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The Price of Growth IS Outsourcing
Have you ever heard someone say the price of growth changes? There’s a lot of truth to this.
As your organization grows, it’s guaranteed to cause much change. One place where this growth-fueled change often manifests itself is in how you support your customers. The last thing you want is to see your customer count skyrocket while your customer experience and satisfaction suffer.
This is the reason for customer service outsourcing to be expected in businesses.
If you are in this predicament, you often ask a question. “Should I consider customer service outsourcing?” Your initial reaction to this question probably depends upon your experience with outsourcing. In this article, we’ll clear up some of the confusion. Let Magellan Solutions help you know the right questions to ask when considering outsourcing so you’re enabled to make the best decision possible.
To outsource, or not to outsource?
There are certain myths and notions regarding why industries should not choose the Philippines’ call center outsourcing.
1.) Holidays
The US only has 11 official holidays compared to the 18 official non-working government and religious holidays in the Philippines.
What’s in it for you?
Employers are allowed to ask their employees to come to work. Hence, we rest this at our client’s discretion. Furthermore, Philippine labor laws mandate that employees get paid more when they work during legal holidays.
2.) You Shift Time Frames
Outsourcing particular tasks to the Philippines comes with the risk that your employees may follow a specific time frame different from yours. As a result, it might be challenging to synchronize schedules to ensure your customers receive what’s promised to them on a reliable timeline.
What’s in it for you?
Most BPO companies in the country offer 24/7/365 schedules to guarantee that there will always be someone, even when your in-house team clocks out for the day.
3.) Loss of Brand Image
Outsourcing customer service to the Philippines means you’ll have fewer direct interactions with your customers. This could impact your brand image.
But contrary to this belief, third-party agencies have been praised for maintaining the brand image clean by having dedicated people solely working for them.
4.) Security Risk
Outsourcing processes to the Philippines require personal data. You would be placing your business’s privacy and security at risk. This is due to passing data on to people outside of your territory.
Because of the data sensitivity being handled, Philippines call center companies acquired International Organization for Standardization certification for Information Security Management (ISO/IEC 27001:2005).
5.) Weather/Season
The Philippines experience an average of 20 storms that can cause power interruptions and cancelation of work in flood-prone areas within a typhoon’s path.
But you can rest assured that we have backup plans from 18+ years of experience.
6.) Outdated Equipment
Among other Asian countries, the Philippines is the least developed in the technology business. You often hear news of Filipinos choosing to study abroad instead of technological studies. This is because, although some schools focus on computer literacy, they still lack the government’s support to give unlimited support for students to have more comprehensive knowledge.
Even so, our equipment is up-to-date and can easily be adjusted to whatever the needs of our clients, in or out of the Philippines.
7.) Low To Average Staff
Call centers in the Philippines usually mass hire regularly. The need to have more people on board is getting more demanding. This results in some training being cut short of hiring someone immediately.
But after years in the industry, BPO agencies have understood the importance of hiring and training with quality. We can only be qualified as the best by offering the best.
8.) Reduce Quality Control
Filipino companies may often be motivated by profit rather than a well-done job. That means the work you send out may come back quickly.
But, this is mostly a myth as Filipinos generally work to meet their expected requirements.
9.) Only For Simple Requests
Your needs may be too complex for an outsourced service. It’s possible that you could find a service to handle technical questions. But this may be more expensive than managing customer service in-house.
As stated earlier about offering quality, we achieved this with the professionals training our agents. So you can rest assured that no matter how complex, Filipino agents can solve it for you and your customers.
10.) Pro-employee Labor Code
An employer cannot fire an employee at will in the Philippines. A justifiable cause and proper documentation are required to terminate any Philippine employee.
But you do not have to worry as much about this factor as the third-party agency’s task is to ensure that such circumstances would not affect the outsourced process.
11.) 13th-month & 14th-month Pay
The Philippine labor code requires companies to pay the additional 13th-month and 14th-month pay annually.
As your partnering firm, we will handle all additional fees that have nothing to do with the process you outsource. Prices include employee benefits and taxes required by the Philippine government. You can also rest assured that the team you will have will be compensated fairly, all shouldered by us.
12.) Onboarding Is Time-Consuming
Outsourcing, especially in the Philippines, is a time-consuming process at the start. You’ll need to give the customer service team in-depth information about your company, products, and services. This ensures the company can provide your customers with the proper support. This may take valuable time away from your other business activities. It may take weeks or months for training.
