Turning lemons into lemonade is something a BPO company has mastered at. So, whenever there is a crisis, a call center has helped its partners and clients stay afloat with an effective crisis contingency plan and streamlined future processes. It is the best antidote to a crisis because call centers can read, understand and interpret a business’ behavior and response.
As much as industry leaders want to foresee how the coronavirus crisis will pan out, in reality, anything definite can’t be said about what is in hold for their business in the long-term. So, staying prepared, outsourcing customer support services to experts and remodeling processes to reduce disruptions in back office is essential.
In this blog, we will discuss:
- COVID-19’s impact on IT sector
- Challenges faced by healthcare due to COVID-19
- How COVID-19 has exposed the cracks in ecommerce
- The implications of COVID-19 for utility companies
- How a BPO company can help
- Are Work-at-Home solutions here to stay
COVID-19’s impact on IT sector
Information Technology is certainly no exception than other sectors, with CIOs and other IT staff working overtime to cope with the interruption, hold up to the business, and continue to drive transformations into uncertainty.
IT industry had to face some of biggest challenges due to COVID-19 like:
Information Technology is certainly no exception than other sectors, with CIOs and other IT staff working overtime to cope with the interruption, hold up to the business, and continue to drive transformations into uncertainty.
- Shifting business processes
Organizations are forced to alter their way of delivering services or products. A perfect example could be the education sector. Schools and universities moved to online classes and distance learning. This has had several repercussions for tech processes. - Increased threats to data security
The new normal-driven remote working has highlighted the focus decisively on cyber security, data confidentiality and protection. IT teams had to confront their digital preparedness in managing cyber threats head on. - Near-term actions are delayed due to increasing customer enquiries
The electronic manufacturing value chain, designs and decisions are delayed due to increasing number of L1, L2 and L3 enquiries from customers, ranging from software assistance to network troubleshooting.
How BPO tech-support services can help?
Outsourcing tech support services can simplify the complication that often comes with technology. A BPO company like Fusion can offer you a range of services starting from Installation and configuration support to warranty management.
The pool of specialist engineers and certified IT professionals ensure to provide:
- 24/7 customer grievance handling
- Remote IT support services
- Information security and data management .
- Product Testing, Patch Management
A range of other services are also offered to lessen the workload from the IT department and help them stay prepared for the long-term unpredictability with knowledge base, intelligent technology and various support tools.
Challenges faced by healthcare due to COVID-19
The healthcare industry is at the epicenter of this global pandemic challenge, and it has contributed greatly to tackle the situation with the government, be it rapid testing, preparing isolation beds for the Covid-19 intensive care or deploying equipment and additional staff in identified nodal facilities.
The sector, right now, is facing a triple-burden:
- Investing additional resources to ensure 100 per cent preparedness in the hospitals, proper treatment of non COVID patients, and conducting contact tracing
- Improving healthcare customer service when enquiries are skyrocketing in volume
- Experiencing a steep drop in Outpatient footfalls, non-compulsory surgeries and international patients.
Why seek healthcare BPO Services?
If you outsource your healthcare BPO services to a HIPAA compliant call center like Fusion, you will get a number of support services like contact tracing, medical insurance claim validation and processing, virtual reception, HR and payroll, physician referrals and more specialized back office support services like medical billing, coding and telemedicine. Patient satisfaction through improved customer service can help healthcare sustain the uncertain period until the crisis is over.
Cracks exposed for ecommerce
Along with lockdowns, social distancing, travel restrictions and other measures that stemmed up during the onset of COVID-19, the cracks in e-commerce were revealed. In the times when customers are looking for reliable and seamless experience, multiple challenges have surfaced, like:
- Business unpreparedness
- Increasing return, replacements and refund
- Lack of supplier-logistics coordination and
- Paralyzed customer care
How can ecommerce call centers mend the cracks?
- Offer faultless customer service :
In times of crisis, it is important to keep in mind that the last thing customers want is to deal with poor customer service. It is the responsibility of the E commerce call center to provide an exceptional level of customer service ensuring 24/7 availability in multiple channels and multiple languages. - Market surveying :
Due to COVID-19, the shift in market demand has been drastic. This is the reason why the importance of market research becomes even more significant. An ecommerce BPO provider has the right tools under its hood to conduct in-depth market surveys from time to time, just to be at par with what customers want.
- Boost customer acquisition and retention :
With outbound telemarketing, lead generation and inbound up selling and cross selling call center services, ecommerce contact centers can improve customer acquisition and retention rates.
The implications of COVID-19 for utility companies
Gas, water and electricity are our three most important necessities without which our planet would come to a standstill. With that being said, it is crucial for utility service providers to keep supplying the energy even though the sector has to face some of the biggest challenges due to the pandemic like:
- Complying to changing regulatory standards
- Lack of trained workforce
- Disrupted supply chain
- Increasing debts and outstanding payment
- Very competitive retail energy market
How utility call centers help?
The role of the utility call center is important than ever in scenarios where customer expectations are higher than ever and the interface is becoming more and more customer-centric. It is in the times of crisis when instant utility consumer service becomes even more essential.
While you get too occupied with core functionalities, let a utility call center, provide consistent utility customer service, streamline customer relationship management, and help with debt collection services. Many energy and utility providers have outsourced non-core services to call centers specializing in this sector. If you are planning to hire one, make sure it is ISO certified and PCI DSS compliant like Fusion.
Fusion’s Work at Home Solutions for remote assistance
In assisting different sectors to cope up with long-term unpredictability, Fusion’s work-at-home solutions can be of great help. At present, Fusion has 3000+ home-based agents working from different countries. The geographically dispersed and diversified workforce allows Fusion to deliver uninterrupted service for its clients, no matter how volatile the market gets. Fusion has physical call center sites across 8 different countries like call center in Philippines, Sebu, Canada, El Salvador, Jamaica, Albania and India.
Work-at-home will be adopted as a long-term strategy because most of the businesses have shifted a majority of their business to a remote delivery model. Those who are performing better without transitioning or have resisted the move to work-from-home, call center outsourcing can still be beneficial because it will guarantee highly-personalized customer experience and help businesses set strategic priorities for long-term. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught companies a precious lesson in crisis management, requiring them to turn to a remote-agent business model.
If you are looking to outsource BPO services to sail through unpredictable business scenarios and emerge as a strong competitor, call Fusion BPO today!
Also Read : Business Intelligence: How Can It Aid BPOs?
