Nowadays, customer experience BPOs offer much more than additional customer service delivery.
As core capabilities, they may provide customer and agent experience design, digital innovation, and lifecycle engagement services.
Moreover, the crème de la crème offers all this across many industries and knows how to best leverage the solutions of numerous CX vendors.
Each participant in this month’s CX Today roundtable is associated with four highly-regarded BPOs. They are:
- Max Schwendner, Co-CEO of Alorica
- Antonio Masis, VP of Global Customer Management Services at Shyft Global Services
- Melanie Spears, VP of Business Development and CX Innovation at TELUS International
- Nick Cerise, Chief Marketing Officer at TTEC
Below, they break down the current state of CX outsourcing, sharing industry trends, benefits, and more.
CX Outsourcing: The Trends
BPOs Focus on Delivering Value Via AI
Schwendner: The acceleration of AI sophistication, adoption, and comprehension will continue to transform the CX outsourcing market in a remarkable way.
AI, ML, and RPA have long been used in CX to simplify and automate repetitive processes. However, with advances in models that not only automate but also learn, Alorica and its clients are blowing through the limitations of CX.
For example, accurate, cost-effective mass personalization initiatives are more achievable than ever.
Also, consider real-time translation. That is highly beneficial, given the increasing demand for multilingual CX support as brands globalize.
In legacy CX, multilingual queues have proven limited in terms of where a service can be delivered, who delivers it, and the known high costs.
However, Alorica IQ just launched ReVoLT (Real-time Voice Language Translation), an exclusive AI-powered solution that provides seamless experiences regardless of the language of the customer or agent. It’s a first-of-its-kind in the CX space.
24 months ago, that wouldn’t have been achievable.
BPOs Support Clients In Developing Their GenAI Strategies
Spears: Generative AI (GenAI) has caused the biggest buzz in the CX industry since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.
Yet, everyone is at different stages of the journey. Some are still trying to determine what it means for their business and customer service operations. Meanwhile, other organizations are ready to roll out GenAI, with most already exploring or experimenting.
As they do so, they are navigating infrastructure, architecture, and governance challenges and wish to partner with third-party providers to limit the hurdles to implementation.
However, some are taking small steps to achieve efficiencies, reduce costs, and deliver the experience that drives brand loyalty, like providing more personalized services.
BPOs Shift the Focus from Call Handling to Creating Connections
Cerise: Advances in RPA, ML, and GenAI are changing the faces of customer care and associate experience. It’s not just about cutting costs anymore; it’s about enhancing customer journeys.
Companies like TTEC are leveraging AI to deliver hyper-personalized experiences at scale, freeing up human associates for those moments that truly need the human touch.
Consider how it works with clients to implement intelligent automation and empower associates to make better, quicker, and more impactful decisions.
TTEC also lets them scale up digital service knowledge capture, codification, and application.
The result? Associates have the information they need at their fingertips when they need it, so they can provide the type of seamless, personalized experiences customers expect.
Such implementations are revolutionizing how businesses think about outsourcing, less about just handling calls and more about crafting meaningful connections.
This trend isn’t just a blip; it’s reshaping the entire landscape, pushing us all to up our game in delivering next-level customer experiences.
BPOs Consider the AI-Human Balance
Masis: The biggest trend disrupting today’s CX outsourcing market is the introduction and integration of AI systems.
With the evolution of AI, many companies are considering new technologies to enable greater growth and success for their businesses and customers.
However, when examining this through the lens of CX outsourcing, it’s critical to ask: where do we draw the line between the desire and need for human engagement versus the opportunities with an AI-supported system?
While the integration of AI can lead to some amazing advancements in CX operations, Shyft understands the importance of human engagement and support for more nuanced troubleshooting.
Yet, from IT training to revenue optimization, there are many more ways in which customer experience BPOs are doing more to support their clients. Here are some of those additional trends.
CX Outsourcing: The Benefits
Unlock Flexibility Across CX Operations
Spears: The biggest benefit for businesses is flexibility – being able to scale support according to fluctuating needs, such as new lines of business, seasonality, and peak periods.
CX outsourcing also offers cost efficiency and allows access to cost-prohibitive technologies, such as GenAI, language translation, omnichannel support, and customer journey mapping.
Additionally, outsourcing facilitates the rapid launch of new programs and the piloting of innovative customer support methods, ensuring businesses can stay agile and respond to customer demands.
Enjoy Bespoke Services & Solutions
Schwendner: When clients choose to work with a BPO like Alorica, they gain greater data analytics and insight – in addition to a harmonized and optimized global operating model.