But we guarantee that we already have a team ready for you. The only additional step we would take would be briefing them about your company’s specifics and expectations. Filipino agents are already pre-trained on most of the tools and services we have. As a result, you can expect a sound team in less than a month.
13.) You Can Lose Your Focus
The majority of Philippines outsourcing agencies serve multiple clients. The work you’re sending out may not receive the focus it deserves. Depending on your outsourcing processes, that lack of focus could harm your small business.
As a result, Philippine-based agencies assign dedicated teams. With this, the team would solely be for your company alone.
14.) If You Want Your Money To Vanish Into Thin Air
There is no guarantee from third-party Filipino agencies that what you pay will not go to waste. Although the BPO industry is one of the flourishing industries, there are times a company could still go bankrupt and be unable to pay its dues to you. This is mainly because of fierce competition within the industry.
But our 18 years, and counting, prove that we will keep growing. Furthermore, after finalizing a partnership, we have never violated the terms and conditions.
15.) If You Don’t Mind Delays And Misunderstandings
For example, you outsource your digital marketing. Then you decided to use software accessible from the cloud for anyone to have access. However, the instructions are only in English. This will give non-native English speakers a difficult time using the new system. They will have to be taught how the system works, which will surely slow down their output. Although Filipinos generally have a good grasp of the English language, some are still struggling once bombarded with too much information. Fundamental skills may lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
But rest assured that training would make up for this. In turn, Filipino agents prove their reliability.
16.) Things Get Lost in Translation
This is quite similar to what is stated above. Even if you have given the proper instruction for a task, there may still be understanding as not every Filipino agent is 100% fluent and versed perfectly in the language. Some are only versed and self teaches themselves once hired into the system.
But because of their essential English skill, training them is more accessible and shorter. You can expect a sound team in no time.
17.) You Lose Some Control
As you might expect, outsourcing work to external agencies in the Philippines means you’re losing a part of the control. The external team is monitoring some tasks. The only promising factor is your chosen partner is transparent with how their process works for the outsourced job.
And that is what Philippine agencies are all about—being transparent with our processes and progress.
18.) You May Face Moral Dilemmas
You may deny your team or local agency crucial work or development opportunities. By outsourcing work, you may not be contributing to the growth of your community.
But that community is the same community we belong in. The business community. So whether you choose to offshore or an in-house team, you are helping grow while growing along with the district.
19.) Hidden Cost
Although outsourcing work is generally considered cheaper in the country, there is a possibility of getting ripped off. Outsourcing companies or big agencies typically ask small business owners to sign lengthy contractual agreements. Furthermore, they’ll include plenty of fine print. If you don’t read the terms carefully, you could get hit with unexpected costs.
But this can easily be fixed with communication. And Filipinos are known to be patient and hospitable. In turn, you will get to know where every penny goes.
20.) Sharing Of Financial Burden
There is danger in tying your business to the financial well-being of another company. Again, you’ve got to spell out any terms and conditions in contractual arrangements. This is so you don’t take a financial hit if they fail to deliver.
In contrast to this belief, whatever fall the company might experience, it is assured that you will not take the fall with us. As stated earlier, we always have backup plans to secure everything you entrusted us.
21.) Long-Term Contracts
Some Philippine BPO providers may require you to sign a contract to secure their services for some time. If you’re unsure where your company will be in several months from now, this could mean you become locked into a contract you’d instead break.
This is where the importance of communication comes in. It is both your and our right to lay all cards down before finalizing any contract.
But you do not have to worry. Magellan Solutions offer flexible rates, options, and services for your company. We offer an initial contract and allow you to change what you prefer. Of course, everything would be under the impression that we would both compromise and find a middle ground.
Magellan Solutions will change your mind about outsourcing
Above anything else, we value your trust in us. This is why we find ways to counter everything stated above.
Even with the need to spend your money on the business, we make sure that outsourcing can save you as much as 70% on labor costs. Wages paid in the Philippines are less than half of those in Western countries, but the quality of work you’ll get is the same or even better.
Are they still finding more than the reasons stated above not to outsource?
Do you need a personalized contract from Magellan Solutions BPO Philippines? Or simply a quote?
Fill up the form, and we’ll get back to you with more solutions.
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