Weighing Up The Options
Patrick Casserly, CEO, e-Services Group examines the pros and cons of outsourcing.
CXO: Why outsource?
PC: There are a few benefits that derive from the outsourcing of contact center operations, but of particular importance are benefits gained from working with an organization that provides professional contact center management rather than attempting to build that structure internally in your organization. e-Services Group has invested considerable resources in the development of contact center management tools that drive efficiency and quality. Our clients have found that, over time, our e-Services employees with our low attrition rate, of approximately eight percent annually, produce a better quality product and more efficient handle-times, resulting in a lower cost of operations. It is also noteworthy that in outsourcing your 100- seat call center operation to a 2,000-seat operation, the client receives the benefits of economies of scale. There is considerablevalue also in the shared experience of the management body.
CXO: What types of companies typically outsource their business processes?
PC: In general there is no primary size driver in making the decision to outsource. The decision is driven by the determination of the true cost of service. The cost of service is not merely wages, recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure. It extends to the first time resolution rates, quality of customer contact driving customer retention and importantly internal staff attrition rates, as this measure influences the former.
CXO: How can companies interested in outsourcing evaluate potential service providers?
PC: Unfortunately, many outsourcers have become professional RFP respondents, where the presented material bears little resemblence to reality. Our most successful outsourcing initiatives have started as pilots. The only way to ensure that the organization you have chosen from the RFP process is capable of managing your business, is to conduct a minimum 120-day pilot of services with approximately 15 to 20 employees.
CXO: What can be done to boost customers' confidence that outsourcing is a legitimate and secure option?
PC: This concern is completely natural where the organization is handing off services to the outsourcer in a non-integrated manner. Companies that have been successful at outsourcing, view their contact center partner as an annexed operation & become a partner with their existing infrastructure.
CXO: What then should an organization analyze when considering outsourcing- is it a short-term aim or should it be and integral part of a long-term stategy, for example?
PC: If the intent of the stategy is to reap short-term benefit, the outsourcing initiative should not be pursued. It is likely that the initiative to outsource will prove more costly in the short term than in keeping the service internally. The additional cost is attributable to travel, accommodation and miscellaneous expenses associated with a temporary relocation of key personnel to deliver training and support services through the transition period. Furthermore, it should be expected that initially the new employees at the outsource vendor will be less efficient than existing staff. Our clients have experienced the greatest gains commencing 12 months after the transition of service to eSGI centers. The term to cost savings is largely driven by the complexity of the service being transitioned.
