Outsourced customer service has emerged as a highly sought-after solution for businesses of all scales, witnessing a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.51% over the span of five years. This upward trajectory solidifies the prominence of outsourcing customer service as a strategic decision for organizations aiming to optimize their operations.

Outsourcing customer care offers a range of diverse solutions for companies’ specific needs and priorities. Depending on their requirements, businesses have the flexibility to outsource one or multiple aspects of customer service, ensuring a tailored approach that aligns with their objectives. In this article, we will address the 5 most outsourced customer service solutions: 

#1. Inbound Call Handling

Inbound call handling is a fundamental component of outsourced customer service solutions. It refers to the process of managing and addressing incoming customer calls, typically through a centralized call center. This critical aspect of customer service involves a dedicated team of agents who specialize in handling customer inquiries, complaints, requests, and other communication needs.  By outsourcing this function, businesses can ensure that every customer call is promptly answered and efficiently handled, fostering positive customer experiences and building strong brand loyalty.

Additionally, outsourcing to specialized call center providers grants access to a team of experienced agents who possess industry-specific knowledge and customer service expertise. These professionals are trained to handle diverse customer queries and offer tailored solutions, enhancing the overall quality of customer support. Moreover, many outsourced call centers operate 24/7, ensuring uninterrupted customer service support. This enables businesses to cater to customers across different time zones and accommodate their needs at any hour.

#2. Email and Chat Support

Outsourcing email and chat support has emerged as a valuable solution for businesses looking to streamline their customer communication channels. By entrusting these functions to experienced professionals, companies can effectively manage customer inquiries, provide timely responses, and engage in real-time conversations through email and chat platforms.

Some of the unique features of outsourced email and chat support are as follows:

Knowledge Management Systems

Outsourced email and chat support often use robust knowledge management systems that store comprehensive information about products, services, and common customer inquiries. This allows agents to access relevant information swiftly, ensuring accurate and consistent responses.

 Personalization and Brand Consistency

Outsourced providers work closely with businesses to understand their brand values, tone of communication, and customer service expectations. This ensures that customer interactions through email and chat channels align with the brand’s voice, maintaining consistency and personalization in every customer interaction.

Quality Assurance and Monitoring

To uphold service standards, outsourced email and chat support providers often have stringent quality assurance measures in place. These may include regular monitoring, feedback sessions, and performance evaluations to ensure that agents consistently deliver high-quality customer support.

Reporting and Analytics

Outsourcing partners provide detailed reports and analytics on email and chat support performance, empowering businesses to enhance the customer experience. An impressive 72% of businesses recognize the value of analytics reports in improving customer experience. By gathering and evaluating data related to customer support, actionable insights can be derived to improve customer experiences. These insights enable businesses to monitor key metrics, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions, ultimately improving the effectiveness and efficiency of customer communication.

#3. Social Media Management

Social media management is one of the most outsourced customer service solutions. This involves addressing customer queries, concerns, and feedback across various social channels to maintain a strong online presence and foster positive customer relationships.

Let’s consider the case study of a leading electronics manufacturer known for their innovative gadgets. The company released a highly anticipated smartphone model, but shortly after its launch, reports started surfacing on social media about potential software issues and customer dissatisfaction with the device’s performance. Negative comments and complaints quickly gained traction, posing a significant threat to the company’s reputation.

To address the situation, the company relied on their outsourced social media management team, a group of experienced professionals who specialize in managing online conversations and mitigating reputation risks. Here’s how the outsourced experts handled the scenario:

The outsourced social media team monitored the company’s social media platforms to identify negative feedback related to the new smartphone model. They responded promptly to each complaint, acknowledging the customer’s concerns and engaging in an empathetic manner by listening attentively to their frustrations and offering sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.

In addition, the outsourced team provided technical support by offering step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting guidance, and software update recommendations to address the reported issues.  As the company investigated and developed solutions, the outsourced experts provided transparent updates to the affected customers. They communicated the progress made in resolving the reported problems, estimated timelines for fixes, and any upcoming software patches or updates.

The outsourced social media team actively managed the company’s online reputation by addressing not only the direct complaints but also the broader conversations surrounding the smartphone model. They identified influential social media users who have expressed dissatisfaction and proactively reached out to them, offering personalized assistance and demonstrating the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.

Alongside addressing negative feedback, the outsourced experts engaged with positive comments and reviews about other products, showcasing the company’s strengths and commitment to innovation. By highlighting satisfied customers and successful product experiences, they helped balance the online sentiment and strengthened the brand image.

#4. Multilingual Customer Support

Multilingual customer support involves providing assistance and resolving customer inquiries in various languages, catering to the linguistic diversity of a customer base. This support can be delivered through channels such as phone, email, live chat, or social media. Outsourcing multilingual customer support allows businesses to engage with customers in their native language, creating a more inclusive and customer-centric experience.

