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Call Center Outsourcing, Explained

call center outsourcing, explained

DECEMBER 27, 2021

Are you considering outsourcing call center operations for your business? Making the decision to use a call center outsourcing company is a big step for a business, but often a rewarding one. Let’s take a closer look at some key considerations.

An Overview to Call Center Outsourcing

Small business call center outsourcing means allowing a separate, specialist company to run your contact center. They will do it representing themselves as agents of your company, and you will work with your BPO company (call center you have chosen as your partner) to ensure it remains faithful to your brand. This allows you to concentrate on your core business, and reduces your direct staffing needs, while keeping service delivery high.

When to Consider Call Center Outsourcing

When do companies turn to inbound call center outsourcing? When your core staff has to take time from their actual business focus to answer phones and troubleshoot customers, it diverts their attention from what’s needed. Yet, when you’re a small business, onboarding an entirely new staff member just for call center can be a pricey and lengthy commitment. When you find that you are beginning to need someone to focus purely on customer service delivery, it’s time to consider if outsourcing is right for you.

Pros & Cons to Call Center Outsourcing

Call center process outsourcing can be immensely useful to businesses. Of course, nothing in this world is all-pro, however. There’s also some downsides. Let’s take a look at both to help you decide if a call center outsourcing business partner can help you.

3 Pros to Call Center Outsourcing

Companies that outsource call centers invariably find it a good experience, provided they work with top call center outsourcing companies and not just any promise-makers. What do they like about the experience?

Pro #1 - Cost efficiency

As we mentioned, taking on new staff, not to mention building the infrastructure for phone lines and call centers, can be a cost too far for smaller businesses. Working on a fixed cost with a call center outsourcing vendors, on the other hand, can be very cost-efficient with no initial outlay, either.

Pro #2 - Flexibility

Outsource your call center to a quality company, and you can expand or shrink your services as you need. Growing your company is simple- you can add more agent’s services to the plan, and stop them as easily. Have a busy period? Increase staff for that time only.

Pro #3 - 24/7 Service

Using call center outsourcing consultants means you can offer services at any time of the day or night, at far less cost than using a staff member on night shift or overtime. This allows you to offer customers the best service, with less hassle.

3 Cons to Call Center Outsourcing

Of course, everything is not positive. What negatives of call center outsourcing are there?

Con #1 - Communication channels lengthen

To talk to a staff member, you shout out the office door. To talk to your business process outsourcing call center, you may have to email, wait on responses, and go back and forth until the matter is resolved. You can reduce this snag by using a nearshore call center to cut down on communication delays.

Con #2 - Loss of control

While you will work with your BPO and call center partner to emulate the in-house experience as much as possible, the agents are not your employees. This means you don’t control who is hired or internal business processes. Of course, you can complain and have the matter resolved, but it is a different experience. Working with quality call center outsourcing providers will help reduce this issue.

Con #3 - Non-local jobs

Of course, offshore call center outsourcing means you’re not providing jobs in the local community. This can make locals view your business less favorably, as you have less investment in your community and may be an ethical issue for you, too.

How to Choose a Call Center Outsourcing Company

A call center outsourcing vendor list is a good place to start. However, you don’t have to take the first provider you find. Take the time to consult reviews and speak to them. Get a feeling for how they operate, and if their business and communication styles match with you. Offshore call center pricing can vary wildly, but so can the service you receive, so make sure you balance both.

Introduction to Collective Solution

Collective Solution is proud to offer you a host of simple, hassle-free back office outsourcing solutions. Let us leverage the power of our brand to help you build yours. From call center outsourcing to back office tasks, we have you covered so you can concentrate on what really matters- your business.

Outsourcing Customer Service, Explained

outsourcing customer service, explained

DECEMBER 27, 2021

Is customer support outsourcing right for you? Today the Collective Solutions team takes a look at the basics that go into deciding on the right business outsourcing partner, and what makes it right for an organization.

An Overview to Outsourcing Customer Service

Customer service outsourcing is more than merely outsourcing call center tasks, although that’s often included as part of the process. It means allowing a trusted third-party to take over all your customer management channels, interacting with your clients on your behalf and as your company. This allows your core team to concentrate on income-generating activities, while ensuring clients still receive the best possible experience.

When to Consider Outsourcing Customer Service

Good customer relations are the backbone of a business’ survivability. Yet it’s a very intensive activity that demands a lot of time, but turns very little revenue. This can make it difficult to provide your clients with an excellent service, while still needing to focus on that which pats your bread and butter.

