Looking to outsource the customer service department? You are not alone. Almost 54% of all companies utilize third-party support teams to connect with customers. Want to know an interesting fact? The outsourced customer care services industry is set to become a $110 billion industry by 2024! And it’s no surprise. Outsourcing tasks is an appealing idea. It can save you money, resources, and often, a great deal of stress. Farming out your customer service to an external team can cut overheads significantly. But it’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution and there are no magic outsourcing beans. Planning to take the plunge with outsourcing, where an external company directly interacts with your customers? Then weigh your options carefully. What to expect from this article? This article is a handy guide to help you decide if customer service outsourcing is the right choice for your business. You’ll find some of the best practices for customer service outsourcing including: Identifying the right reasons to outsource Establishing a mindset for a successful transition process Choosing the right platform to conduct your customer support Finding remote customer service professionals and teams Conducting the transition process smoothly. Ready? Let’s start with a fundamental question: What is Outsourcing? Choosing to outsource an area of your business means you’re hiring a third party to handle it on your behalf. While this article focuses on outsourcing customer service, almost any part of a company can be outsourced, including graphic design, billing, collections, or data entry. Ready to ship out support duties? First, you need to figure out the objective and the benefits of outsourcing your customer support. The ‘Right’ Reasons To Outsource your Customer Support To Lower Operational Costs Looking for the same quality of customer support, but at a lower cost? Outsourcing your customer service staff is a good alternative to hiring a full-time support team. Outsourcing allows you to hire contract workers rather than full-time employees. This means you don’t have to pay a fixed salary and offer benefits like healthcare, transportation costs, overtime, etc. You can save around a total of $3000 in initial setup and infrastructure costs alone! That’s close 25 years of Amazon prime subscription at current rates 🙂 Moreover, your workforce costs are further reduced if you outsource customer service to a country with a lower cost of living. For example, the cost of living in India is 65.98% lower than that of the US. This means you can offer lower and more competitive rates to your outsourced customer service team based in India. Unsure whether outsourcing customer service will generate savings for your business? Find out free of charge with Tru29’s Business Partnership Consultancy via inquiry@tru29.com To Increase Support Coverage Quickly Some businesses like e-commerce might be busier during the holiday season. So you might have to hire additional help to meet the higher customer support demands quickly. If you choose to hire employees – the process of finding, interviewing, and training applicants can take a few weeks. To Streamline Repetitive Tasks Different customers might have the same query or run into the same problems. Instead of trying to resolve the same issues over and over again, you and your team’s time is better spent on other projects. An outsourced customer support executive is a good option when the questions are not too technical. To Scale Up Your Business When your company is undergoing rapid changes and growth, you might not be able to focus on customer support. This is the right time to outsource support to maintain responsive, high-quality service while figuring out the long-term goals of your company. To Increase Global Coverage Let’s say you want to increase the geographic reach of your business. You will need to hire multilingual support employees that can communicate with your new customers effectively. If you outsource this support requirement, you can easily advertise this feature to broaden your customer base. The ‘Wrong’ Reasons To Outsource Your Customer Service Outsourcing has been around since the internet age. However, there is still a large knowledge gap that gives rise to all sorts of myths and misconceptions. Don’t fall into these pitfalls when deciding to switch to outsourced support teams. To Exercise High Budget Cuts While outsourcing can cut costs in the short run, it might affect your quality of service. Low-cost customer service providers are generally equipped to handle only repetitive support requests. So they might not be well-equipped to handle highly-specific or technical requests. To Avoid Support Responsibilities Outsourcing isn’t a way to just get rid of customer support responsibilities. It’s a partnership that requires communication and hard work on both sides. If you leave your outsourced support team to fend for themselves, they might get disconnected from your brand. As a result, your customer support quality can drop at an alarming rate. To Make A Quick Fix Yes, customer service providers are experts, but don’t expect them to solve all your problems overnight! Delivering a great customer experience takes time, consistency, and planning. You may need to put in a lot of initial hours training your outsourced team. Five Secrets To Flawless Customer Service Outsourcing Before you even begin to search for external help, you need to create an action plan on how to achieve your customer service goals. How do major companies ensure top quality customer service while outsourcing their staff? Here are five secrets to efficient customer service outsourcing processes. 1. Establish Brand Voice And Tone Guidelines Whether in a text, phone, or through your branding – your customers are used to the way you talk to them. When you use an external support team, they should sound exactly like your internal support staff. So how do you train your outsourced support team? Create a set of brand guidelines that specify what your team can or can not say. Run through hypothetical scenarios that they may have to face in the future and gauge their reaction to the situation. Make them watch Dilbert cartoons in a loop so that they know how to handle difficult people. Okay, the
How to Decide Important Points While Outsourcing Image Annotation?