Language specialists in multilingual customer support also have a deep understanding of the cultural nuances associated with the languages they support. They are aware of cultural differences in communication styles, etiquette, and customer expectations. This cultural sensitivity allows them to deliver personalized and culturally appropriate support, enhancing customer satisfaction.

In addition to providing verbal support, multilingual customer support teams can assist in translating written communication. They can translate emails, documentation, website content, or user manuals into the customers’ preferred language. This translation and localization help ensure that customers can access information in a language they understand, fostering clarity and reducing barriers to effective communication.

Outsourced multilingual customer support can also be tailored to specific communication channels based on customer preferences. For example, if a significant portion of customers prefer live chat or social media interactions, language specialists can be dedicated to providing support through those channels in the customers’ preferred languages. This flexibility allows businesses to meet customers where they are most comfortable and engaged.

Multilingual customer support is a pivotal component of outsourced customer service solutions. It enables businesses to expand their market reach and cater to customers from different regions or countries. By overcoming language barriers, companies can tap into new customer segments, increase customer acquisition, and strengthen customer loyalty. This global market presence contributes to business growth and enhances the brand’s reputation on an international scale.

#5. Self-service Options

Self-service options involve providing customers with easily accessible resources and tools that allow them to find answers to their questions, troubleshoot common issues, and seek assistance without direct interaction with support agents. These options can be in the form of knowledge bases, FAQs, video tutorials, interactive guides, or community forums. Outsourcing self-service options enables businesses to create and maintain comprehensive self-help platforms while leveraging specialized expertise.

Imagine a company wants to provide a comprehensive self-help platform for its customers. They decide to outsource this task to a specialized team with a range of expertise. Here’s how the process might unfold:

Step 1

The company partners with an outsourced content strategist who has a deep understanding of the company’s products, services, and customer needs. The content strategist works closely with the company to identify the most common customer inquiries, pain points, and areas where self-service options can provide valuable assistance. They develop a content strategy that outlines the types of resources needed, such as knowledge base articles, FAQs, video tutorials, and instructional content.

Step 2

To create informative and user-friendly knowledge base articles, the company collaborates with outsourced technical writers who possess strong writing skills and the ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and concise manner. These writers research and compile information from internal resources, product documentation, and subject matter experts. They collaborate with the content strategist to ensure the content aligns with the overall strategy and addresses customer needs effectively.

Step 3

The company engages with outsourced  UX/UI designers who specialize in creating intuitive and visually appealing self-service platforms. These designers work closely with the content strategist and technical writers to structure the information effectively, create user-friendly interfaces, and ensure a seamless user experience. They consider factors such as navigation, search functionality, and visual hierarchy to make it easy for customers to find and access the information they need.

Step 4

To enhance the self-service options, the company also collaborates with an outsourced video production team. These specialists have expertise in video creation, editing, and animation. They work with the content strategist and technical writers to identify key topics that can be explained more effectively through visual demonstrations. For example, they may create instructional videos that guide customers through product setup, troubleshooting processes, or advanced features.

Step 5

Once the content and design elements are finalized, the company partners with web developers who have experience in building self-help platforms. These developers are proficient in coding languages, content management systems, and database management. They bring the content and design together, ensuring the self-service platform is responsive, optimized for different devices, and integrated with other systems if necessary. They also implement features like user registration, search functionality, and user feedback mechanisms.

Step 6

Finally, the company outsources a quality assurance team to ensure that the self-help platform meets high standards. This team tests the platform’s functionality, verifies that all links and resources are working correctly, and identifies any areas that require improvement. They provide feedback and work closely with the other specialists to resolve any issues before the platform is launched.

To learn more about outsourcing, you can read our Top 8 Qualities of an Outsourcing Company in the Philippines article. We invite you to follow us on social media and to visit our website to learn more about our services.

About Us: Sourcefit is a widely recognized US-managed business process outsourcing company based in Manila, Philippines. We proudly serve over 100 clients with a workforce of more than 1,300 employees. Our global centers can serve multiple markets, and our staff is highly proficient in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Whether you need a few or many employees, we can help you achieve your business goals and build high-quality offshore teams.

Latest Awards

Sourcefit’s commitment to excellence has been recognized through numerous industry awards and certifications.

We recently received the Fortress Cyber Security Award from the Business Intelligence Group. Sourcefit was also honored with the prestigious recognition of Best Outsourcing Solutions Provider in the Philippines during the 2023 Business Excellence Awards.

Other awards include: FT ranking of 500 high-growth Asia-Pacific, The Marketing Excellence Awards, Inquirer Growth Champion,  HR Asia Awards, among others.

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