 

Consider customer service outsourcing at any time in your business development that you feel you can’t provide your clients with high standards of service and cope with your other business duties. Be this as a small company looking to upgrade and grow, or a larger company who has peak and slow seasons.

 

Pros & Cons to Outsourcing Customer Service

Outsourcing customer support services brings both pros and cons to the table. Let’s take a look at both.

3 Pros to Outsourcing Customer Service

There are many pros to using customer service outsourcing companies. We look at three key elements here, but there are others. If you’re curious to know even more about the advantages, keep an eye on the Collective Solutions blog.

Pro #1 - Flexibility

It’s easy to scale your operations up and down when using BPO companies. So if you need to add after-hours services, or scale-up customer service around peak periods, you can easily do so. Your business is growing? Add some more members to the team. It couldn’t be easier.

Pro #2 - Special expertise

Customer service is an art. When you use a specialist outsourcing company, you can leverage both their infrastructure and their expertise without the need to create it yourself through investment and training.

Pro #3 - Cost-efficiency

With this expertise and scalability comes a managed cost you can predict. You don’t have to pay downtime, install specialist software that needs endless expensive updates, or suddenly face an inability to scale due to cost concerns.

3 Cons to Outsourcing Customer Service

Of course, nothing is created perfect. However, many of the cons to outsourcing customer service can be adequately managed through making the right choice of BPO partner. Let’s take a look.

Con #1 - Quality of care

An outsourced customer care partner is a step divorced from your company. So you can encounter a situation where the needs of your customers are not as urgent to them as they are to you. Choosing a responsible partner that cares about the service they offer and their reputation, however, will prevent this.

Con #2 - Shared focus

Of course, you’re highly unlikely to be the outsourcing partner’s only client. So this means they are not focused on you 24/7. Again, this is easily offset by finding a BPO partner who offers quality care to you as a client. You can also look for a service that offers dedicated agents who work only with your brand.

Con #3 - Quality of service

This is hardly unique to outsourcing, but worth considering anyway. Just as you wouldn’t keep a shoddy staff member on, don’t feel the need to keep on an outsourcing partner who isn’t delivering. If it’s a problem with one agent, discuss it with your BPO partner for a resolution. If it’s the whole company, time to find a caring partner instead.

How to Choose a Customer Service Outsourcing Company

Still wondering how to outsource customer service? Think of it like you would any other third-party partner. You need a dedicated, efficient and effective customer support outsourcing company whose values align with yours and with whom you can work easily. Look at their reputation and reviews. While cost must also be a key factor, focus on the ease of working with them, the services they offer compared to what you need, and their standards of service delivery.

Introduction to Collective Solution

Collective Solution offers you a holistic, simple, and hassle-free solution to outsourcing, including customer service outsourcing that can grow with you. Whatever your outsourcing needs, let us leverage our brand power to help you build your own. Not sure if outsourcing customer service is right for you? Why not get in touch with us today to answer all your questions?

Back Office Outsourcing, Explained

back office outsourcing, explained

DECEMBER 20, 2021

Back office outsourcing is the hottest new business buzzword. What does it really mean for your business? Collective Solution is here with the answers you’ve been looking for.

An Overview to Back Office Outsourcing

Inefficient back offices cost businesses time and money. Yet, many back office tasks are not immediately income-generating, and splitting staff time between their essential duties and answering phones or filing paperwork is a waste of their talents. All the same, you can’t ignore the tasks, either.

 

Back office outsourcing services step into the breach to help. You carry on with your core daily business, allowing them to manage the IT, data processing, order handling, admin, and other back office tasks for you.

When to Consider Back Office Outsourcing

When is it time to think about back office process outsourcing? Frankly, any time you find you need efficient, cost-effective management of your non-core activities. For many small businesses, that need could be immediate. Larger businesses also benefit from outsourcing, especially at busy times of the year.

Pros & Cons to Back Office Outsourcing

Back office business process support outsourcing has a lot to offer a business. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s always smooth sailing! Let’s take a look at some key pros and cons of back office outsourcing.

3 Pros to Back Office Outsourcing

What benefits are there to outsourcing back office operations? Whilst the list goes on and on, here’s three key benefits you should know.

Pro #1 - Focus

By taking the extraneous business tasks away from the company, you have an opportunity to focus on what really matters-your income-generating activities. Yet you have the security of knowing everything is in good hands.

Pro #2 - Scalability

Onboarding new staff and expanding infrastructure is expensive and time-consuming. It can be difficult to train and expand business operations at busy times of the year and then reduce them when not needed. Not so when you are using back office support companies, however! It’s as simple as a change in the contract to get more or less staff working on your needs.

