Everything You Have to Know about Business Process Outsourcing
Before we discuss all the essentials of business process outsourcing, we would like to share some impressive facts and statistics with both experienced entrepreneurs and young startups. To begin with, the industry had increased by $12 billion in 2016-17. Second, such giants as Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, and other world-known corporations do not deny the fact that they are using such services. They prefer companies with a good reputation from the US and Eastern Europe just like WOW24-7. In most cases, companies from the IT sector benefit from outsourcing their teams, but more and more sectors get involved in the game with every new year.
This article will prove the effectiveness of outsourcing practices to you. The primary thing to discuss is a business process definition. Without understanding the meaning of the term, you will not realize its usefulness. We will also talk about this industry in general, purposes, and provide tips on how to pick the best outsourcing services.
BPO Meaning, Definition, and Purposes
So, one may ask, βWhat is BPO?β The best definition would be – the process of outsourcing some of the organizationβs core or secondary activities to a third party to obtain a certain list of benefits. Businesses rarely trust core tasks to someone else, so, in most cases, outsourcing refers to non-core responsibilities. The best example would be customer support, as well as back-office support and data entry. The top-rated companies come from the USA and Eastern Europe.
The so-called outsourcing model assists businesses worldwide by focusing on their research & development as well as new initiatives instead of wasting time on paperwork or manual data entry and processing. Outsourcing is also a great tool for sustaining in competitive industries.
Most commonly, businesses involved in information technologies (IT) use outsourcing agencies. Those are web and app developers as well as other experts. You may also wonder what IT business process outsourcing typically includes. The services are:
- Back-office support
- Client care service
- Invoice support
- Call center
- Data entry & processing
- Content creation
- Accounting & finances
- Infrastructure management
- Human resources management
All of these are considered non-core competencies of a company. Think about your own business. Could you benefit from delegating some of these functions to external support experts with rich experience and impressive skills? We will give you more reasons to trust BPO outsourcing agencies. Just know how to pick them correctly!
Understanding Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
A lot of companies, from startups to global corporations, tens to outsource business processes to reliable service providers. Notably, there are more and more innovative, professional, and cost-flexible providers entering this market and creating a high competition among outsourcing companies.
In short, organizations turn to BPO practices mainly for front-office and back-office routine tasks. Back-office BPO usually involves accounting, finance, human resources, software development, and QA. Outsourced employees take care of the smooth operation of the business. On the contrary, front-office BPO mainly includes customer-related tasks, from dedicated support services to account management.
The Attraction of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
Businesses enjoy BPO services because this approach provides amazing operational flexibility. Thanks to outsourcing non-essential business and administrative tasks, organizations can dedicate their resources and concentrate on the core competencies. These include customer satisfaction rates, market research, product promotion that lead to creating competitive advantages of the company on the market.
Moreover, thanks to the BPO approach, organizations can gain access to the latest innovative resources that they may not be able to access locally. BPO services providers strive to improve their solutions and stay on top of the newest technology and business trends. Thus, businesses get the best solution among the available ones so far.
Also, itβs worth noting that the US corporate income taxes are among the biggest in the world, US companies favor outsourcing services to countries with cheaper rates and lower taxes. This allows cutting costs significantly. Also, BPO allows receiving detailed and timely reports, boosting the productivity of all the departments, and flexibility in terms of business decisions and resource allocation.
The Disadvantages of BPO
BPO offers a significant number of benefits but comes with some drawbacks, as well. For instance, a company may face data leaks or experience some communication difficulties. This, in turn, can increase time to market for project-based cooperation or influence the productivity of both parties in the long run.
The following are BPO advantages:
- High performing speed and enhanced efficiency of business processes;
- Ability to concentrate on core business activities and the companyβs strategy to gain a competitive advantage on the market;
- Increased revenue and capital growth;
- A shift in focus for specific business needs.
However, BPO disadvantages may include:
- Data privacy concerts;
- High running costs;
- Overdependence on the BPO partner.
Business Process Outsourcing Solutions and Options
A company can opt for business process outsourcing by signing a contract with a services provider in the same country or from any place in the world. Businesses interested in BPO have three options:
- Onshore outsourcing
Also known as domestic outsourcing, this type of outsourcing services relates to hiring an expert or a reputable company within the country.
- Offshore outsourcing
It is the most common type of BPO outsourcing when a company outsources business processes to a country with lower income taxes and salary rates. Usually, US companies outsource to European or Asian countries that offer quality services at much more affordable costs.
- Nearshore outsourcing
Nearshore outsourcing is a mix of two when a business outsources some processes to a company located in the neighboring country. Overall, the same idea with lower income taxes and labor costs applies here, too, and the main difference is the location and the talent pool available in the given country for BPO.
The Results of Business Process Outsourcing Industry Analysis 2018
Isnβt $343.2 billion in 5-6 years an impressive market worth? We believe that yes, and those statistics relate to the BPO outsourcing industry. This number was obtained from the business process outsourcing industry analysis and study by Grand View Research Inc. Currently, the market is something around $90 billion, but it keeps on increasing with the speed of light!
The idea is to help companies cut their operational costs. That is why this industry is in-demand. Such type of costs usually stands for the significant extra expenses that are usually wasted on tools and equipment. Instead of focusing on core activities, businesses have to spend plenty of time on supporting duties. When hiring people via outsourcing agencies, organizations experience cost efficiency as well as saved time and resources. It results in improved resource management.
Experts forecast further growth of CAGR by 7.5%. The business outsourcing market players deal with a great variety of fields. They include:
- BFSI
- Manufacturing
- Software development
- Retail
- Web development
- IT & telecommunications
- Agriculture
- Automobile
- Healthcare and nursing
These sectors realized the effectiveness of BPOs first. They incorporate such practices as part of their overall business strategy. It allows increasing revenues much faster than with in-house teams dealing with the secondary tasks.
On the whole, any company can classify its responsibilities into three categories. They include critical/essential, core, and non-core (secondary). The last ones are a great obstacle on the way to increased profitability and efficiency. They simply distract businesses from what is really important. To gain a strategic advantage, a company should delegate secondary activities to someone else. They are still important, so it should be someone trusted.
As industry analysis shows, the major reason for the BPOas a sector to grow rapidly is the fact that non-core activities are the key to successful relations with customers. Without these activities, the company would not be able to gain and expand the customer base and retain clients effectively. Placing greater emphasis on core activities should not harm the secondary duties. That is when (and why) business process outsourcing BPO services come in handy.
Business Process Outsourcing Call Centers. Traditional Call Center
Business processes outsourcing client support is different from a traditional call center. The basics might be the same, but the first option is way more cost-effective. In general, these two terms are used interchangeably, but the major difference is that business process outsourcing stands for the back-office activities (e.g., client care or accounting duties) of a company that chooses this option instead of hiring in-house staff while a call center deals with phone calls only. Taking into account live chats are becoming more and more popular with each new day, the demand for call centers drops.
An outsourced call center can assist with saving operational costs, making it possible to concentrate on the top-critical internal assignments. Hiring an outsourced team of experts includes more than cost savings. Such call centers as CMS are a team of experienced client care reps who possess vast experience and great communication skills to attract new customers and retain the older ones.
A call center is just one of the subsets of a process outsourcing. It stands for voice-based services. Considering the number of operators is usually limited, clients are often scared off by the waiting lines, which make them disappointed in the company services. Inbound and outbound calls are an outdated approach to company-customer communication. It is critical to keep all the customers satisfied, and that is why most of the organizations today choose business process outsourcing call center over the traditional one.
This type of call center comes in all shapes and sizes depending on the business needs: from small appointments to large-scale call-off lines. Thanks to process outsourcing methodology, it is possible to reduce the time customers have to wait on the phone as well as avoid the personnel and equipment costs. Also, outsourcing guarantees improved flexibility and increased the speed of work. When it comes to call center replacement, the BPO business process outsourcing solutions usually include the following:
- Meeting scheduling
- Order processing
- Support services
- Appointment reminders
- Corporate/staff call-off lines
- Financial operations and billing support
- Disputes and complaints processing
- Work task lines
- A new client or user registration
- Receptionist duties
- Call routing
- Field service dispatching
In most cases, business processes outsourcing agencies provide customizable services upon customer request. It is always a good idea to transfer routine business processes like call center duties to the business process outsourcing companies with solid expertise just like WOW24-7.
How to Choose Business Process Outsourcing Companies: Mini-Guide
Now that you understand the BPO meaning, you may wonder how to pick the right option for you. The competition is rather high on this market, so you should be very careful. We have selected the features of the top-preferred and trusted outsourcing companies for you based on the feedback of world-known companies that use such services:
The company should be ISO certified. Any outsourcing agency should guarantee the confidentiality of the clientβs information as well as the safety of online data.
Scalable support. A good outsourcing agency must offer 24/7/365 client support as businesses may come from different time zones.
Vast experience and necessary skills. Such services should be present in a market for at least a decade, and the local professionals should have the corresponding skills and qualifications.
Omni-channel services and a great variety of them. It is better to deal with the outsourcing company that has expertise in many fields. Also, it should offer training, tools, and necessary metrics to minimize the job of a client.
Now there, we have listed all the qualities of the WOW24-7 outsourcing service. This BPO company is the best option for companies who wish to delegate their non-core activities to a trusted, time-tested professional without any risks.
This company offers all the services a company may want to delegate to someone else. The local experts scale up to complete business teams in the shortest period (3-6 months). They offer help in multiple languages. The basic services include:
- Frontline support
The company offers unique frontline support solutions. It can quickly build a call center for any business from scratch to process inbound calls, feedback, and deal with customer upselling.
- Back-office support
Back-office support involves many non-core activities that are still crucial for any kind of business. It is all about keeping information properly organized and clear. WOW24-7 will find the right people to provide:
- Content optimization and moderation;
- Data entry & processing;
- Virtual assistance (VA).
Also, this leading outsourcing company can help with such activities as e-commerce tagging, lead generation, cost cutting, image retouching, data research, and more. It is time to focus on your critical and core activities by trusting the secondary tasks to credible professionals from a well-known company. If you think about doing so, consider WOW24-7 as the primary option to test.
