Hosting the Host � Lessons in Outsourcing Customer Care
By Chuck Sykes, Senior Vice President and General Manager, the
Americas, SYKES
Enterprises
Some of the largest consumer-facing companies in the world are looking
to solve what we call the “triple whammy” — how to get the best
customer support performance, at the best price while treating customers
like the world revolves around them.
Jupiter Research is projecting that with more complex products being
sold over the Web, voice interaction will be the support of choice, and
e-mail will follow. Businesses are already finding that the number of
customer interactions is growing, despite the era of online
self-service. Customers are moving to the Web to shop, but they want a
higher level of contact and right now they are turning more frequently
to the telephone.
People still want to interact in a human way — they still need to
talk, so you have to find a solution to meet this expectation. Offshore
and hosted facilities can help alleviate the pain in managing this rise
in customer demand.
A new report from Frost & Sullivan estimates that the market for
outsourcing inbound and outbound customer care, help desk, and
telemarketing, will be worth US $60 billion by 2007. The opportunity is
there for the providers — but what are the opportunities,
advantages, benefits, and potential potholes, for the companies in need?
For an organization that needs a contact center to service customer
demands and interaction there are some options. You first need to decide
whether you can afford to locate, build, equip, staff and operate your
own contact center; whether a joint venture is feasible; or if you can
outsource the entire job to a reputable company.
Here are few thoughts to consider for each path:
The lock, stock and barrel route. Be prepared to commit up front
and ongoing multi-millions in capital to locate, build, equip, staff and
operate your own contact center. If you have the expertise, or can hire
an experienced consulting organization to achieve your goals, this might
be a good choice.
The carpool path. Joint ventures can be a good way to share
risks and rewards in an area where you do not have total expertise. Your
partners need to understand the intricacies of local government,
staffing and cultural issues, as well as technical infrastructure.
The hired hand approach. By outsourcing the entire job to an
experienced contact center business you gain control of how you want
your customers treated, and at what costs. Be sure to decide up front
whether you want the company to link up with your systems and also gauge
their reputation in the country you have selected. Once you decide to
outsource to the hired hand, ask yourself the following questions to
ensure the best partner in the initiative:
- Has the management team run a contact center of the size and
scale required to get the job done? Hands-on experience cannot be
underestimated. The number of skills required span from workforce
scheduling to training, call handling and data-mining. Selecting an
outsourcer that can provide skilled staff and management from a CRM
background, as well as the systems and site expertise will provide
security. - Does the organization have a full understanding of any local
government regulation, employment and business issues in the offshore
destination? An in-depth knowledge of local tax issues or employment
laws is imperative. On the ground, a provider should also be able to
source and prepare regional businesses to support a new call center
location, (such as telecom, security firms and other vendors). All
contacts need to be examined by a trusted provider who understands the
local culture as well as the expectations and standards of your
business. - Can you get the right staff? Customer service or technical
support agents need to be carefully selected and trained. The location
needs to have the raw talent available and the right mix of part- and
full-time employees to keep the contact center at optimum operational
levels, while allowing for the fluctuations in volume and demand.
Offshore facilities in developing markets offer an open and untapped
labor pool, and one that can be trained and developed to a companys own
standards. - Channel capabilities — can the center handle all incoming
contacts, including voice, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), fax, as
well as e-mail, for example? Your customers want to be able to use
any channel of communication they choose. Voice is the hardest channel
to take offshore, but remains important in making your customers feel
part of something local, close and comfortable.
Companies using a hosted center want guarantees that by putting their
customers in someone else's hands service levels won't fall. As a
checklist, in order to be there for your customers at every stage, what
steps should a host provider follow and what should you expect if you
outsource?
- State of the art technology. Some of the main ingredients
of a top tier outsourced solution would include: a software system with
open architecture to link with you and support a heterogeneous
environment of carrier networks; ACD (automatic call distribution), PBX
(private branch exchange or private telephone switchboard) , IVR
(interactive voice response), Web, and e-mail platforms; and
complementary software applications. - Less investment risk. As businesses improve customer service
to help them become more customer-centric, there is a risk that
companies will invest considerable time and money building
second-generation CRM systems and find themselves fenced in when
customers start demanding third and fourth generation services. - Synchronized reporting and routing. The service solutions
should allow you to obtain a real time view of customer contacts and the
software needs to make contact-routing decisions for populating agent
desktop applications. - Trained, customer-centric, staff. A highly skilled and
customer-centric workforce trained in technical skills and “soft” skills
will engender a close bond between your brand and your customer. - Flexibility. As your business expands, or as you face peak
customer contact periods in the customer life cycle, you need an
outsourcer that can ramp-up quickly to support your growth, as well as
tool-down during slower business periods.
If someone else is playing host, you should be able to sit back and reap
the benefits for your customers, if you've covered these bases and found
a solid partner. Any provider needs to have the expertise in
understanding, using and supporting the technology to maximize the
investment in a hosted service. But only when combined with the right
people and processes to manage it will this deliver a world-class
service that meets the triple whammy on all sides — giving support,
at a fair price, for the best customer service.
SYKES has been providing expert outsourcing and consulting solutions to the world's leaders in the technology, finance and communications industries for over 24 years.