Pro #3 - Time and cost-efficiency

Likewise, you’re no longer footing the costs of that expansion, or the costs of wasted salaries in slow periods. Because you’re working with a back office BPO expert, they have the necessary expertise and infrastructure in place already, and you can leverage it for your own brand at a fixed cost.

3 Cons to Back Office Outsourcing

Back office outsourcing companies are not all created equal. Working with a quality partner is key to getting the services you need. What cons should you look out for?

Con #1 - Security

In the work-from-home world, security, particularly cyber security, is a growing concern for businesses. Any time you add a third-party partner, that risk does increase. However, there are plenty of measures you can take to outsource properly.

Con #2 - Direct Control

Obviously, with a service provider in place, you don’t have direct control over their staff. Who they hire, and other issues, are not yours to control. However, most back office service providers take great care to help you find the perfect match for your team, and many will even allow you to train staff in their role for your company.

Con #3 - Business Culture

Not all back office outsourcing companies will have the same time zones and business culture as you do. Making sure that you work with a company who works the way you do, that will gel with your customers, is critical.

How to Choose a Back Office Outsourcing Company

Choosing a back office outsourcing company is very similar to finding any other trusted third party partner. You will need to research the company, and conduct a thorough onboarding to make sure you are working with a reputable, trustworthy partner who will care about your business the same way you do. Prices are important, but so is the overall service.

Introduction to Collective Solution

Collective Solution is proud to offer you outsourced back office tasks that fit seamlessly with your company. With over a decade’s experience, we have the infrastructure, resources, and expert staff to make sure your back office runs as smoothly as the rest of your company. From direct call center services to handling your administration needs, let us find the perfect solution for you.

Administrative Support Outsourcing, Explained

administrative support outsourcing, explained

DECEMBER 17, 2021

What is administrative support outsourcing? Today the team from Collective Solutions dives deep into the world of BPO companies, and the benefits they can bring to your business. Let’s get started.

An Overview to Administrative Support Outsourcing

If we told you there was a way to spend less time on basic admin tasks, and more generating traffic for your core business, what would you say? Too good to be true? Not quite! Admin support outsourcing offers you a chance to reform your back office to be smoother functioning, more efficient, and cost-effective.

When to Consider Administrative Support Outsourcing

Who should consider business support outsourcing? It’s a solution that can work for any business. As smaller businesses grow, they often find themselves encountering a bottleneck where they need more administrative help, but can’t afford the costs in infrastructure and salaries to onboard new staff. This leads to work piling onto existing staff, and you lose focus on your core work.

 

But small business isn’t the only category that can benefit from business process outsourcing. It’s only really cost-effective for large enterprises to carry full departments of admin staff, and even then, you encounter peak times where your existing staff may be too few, but you don’t need the long-term support of new permanent staff. Administrative support outsourcing can help with all of this.

Pros & Cons to Administrative Support Outsourcing

Of course, everything has its pros and cons. What is it that makes administrative support outsourcing an excellent solution? What downsides does it have? Let’s take a look.

3 Pros to Administrative Support Outsourcing

Most of the positives of business process outsourcing revolve around cost-efficiency and streamlined processes. What does this mean?

Pro #1 - Scalability

Need more administrative tasks handled at peak times? Scale up your outsourced processes. Hit a lull? Scale it back down. Expanding the business? Change your contract and onboard some more help. Unlike static departments and expensive infrastructure, it’s simple to adjust your outsourced admin to your needs.

Pro #2 - Cost-efficiency

Alongside this convenience of scale comes cost savings. No need to develop, support, and maintain expensive infrastructure on-site. You can leverage state-of-the-art training and facilities at a steady, fixed monthly cost. No benefits and salaries, not costly investment.

Pro #3 - Efficiency

With expert help on-hand, you aren’t faced with overworked staff trying to pick up administrative duties in your ‘spare time’. Concentrate on your core business functions, and let a trained team of admin pros handle your back office.

3 Cons to Administrative Support Outsourcing

Sounds fantastic, right? Of course, there’s always potential downsides to using any service. Let’s see what they are.

Con #1 - Loss of control

To be honest, this is the point. You don’t want to have to spend your time micromanaging admin. However, it can be a challenge to adapt to the loss of direct control. By working with your BPO partner, however, you can mitigate this through streamlined directions and through onboarding.

