In the past few years, the customers’ expectations regarding the way communication between them and a company takes place have considerably grown. Today, more than ever, customer care has become a priority for every company. Consumers expect full support, 24/7, they want to be listened to and want solutions for emerging issues, so outsourcing the customer support services has become the best option for many companies.
Along with the financial benefits, there are many other advantages of outsourcing, such as automated work processes, access to resources otherwise unavailable internally and the possibility for companies to focus more on their business development. On the other hand, there are several disadvantages when outsourcing customer support services. Lack of control over the way agents work, difficulty in checking the quality of the offered services or the performance of the agents are some of them.
The competitive market environment determines companies to find more effective ways to manage customer interaction, loyalty and to gain a competitive advantage. Thereby for companies, the most practical solution is to collaborate with a professional supplier from the contact center industry. So, which are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing customer care services?
Advantages:
- Lower costs
Because a call center already has technological infrastructure and available staff, collaborating with a customer support services provider will often involve lower costs. In addition, depending on the needs of each company, the packages can be negotiated and the fees flexible.
- Prompt and real-time assistance for the clients
By outsourcing customer support services, the customers will benefit from specialized support, the companies will offer a high quality of services and customer satisfaction will increase. Due to the 24/7 program of a call center, clients will get real-time responses to their requests, even if they are made outside the working hours of the company. Collaborating with a call center will allow companies to always be available for consumers, even if they are from different countries having other time zones.
- Multilingual customer support services
Outsourcing the customer support services is the perfect solution for companies which activate in an international market place because a call center can offer multilingual customer support services, depending on each company’s needs. This will certainly improve the communication between a company and its clients.
- Advanced technology and access to more resources
The main benefit of outsourcing customer support services is the wide communication infrastructure of a call center, so customers can contact a company by all the channels available. When working with a customer support services provider, companies will have access to the latest technology and to enough resources to be at the customers disposal whenever they need it.
- Professional agents for managing customer interactions
To provide impeccable customer support services, companies need skilled people who know how to deal with situations that may arise, who know various communication techniques and who know how to help the clients. Thus, by outsourcing customer support services, companies can make sure that their customer support services are managed by a team of agents who have all the required trainings to help clients.
Disadvantages:
- Risking to disconnect from the brand communication strategy
For many companies, customer support is an important part of their brand strategy, and if the clients’ approach is not done properly, the company’s image may suffer injuries. It is important that the chosen provider for outsourcing customer support services to be a strategic one, who understands the company’s identity and personality.
- 2. Exposing confidential data
Outsourcing customer support services will involve providing certain information about the company, that would otherwise be confidential. Thus, there is a risk that the data will be blurt out. To avoid this situation, it is essential to choose a trustworthy company having a strong security system before signing a contract.
- Lack of personalization for the customer support services
Even if companies make sure that certain standards are met when they are hiring a customer support services supplier, it is difficult to monitor their activity. So, there is a risk that the chosen provider may not be focusing on personalizing the customer support services that they offer.
- Rigid contracts
Outsourcing can certainly contribute to a substantial drop of costs, but often suppliers will only want to close long-term contracts. This can limit the flexibility of a collaboration, and depending on the needs of a company, choosing a third part for outsourcing customer support services can become a financial burden.
In conclusion, when there is a need to outsource customer support services, both the advantages and the disadvantages must be considered to choose the best option, depending on the needs of each company. A thorough research of suppliers is required to choose a company specialized in customer support services, which also understands the business, products, services, but more importantly, the identity of the firm.
