Everything You Wanted To Know About BPO For Your Contact Center

Everything You Wanted To Know About BPO For Your Contact Center

When it comes to Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), many questions, assumptions, and even myths or urban legends have grown over the years. While we have no official stance on Bigfoot, we DO have a lot of the answers when it comes to BPO in your contact center. 

Whether you are newly considering BPO as a solution in your contact center or have a solution currently in place the landscape has changed over the past 2-3 years. Here are some of the commonly asked questions we hear at InflowCX. 

Does BPO Mean Outsourcing Our Contact Center To India? 

India is just one of the hundreds of options available in today’s world of BPO. In the early 2000s, there were a lot of jobs outsourced to India, the Philippines, and other places. Those are still viable options. 

However, there are so many partners to consider that are near shore, here in the United States, and all over the world. Partners where English is their first language, that are bi-lingual, or speak multiple languages that your customers speak. 

The landscape of BPO has changed dramatically over the last 15 years in a very good way that enhances the customer experience in the contact center, and the quality of talent is one of the catalysts to that improvement. 

What If We Don’t Have A Fancy Contact Center Set Up? 

That is just fine if you don’t have a contact center that resembles Google HQ. The partners we have relationships with can mold to any setup and technology. You can make the decision to invest heavily in your contact center and the technology needed, or make the decision that partnering is a better option for you now. You can also do both, or any combination of BPO and upgrade your in-house Call Center. 

Where our customers have had the biggest success is finding those things that your company does best and delegating the rest. That is especially true with contact center. Having a partner dedicated to all things CCaaS such as technology, training, best practices and more helps you concentrate on what you do best. 

How Do We Hold The BPO Accountable To Our Standards? 

The BPO and their entire Quality Assurance Team act in accordance with your standards. The agents themselves are reviewed based on adherence to the standards that you set. The bottom line, they act as agents of your company because that is the expectation. 

Quarterly business reviews, monthly performance meetings, and the ability to listen to recorded or live conversations at any time. These are just a few of the many mechanisms in place to ensure accountability to your standards. Many of the BPOs we partner with have their own standards that align with our clients and can even add to them to strengthen the trust. 

What Does Training Look Like For The BPO? 

The BPO has an entire training department dedicated to training their agents on your program. The agents learn about your company, your culture, what makes your company great and so much more. The BPO agents go through the same process that your agents would go through.

There are so many options based on your criteria. The BPO can handle the entire training, you can create the training together, you can participate in the training, or any combination that makes for the best results. 

Aren’t BPOs Just Massive Contact Centers And Generalists? 

Some are, there certainly are the large “everything to everyone” BPOs. At InflowCX, we choose to partner with more niche BPOs based on industry, location, native languages, and other criteria that serve our clientele better. Whatever your industry and expertise we generally have a BPO that would flourish with your company’s best interests in mind.

The biggest factor we consider before anything else is culture. Making sure that the culture of your organization and the BPOs are a fit is critical to the success of the relationship. We have learned that in our many decades of experience if the cultures of the companies don’t align, nothing else can supplement that. 

Does the BPO work with our tech stack? 

Absolutely, if your chosen platforms are Five9 and Salesforce, the BPO will follow suit. If you are looking for guidance on what is best for your contact center, the BPO and your agents — InflowCX can help you get there. 

Alignment is critical on all levels especially when it comes to technology. Communication, ticketing, escalating, automation, culture, goals, everything is about alignment. The BPO is an extension of your team no matter what size. 

Are There Service Level Agreements With The BPO? 

Yes, there are with all of our engagements with our BPO partners. Make sure expectations are clear so that we can ensure accountability. Detailing those considerations and having everyone on the same page is key with any relationship. 

Ready To Find Explore BPO Options For Your Contact Center Needs? 

We have four decades of experience with BPO and understand this may be new for you. Also, we understand you may have tried outsourcing before with mixed or poor results. 
It all starts with a conversation, let’s find a time to make that happen and see how InflowCX, BPO & CCaaS can work together for YOU!