If answering customers' inquiries is taking time away from your strategic business initiatives - it's time to consider outsourcing. But first, let's bust a few myths about outsourcing and then we'll go over the benefits (beyond saving time + money) most brands look over.
The customer service outsourcing model has evolved a lot over the years. With next-gen providers, many of the limitations companies used to face are no longer issues. And most importantly, if we can re-wire the way we think about today's outsourcing options, companies of all sizes can have a customer service model that helps them compete effectively and efficiently with large retailers like Amazon.
Many boutique outsourcers will help you with as few as 100 tickets per month. With Chatdesk, you can get started with 40 tickets per month.
Typically when people think of outsourcing, they automatically assume you're offshoring to customer service agents sitting in countries like India or the Phillipines. While that can be true sometimes, there are local U.S.-based options. For example, majority of Chatdesk CX Experts are based in the U.S. You can get to know one of them here.
Traditional customer support models required you to sign annual contracts because it otherwise wouldn't be worth a their time to recruit, train, and manage agents. They also knew that a learning curve was required until operations ran smoothly. But next-gen providers leverage technology to minimize that learning curve and have also found a more attractive way to recruit agents. Our CX Experts use our proprietary BrandScript technology to match responses to your brand tone and voice right from Day 1.
Yes, while it's true that phone used to be the primary method for customers to contact you, that is no longer the case. Customers can now reach you on multiple channels including email, live chat, and social media. That's actually great news for brands' budgets because phone is also the most expensive of the support channels. If you're looking to gradually move away from your phone support channels, you can start by deflecting calls. Learn how to deflect calls to more cost-effective channels.
With the growing landscape of next-gen customer support outsourcers, there are also more benefits that you can reap.
Most people think of customer service as a cost center or back office function, but customer service functions can actually drive business revenue. More responsive customer service can convert customer inquiries into sales - and the biggest untapped opportunity for e-commerce brands is in your social comments and DM's. At Chatdesk, we've found that more than 50% of brands' DM's and comments are pre-sales. When brands simply respond to these, on average 10% of them will convert into sales.
A testament to that would be the makeup brand Mented, seeing that it enjoyed an increase in its organic revenue when it had outsourced its pre-sales inquiries.
Because you don't need to lock yourself into an annual contract or high minimums, you can flex your support model to times you need it most. Brands who work with us typically scale up their plan around the holiday time and during promos, then they scale their plan back down after.
All Chatdesk customers can also easily get access to the Voice of their Customer analyses. This allows you to see what kind of feedback you are getting most often and which areas of business you can improve.
By default, outsourcing makes more resourcing available to you. This helps you not only respond to customers faster, but also around-the-clock. The swimwear brand Andie Swim, for instance, was able to provide its customers 24/7 support.
Additionally, the sooner you can engage your customers in a conversation to effectively address their issues, the better you can ensure their satisfaction and loyalty. In fact, according to Khoros, 83% of customers foster a deeper loyalty to brands that promptly respond and resolve any of their complaints.
Onboarding a vendor to your company comes with inherent risks and the same is true for a customer support outsourcer. These are the 4 steps you can take to mitigate the risks of onboarding a customer service outsourcer.
1. Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of both the customer service provider and your company. This will help to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings about expectations.
2. Establish and maintain clear lines of communication between both parties. This will ensure that any issues or problems that arise can be addressed and resolved quickly.
3. Periodically review the performance of the customer service provider to ensure that they are meeting your expectations.
4. Have a backup plan in place in case of any disruptions or problems with the customer service provider.