Con #2 - Communication

Obviously, it’s a lot easier to shout out your office door as a direct staff member than work through communication channels to talk to another company. Again, this con is completely preventable through picking the right BPO partner, considering things like their global location as well as their reputation and how comfortable you feel dealing with them.

Con #3 - Company Culture

It’s natural for your own staff members to feel threatened if they see you outsourcing to other companies. Perhaps they will worry that their jobs are next. It’s important to engage with your existing staff about the change to how admin is being handled and the many benefits it brings them instead of dismissing these concerns.

How to Choose an Administrative Support Outsourcing Company

As you can see, most of these concerns can be addressed by choosing the right partner. You want a firm with clear communication channels, efficient processes, and with which you can work for years to come.

 

Finding this partner is very much the process you use for every third party partner. Research the companies on your shortlist to seek out a trusted, reputable partner who cares about service and your business. While the ultimate cost matters, so does the service they can offer you.

Introduction to Collective Solution

Collective Solution is thrilled to offer a range of outsourcing solutions, both nearshore and at offshore level. We take pains to blend seamlessly with your existing company structures, ensuring the best possible BPO experience. We have a decade’s experience in efficient, effective outsourced solutions, so why not let us help you find the perfect solution today?

Nearshore Outsourcing: 5 Things to Consider

nearshore outsourcing: 5 things to consider

DECEMBER 17, 2021

Nearshore outsourcing has become one of the most practical ways for firms to expand their global talent pool and access the back-office skills they need without excessive cost and infrastructure development. Nearshore software outsourcing, in fact, is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world today. What should you consider before outsourcing nearshore? Let’s take a look.

Nearshore Outsourcing

What’s the difference between nearshore outsourcing and offshore outsourcing? The key is distance. Nearshore outsourcing uses talent in countries close to your own, ensuring a smooth and easy handling of your business. Time zones, languages, and business cultures similar to your own can be leveraged to keep costs tight but customer service high.

 

Why are more and more companies turning to nearshore outsourcing countries for their back office needs? Unlike outsourcing centers further offshore, nearshore companies work in a similar environment to you, while still allowing you to leverage cost savings and talent from a larger pool. Combined with the general pros of outsourcing, it makes a potent combination. Let’s take a closer look.

5 Consideration For Nearshore Outsourcing

What should you consider when working with nearshore outsourcing services? Nearshore companies offer a ton of benefits, and proper consideration will help you leverage those to your best. Would a nearshore outsourcing center be the best solution for your back office needs? Let’s take a look at 5 benefits to nearshore outsourcing you should consider.

Consideration #1 - Business Culture

Japan has become something of a poster child for how business culture can look different from how it does at home. And that’s part of doing business in the globalized modern landscape! However, your customers don’t want to have to fight their way through a completely different business culture just to get help. One of the biggest nearshore outsourcing benefits is that countries close to you often do business the same way, making life easier for everyone.

Consideration #2 - Expanded talent pool

Just like you won’t always find your soulmate in your hometown, you won’t always find the best person for the job right outside your business’ door. By looking past your own country’s borders, you can find the perfect staff for the role. But hiring overseas is tricky. Not so with a nearshore BPO partner. Nearshore call center services, in particular, are in demand for this reason.

Consideration #3 - Cost Savings

Offshore, nearshore, and onshore outsourcing all come at different price points. Especially with different currencies and costs of living considered. This means it’s possible to use partner nearshore countries to leverage reduced staffing costs, yet you can keep standards high and remain an ethical employer, too.

Consideration #4 - Time Zones

For items like nearshore IT outsourcing and call centers, it’s immensely helpful to have a team who are at work through similar hours as you are. That way, exchanging feedback or altering contacts is a matter of a business-hours phone call, not a three-day process. This is one of the nearshore benefits that seems small until you have an issue to sort out, when you’ll soon realize how important it is!

Consideration #5 - Expertise

You are amazing at what you do. But a business doesn’t only run on its core work. Do you also have full skill sets in IT, call center, customer service, accounting, and other back-office tasks? Probably not, and each of those can require a lot of infrastructure development, too. Nearshore development outsourcing and working with nearshore outsourcing companies means you can leverage expertise in that specific field for your business, with no fuss and little investment needed.

Introduction to Collective Solution

Collective Solution is here to assist you. We proud ourselves on being one of the best nearshore companies currently in operation. Started by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, Collective Solution offers a human approach to call centers. Over a decade’s experience allows us to make the very best use of our skills for your business, all at a cost you’ll love.

