Only around 34% of business support leaders believe they can meet the rising expectations of customers today. As customer demands continue to evolve in a digitally-transforming environment, business leaders struggle to keep up.
Not only are customer expectations higher, but there are countless new communication channels to master and issues with changing workforces to navigate too. One of the best ways to bridge the gap between what customers need and what CX teams can currently offer is to access the support of BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) companies offering CX support.
CX outsourcing is growing increasingly common in the post-pandemic landscape as way to differentiate brands and power rapid growth. Here’s what you need to know about building a business case for CX outsourcing.
Step 1: Consider Your Current Team and Customers
The first step in developing your business case for CX outsourcing is evaluating your current team and the changing demands in your customer landscape. Do you currently have enough people in your team to handle the customer service demands you’re getting most of the time? If so, you may simply need access to occasional support from teams to help you manage seasonal demand.
A good CX outsourcing strategy can be an excellent way to ensure you have access to all the talent you need to manage various aspects of customer service when spikes in demand occur. You’ll also be able to potentially spread your customer service strategy across additional channels with the help of a CX outsourcing agency. Ask yourself, do you want to stick with your current channels or use your outsourcing services to provide extra options like video and SMS messaging?
Analysing your current customers, their service preferences, and what kind of service options they get from other competitors in your space should help you develop a competitive strategy.
Step 2: Address the Benefits of Specialist Skills
One of the best things about outsourcing CX to a specialist BPO is you don’t just get access to more people who can answer calls and messages on your behalf. You’ll also be able to leverage specialists capable of offering support with your wider CX strategy.
Many BPO companies offering CX services can help with things like:
- Customer experience strategy: Including things like customer journey mapping, digital transformation consulting, and voice of the customer guidance.
- Intelligent automation: Implementing tools for omnichannel orchestration, machine learning and translation, and various forms of self-service for your customers.
- Contact center operations: Aside from answering calls, your agents can offer back-office support to your team members, help with fraud prevention and detection, and support you with implementing new kinds of customer service channels.
Ask yourself where you most want to improve your customer experience strategy right now and determine what kind of specialist skills and services may be helpful for your brand.
Step 3: Look for Competitive Differentiation
CX outsourcing doesn’t just keep your company from drowning when call volumes spike. The right company can also give you the tools you need to differentiate yourself from other companies in your industry. This can be useful from both an employee retention and attraction perspective, and from the position of creating loyal and valuable customers.
A good CX outsourcing company can help you set up a comprehensive contact centre strategy with omnichannel service to support your customers on the channels that make the most sense. More importantly, they can also offer insights and data analytics to help you understand things like how customer intent changes from one channel to the next.
Many CX outsourcing companies can assist with helping you implement intelligent new tools for differentiation, too, like predictive and sentiment analysis via AI. They can even give you extra guidance to improve the employee experience through knowledge management and access to workforce optimisation tools.
Step 4: Consider Long-Term Innovation
One of the best things about working with outsourced professionals in the CX landscape is it can offer you an excellent way to tap into innovative new strategies and tools before the competition. Some of the market-leading companies in the BPO environment offering CX today can provide incredible new tools for brands looking to grow at speed.
For instance, you can access new CRM systems integrations, cloud security tools, and innovative virtual call centre software enhancements without spending a fortune on developer talent. A CX outsourcing service can even allow companies to experiment with new and improved channels for delivering customer service.
Some of the more modern BPO companies might be able to help you set up automated systems for customers to troubleshoot and solve their problems. Others may be able to offer guidance on how you can implement extended reality tools into your service strategy. With consulting, research, and reporting, your BPO provider can show you where you’ll get the best returns on your innovation investments.
Step 5: Think of the Cost Savings
Ultimately, one of the easiest ways to build a powerful business case for any new initiative is to highlight the potential cost savings for the business. While business process outsourcing might seem like an expensive concept initially, it can actually save companies significant amounts of cash.
When you outsource the services you need to enhance your CX, you pay only for the support you need, when you need it. This means you don’t spend a fortune training new staff members or bringing on full-time employees you may only need for a short time. You’ll also have access to all of the tools and services you need for a phenomenal CX strategy without buying them yourself.
CX outsourcing companies can provide access to a range of powerful analytical tools and low-code solutions for building your own applications and automations, so you can keep costs to a minimum. With the right CX outsourcing strategy, companies can innovate rapidly without spending the same as other major brands.
