As outsourcing is not new to anyone, information organizations should have before embarking on outsourcing or dealing with their current outsourcing partner. However, outsourcing is not going away, and according to many trusted advisory organizations, it will continue to grow significantly. On-shore, near-shore and off-shore are the current options, all in viable geographies based on your service needs, budgets, languages, and availability of personnel.
As in any business situation, there are good, bad, and possibly ugly alternatives. In outsourcing, pricing ranks as the top business driver. Organizations are all looking for “better, faster, cheaper” solutions to drive revenue and cut costs. The “good” is headlined by cutting the total cost of ownership in a contact center, and outsourcing can make good sense, but the “bad” comes with a price. The effort to evaluate if outsourcing is the direction that best suits your business direction, the cost of doing an RFP, due diligence, and selecting the right partner can be high. If you decide to outsource, you have to understand that you lose some of the management control you had as an in-house center, and you must be willing to work with your outsource partner at a distance, all while maintaining the level of CX your company is expecting you to provide. The “ugly” comes once you decide to outsource. Should your contracting with the outsourcer become complex and management teams are not in lockstep regarding the governance of the services, the relationship will never work the way you envisioned and represented it. Be prepared for the “valley of despair” — where what you indicated to your management as significant savings does not happen immediately. New agents, new software interfacing, new team leads, new QA, new WFM, all with a new partner, will take time to get into full stride.
One of the biggest roadblocks to outsourcing has been the “all or nothing” mentality from outsourcers. For companies to take advantage of quality solutions, they had to provide the outsourcer with agent seats. The outsourcer would not share its process and technology solutions to better the entire customer care network. That mentality on the part of the outsourcers, particularly the mid-to-small range companies, is going away. You are no longer required to provide seats, and many have significant solutions developed to better your CX.
So as you either begin considering outsourcing your customer care or work with a partner, understand that you have options and alternatives. There are plenty of outsourcing providers that would be willing to discuss your customer care and provide you with the latest and greatest solutions to drive “better, faster, cheaper.”
John Novak is a global Sales and Operations executive with over 40 years in the customer care and customer experience industry. John has been a CCNG member and advocates for over 30 years and currently is Director, Client Engagement – Americas at IGT Solutions.