Moreover, they can access bespoke digital solutions tailored to their unique business priorities while addressing tomorrow’s needs today.
At Alorica, our core competency is a proven track record of excellence in the execution and integration of technology. As a result, clients receive better, more consistent customer engagement outcomes.
Lastly, as Alorica handles customer conversations, brands can singularly focus on delivering the best product or service. All the while, it maintains customer satisfaction, efficiency, cost savings, and long-term loyalty rates.
Enable Growth and Innovation
Cerise: At a time when scalability, speed, and focus are essential, CX outsourcing is a proven way for companies to quickly and effectively drive revenue.
The benefit of outsourcing lies in the ability to leverage specialized expertise, scalable resources, cost efficiency, and agility to drive exceptional customer experiences, long-term growth, and profitability.
Additionally, outsourcing CX functions allows businesses to refocus their internal resources on strategic initiatives while entrusting TTEC to deliver exceptional service on their behalf.
But it’s more than just outsourcing; it’s about forging partnerships that drive growth and innovation.
For instance, TTEC leverages digital to enhance the performance of its associates, finding the right cost-effective balance between technology and people.
Scale Without Growing Pains
Masis: Outsourcing CX services to a trusted partner allows businesses to scale and grow to their full potential while maintaining their ongoing operations and customer support efforts.
Working with an outsourcing partner enables businesses to refocus their internal efforts on innovation and core initiatives that drive their business forward. Meanwhile, their partner handles the unmanaged areas of their business, specifically their long tail.
Shyft understands the importance of integrating CX services into existing business operations. It helps solve some of the toughest challenges that prevent businesses from focusing on innovation and the future of their industry.
By outsourcing CX operations and support, organizations are finding peace of mind for the non-core areas of their business. They know their outsourcing partner has their best interests in mind when supporting new customers, maximizing upgrade and renewal opportunities, and maintaining positive, long-term customer relationships.
CX Outsourcing: The Providers
Shyft Global Services
CX outsourcing solutions shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. Shyft Global Services has spent the last 15 years growing and developing our customer management services portfolio to encompass white-labeled, custom-built outsourcing solutions and anticipate any challenges customers may face.
We take a listen-first approach and work together to seamlessly integrate into their operations and serve as an extension of their team.
As Rob Rosa, SVP of Global Service Sales at Extreme Networks, said: “Three things that really make our partnership with Shyft work are the flexibility, the language support, and the cost-effectiveness.”
With Shyft on your side, you can focus on expanding innovation, knowing that your most valuable assets — your customers — are handled with the utmost care.
Alorica
Schwendner: Alorica acts, thinks, and looks different from other CX partners.
While we are a scaled global player that processes over two billion interactions annually with 100,000 employees across 19 countries, we’re also uniquely positioned as a privately held, minority-owned CX provider.
We’re more agile, fiercely disruptive, and entrepreneurial. Moreover, we’re solely focused on innovating and delivering for our clients now and into the future rather than diverting our attention to competing priorities, such as mergers and public shareholders.
We are committed to building today for tomorrow’s CX needs, investing in next-gen technology (like ReVoLT), opening in new markets, and nurturing an inclusive environment where employees of all backgrounds can grow.
The good news for us is that each day, we are partnering with more and more brands that think the way we do and are gravitating toward a nimble, tech-first CX partner to solve their needs.
TELUS International
Spears: At TELUS International, we focus on earning the trust of our prospective clients so they feel confident in our ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences that enhance brand loyalty.
Moreover, we offer end-to-end services and solutions to address top implementation challenges, including high-quality datasets, bespoke GenAI research, and governance frameworks.
TTEC
Cerise: Today’s customers demand support at any time, on any channel, in any language. Brands must either meet these expectations or risk a frustrating and disconnected experience.
In addition, customers want more digital options. Brands must provide multiple support channels and know which channels work best for interactions.
TTEC has resources worldwide and the ability and agility to deploy the best people and technology, physically and digitally, at a moment’s notice.
Our best-in-class operational processes and management provide businesses with the flexibility, scalability, and efficiency they need to protect and enhance their customer relationships.
Lastly, TTEC gives brands the digital edge they need by bringing expertise and tech know-how to digital channels.
Indeed, we leverage digital to enhance the performance of our associates, finding the right, cost-effective balance of technology and people.
Miss out on our previous CX Today roundtable? Catch up here: CPaaS Platforms: Trends, Industries, and Differentiators
