In a perfect world, you’d have the time and energy to run your business and keep up with customer service tickets as they come in. But with global supply chains to manage and customers now expecting service 24/7, you simply might not have enough hours in the day to handle everything on your own. Many business owners are hesitant to outsource their customer service. This is because it is the most critical point of contact when it comes to either securing a repeat customer or dealing with refund requests and bad reviews. According to data from Salesforce, an overwhelming 91% of customers polled said that a positive customer service experience would make them more likely to make another purchase in the future.
With that in mind, let’s dispel some common concerns surrounding outsourced customer service. We’ll look at how 24/7 outsourcing can increase your availability, save you money, allow you to scale your business and more.
Increased Availability
Social media has made it easier to connect with customers and prospects and get brand exposure. It has also made customers expect instant responses to their questions and requests. By outsourcing your customer service, you’ll be able to address issues after-hours while maintaining a work-life balance.
Night and weekend shifts tend to have lower working hours than weekdays, but requests made during off-hours also tend to be urgent. Customers usually only get in touch at night or over the weekend if they need immediate help.
Many business owners attempt to get around this problem by making use of automated messages and chatbots, but this often isn’t enough to address client needs. By having outsourced customer service available 24/7, you’ll be better able to avoid this issue.
Improved Customer Service
No customer service representative knows the business better than its owner or the managers who handle day-to-day operations. With that said, customer service requires specific skill sets that experienced customer service agents already have. While in-house reps might need extensive training in customer service, outsourced talent won’t have this barrier to entry.
Once you’ve gotten started with an outsourcing company, the process begins with an onboarding phase. Here, already-experienced customer service reps get to know the ins and outs of your company. They also learn commonly reported customer issues and how to handle them.
The representatives can work off of new or established frequently asked question lists. The lists allow them to quickly field questions and respond to issues as they pop up. You’ll have full control over this process, giving input on ways you like to resolve specific issues, steps you’re willing to take, and those you aren’t.
Cost Savings
One of the most obvious benefits of 24/7 outsourcing is the potential for cost savings. When you hire in-house customer service representatives, you end up spending more than just the cost of their salary. You also need to cover things like health insurance and benefits, overtime pay, vacations, and the cost of training. To combat these issues, some businesses make employees wear many hats. However, this only draws those employees away from their primary duties and puts them to work on tasks they might not be as qualified for.
By outsourcing your customer service, all you need to pay is a simple monthly fee. Many small business owners find that by doing this, they can spend less on customer service. They might also have a larger team of reps than they would have had otherwise.
It’s important to consider the possibility of sunk costs. When you spend time and money training a customer service rep only for them to leave a few months down the line, you haven’t only lost a considerable amount in training costs. You also have to start from square one with your next representative. 24/7 outsourcing gives you access to well-trained and experienced customer service agents without going over budget.
Scalability
Sudden business growth is a good problem to have, but it often means that your customer service staff can no longer meet your customers’ needs. Business process outsourcing companies don’t suffer from this problem and they can easily scale teams to suit your size and needs.
How Peak Outsourcing Can Help
At Peak Outsourcing, we pride ourselves on flexibility and agility in everything we do. Since 2011, we’ve handled a wide variety of outsourcing needs, including everything from customer service to back-office support, social media marketing, and much more. Are you ready to get started? Contact our sales team at (833) 831-7325 or contact us online today.
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