Your business wouldn’t exist without customers. A growing list of customers is a blessing for any small or midsize business, but providing effective customer support can become challenging over time—especially if your company has a limited staff. That’s when you should consider outsourced customer support. A customer support agency can handle many important tasks for you and even help you gain more clients.
There are many customer support outsourcing companies, but they’re not all the same. When considering the outsourcing of customer support, it's important to be aware of the crucial aspects that will help you choose the right agency to meet your company's specific needs.
What services do customer support outsourcing companies provide?
While the services provided may vary from agency to agency, customer support outsourcing companies typically handle these tasks:
Inbound customer support
Inbound customer support covers requests via phone, email, or other avenues. If a customer support agency offers inbound call center services, they will likely make agents available to your clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Outbound customer support
Outbound customer support involves contacting customers directly. Some customer support agencies also offer lead generation services, and they will also make outbound calls to prospects.
Technical support
Outsourced customer support can provide technical assistance when users need help. This could involve website issues, problems with the ordering process, or even directly supporting the products you sell.
Help desk support
Regardless of whether your company is in the technology industry, outsourced customer support agents can act as a first tier of support, like a help desk. The agents can walk customers through simple issues, log support requests, and route support calls to the appropriate personnel.
Complaint management
Customer complaints are bound to happen no matter how good your products are or how strong your technical support is. Outsourced support agents receive and acknowledge complaints, record and categorize them, and then seek to resolve them by engaging with customers and processing refunds or returns.
Customer satisfaction surveys
Customer satisfaction surveys can help you find out how your customers feel about your business or the quality of the support they receive. Customer support outsourcing companies can handle this task for you, from generating a unique survey to distributing it through various channels. Such surveys can identify areas for improvement based on customer needs and expectations.
What are the benefits of using an outsourced customer support agency?
Outsourced customer support can be very cost-effective. Although there is no standard cost, outsourcing often costs less than hiring your own support personnel. Beyond the cost savings, here are some other benefits of outsourcing customer support to a qualified agency:
Omnichannel support
Customers expect convenience when they contact your company. Customers each have their preferred method of communication, whether it be phone calls, emails, social media, chatbots on your website, or even SMS text messaging. While it can be expensive for your company to implement all these communication channels independently, outsourced customer support services commonly offer all of them.
This is known as omnichannel support, and it’s becoming increasingly important in today’s business world. Meeting your customers where they are is essential, and leveraging outsourced omnichannel support is an effective strategy to achieve this.
Improved customer experience
While customer support is just one of the things that your company does, it’s all that a customer support agency does. The best agencies have support processes down to a science, providing a world-class customer experience. The overall improvement in customer experience reflects positively on your company, helping to build brand loyalty.
Reduced churn
Churn, defined as the loss of customers over time, is a significant concern for any business. Employing an outsourced customer support agency can be an effective strategy in mitigating this issue. These agencies specialize in delivering high-quality customer service and addressing concerns promptly and efficiently. This level of service typically leads to increased customer satisfaction, fostering loyalty and reducing the likelihood of customers leaving.
What to look for in a customer support agency?
As you look for outsourced customer support, you’ll find there are a lot of options out there. Here are some things to look for in a customer support agency to ensure a good fit for your company:
Quick onboarding: Training outsourced customer support agents can sometimes take weeks or months. Look for an agency with a relatively short onboarding process so that you can start receiving the benefits of outsourcing.
Onshore agents: To avoid communication issues and increase customer satisfaction, hire an agency that offers onshore support agents. This will also help your company communicate effectively with the agency since they will be in a time zone close to yours.
Industry expertise: Choose an agency with experience in your company’s industry. This will help the onboarding process and help the support agents relate to your customers.
Flexibility and scalability: Look for the ability to add or subtract support agents as needed. Your company’s support needs might increase during the holidays and then taper off, so you want a support agency that scales with your needs.
Considering outsourced customer support for your growing business
It can be exciting when your small company starts to gain more customers. It’s a sign that you’re doing something right and running a healthy company. However, providing effective customer support in-house can quickly become overwhelming—and expensive. When you choose to outsource customer support, you can save money and enjoy the benefits of customer satisfaction. Just make sure to select a customer support service provider that will be a seamless fit for your organization.