As the world recovers from a year of hardship that has affected all facets of life and routine, the American business environment has changed drastically. With an unforeseen global pandemic striking the economic landscape, many businesses have been forced to cut back, close temporarily, or even cease operations for good. COVID-19’s destruction also confronted many of these businesses with unexpected mass layoffs, dwindling sales, and a disruption of average consumerism, requiring them to find any solution to stay afloat.
An obvious solution is to cut costs: by eliminating certain expenses, the company can use those funds to focus on recovery. It sounds simple, but it’s extremely important to evaluate what disadvantages such cuts can bring. While it may seem effective to pull investments away from the customer service department, the result could end up being a much bigger drawback.
As American life is facing higher levels of diversity, it’s essential for businesses to maintain excellent customer service. Clients and consumers are facing challenges, too, and will be reaching out with more questions and frustrations than before.
“After facing job losses, health crises, and extreme damages to their income, many Americans can no longer attain the consumerist lifestyle they once enjoyed. As a result, customers rely on businesses to understand their situation and adjust, so a lack of quality service can leave a bad impression,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning contact center outsourcing provider in the Philippines.
One way that businesses can prioritize service without compromising budget is to outsource their call centers. Operating and maintaining in-house contact centers can be both expensive and time-consuming, but it’s not something that businesses should cut corners with— customer service is one of the largest factors contributing to a company’s perceived image, and limiting it could be a huge setback.
“By outsourcing contact center requirements to us here in the Philippines, companies can benefit from reduced costs, labor, effort, and time. In turn, other parts of the business can be prioritized without sacrificing customer satisfaction,” says Ellspermann.
Cost-Effectiveness
One of the most compelling reasons companies should outsource their call centers to the Philippines is that it’s much more cost-effective. Operating an in-house call center requires a variety of investments such as staff, facilities, proper equipment, and more. Unlike in the United States, the expenses for labor and operations in the Philippines are significantly lower.
With lower costs, companies can enlist a larger workforce of skilled call center agents, which can significantly improve service. Having more agents means that the company can efficiently account for peak calling hours, handle higher volume of calls per day, and provide a wider range of service availability.
By leveraging the expertise of a third-party contact center outsourcing provider in the Philippines, companies can also let go of the responsibility and cost of recruiting, hiring, and training their agents. BPO’s can also manage the daily operations and infrastructure of the call center, so the company doesn’t have to.
Booming Industry
The Philippines already possesses a thriving contact center industry. Over one million Filipino’s are currently employed by contact centers, and there is a constant stream of young, educated individuals entering the workforce. With a rapidly growing economy in the Philippines, many global companies are already reaping the benefits of outsourcing their contact centers to Philippine BPO’s.
Specialized Knowledge & Service
In addition to reduced costs and a flourishing environment for the industry, companies can trust that their offshore agents are both talented and efficient. Rather than spending time and money to train employees in-house, an outsourced call center can provide agents with years of experience and expertise to properly field inquiries of all kinds. Additionally, using call center agents from the Philippines can be beneficial in reducing communication barriers, as many Filipinos are highly fluent in English and knowledgeable about American culture.
Whether a company is looking to reduce costs or just improve overall customer service, outsourcing their front or back-office processes to the Philippines is definitely an excellent option to consider. As one of the top countries in the world for contact center outsourcing, the Philippines already has many organizations backed by talented agents, efficient management, and skilled communicators to suit your business needs. With customer support well accounted for, companies can focus on other areas of their business and pave the way for greater success.
David Vergun, DOD News