Things to consider when outsourcing image annotation Outsourcing image annotation services is one of the most crucial tasks for AI companies that seeks training to develop the models. Actually, machine learning training data is a kind of fuel works for algorithms to learn from various patterns and predict in the same way. And you need to be very careful while outsourcing your project to such companies to get the best quality data at the least cost. So, in the context of the same, we brought here the key points to be considered while outsourcing the image annotation services. 1. How to Verify the Authenticity of Data? On the basis of your project needs, it is important to properly identify how your data will be handled. So, here you need to decide before handing over your data, how you want your image annotation to be verified. Image classification is the best example you can consider while checking the task of the annotators with selecting the appropriate label from each image. Here the human-powered image classification process can be affected by biased decisions. So, to avoid such preconceptions check the data processing from one stage to another stage. As one annotator labels the image while double-blind verification, two annotators label the image without sighting each other’s task. And if the labeling is not up to the mark, then it is the responsibility of a supervisor to observe the cases and decide the correct label to ensure the quality. And finally, multi-blind verification, at least three or more annotators label the images without viewing each other’s work. And here if labels don’t match each other’s data, consensus or adjudication is used. With consensus, majority rules and the most common label among the annotators are chosen. While with adjudication, a supervisor is brought in and decides the correct label. Different companies have different standard systems used in data entry and annotation. But the hard-and-fast verification process takes a long time and maybe available at additional costs that can spike your budget and spending on your project. 2. Check the Demos or Data Samples Evaluating the quality of the services of a company you need to check the historical background and work done by the company in the past. Yes, check the portfolio or data sample produced by the company. And if possible for the demo or similar approaches to making sure it has the capability to meet your data annotation needs. To check that you can go to the website of the company, check the portfolio, clientele to examine the image quality and annotation precision. Most of the companies providing the graphics in various formats to represent their workbench. And few of them already have samples with annotated images from the different fields. 3. Specify the Quality of Standard You Required Apart from the verification of data, you also need to clearly share the standard of quality you are looking in each annotated image. Many companies claim to provide accurate training data but what is the meaning of accurate in your terms. Actually, there are multiple types of image annotation techniques like bounding box, cuboids, polygons, and semantic segmentation but what kind of annotation you are looking for your AI or ML project. Actually, in some annotations, the picture needs to zoom at a very large size to annotate the objects at the very edge to adjust the annotation at pixel levels. Though, few projects may allow the margin of error, while many of them not allow a single margin and need 100% accuracy in each image to get accurate results. So the important point here is, that you need to clearly define your quality of standard at the time of assigning the project to image annotation companies. And also give an example of what kind of quality or standard level you expect in image annotation. You also need to explain the exact format and type of file with the data batched and quality control system you want to implement into your company. For that, you can request a trial project while paying some small charges to check the quality and accuracy level. It will help you to check their speed, quality, and other aspects while performing image annotation on a real-time basis. 4. Decide Who Will Annotate Your Images Every machine learning training data company has its own business model and workflows, and staffing system with specialization in particular annotation types and fields or industry to determine who is exactly going to work on your project. Actually, companies provide onsite, remote, and both types of image annotations as per the needs and feasibility of the clients. You need to ask these things to companies providing or not, what are the qualifications of annotators, and their training level. So, you should ask here these questions to such companies. Although, for image annotation, certain specialized qualification is not required, except medical images like CT Scan, MRI or X-rays. If you are outsourcing healthcare-related such fields for medical imaging analysis, make sure the company has all the required resources and such experts from medical background to ensure the accuracy. 4. Decide Who Will Annotate Your Images Last but not the least, it very important to decide the right platform for image annotation. As some companies have their own platform while few of them use other third-party platforms to annotate the images and charge additional fees for using that. However, annotating with the company’s platform has its own benefit like the company owns the platform and can customize the functions as per your project. And another advantage is the annotators are full-aware with user-interface and functions of the platform and they don’t need additional training to learn how to operate. While on the other hand, if you have your own custom platform or you are using a third-party platform that you want to use. If you require annotated images on any other external platform as per your choice, you may have to pay the extra fees
Tru29 is now a proud Member of Contact Center World
Tru29’s Management is proud to announce its official membership in Contact Center World – The Global Association for Contact Center and Customer Engagement Best Practices. Membership in Contact Center World is just one of Tru29’s endeavors to continually seek areas of improvement to better serve its client, its employees, and its community.
