Outsourcing— the act of moving internal operations to a third-party provider — has produced incredible wealth for the global economy. Whether employing outside firms to handle accounting, IT services, or after-hours customer support, the practice is increasingly common among both entrepreneurial start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. At its core, outsourcing is about moving transactional functions to third-party experts with a view towards improving focus on core business activities and performance.
Relieving in-house personnel of non-core job activities is a clever long-term strategy used by many industries, including E-commerce, healthcare, finance, consumer retail, and hospitality, to name a few. Business process outsourcing brings companies a competitive edge by shifting time-consuming administrative processes to outside professionals.
While every organization has specific reasons for contracting out certain back-office functions, outsourcing yields many benefits that enhance business growth.
#1: Cost control
The practice of outsourcing was originally praised as an effective — albeit short-term — cost-cutting measure. Today, lower labor and capital costs remain a significant incentive for companies to outsource their data entry, claims processing, technical support and office tasks to call center professionals. In this way, businesses can control their expenditures more efficiently, scaling their workforce up and down as needed. Lower salary and overhead costs free up capital that can be reinvested in the company.
#2: Increased flexibility
Outsourcing gives companies access to high-quality services and technology that complement their in-house structure. A good outsourcing provider has the talent, infrastructure and resources to take on new projects at the drop of a hat and adapt to changing demands as needed. This gives an added level of flexibility as businesses are no longer tasked with hiring, training and supervising staff to launch innovative projects quickly.
#3: Workflow efficiency
Businesses have discovered that outsourcing provides access to a global talent pool of educated professionals with in-demand skill sets. IT technicians, customer care specialists, and software support experts boast expertise in areas that in-house staff may lack. This workflow efficiency ultimately helps boost your company’s bottom line.
#4: More resources to focus on innovation
Outsourcing means labor-intensive, time-consuming tasks are delegated to third-party specialists at considerably lower rates. By freeing up internal staff (and the extra capital earmarked for labor costs), this enables organizations to focus less on non-essential activities and spend more time brainstorming strategies for increased growth. Enjoy more time, more manpower and financial resources to build your brand and create new benchmarks.
#5: Improve customer loyalty
Providing a superior customer experience is pivotal for the success of any business. Whether its post-sales follow-up, order processing services or conflict resolution, outsourcing agents work diligently to ensure each phone call, text or email interaction is friendly, personable and enjoyable. Because most outsourcing centers operate 24/7, 365 days a year, customers have round-the-clock access to a support agent whenever needed. Prompt, efficient and knowledgeable customer service engenders repeat customers who are loyal to your brand and likely to recommend your product and services to others.