People are one of your most valuable assets and investing in them, means investing in the future success of your team and your company. A BPO model, or business process outsourcing, is a popular and very effective way to streamline business and the number of clients that are looking to outsource some of their operations is increasing.
Most commonly outsourcing clients are looking for low agent turnover, in-depth knowledge of the client, thorough training, and a performance measuring system.
You should consider following these best practices when outsourcing to ensure success.
#1: Invest in your team
Attracting and retaining top talent is crucial for your overall outsourcing success. Think about the basics of your work environment – do you offer competitive pay, do you provide opportunities for growth, is there a positive work culture. By optimizing these fundamentals, you aim to attract a wider and better selection of candidates during the recruitment process and will retain at a higher rate your existing employees. Make sure that every new addition to your team possesses the core skills you value and require and avoid applicants who have switched jobs often.
It’s very important that after you hire a new member of the team to provide thorough training and to lay out all the KPIs they will need to hit – the more informed they are, the better the retention.
#2 Build an effective work environment
The reputation of your company is one of the most important things that will lead to qualified applicants in the recruitment process and will attract prospective clients. Make sure to invest in your work environment in order to achieve a positive work culture by promoting transparency, stability, quality, and consistency.
For example, if you are offering a pay-for-performance program, you can recognize top performers and create an environment that enables healthy competition. If possible, use automation and AI to relieve your employees from repetitive tasks so they can be more productive and effective.
The most important thing is to establish clear objectives and goals and to ensure that every employee is aware that they are responsible both for their own and the team success.
#3: Prioritize turnaround time
The key to management success is prioritizing efficiency and optimization. You approach should be proactive and always aim to think outside the box when resolving an issue. Try to create a balance between the three fundamentals – people, process, and tools, and optimize each element to achieve overall and long-term success.
There are three basic metrics that play an essential role in a contact center – the average speed to answer, the average handle time, and the first call resolution. It is important to hit these KPIs to track performance but more important is to achieve customer satisfaction. So if an agent is beyond their KPI in order not to compromise customer experience do not see that as under-performing. A strong leader will always promote an out-of-the-box type of approach, especially if it is to assure better client satisfaction.
