As spring rolls around, you might find this season to be an ideal time to establish a working relationship with an outsourced call center service.
First, let’s take a closer look at why spring could be the right time. Then we’ll explore what inbound or outbound call centers are all about and why nearshoring makes the best of this strategy.
Will the Economy Go South This Spring? Maybe
Economists are all over the map with economic forecasts for the full year ahead. On the one hand, inflation doesn’t seem to be slowing down dramatically. On the other hand, overall U.S. employment isn’t suffering.
Yet recent layoffs in the tech sector are significant — and concerning. Consider recent actions at Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Spotify, and countless other Silicon Valley employers large and, well, even larger.
The bottom line is that the signals are mixed and economists aren’t in full agreement as to what the numbers add up to. However, all experts preach caution at least until the picture becomes clearer.
So How Can Outsourced Call Center Services Help Safeguard Your Operation?
Will companies be hiring this spring and beyond? Or will they be cutting back in order to weather the storm?
Regardless of the size of your company, you’re likely wondering the same thing. What will happen to the economy (and, therefore, your operation) this quarter and beyond?
That kind of confusion does not lend itself to taking the financial gamble of recruiting and hiring. However, the last thing you want to do is erect obstacles to your existing and prospective customers. When they want to contact your company, whether by phone, email, or text chat, they want timely and viable responses.
They insist on being able to place orders as quickly, efficiently, and accurately as possible.
Plus, they want to be able to voice complaints and get the sort of input that might save the sale or, even more importantly, preserve the customer relationship for repeat business.
Can you do all that with an in-house customer service call center despite not knowing whether you’ll be adding on or cutting back this spring? What if you scale up next month and then are forced to go through mass layoffs three or six months down the line? Consider both the financial cost and the hit on company morale and reputation if that were to happen.
Why Your Best Option Might Be Outsourcing Your Inbound or Outbound Call Center Services
Companies of all sizes today rely on a business strategy known as business process outsourcing, or BPO, to both survive and thrive. The concept behind BPO is to let companies focus on their core strengths and leave the day-to-day routine operations or disciplines to outside experts.
Let’s say your company is most adept at logistics and supply chain operations. On the other hand, your vital back office activities, such as human resources and payment processing, are suffering because you have no expertise there and can’t devote your full attention to these critical areas.
The solution? You can work with a qualified BPO operation that has professionals who work exclusively in the fields that most need your attention.
One of the prime benefits of a BPO inbound or outbound call center, for instance, is the ability to respond lightning-fast to changing market and economic conditions. You can invest more or less capital in the areas targeted by your new call center partner based on real-time conditions and realities.
Upgrade or cut back resources with a phone call. Contrast that with the time and expense of recruiting, hiring and training new employees and then having to go through mass layoffs later.
Another key advantage of contracting a BPO service is the metrics you’ll get in real time. You’ll be able to measure activities and results. Track statistics such as call wait time, sales per call, customer satisfaction rates, and other data so you can make snap decisions as soon as they present themselves.
Here’s Why Your Company Should Consider a Nearshore Call Center Operation
Once you become convinced that your company should at least explore the possibility of partnering with a BPO, you’ll need to make some decisions about the BPO you hire, including where that company is located. You have the choice of a company in country, or onshore, a company that is far away, or offshore, and a company that can offer nearshore outsourcing.
Nearshore outsourcing, or simply nearshoring, gives companies all the advantages of outsourcing and minimizes or eliminates the challenges.
Three key obstacles to some outsourcing operations are proximity, culture and language barriers and steep travel costs. If you’re dealing with a BPO partner half a world away, your outsource operation is doing business while team members at your company are sleeping — or trying to. Your people find themselves attending remote meetings in the middle of the night or waiting half a day for email answers to simple questions.
The work teams can only meet face-to-face occasionally due to the exorbitant cost of travel and lodging. And, maybe most importantly, your customers may be dealing with a frustrating language and culture barrier.
Nearshoring minimizes cost and inefficiency by delivering BPO partners in Mexico, the Caribbean, or other nations in much closer proximity than traditional outsource arrangements.
Through nearshoring, you might have an outsourcing call center partner in your own time zone or just one or two away. Communication is smooth. No more middle-of-the-night meetups. Call center agents speak your language fluently and share customs.
Contrast this with the extreme cost and inconvenience of doing business with BPO partners in India, Vietnam, or Taiwan.
Looking for a Call Center Partner? We Can Help Grow Your Company Today!
At Confie BPO, our expertise is in nearshore outsourcing of multiple operations, including inbound and outbound call centers. We’d like to discuss thriving partnerships with companies in industries of all shapes and sizes. Call us at (800) 684-2BPO (2276), send us an email at contact@ConfieBPO.com, or fill out a brief form online.
