
a cost that is competitive with other regions and with competitors?
Finding a strategy that respects balance between these priorities can be challenging. There is
no one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, approach sourcing decisions with an open mind. Let your
partner understand your current and future needs and guide you to the solution that best fits
your customers and your business.
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
12. 3
11 |
Seamless delivery requires seamless technology
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
Seamless delivery requires …
Customers use a variety of channels to interact with brands, and your
contact center remains a critical link in the journey. For instance,
while more than 70% of customer interaction journeys now begin
online, phone support continues to remain where the majority of
customer complaints are ultimately resolved. What’s more, Forrester
predicts that this shift will continue, and phone support will become
an important escalation point for customers, rather than a primary
channel of support.vi
How you move your customers between these channels is important.
Customers have a low tolerance for wasted time or having to repeat
themselves from one interaction to the next. According to data
from Forrester, 55% of U.S. adults are likely to abandon their online
purchase if they cannot find a quick answer to their question.
In addition, 77% said that valuing their time is the most important
thing a company can do to provide them with good online
customer service — up six percentage points from 2012.vii
While more than 70%of
customer interaction journeys
now begin online, phone support
continues to remain where the
majority of customer complaints
are ultimately resolved.
70%
ON
LINE TO PHONE SUPP
ORT
13. 12 |
55%of adults are likely to
abandon their online purchase
if they cannot find a quick
answer to their question.
77%of adults said that
valuing their time is the most
important thing a company can
do to provide them with good
online customer service, up 6%
from 2012.vii
Seamless delivery requires seamless technology
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
… seamless technology
While the tools and technology exist to create a seamless
cross-channel customer experience, selecting and implementing
them effectively is no simple task. In fact, only five percent of
organizations feel that they have mastered digital to a point of
differentiation from their competitors.viii
How do you know what tool is right when there are so many
choices on the market? How can you implement new technology
without affecting the customer experience? And how will you
realize enough return on investment to make the expenditure
worthwhile?
These are the kinds of questions a trusted and experienced
outsource partner can help solve. And the best ones will have
skin in the game, serving as ongoing strategic partners with
accountability for the results.
14. 13 |
Seamless delivery requires seamless technology
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions? 86%of CEOs considered
investing in digital transformation
crucial to their company’s
future success.xi
31%of CEOs said that more
than 15% of their revenue is
spent on technology investments
that span all areas of the
business, with a greater portion
than ever going to customer-
facing technologies.x
Smart Sourcing Tip:
Find a partner with digital expertise
The right outsourcing partner will be able to guide you through
the technology maze to create a seamless customer experience.
Look for a partner that has participated in multiple technology
implementations and has put a number of tools to the test.
Not only will they have had the opportunity to see how agents
use these tools, they will know how the tools function in real
customer-facing environments. As an added benefit, due to the
size and scope of their operations, most outsourcing companies
often get technology pricing at scale and can share these cost
breaks with you.
If it’s an effective partnership, your outsourcing provider should
be able to use the tools you implement, as well as their own
analytic capabilities, to identify and solve customer problems.
Repeat calls, escalations, decreased use of self-help channels,
abandoned purchases, and other issues may be driving customer
dissatisfaction and increasing your costs. By identifying these root
causes and eliminating the breakpoints, your partner can help
you realize the ROI you need from your technology investments
and increase customer satisfaction.
15. 4
Relationship matters
The most impactful element of effective outsourcing is the relationship you forge
with your business partner. Before you select a provider, make sure you understand
who they are, what they stand for, and what they are looking for in a partner as well.
Taking these steps can prevent conflict and disappointment later on.
Much like in a marriage, you’re going to spend a lot of time together. You’ll face
challenges and triumphs. If you trust the partner you choose, taking the journey
together will be easier.
Find a partner that can help you achieve balance between the priorities of delivering
an effortless, effective, and engaging interaction for customers; meeting your business
objectives; and driving results. Make sure your partner is willing and able to do what it
takes, and stands to share in both the risks and rewards of delivering on those goals.
A mutually beneficial partnership is the best way to drive the experience you want for
your customers.
14 |
“ The most healthy customer
experience ecosystems
create value for all of
their participants not just
their customers.” xi
Relationship matters
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
16. 15 ||
Relationship matters
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
Smart Sourcing Tip:
Build a partnership culture
How you manage the relationship with your
partner will make a huge difference in the results
you achieve. If you're too prescriptive, you may
stifle creative problem solving and eliminate the
benefits you can reap from your partner's broader
industry experience. An experienced outsourcing
partner's ability to draw solutions to parallel
challenges and bring them to bear on your
business is one of the primary values they offer.
Similarly, how you manage your relationship with
your partner directly impacts their relationship
with their employees. According to a recent
employee engagement benchmark study, 75% of
employees at companies with above-average
customer experience in their industry are highly
or moderately engaged, compared with only
47% at other companies.xii
While this research is specific to millennials, who
now make up a significant and growing percentage
of call center workers around the world, the trend
in employee expectation is not exclusive to them.
The trust you put in your outsourcing partner and
the latitude you give them to create an empowered
employee experience directly correlates with your
partner's ability to attract and retain the type of
talent that will deliver for you and your customers.
Typically, when organizations are prescriptive or not
transparent, it’s because they’re worried they’ll lose
control of their experience or are afraid of what
their partner will do with the information. The truth
is that if you have chosen wisely, empowerment
and transparency should solve more problems than
they create. An empowered and informed partner
will use that information to understand challenges
and proactively seek to solve them.
75%of employees with
above average customer
experience in their industry
are highly or moderately
engaged, compared with only
47% at other companies.
17. 5
16 |
Smart sourcing builds
long-term success
If you enter the sourcing process as a simple cost-saving exercise,
you will get what you pay for, and your customers will likely notice.
You'll also leave a lot of the strategic benefits of outsourcing behind.
If you want to source smartly, select a capable partner that you
trust. Share your vision, share your desired outcomes, and let your
partner work with you to achieve these goals. Let your partner guide
you to the locations, technology, and employee culture that will
deliver the customer experience you need to build loyal customers
and grow your business.
Conclusion
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
18. 12 |
Expert Global Solutions (EGS) is a global customer service
EGS customer care support services, delivered through voice, text, chat and email, span
the customer management experience. From answering product-related questions
and technical support, to up-selling and cross-selling, to social care. For financial care,
EGS supports critical financial management functions, such as accounts receivable
management, revenue cycle management, and order to cash.
EGS has deep vertical expertise, with a unique understanding of industry-specific
needs, including healthcare, financial services, logistics, online retail, technology,
telecommunications and utilities.
An award winning company and equal opportunity employer, EGS is committed to
delivering an exceptional customer experience, in every interaction.
17 | www.esgcorp.com
About EGS
Are You Making
Smart Sourcing Decisions?
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