The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the traditional BPO model globally. With lockdowns and disrupted business operations, organizations have also explored the possibilities of long-term work-from-home. However, remote working in BPO is not a new kid on the block. Global BPO services providers, like Fusion, have agents working from different centers in different locations and providing support to millions of customers every day. With the virus’s onset, China became the first nation to shut down offices and asked people to work remotely. Others followed suit to control the disease.
While the new-normal is a distant dream, adapting to a new working environment and functions is the key to success. This crisis has taught BPOs several lessons, and the future of business process outsourcing looks more promising with greater opportunities. From customer service to business risk analysis and mitigation – the gamut of inbound/outbound call center services has expanded by manifolds.
Increased potential to tap into skilled workforce
One of the reasons companies outsource business functions is because it gives access to a skilled workforce. The workforce comprises employees from different countries, demography, and culture. However, the risk associated with remote operations is that you lose control of the situation and fail to track performance. This won’t be the case with omnichannel call center operation. They have workforce management systems and CRM tools to track individual performances and send reports to clients as per SLAs. While cost-benefit remains the key reason to outsource, increased attention to skilled staffing and flexible resources will always be added advantages. In the future, organizations will focus on dedicated hires for critical functions, and they will look to partner with industry-specific call centers like healthcare BPO. Until a few years back, most healthcare-related functions were handled in-house. Thanks to nearshore call centers that make onsite training for domain-centric processes easier.
Greater investment in automation
It is expected to witness an inclination towards automation to reduce labor-intensive and repetitive tasks. Automation in inbound / outbound call center services is a common practice today. The use of chatbots, canned messages, IVR system, and AI-powered voice process services has up BPOs in the past few months. Increased automation is also a result of remote operation and scaling down of in-house resources to deal with the economic recession. In the post-COVID era, we might also see a rushing of cloud migration to cope with external market shocks that crises like pandemics can bring.
Lead generation with digital services
Until a few years back, BPO primarily leveraged voice process services to generate leads. However, the current pandemic situation has brought new opportunities and potentials to tap into bigger markets with a multichannel approach. Today, global leaders like Fusion includes digital services under BPO services. We provide Facebook lead generation, LinkedIn lead generation, PPC and Co-reg lead generation services alongside voice and non-voice support. Organizations have started considering outsourcing to BPOs where they get a vast choice of services -from telecommunication call center support to digital marketing.
Fusion read the pulse of futuristic clients and included digital services, social media support and online reputation management with its array of existing BPO services.
The single-source model will be a thing of the bygone era
In 2021 and beyond, we will see BPOs moving away from the single-source model because there will be demand for critical functions that will require multi-sourced agents from various locations. If one agent is incapable of performing, there will be another to step in. Chances of interruption in information sharing will increase. There will be a greater dependency on a single team or an individual. If they ever let you down, you won’t find a way out.
The recent COVID crisis has exposed organizations to uncertainties, opaque supply chain, and shortage of resources. Hence, moving away from the single-source model and embracing the multi-source model can prepare
ecommerce call center providers for black swan events.
Disaster backup planning and business continuity
In theory, BCP or business continuity planning is reinforced by a need for more than two backup actions and physical sites that can be deployed quickly in an unforeseen crisis. Fusion has employees, systems and centers in 9 counties and 18 locations. With omnichannel operations, we ensure business continuity for our clients worldwide. Contact us to know our latest add-ons and how our BPO services ensure business continuity post-COVID.
