If you attended an offshore outsourcing trade show 15 years ago, you’d have heard customers intensely discussing pricing with vendors.
Back then, the focus used to be purely on cost per head with no regard for quality – and for only one function: customer service. But now, there’s been a shift to a new way of thinking brought on by an evolution in the industry, changing consumer demands, and a pandemic that forced organizations to bring local jobs back.
Unfortunately, some companies are still stuck in the old way of thinking that cost is the only thing that matters – and these are the organizations that are unable to manage their costs and workforce as they rely on outdated methods of back office and contact center team management.
So what kind of evolution have contact centers gone through, and what does their future look like?
Organizations are facing offshore outsourcing disruptions and rising onshore costs
Time and a global pandemic have brought significant changes to the outsourcing industry.
Organizations relying on contact center and back office teams are now facing considerable challenges to keep customers happy whilst keeping costs down:
Bringing roles onshore again
The pandemic caused nationwide lockdowns across some of the biggest contact-center hubs, closing many of them down or severely reducing their capacities.
Companies like Telstra and Optus have had no choice but to start employing local agents and expanding their Australian operations to keep up with the volume of calls from their customers.
Meeting consumer demands
Bringing customer service roles onshore has increased customer satisfaction. More and more customers want companies to bring customer-facing roles back onshore. With the likes of Optus, MYOB, and Telstra doing exactly that, other companies will need to follow if they want to keep their customers happy.
Rising labor costs
With many organizations previously outsourcing contact center solutions to keep costs down, they’re finding that their labor costs are now skyrocketing as they bring in local agents.
These rising costs are restricting growth and putting pressure on employees to deliver more output with fewer resources.
Local teams not delivering desired output
With the added pressure of delivering more on a smaller budget, it can be difficult for agents to go the extra mile and provide customers with the best outcomes. Organizations will need to find ways to empower their back office and contact center teams as they battle rising costs.
Organizations are now scrambling to find other ways to reduce their costs whilst keeping their customers happy. Luckily, the new shift in thinking means that leading organizations are being presented with new and better ways of working without breaking the bank.
It’s time to start challenging the traditional model of offshore outsourcing
For many organizations, the traditional approach to offshore outsourcing where they focus only on the quantity of agents is holding them back from adapting to the changing needs of the market.
Organizations should be looking at ways to change their culture and mindset to reap more benefits from outsourcing and better satisfy their customers. Focusing on the productivity and output potential of each agent, rather than trying to get more agents for less cost, will enable organizations to do more with less.
So what are the new options available to forward-thinking organizations that want to adopt this approach to outsourcing?
The future of contact centers is everything but traditional
We’re now seeing two big shifts in how organizations deal with challenges relating to contact center and back office roles, and they’re turning the old formula on its head.
Finding new balance in outsourcing
When it became clear that customer satisfaction rose when local agents were brought back, leaders knew that they couldn’t outsource these roles again without losing their customers.
So they’re now turning to look at which other functions they can outsource. Where previously the customer service roles would be targeted, organizations have started looking at which other operations they can send overseas.
Organizations are realizing that functions like IT, order fulfilment, and procurement can be done very competently overseas, and have started restructuring their teams accordingly.
Utilizing AI to achieve quicker and better outcomes
While organizations were originally hoping that AI could take customer service entirely off human hands, it proved too difficult to perfectly emulate and understand diverse human interaction at its current state.
But organizations are finding new and different ways to use AI – it’s now used in conjunction with agents to help speed up customer interactions as well as increase the speed-to-competency of new hires. This can increase the number of customer outcomes and shave months off the onboarding process.
So what kind of benefits do these two solutions carry?
Businesses are finding more rewards with less effort with new contact center solutions
With more demand than ever being placed on organizations, finding new ways to work and meet changing needs is no longer optional.
We’re seeing several benefits for organizations that have quickly adopted this mindset that focuses on productivity and outputs with new contact center solutions:
Significant cost reductions
By finding new pathways to outsourcing, organizations are going to find new areas to reduce their costs. This will allow for more growth, a better competitive advantage, and a higher profit margin.
A more cohesive team
A more harmonious and cohesive team culture can be achieved when teams start working better together. And this happens when an organization can find the right balance of outsourcing, onshoring, and AI enhancement – all leading to better outcomes and results that will leave customers happy.
Increased productivity
Team culture and empowerment plays a big role in the productivity of a workforce. By finding an offshore outsourcing solution that focuses on productivity and output, rather than headcount, organizations will be able to figure out what their teams need to work better and where best to deploy their assets to achieve customer excellence.
Boosting customer satisfaction
Cost reductions, increased productivity, and improved culture all combine to allow organizations to focus on their specialty, better understand consumer needs, and serve their customers.
It’s clear that through finding better contact center solutions that organizations can achieve many of their goals all while keeping costs down.
Start your journey to productivity
It’s not easy to get the level of productivity and output that you’re striving for – but that doesn’t automatically mean that you need to make drastic changes to your workforce.
With over thirty years of experience in learning and understanding what makes the perfect teams tick, Omada One can help you build, empower, and improve your back office and contact center teams. We offer both internal and external solutions that suit any team structure.
Whether you’re looking for better ways to manage and empower your teams, or trying to stay competitive and meet your customers’ changing needs, you can contact our friendly team today to discuss how we can help you do more with less.
