Is your business ready for a customer support BPO?
Updated: Jan 12, 2022
Customer support Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is growing; by 2027, the market size is expected to reach 30.4 billion dollars. And for good reason— BPOs benefit companies looking not only to grow, but scale.
Scaling allows companies to grow in a way that’s cost-effective and makes the most of existing resources. There are several ways companies can use BPOs to scale, but in this article, we’ll focus specifically on customer support BPOs and their benefits. We’ll use the terms business process outsourcing and customer service outsourcing interchangeably as we dive into all the signs your business is ready for a customer support BPO.
Whether you want to expand into new markets, free support resources to focus on more strategic tasks (see below), or need extra flexibility for your support team during specific times of the year, here’s how to tell if you should use customer support outsourcing.
Fast growth is straining your customer support resources
As sales increase, support will receive more requests. Senior management may want to capitalize on this growth, but they first need to check whether the support organization can handle the load. If support is constantly bogged down by new cases, you may not be able to scale as well.
This is where business process outsourcing comes in. An external team will handle any day-to-day queries while your team can focus on improving support processes, investing in agent training, developing a more customer-centric approach to support, and scaling the support operations. Utilizing customer service outsourcing relieves support leaders or agents from needing to spend time resolving less complicated tickets.
As you’ll read below, outsourced customer support providers don’t just hire people to answer calls; they train teams of support experts who take over the more routine tickets so your team can attend to VIP customers, prevent churn with proactive outreach, or directly contribute to the company’s roadmap.
Your business wants a cost-efficient way to globally scale support
Reputable BPO providers have expert support teams, but that doesn’t mean outsourcing will become another costly expense for your business. In many cases, when scaling globally, it’s actually more cost-efficient to outsource customer support. Scaling companies need to set up an office, train agents, ensure they’re up to speed on local and cultural norms, and more. It takes time and resources to appeal to the target demographic through localization.
When businesses want to expand into new markets, but don’t necessarily have the resources to spend on hiring more agents, customer support outsourcing can be a good bet.
BPO providers specializing in customer support—that already have office setups—allow companies to scale without spending all of their resources getting acquainted with the target audience. Customer service outsourcing providers will already have their operations up and running with agents who are familiar with the local culture.
Meanwhile, hiring in-house means businesses must factor in salaries, benefits, transportation, over-time, and more for agents. When using BPO, businesses can choose the right provider with experienced, well-trained agents without needing to sacrifice all their resources and the level of support.
You need more flexibility for your team during busier seasons
Many businesses have times throughout the year when they’re busier than others. If you have an ecommerce company, one of your busy seasons is likely during the holidays (November through December). A vacation booking site might have more traffic during the summer months when people go away for holidays. No matter when your business picks up, it’s always good to prepare and make sure support can meet customers’ demands during crunch times.
Financially or resource-wise (training, salaries, etc) it might not make sense to hire additional agents for a short period of time. Using BPO, businesses can hire external partners on a flexible contract, so they only pay for services as needed. When support requires an extra hand taking calls or answering queries during busier seasons, you can breathe easier knowing you have external support experts to help carry the weight. During slower quarters, companies can easily scale back on the number of services they need from a provider.
BPOs are a great asset—just choose your provider wisely
If your company finds that fast growth is straining your resources, you want to quickly scale your global operations, or you need more flexibility in your operations, it’s time to consider business process outsourcing. Just be sure to choose your BPO vendor carefully. When exploring BPO options, companies must conduct thorough research, considering their needs and which markets they’re after. With BPO, companies can’t just hire a provider and leave them be. This is an important relationship that businesses must manage and evaluate regularly.
Meanwhile, discover whether your support strategy is up to date with current trends here:
