Top 6 Call Center Outsourcing Trends That Will Rule 2015 And Beyond

In 2015, businesses faced a whole new challenge – to meet the ever increasing expectation level of their customers. The tech-savvy customers want to have the best customer experience that can only be delivered through a multi-lingual, multi-channel contact center.

However, it is difficult for small and medium sized businesses find it difficult to fit an in-house, multilingual, multichannel contact center into their budget. For them, it is easier to opt for call center outsourcing (CCO).  The call center outsourcing industry is changing at a rapid pace to deliver the optimum level of customer experience.

Here are six predictions for key trends that will shape the CCO industry in 2015 and beyond.

1. Business Process Improvement (BPI)

Business Process Improvement (BPI) will continue to build the industry and act as a driving factor in the field of BPO and call center services.  An increasing number of companies have begun to realize that just transferring their processes to a third-party call center services provider is not enough. That is where   BPI comes into the scene.

BPI intends to offer improvements in business processes in terms of quality, speed, cost, as well as flexibility.  It also aims to build the capacity required for constant improvement. BPI allows BPOs to analyze the client processes in hand, in order to recognize scopes for enhancement in the quality and/or quantity of output.

It also assists in creating training aids aiming to bridge any gaps in skill levels, implementing necessary technology enhancements (if any), and mapping out the processes required to accomplish desired results.

2. Customer Journey and Customer Experience Will Gain Importance

Previously, businesses used to evaluate call center outsourcing vendors simply based on their low-cost ability.  But today, BPOs are evaluated on their strategic ability to contribute to the customer journey and customer experience.

This has shifted the focus of businesses from the search for a low-cost basic customer care provider to a more tactical form of outsourcing. The day has come when third-party call centers will be no longer considered as an executants and act as a strategic partner and brand ambassador to their clients’ business.

3. Multichannel in the Way to Go

Customers today wants prompt support from businesses round the clock, via different communication channels.  In fact –

• Over 30% of customer service engagements today are attributed to communication channels other than phone (CFI Group).
• Businesses that follow a multichannel customer care strategy accomplish more than double (9.7% instead of 3.9%) year-over-year improvements in customer satisfaction (Aberdeen Group Inc.).

Delivering a true multichannel strategy can be a little challenging for many businesses.  However, contact centers aim to offer a comprehensive multichannel customer care strategy to their clients.

To deliver the swift and flawless experience a customer demands for, many have opted for live chat and social customer service and considered them as the next big thing in the field of customer service. Many third-party contact center service providers have already started offering these as services.  In future, one can expect to see more and more BPOs following the suit.

4. Sourcing and Developing the Right Talent

Third party contact centers are known for supplying the right person with the right skill for the right job. This gives the call center services providers a huge competitive advantage.  However, depending on clients’ business, the number of agents and necessary skills vary far and wide.  After all, it is all about delivering an efficient customer experience.

For example, consumers today prefer doing business with a brand that offers customer service in their native language. According to a 2011 study by the European Commission, 42% of consumers never buy products and services in other languages. Therefore, in order to satisfy the multichannel as well as the multilingual needs of its clients, a BPO has to have a large talent pool who can deliver optimum customer experience.

5. Industry Specialization

Industry specialization is sure to become a pre-requisite for opting for a call center outsourcing partner in near future. When a business opts for an outsourcing partner who has extensive experience in offering customer service for the particular industry the client is serving, it will be better suited to deal with the common issues and challenges.

Businesses will increasingly become more interested in partnering with a vendor with industry expertise than a basic contact center service provider. Vendors with a deep expertise are far more likely to overcome challenges and deliver state-of-the-art customer experience.

On the other hand, a new debutante will not be able to deal with issues and challenges.  As a result, there’s a high possibility of losing time, money, and effort, over poor customer satisfaction. And, standing today, nobody wants that to happen.

6. Near-shore Locations

For a long time now businesses were torn between outsourcing customer service within the USA and off-shoring the same to another low cost service provider. Today, there’s a third but feasible option – near-shore call center service provider.

This will allow businesses in the United States to outsource their call center services to different Latin American or Central American country such as Chile, El Salvador, etc. These countries have made a name in the field of customer service with their multichannel, multilingual and state-of-the-art service offering.