 

We offer a comprehensive range of back office solutions just for you. Working in a licensed and FDCPA compliant environment, we take care of your customers so you can focus on your core business. All while ensuring they receive only the best service and help.

 

Let us partner with you to understand your business needs and craft a flexible solution that is tailored to you and your needs. No matter what your core business, Collective Solution has the expertise to help you take it to the next level.

Nearshore Outsourcing, Explained

nearshore outsourcing, explained

DECEMBER 10, 2021

With outsourcing the new name in the business game, more and more businesses are looking for fast, cost-effective outsourced solutions for a range of problems and day-to-day office tasks. Yet who wants to manage the endless headaches of dealing with teams across continents and time zones? While you may have considered outsourcing locally to you, nearshore outsourcing offers you the perfect blend of outsourced convenience and compatible schedules, and can be a far better solution. Let’s take a look.

An Overview to Nearshore Outsourcing

Outsourcing companies can be found globally, but that doesn’t mean a global approach is always the right match. From concerns about working hours right through to language barriers, you might not always want to work with an outsourced work partner who’s far away from you. With Nearshore outsourcing, you look to countries close to your own borders to ensure you find the best blend of productivity, success, and convenience.

Difference Between Nearshore Outsourcing & Offshore Outsourcing

In a global business process outsourcing marketplace, your partner companies could be anywhere in the world. That’s offshore outsourcing- they’re not in your country, and they’re not near you, either.

 

With nearshore outsourcing, however, you’re closing that space and looking for efficient, practiced partners near you- perhaps in the country next door, or just over your borders. This way you share common business hours and often work cultures and languages too, offering the most versatile combination of outsourcing opportunities possible.

When to Consider Nearshore Outsourcing

What businesses suit nearshore outsourcing? Anytime you need to broaden your talent pool and reduce business operating costs without compromising quality, nearshore outsourcing can work for you. While it’s often used by growing companies who need the operational flexibility without extra staffing costs, businesses of any size can benefit. This way you can share operational hours, languages, and cultural understanding with your BPO partner, while still enjoying all the pros of business outsourcing.

For almost
all businesses

the pros to Nearshore Outsourcing vastly outweigh the cons.

Pros & Cons to Nearshore Outsourcing

As with every business solution, Nearshore Outsourcing has a unique set of pros and cons.

3 Pros to Nearshore Outsourcing

For almost all businesses, the pros to Nearshore Outsourcing vastly outweigh the cons. There’s a range of reasons companies love Nearshore Outsourcing, but here’s three key points.

Pro #1 - No Timezone Clash

If you’re wondering how to outsource customer service-type roles without upset customers, or you simply need the peace of mind of knowing you can correspond in real-time, Nearshore Outsourcing is perfect for you.

Pro #2 - Cultural Alignment

Likewise, when you work with Nearshore Partners, you’re ensuring there’s no awkward language or cultural barriers impacting the way customers are handled or the way you do business.

Pro #3 - Large Talent Pool

By looking outside the immediate confines of your country, you’re opening the doors to a wealth of talent that will help your business grow.

3 Cons to Nearshore Outsourcing

Of course, nothing is wholly perfect. What cons can you expect from Nearshore Outsourcing?

Con #1 - Cost Savings

While your geographical proximity solves many of the problems inherent to outsourcing, you still may find it slightly less convenient than having someone in the room with you on your premises or a short drive away.

Con #2 - Time Zones

Because you’re looking in a more limited geographical area, you do have less access to global talent than when you look, well, globally. It’s rarely a problem, but worth considering in niche industries

Con #3 - Potentially higher costs

Nearshore solutions tend to be a little more costly than full offshore solutions. However, the benefits of having a BPO company so near in proximity will often offset the slight cost increase.

How to Choose a Nearshore Outsourcing Company

So, how do you choose when to outsource, and to whom? That depends entirely on your business. You may already be ready for nearshore outsourcing as a one-man band, struggling to focus on work over admin and customer service tasks. Or you could only feel the need as a growing or established company looking to leverage the most from their budget.

 

With nearshore outsourcing, you can reduce operational costs (vs hiring local) while still getting the best possible service and results. While a little oversight is needed, it’s a logical step to help you offset costs and still ensure your customers get the service they deserve.

Introduction to Collective Solution

If you’re looking for a Nearshore Outsourcing solution with the human touch, then Collective Solution has what you’re looking for. With locations in Jamaica, Honduras and soon to be Mexico, Collective Solution has the nearshore footprint to reduce costs and exceed your expectations. Why not leverage our professional outsourcing services to help your business thrive today?