Home-Based BPO Service Blooms in United States: IDC
September 27th, 2012STAFF REPORT
The use of home-based customer care agents, a kind of BPO service dubbed as homeshoring, has continued to gain momentum in the United States, according to market research firm IDC.
U.S. spending on homeshoring is on pace to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 percent, rising from $1.6 billion in 2011 to $6.1 billion in 2017, says the analyst firm.
Homeshoring, according to IDC, is one of the fastest-growing aspects of the U.S. customer care BPO services market today. Demand for home-based agents and hosted/on-demand contact center services is impacting the very dynamics of the provider ecosystem creating new challenges and opportunities for established customer care providers and new entrants to the market.
“Changes in the way companies and consumers are communicating, cost and a need for talent are impacting the customer care BPO market, and home agent delivery is one way that providers are addressing,” …
Mexico’s “familiarity” an influence factor.
By Dan Berthiaume
After several years of stagnant growth, contact center outsourcing in the US and Americas is now poised for a significant upswing. Given the prediction by business & technology analysis firm Ovum, contact center outsourcing by US and Canadian companies should increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 3 percent between 2011 and 2016.
First Call Resolution: How to Define, Measure and Improve
August 28th, 2012By Rosanne D’Ausilio
A typical customer will not call back a call center. Not only does this keep costs high, but it decreases customer loyalty and increases turnover.
The Nearshore’s High-Touch Advantages of Engaging US Hispanics
July 26th, 2012
A granular look at making outbound calls just as productive as inbound
By Michael Blankman
The outbound side of the call center world is not discussed as often as the inbound side. Outbound calls are misunderstood and under-appreciated in the industry. However, prior to outsourcing becoming the global business it is today, call centers were largely the purview of telemarketers.
Mahindra Satyam Points to Business Intelligence as Tool to Drive North America Market
July 24th, 2012
By Clayton Browne
Satyam Computer Services was rebranded Mahindra Satyam in June 2009 and is in the process of merging with Tech Mahindra, but these corporate changes have not changed the company’s status as one of the top half-dozen outsourcing firms rising from India.
First Call Resolution: How to Define, Measure and Improve
July 17th, 2012By Rosanne D’Ausilio
It’s a given that customer satisfaction is crucial to customer loyalty, positive word of mouth, and return on investment. First Call Resolution (FCR) has been and remains the #1 driver of customer satisfaction.
By Michael Blankman
In my recent article, we concluded that the most important aspect of managing remotely is building a strong and trusting relationship. Creating a partnership that doesn’t rely solely on the contract for the outsourcer to get performance security. The partnership is critical because once operations are outsourced, real influence over daily management will and should be limited, or why outsource at all? The partnership needs to be based on respecting each other’s expertise, ensuring roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and that the underlying business model justifying the decision to outsource is protected.
Managing Outsourcers: When SLAs Don’t Do the Job
May 1st, 2012By Robert L. Scheier
Service level agreements (SLAs) are the heart and soul of many outsourcing contracts. They define what the provider must deliver and their penalties for failure, in anything from application uptime to the time required to solve a customer’s problem on a help line.
But at least as currently defined, SLAs often fall short of detecting (and, more importantly, correcting) problems quickly. That was the message at the recent SIG Spring Summit from Senior Corporate Counsel Richard English of Ingram Micro and Shaalu Mehra of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, who helps the electronic distributor negotiate outsourcing deals.
By Rosanne D’Ausilio PhD
Average turnover, reported at 40% to 50%, has always been, and continues to be, a chronically costly problem for call centers, a problem that seems to be tolerated rather than solved. Respondents to a FurstPerson survey reported an average monthly attrition rate of 7.18%. Annualized, a 40% annual turnover estimate becomes an actual turnover rate of 87%. As you read further, you’ll see what that costs!
Want Better Customer Service? Take the Pulse of Your Company
February 1st, 2012
By Rosanne D’Ausilio PhD
There is what we call a moment of truth when a customer makes a decision about you, your company, maybe even all companies in your industry, based on their interaction with anyone from the front lines up to and including your CEO. In those first three sentences, a customer determines whether their interaction will be a good experience, a bad experience, or a waste of their time.
When talking about customer service, customer satisfaction, and customer retention, you often hear that the best way to determine how you’re doing is to ask your customer. And that’s absolutely true. However, if you really want to know how your company is doing, ask your internal customer.
