On Wednesday 17th June, we held our fourth virtual meetup on behalf of our online customer support community Global Customer Support Heroes. The webinar was an online panel discussion with Rui Chaves, Head of Customer Loyalty at Monese, and Salar Rangkeshan, previous Customer Service operations Managers at Klarna and Releasy.
The webinar centered around the theme of in-house vs outsourcing: scaling customer support operations successfully, delving into each panelist’s unique experiences and insights that they had learned along their journeys. In case you were unable to attend or just want to check it out again, here is a recording of the event and a summary of some of the key ideas and insights that were discussed throughout.
What is the key to doing outsourcing right?
- Communication is key and needs to be proactive, not reactive. A lot of the time communication between an in-house and outsourced team only opens up when there is an issue.
- In-house teams need to ensure they are equipping the outsourced team with the right information and tools to succeed.
- Lending a senior agent who knows how the operations and culture have been built in-house to the outsourced team to align ensures both teams are built in the same way.
- In the introductory phase of outsourcing, having a Slack channel open with in-house senior agents to answer any questions the outsourced team may have can be very constructive and time-efficient.
When is the right time to outsource
- It depends on multiple aspects such as: how fast your company is growing and which market you wish to scale in, local or global.
- For example, if you wish to expand to the European market and your company is based in the US. It would make sense to outsource part of your support in Europe as they have greater recruiting power for relevant language-fluent agents and more experience in the local market.
How to select the right BPO for your company
- Rather than simply picking the largest or most renowned provider, invite them to see what you are doing in-house, let them understand how your operations work, and see if you align.
- Take your time, even if your backlog is building up. It will hurt you in the long run if you continually need to shift providers so ensure there are a cultural and operational fit and a strong line of communication formed.
Making sure both teams are aligned
- Often it is seen as us and them. It shouldn’t be like this. The in-house team needs to provide a blueprint culturally and operationally for how the outsourced team should operate.
- Ensure that your onboarding process is uniform both in-house and externally.
- Four outsourcing providers, it is important to create a work environment that captures the culture of the company- whether this is promotional items, posters, etc.
If you enjoyed this webinar and would like to join one of our many upcoming events, check out the Global Customer Support Heroes and stay tuned for our bi-monthly online meetups!