Why Businesses Should Outsource During or After The Covid19 Pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every industry in the world and has incurred many operational and financial challenges. Companies are now looking for ways to deal with the challenges while addressing the needs of their customers, clients, or employees. The majority of businesses have also taken the step of cutting down their IT costs in any possible way to cope up with this situation. It might look like a risky step since IT is crucial in today’s digital world. However, it comes with a higher cost, and avoiding in-house IT departments can help in saving a lot of money. On the other hand, outsourcing can prove as a great cost-effective alternative. Companies can opt for remote IT support as well as other services as the most effective solution to the issue. Nearly one-third of the companies are reducing their IT budgets to make way for other aspects that are more crucial. While many companies can go back to the normal state without cost-cutting, small businesses, who can’t afford it and lack space or labor funds for the IT department, need to take this step if they wish to survive in the industry. However, cost-cutting is not an issue now since business owners can outsource IT solutions and get significant benefits from it. In this article, we will discuss why businesses should opt for outsourcing their business needs and in what way it can help them to overcome challenges due to the novel coronavirus crisis. What is Outsourcing? Outsourcing is a method of agreement where a company reaches out to external vendors for carrying out their business functions or operations. You can either relocate the business tasks to a nearby country known as nearshoring or a distant country known as offshoring. A few tasks that can be outsourced are inventory management, orders, transactions, payroll processing, etc. Apart from that, you can also outsource other non-core processes such as call center, image manipulation, transcription, data conversion, accounting and bookkeeping, OCR clean up, and more. Importance of Outsourcing With the help of outsourcing, you can let a third party company handle your business tasks or jobs. This not only helps in eliminating the business load but also helps in cutting down the operational costs. Cost-cutting is one of the top reasons why companies prefer outsourcing their needs to a service provider. However, it is not the only advantage it offers. Apart from that, there are a lot more that can be gained through outsourcing, which is less known to the world. A few of them are mentioned below. Access to the latest technology While outsourcing certain tasks to a company or individual, you are associating with them and forming a partnership. This partnership can help you to gain access to the latest technology that can help in improving your business. For example, let’s say you are outsourcing HR tasks to a company that uses innovative payroll and benefits software. In that case, you can get access to this software and enable your companies to access information and maintain company records in the most effective way. Focus on other business areas Companies usually tend to outsource the tasks to save money as well as brainpower. To prove this, let us take the example of the human resources department. HR employees spend most of their time working on non-strategies tasks like maintain records. However, this time can be rather spent on more important matters, like engaging employees and improving job satisfaction. In that case, the non-strategic works can be outsourced to companies, while HR employees can focus on using their brainpower to help the company grow. Finding a new and talented human resource Outsourcing also provides the company with an opportunity to hire people having unique skill sets and knowledge. For example, let’s say there is a small business organization that is looking to hire IT professionals but is having fewer budgets. In that case, it can outsource the tasks to a company or individual to fill the gap in the organization without having to hire external resources. Besides, you can also consider outsourcing if you think that your employees lack certain skills that are needed for the growth of your organization. Launching new projects While launching a new project, a company may take weeks or even months to gather up and secure the resources that are needed to get started. For that, they need to recruit and onboard a large number of employees before launching the project. However, if they do not have the time to wait for the launch, then they can consider outsourcing their needs to a company that is having the required resources to take on the new project. Reducing risks With outsourcing, there is a decrease in the number of risks since you will be sharing the risks of new endeavors and business investment with your partnering company. That is why it is very important to choose the right company that can help in guiding your decisions and managing the risks. For example, if you are outsourcing your accounting needs to a company, then make sure that they have a team of experienced accountants, who are well aware of risk analysis and management. Keeping up with the competition Outsourcing is not only for large corporations and can be used by anyone. It is especially beneficial for small companies since they do not have the budget or resources to handle their operations. Apart from that, it is best to outsource as it will fit their budgetary needs, and they do not even have to worry about hiring more people to bring in the fresh talents. In addition to that, it will allow them to compete with large companies by offering the same expertise, resources, and services to their potential clients. Types of Tasks that You can Outsource Below are the various types of tasks or activities that can be outsourced by an organization. Marketing Measures Marketing is essential for a company since it can help in determining its brand identity and reputation
Challenges of working from home
