Outsourcing plays a substantial part in the global economy today even though it was a new and virtually unheard of ten years ago. In fact, key research corporation Gartner predicted in August 2013 the global outsourcing market would grow by simply 5.4% annually for the next four years, reaching a valuation of $288 billion (£175.1 billion) by 2017.
Despite the industry’s rapid growth rate, there continues to be many corporate corporate executives that remain suspicious about its gains. Having less knowledge about the benefits of the customer service outsourcing industry, can partly be the reason for their reluctance.
Here we debunk three of the biggest myths of that hold back many companies from realizing the benefits of customer service outsourcing.
Myth #1: We will be sacrificing quality service delivery for cost benefits.
In its early years, it is true that the motivation to outsource was driven from the opportunity to accomplish cost reductions in business operation. While it’s also true that the significant savings to be had when you outsource eventually made outsourcing become synonymous with ONLY cost savings at some point, the main reason why many companies chose outsourcing was not only because of cost reduction, but also due to the enhanced quality of customer support.
Customer service outsourcing has increased its quality service delivery to ensure that it is able to align itself with global quality standards when it comes to equipment, service distribution metrics, and manpower. The industry has changed into a powerhouse, producing experts within their specialized field and adding more worth to the clients they service. Companies are slowly starting to realize that deciding to outsource does not mean they are downgrading their customer support delivery—they are actually upgrading the quality of service they provide to their customers.
Myth #2: We may have no management handle over employees.
Customer relationships are critical to the success of a profitable business, so it is not surprising that many executives are unlikely to entrust these types of relationships to a third party. When you are able to monitor the customer service department that the company maintains in-house, it tends to be easy to feel confident about the quality of service delivery. It is because of the seemingly apparent deficiency of control over how agents perform that companies wait from deciding to outsource. It is often a common question–how can you monitor what an outsourcing company has been doing, and how can you ensure that they are aligned with all your core business methods?
Myth #3: The language barrier.
The most frequent misconception about outsourcing to some firms based inside a different country is that they will not have the language skills necessary to converse with clients. There are unlucky reports of thick accents and inaudible words that make unfamiliar and senseless sentence constructions.
Choosing to outsource, like any other business investment, requires effort before it gives return. With proper assessment, a definite outline of performance expectations, and positioning of quality expectations, customer service outsourcing could become a company’s greatest asset yet.