What if you could make the best solution for your business even better?
For businesses of almost any size, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is an effective way to take your company to the next level. You can use BPO to plug potential skill gaps, re-focus your core team, effectively scale your growth, and so much more.
Think of outsourcing like any other tool. No matter how useful the tool is, there is a world of difference between using the tool and using it well. With that in mind, what should you do to maximize your own BPO success? Keep reading to discover the answer!
1. Define BPO and Call Center Objectives
BPO can do many outstanding things for your business. However, to get the most out of outsourcing, you need to develop a clear idea of your ultimate goals.
For example, are you simply trying to reduce overhead? In that case, you may want to outsource to streamline your more expensive teams and projects. But if you have another goal, such as improving customer service, you might instead outsource to expand your resources and enhance service.
Once you have a game plan in place, outsourcing can help transform your plans into a reality.
2. Set Benchmarks for Success
One thing that CEOs and managers soon discover is that the best part of outsourcing is also the worst part of outsourcing. Specifically, you outsource certain business needs so you don’t need to actively handle those things yourself. But if you go fully and completely “hands-off,” the team you outsource to might not achieve as much success as they otherwise would.
That’s why we recommend tracking specific benchmarks and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for success. For example, if you have any rockstar employees really killing it on certain tasks, you can use their performance to set the standards for any outside help.
Establishing and communicating these benchmarks at the beginning of the BPO relationship may take a little longer than letting an external team go in cold. But doing so helps you make sure that the external team can hit the ground running with the performance you need. Setting this expectation early on means you’ll enjoy an improved performance for the entire BPO relationship.
3. Track Time Spent on Important Call Center Projects
One of the most common outsourcing needs is adding a call center to your business. Doing so gives your business a level of customer support it has never had before. In this case, engaging a nearshore call center for help illustrates the importance of analyzing the time individuals and teams are spending on various important projects.
For example, ask yourself what your goals are when you hire a call center. Most of the time, selling a product or service would be one of your primary objectives. But what if it took someone an hour to make that sale? Sure, they met one of your company’s goals, but they did so at the expense of helping other customers.
The lesson? Just as your BPO partner uses call center tracking software to analyze how long their employees are staying on the phone, you need to use other metrics to make sure workers aren’t spending too long (or perhaps not long enough) on other projects. Your nearshore call center partner should offer these types of analytics and metrics to help you understand the value proposition – or lack thereof – in your agreement.
4. Understand What Can Be Outsourced
Many companies would outsource more often if not for a simple problem: They have no idea what can and cannot be outsourced within their own company.
It’s possible for you to outsource your social media and marketing needs, for example, just as it’s possible to outsource IT and bookkeeping. Even human resources, something we typically consider “in-house,” can be smoothly handled with BPO.
Once you know what can be outsourced to others, you can make better decisions to help streamline your business and improve your overall profit margins.
5. A Close Partnership Is the Key to Success
The number one “rookie mistake” with outsourced resources is that businesses think they don’t have to work closely with the outsourcing teams after the initial hire. However, it’s important to maintain a good partnership so you and the external teams can make important changes easily. That’s why many companies are choosing nearshore BPO partners.
Outsourcing isn’t an “easy button” that makes all your problems go away. But if you’re willing to put in the work, BPO can help transform your company like nothing else.
Get the Best BPO Call Center for Your Business Today!
Now you know how to maximize your BPO and call center success. Of course, getting the most out of outsourcing means finding the best possible teams as a partner.
At Confie, we specialize in business process outsourcing and helping companies like yours innovate and grow. If you’re ready to see what Confie can do, all you have to do is contact us today!