Working remotely comes with its own set of unique challenges you won’t find in a traditional office space. Whether voluntary or involuntary – if you’re one of the millions who are quarantined or self-isolating due to the recent virus outbreak – you need to know what you’re in for so you can prepare. Remote work has a lot of benefits such as setting your own hours and working in your pajamas. But if you’re not ready for the challenges they might take you completely off guard. If you find yourself struggling to manage time, self-motivate, communicate, and take care of your physical and mental health, you have come to the right place. Be aware of these common problems and know exactly how to tackle them, and your work from home, whether permanent or temporary, will go a lot smoother. Remote Working Challenge #1: Self-Motivation When you’ve never had to set your own hours or entirely motivate yourself before, relying on your own self-control will often end in disaster. What a structured office environment has going for it is that it’s very helpful for keeping focus. It’s much easier to get off track on your personal computer in a house packed with kids, spouses, and/or pets. A quick peek at social media or a sudden intrusion from an unwelcome visitor, and you could get thrown off for minutes or hours. In addition, while sitting around at home, you might find it difficult getting into – or out of – the professional mindset. When you’re used to following a set routine and driving to your job every day, it’s hard to associate the comforts of home with difficult tasks. Solution: Create a Better Environment The reason offices and similar environments are so effective are because they’re structured and distraction-free. The solution here: emulate this environment while creating your own professional setup. Make it as strict or as casual as suitable for you, but think about what makes a typical workspace so effective. No matter how much space you have, you can make your own little office. Create a workspace away from the chaos of the rest of your home, in a spare bedroom, or at least tucked into a quiet corner. Keep this area organized, clean, and free of anything that could draw you out of your focus. If possible, have a separate work computer to minimize distractions. No games or fun apps to tempt you, just a browser and any programs you need for your job. Keep your phone out of easy arm’s reach and on silent except for calls from clients, coworkers, or your boss. Shut out pets and talk to your housemates to prevent an interruption that could throw you off your game. If your home is too loud and you can’t get anyone to quiet down, music or soundscapes can help block it out. Remote Working Challenge #2: Time Management Issues When distraction kicks in, struggles with time management quickly follow. Working in a disruptive environment full of traps that could easily sidetrack you, you’re likely to overestimate how much time you have (or just not think about it until the deadline is suddenly on the horizon). On the flip side, overexerting yourself is another big issue. Without a clear clock-out time and a pile of assignments that need to get done, many people push themselves into exhaustion. Solution: Follow a Strict Schedule A structured environment will do wonders for your productivity, but you should include a set schedule to pair with it. Remote work offers a degree of flexibility, but you still need to be consistent. If it’s more comfortable for you to wake up later than usual, do so, but get up and go to bed at the same time every day. Also, make sure to start and especially stop work at consistent times. Don’t let yourself slip into starting too late, or worse, pushing yourself deep into the night. Schedule plenty of breaks and give yourself a few minutes to step away and relax. If you start to feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to leave your workspace for a brief impromptu refresh. While you’re working, time tracking software can help you see the sites and programs you’re losing precious hours to. If you have trouble cutting these vices out, use a website/app blocker to prevent you from accidentally slipping and launching a game or visiting social media. Lastly, stay on top of your projects. Keep a calendar for marking due dates that can help you get everything in order. Break your projects into pieces and use your calendar to make sure you’re staying on top of it all.
Businesses focus on outsourcing as a Covid-19 survival strategy
Research from Opinium and LiveArea suggests 28% of businesses are looking to outsourcing as a Covid-19 survival strategy. In an attempt to develop greater business agility and resilience, companies are increasingly looking to reduce the Covid-19 risk through outsourcing. Almost a third (28%) of UK companies are looking to outsource at least one business area following the Covid-19 crisis. According to research from Opinium and LiveArea, the areas of business most likely to be outsourced are IT (37%) and marketing (32%). “With business agility and operational resilience seen as mission critical post-pandemic, companies are increasingly looking to reduce risk through outsourcing.” It is estimated that a quarter of businesses already outsource their IT operations, but only 10% of brands do so with marketing. This suggests that the outsourced marketing market could more than triple in the coming years. While IT and marketing are likely to become externalized, the research also showed the area’s businesses are not willing to outsource. Only 22% of businesses reported they would consider moving sales, while 24% said the same about customer service.“Although the pandemic is ongoing, we are beginning to see long term business strategies emerge, primarily the widespread shift to agility and digital. Outsourcing does not mean businesses can scale if needed, but also bring in new capabilities and fresh thinking quickly and efficiently,” said Elliott Jacobs, EMEA commerce consulting director at LiveArea. He added: “Businesses across the UK will need to completely rethink their businesses. As no one can fully understand the implications of Covid-19, companies must invest in adaptability and resilience. Fundamentally, this means developing the ability to understand market changes and react instantly. Only then can brand cope and even flourish in a post-Covid-19 economy.” source/credits: https://www.information-age.com/businesses-outsourcing-covid-19-survival-strategy-123490150/
