3 Popular Misconceptions of Outsourcing Customer Service

Outsourcing may have been an option not long ago, but now, it is the norm that businesses, whether large or small, have adopted in their respective organisations.

 One of the popularly outsourced processes these days is customer service, and the benefits of doing so just keeps on pouring. Examples of the benefits of customer service outsourcing are:

• Immediate customer service round the clock
• Increased efficiency and productivity
• English competency can be guaranteed 
• Inexpensive form to show that you care
• Reduces your workload to half or even more

Despite these benefits of customer service outsourcing, there are still quite a few misconceptions that surround the practice. And in this article, popular misconceptions will be discussed and a short explanation will be included as well to debunk it. 

1. Language barrier: While it is true that language skills are embarrassing problems in some outsourcing destinations, there are also countries that boast their language skills as their pride and glory. In the Philippines, for instance, customer service agents' strong command of the English language is their selling point as evidenced by many companies that choose to have their customer service needs filled up by Filipinos. You will be surprised at the number of Filipinos who appear to be native Americans or native Australians on the phone. The resemblance can be uncanny.
2. Quality is compromised: It is important to note that just because outsourcing customer service worked for other companies, it does not mean that you can expect the same for your own organisation. Like any process or transaction you engage in for your business, your time for training is an investment that you should not underestimate. Invest in good training so that the quality of the calls will not be compromised. Either you conduct the training yourself by visiting your outsourced destination or entrusting the training in the hands of the contact centre who will be managing your offshore site. At the end of the day, the quality of the call is highly controllable.  
3. Training will never end: For business owners, it is important that their employees get their rhythm. While there are skills and knowledge that are generic, there are specific details about their skills and knowledge that they want their employees to be trained in, and this goes to both in-house and offshore employees. The truth is, business owners need to spend only on the initial training provided that they hire the best agents their contact centre of choice can find. And this is not hard to do considering recruitment and screening can seamlessly filter out the best candidates from their long list of confident hopefuls and so-so applicants. Also, investing on training documents that can be replicated for the use of your offshore employees is not that big of a price tag to pay. 

Outsourcing customer service may have its own hits and misses, but that should not be a reason for you not to consider outsourcing as part of your business plan. And by debunking these misconceptions, it is hoped that outsourcing your customer service needs will be put in a more favourable light.