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Here are 3 things that will ruin your BPO. And here’s how to save it

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

The call center outsourcing market has lately been booming and estimated at USD 75 billion. But recent pandemic disruptions have taken their toll on the industry, bringing old problems to light and creating new ones (enter WFH).

As a result, some BPOs (especially offshore ones) lost a hefty chunk of their client base: for instance, Virgin Media announced it would recruit 500 call center workers in the UK because of the disruptions in Asia. Other BPOs had to close down completely.

Whether your business has taken a hit or you’re one of the lucky few that withstood the crisis and are looking to eliminate the risks of future disruptions and to deliver around the clock service  – don’t worry, I got you covered with a cost-efficient and smart way to do it.

But first, let’s discuss three ever-present challenges BPO are facing.

It’s a points game

Most customers don’t realize how low BPO margins can be. It’s always a points game. In a game like this spending an extra averaged-out penny per call may mean cutting a company’s margin by sometimes as much as 20%! Yet lines need improving and with COVID, as many as 80% of the workforce are moving to permanent WFH, and this all means expenditures. 

Agents are desperate for new technologies: 60% of call center reps agree that their company sometimes fails to ensure they are properly equipped to address the challenges related to helping clients. 44% of staff lack the tools that are available to them and 34% report not having the valid customer data needed at the time of request. But with budgets being as they are, it’s hard to ensure their needs are met.

This article is part of a detailed report on how BPOs are improving their call centers with voice AI. Download the full report here!

Employee attrition

The attrition rate is the highest of all industries. Most (if not all) call centers can’t offer much in terms of moving up the ladder. There are many agents and only so many management spots. Add to this the constant pressure to reduce AHT, work-related health problems, stressful customers, and you get loss of talent. To balance out the attrition, companies have to constantly spend money recruiting, hiring and onboarding new agents. 

Take a look at this chart and ask yourself: how many of these requirements does your call meet?

Source: Call Centre Helper
Source: Call Centre Helper

Customer attrition 

At the same time, customers are enjoying increasing competition and expect agents to provide their customers with great service at discounted costs. If the company fails, customers may choose to end the deal and switch to another provider. Needless to say, high customer attrition may have devastating results. 

Here is what Microsoft’s State of Global Customer Service Report says about the importance of treating your customer base right:

  • 58% of consumers state that the quality of customer service affects their choice of a brand.

  • 61% of customers have ended their deal with a company after a poor service experience.

  • 90% of customers wish organizations provided them with the ability to give feedback.

If you don’t represent your client in the best way possible, don’t be surprised when they decide to leave.

Do these problems hit a little too close to home? I bet. Now, to the most interesting part: how do you solve them?

There’s an AI for that. 

It can talk to your clients, ask questions, put down answers – all of that with the efficiency of a call center agent and at a fraction of the cost. 

I’m not saying AI is the ultimate answer to all your problems. But it will solve some. 

Companies using Dasha have managed to introduce agent count cuts, resulting in cost savings. At the same time they have managed to lower their attrition rates. How?

It was a side effect. The contact center offloaded repetitive conversations to Dasha AI. They got rid of bad agents and kept the best operators. The AHT pressure was off. And, as Dasha was used to route calls, customer wait times dropped which led to them being more amiable on the call. Now the agents can dedicate their full attention to longer, more valuable conversations with happier customers. 

This had yet another side effect – the end customers are happier with the service they receive than ever before. 

BPOs engage Dasha in one of two ways. Let’s get a glimpse.  

Transitioning existing processes. Along with automating repetitive tasks calls that we mentioned earlier, Dasha can do intelligent call routing: instead of having your agents picking up the phone, get Dasha picking it up and routing the calls. 

Setting up a new revenue channel. Let’s say you’ve got 100 B2C businesses as your customers. They all could benefit from collecting great feedback from their customers. So why not delegate NPS/CSI customer surveys to Dasha? You won’t need to hire new agents to run these calls, but just set up an AI model and sell it to your customers. Just like that – with next to no upfront investment.

These are just some of the ways Dasha can help you up the game. To find out more, schedule a call with our AI expert.

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