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We all know that running a business is an intricate affair. An enterprise may be an expert in a field and has a product(s)/service(s) that it deals with remarkably well, which makes their services invaluable. But they have to worry about other factors of the business as well - manage documents, track employees, manage processing, timely payment of invoices, and all sorts of work that keep an operation in good flow, but, aren’t the focus of your organizational excellence. And the more resources that a company dedicates to these functions, the less they’ll have to invest in what makes them exceptional.
In the past, the HR, accounting, and administrative departments were run by companies internally. But with advancements in inter-connectivity and digital office solutions, it is now possible to assign these tasks to other specialists, and employ more of the company’s resources on value-added work. Companies do that with BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). It’s how developing businesses can stay lean and competitive, and how established ones can cut costs and improve efficiency. But most importantly BPO helps any company serve their customers more effectively.
Because in this day and age, with increasing competitiveness and advancements in technology which has made developing great products accessible to many companies with less capital, customer service is the key aspect that has become a vital differentiator.
Companies would consider BPO solutions at some point, but the fact is that outsourcing may not be a great choice for some companies or some times. Business owners must thus ask themselves: Should we align with a BPO solutions provider?
Certain key indicators will clarify when outsourcing is the right solution for a company’s challenges. It begins with comparing the benefits of outsourcing against the benefits of maintaining internal departments. Each company will have its own unique goals and requirements. Nevertheless, there are some common criteria that determines the right time for a company to outsource. When a company is:
Experiencing seasonal peaks in call volume or consistent call overflow
Attaining growth but has difficulty scaling or increasing staff for ancillary functions like HR, IT, Finance, training and QC teams
Finding it challenging, or impossible to keep up with increasing customer expectations for personalized service and 24/7/365 support coverage
What are the benefits of outsourcing business processes?
Lower costs with better work quality
It’s a good thing to outsource your operations to a country with lower wages, taxes and/or living costs, which in turn reduces your business spending. It’s usually better to not opt for the cheapest, but rather moderate-priced services that still ensure good work quality.
Increased efficiency and better solutions
When you outsource a certain business process to a specialized solutions provider, you can count on the job being done efficiently. Their knowledge and expertise in this particular area means they will not spend precious time on ground-level research or learning from mistakes. They have been there, done that – and has helped gradually become experts in their field. The increased efficiency also applies to contracting Millennial freelancers who work remotely. According to UpWork, ‘92% of Millennials would like to work remotely where they feel more productive’.
By outsourcing to specialist solution providers, you are also employing the people handling your operations (e.g. marketing or recruitment process) who are more skilled in those areas than you are. This usually guarantees better solutions to particular problems – which in the long run, strengthens your business.
More focus on core business functions
BPO allows your own employees to save time and energy spent on menial tasks or ones that they don’t specialize in. This means that they can redirect those resources into working at core business functions and thus help attain a faster growth of your company. In other words: BPO eliminates bottlenecks and snags, allowing your business to focus on what it excels at.
24/7 Business operations
This is an extra advantage of BPO. If you outsource some jobs off-shore to countries in distant time zones, it might mean that your business processes are happening around-the-clock. You may be able to close the working day on your side of the world, go to sleep, and wake up to receive delivered service the next morning.
Some emerging trends in BPO
Social Media as a Customer Service Channel
Cloud Computing
Tailored Outsourcing
Up-skilling
For more information on how UPDATE Technologies can help your organization with regards to Front office BPO services, please click here.
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