Will BPOs Actually Benefit From Self-Service?

Will BPOs Actually Benefit From Self-Service?

Emerging Visual IVR and On-Demand Customer Service technology is making big waves in the Business Process Outsourcing industry.

Staying up to date with a constantly changing digital landscape while filling customer demands is a constant focus of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies today. Customers demand self-service customer care, but can BPOs afford to offer it?

For many BPOs, improving digital channel offerings and increasing efficiency (process automation) have become key priorities in 2019. Consumers now expect Amazon-level efficiency from every business they interact with and BPOs must offer experiences like these to stay relevant in the marketplace. Automating calls and reducing call times hasn’t been the favorite plan for BPOs in the past. Lucky for modern outsourcers, Visual IVR and On-Demand Apps are emerging as the best solution to satisfy consumers and improve business results in our digital era.

“Lucky for modern outsourcers, Visual IVR and On-Demand Apps are emerging as the best solution to satisfy consumers and improve business results in our digital era.”

Self-Service In Demand

Modern customers demand self-service. According to Microsoft’s 2018 Global State of Customer Service Report, 66% of customers use self-service channels before any other form of customer service, and an overwhelming majority(88%)expect brands to offer an online self-service support portal. With so many consumers craving self-service customer care, BPOs must begin implementing the automated options into their offerings.

What began as extra options BPOs often tried to avoid has become an industry standard Business Process Outsourcing vendors can’t live without. Automating customer service, increasing average handle time (AHT), and reducing the number of calls that make it through to contact centers used to mean BPOs made less money, but with the advent of new Visual IVR technology, there is a paradigm shift moving through the industry that will benefit BPOs as well as consumers.

Self-Service On-Demand

RevolutionaryVisual IVRand On-Demand Apps platforms are changing the way BPOs view self-service. Technology vendors like Zappix are partnering with outsourcers to make calls more efficient while saving money for BPOs and increasing profits. Consumer demand means BPOs must begin providing self-service options to stay relevant in the marketplace. Visual IVR means they can improve their bottom lines while doing so.

Combined with Robotic Process Automation (RPA), on-demand self-service platforms give BPOs a new service to charge that’s cost-effective to integrate, launch, and maintain. Smart forms and Visual IVR that builds off existing IVR interfaces satisfy consumer demands, appeal to new prospects, and strengthen the channels and offerings BPOs already provide.

Improve Efficiency

Getting great service and the right answer faster is always appealing to consumers. Our modern lives have grown increasingly fast and attention spans have grown notoriously short. That said, many customer service experiences still take 5-10 minutes or more to complete even simple tasks.

This slow speed bogs down agents as well, preventing them from handling more customers and costing BPOs on the bottom line. Increasing efficiency in our modern world means increasing automation, but choosing the right automation can be difficult. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have become the hottest buzzwords in customer service, but the technology can be cumbersome to implement, and ROI can be difficult to realize.

Robotic Process Automation(RPA)has emerged as the best alternative to full-fledged AI. Combined with standardized input procedures like smart Visual IVR forms or On-Demand Apps, RPA can quickly reduce average handle time (AHT) and dramatically increase BPO efficiency.

With RPA and Visual IVR, what might have taken an agent 6 minutes to complete can be accomplished in seconds — without any agent input needed. This revolutionary automation frees agents from repetitive tasks so they can focus on high-value interactions where their skills are truly valuable and produces results for consumers in less time, handling more calls than ever before.

Add Customers, Cut Costs

Put together, the channel advantages and increased efficiency of Visual IVR,On-Demand Apps,and customer service focused RPA technology creates an extremely valuable package for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers. The emerging technology can give early adopters a leg up in the digital arms race, letting them convert more prospects into customers. Onboarding all those new customers could provide a challenge for HR, but the new technology helps there as well, automating repetitive calls and helping ease otherwise insurmountable hiring pressure. Once BPOs start handling calls for customers, the added efficiency of RPA, short implementation time, and low cost creates the perfect opportunity to minimize spending and maximize savings.

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