What is Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)?
What is Business Process Outsourcing BPO?Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the engagement of services from a third-party provider. BPO uses various technology-enabled services to hasten the delivery of services. The business activities could be back-office such as, but not limited to, payroll, accounting, human resources, or front office jobs like customer service, sales, and marketing, etc. In the case of content providers, these business activities could mean hiring writers, remote editors, or virtual assistants.
BPO speeds up processes and enhances efficiency. Companies that outsource some of their business activities use their time on core services and competencies. With this shift in focus, companies improve their current processes that may result in improved customer satisfaction. BPO helps companies divert their resources to more critical business strategies. Often, companies find it impractical to hire a full-time position in-house because of the cost associated with doing so.
How does Business Process Outsourcing work?When a business engages an external specialist to manage and operate some of its internal processes, it's referred to as business process outsourcing. Such ‘processes’ include customer service, accounting and finance, or sales. It is different from hiring an agency to do specific tasks, as the outsourcing provider (BPO) is more concerned with the ongoing production of labour-intensive tasks, instead of the higher-level strategy and guidance.
Now, business process outsourcing has broadened and is more akin to staff augmentation, or staff leasing.
What are the benefits of business process outsourcing?There are many benefits to outsourcing, as well as some downsides and risks. The common benefits include:
Cost savings: significant savings of up to 70%, leveraging the lower global salaries Global market: access to a bigger employment pool of talent Global presence: having operational across the globe increases trade opportunities Flexible workforce: reduces internal local labour and employment compliance obligations Leverage skill: leveraging the skills of other specialist companies Focus: enables the client company to focus on their core functions
Business process outsourcing examplesThe business process outsourcing sector is a vast industry, generating over $200bn annually, and employing many millions of people worldwide. Some examples include:
Big enterpriseFacebook and Uber outsource many of their operational functions, including content moderation for Facebook, and customer service for Uber
Medium-size businessesA medium business with 50-500 staff might outsource the labour-intensive accounting and finance functions to a team in the Philippines.
Small business and entrepreneurIt is common for small business owners to have a Virtual Assistant (VA) working for hem full time, remotely from the Philippines.
What are the different types of BPO?The type of business process outsourcing can be characterised by their specialisation, location, and size.
Generalist or specialist BPOsBusiness process outsourcing is in the human resources and professional services sector. However, their services extend across all industries. The majority of BPOs are generalist, in that they offer a full range of professional services, although some specialise in certain verticals (ie accounting, or animation).
LocationBusiness process outsourcing typically operates form developing nations such as the Philippines, India, and Colombia. They typically have cheaper cost-of-living and bigger populations. Different locations offer different advantages.
Size of BPOThe bigger BPOs employ more than 250,000 people. They are huge, global operations. Medium-sized BPOs range from 500-5,000 staff and offer a full range of services. The smaller BPOs might have 1-500 people.
Functions of business process outsourcingCollectively, business process outsourcing provides any kind of staffing solution. Common functions of BPO include:
Finance and accounting: operational, technical and specialist functions Healthcare: various functions of the backend of the healthcare and health-insurance industries Creative and content: everything from post-production of Hollywood movies to newspaper and website content Tech, IT and development: network management, web and app development and maintenance Sales & customer support: ongoing sales and customer operational support and delivery Marketing: ongoing marketing, communication and branding activities Talent and HR: externalising the management of company HR, recruitment and compliance Administration: general business administration and operational activities Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) servicesOutsource Accelerator is the most trusted source for independent information & advisory for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). We have over 4,000 articles, 200+ podcast episodes, and a comprehensive directory with 700+ BPOs… all designed to make it easier for clients to learn about, and engage with, business process outsourcing.
What is Live Chat Support?
What is live chat support?Live Chat Support, also called live help or live chat, refers to a web service for industries that allows communication, wherein visitors send a real-time chat to the business's website. A chat happens between the customer and an operator, whom both will input texts into the live chat box to start a conversation. It promotes efficiency by having real-time agents simultaneously handle multiple chats. Live chat support applications allow the administrators to respond to text chats from several customers who visit the website.
Live chat support allows multiple options for distribution and utilization with instant messages. Typically, chat applications open a window then connects the user to an administrator. Some applications put an order by enabling users to be in a queue. This makes sure that the admin deals with one user at a given time. Afterward, it may proceed to the next user when the present chat has ended. Users can have the chance to view their status in the queue. Live chat support allows companies to provide direct website visitor engagement in a manner that promotes increased interactivity and trust with website visitors, increasing customer satisfaction.
Outsource live chatOutsource Accelerator provides you access to great chat support agents that you can outsource from the Philippines starting from $6 per hour, where you can save up to 70% on staffing cost. We have over 3,000 articles, 200+ podcast episodes, and a comprehensive directory with 700+ BPOs… all designed to make it easier for clients to learn about, and engage with live chat support outsourcing.
What is Customer Support Virtual Assistant?
What is a customer support virtual assistant?How a business cares about its customers is defined by the quality of customer service that they provide. Customer Support Virtual Assistants are remote customer service providers responsible for providing the best customer service to attract, retain, and satisfy customers. Their responsibilities range from handling customer complaints, to answering queries and being brand “ambassadors.”
Responsibilities of a customer support virtual assistantCustomer Support Virtual Assistants are in charge of answering customer queries via phone or the company’s social media sites, handling complaints, dispatching calls, processing orders and payments, and more. While most customer service providers are outsourced to call centers in the Philippines or India, some smaller-sized companies with lesser number of customers opt to hire just one or two virtual assistants for their customer support needs.
What is Self-Service Portal?
What is a Self-Service Portal?A self-service portal is a website or app that consists of self-help and self-service functions. This enables and empowers the customer to perform transactions, access their needed information, request services, or resolve issues quickly and conveniently without the help of a customer service agent.
Self-service web portals are easily accessible, user-friendly, and accessible via desktop or mobile devices. Self-service portals help companies save on money, time, and effort of customer service representatives.
Benefits of a self-service portalSome benefits of using self-service portal include:
Customer service agents can save their time and effort. They can also focus on their core responsibilities;
Customers will have improved knowledge of the product;
Customers are taught to fix issues on their own, which makes it less likely to be an issue again;
It enhances customer experience and strengthens the customer’s opinion of the company.