Should you outsource customer service?

Customer service is one of the crucial parts of any business and therefore handling it with a dedicated and professional approach is essential. Also, it can be expensive in the long run for small businesses and therefore it is essential to understand the finer nuances and decide whether to outsource this type of work.

Outsourcing customer service has its pros and cons, and it’s important to understand both sides of the equation before deciding.

Advantages of outsourcing customer service

1. Profitable

Outsourcing allows you to reduce operating costs. Having in-house staff to handle customer service is costly and counterproductive. Keeping customer support outsourced saves money in the long run and, if done correctly, will increase customer satisfaction rates.

It is expensive to train new call center employees. Training and supply of training materials lead to high turnover rate and all this can be avoided by outsourcing call center.

2. Scalable

As your business grows, your customer base also grows, so your customer service needs to be more productive. Whether you’re expanding your customer service or building customer service for your new business, outsourcing is a scalable option that saves you the hassle of spending more money and settling in. Outsourcing can help take your business to the next level.

3. Monitored Performance

Outsourcing customer service allows you to invest more resources and energy in the core areas of your business. It is common for companies to fail because they cannot provide key resources to all sectors of their operations, and customer service is one of the causes of this.

Outsourced contact centers have the right resources and tools to ensure the effectiveness of their customer service agents and their service. They have analytics and KPIs to check the performance and activities of the employees. Existing processes are ready to integrate with your processes, so you don’t have to build everything from scratch. Make sure the outsourced team is well facilitated, and this gives you peace of mind to focus on your core business activities.

Cons of outsourcing customer service

1. Detachment

The primary concern of outsourcing is that customer agents in offshore contact centers are unfamiliar with business culture and values. This can affect the level of commitment and service they offer to customers. However, a good outsourcing company will ensure that the level of service aligns with their standards and have policies in place to reflect their company culture and values. Choose an outsourcing partner where you can directly observe operations and engage with employees.

2. Linguistic and cultural barriers

Some companies don’t want to outsource their customer service to offshore companies because they fear that offshore customer service agents may lack the fluency and cultural knowledge to communicate with their customers. This can be fixed by sending clear and specific requirements. So when you outsource your customer support, include in your requirements that you need someone who can communicate fluently in a certain language and has a neutral accent.