Several organizations, including yours, might look forward to BPO services as there are so many benefits of outsourcing – from operational effectiveness to cost-cutting. But do you know there are also risks involved in business process outsourcing?
There are several problems that may arise. For example – the cost-efficiency might not be what your organization calculated. The third-party might not be able to grasp the need of your customers. It could also be when the outsourcing provider lacks the skill set and knowledge to handle projects for your company. It can impact service delivery. If everything else seems up to the mark, sometimes an outsourcing partner breaching compliance can be detrimental for your business, especially for financial services outsourcing. As a financial services call center deals with sensitive information, it is essential to abide by all the compliances like PCI DSS and put safety measures in place to ensure the company and customers’ data are safe.
How to manage risks associated with outsourcing?
Here are the key steps to manage the risks of business process outsourcing.
Discussing critical issues
Begin with discussing the first stage. Start by bringing all relevant problems you might face while hiring an outsourcing firm. Frame the service level agreements so that both parties can agree to and structure the modalities that yield project success to both the company and third-party provider.
Responsibility sharing
The load of managing the risks and the accountability for correct execution of the process should be shared by the concerned teams, both from the client’s side and the call center. It will make sure that neither side is in a spot to mishandle responsibility.
Ensuring business objectives are met
The SLA should be such that it helps meet business objectives. Ensure that it does not just become a channel for you to obtain inexpensive labor. The telecommunication call center should know your business objectives clearly, so that it can also take steps to contribute towards achieving those targets.
Hiring services on the trail-period basis
There should be a trial phase where the outsourcing firm could be put to test to check if they can handle the work. Especially for an education call center, it is important for institutes to evaluate the services delivered during the trial period. Once you are satisfied with the service, you could set the agreement, and the service provider can start treating you as their client.
Ensuring confidentiality is maintained throughout
For a business that deals with sensitive customer information, confidentiality is everything! Thus, signing a non-disclosure agreement at the time of hiring is also required to avoid risks later. It will make sure that your company’s information is kept confidential. You could also conduct onsite visits to make sure that the data security and protection measures are in place.
The outsourcing team should have a skilled workforce
Most of the time, the reason to choose BPO services is to get access to a skilled workforce instantly. They have resources, infrastructure, tools and processes in place to take care of every business requirement. Your internal team might not be so versatile in handling multiple telecommunication and digital customer service processes, all under one roof. Hence, it is crucial to check if the outsourcing team is skilled enough to handle your business needs.
Final Words
In the end, if you and your outsourcing partner chalk out everything in advance, and work out the smallest of details, build robust backup plans, then you can eliminate the risks of business process outsourcing. The COVID era has increased the demand for BPO services. Thus, outsourcing models and KPIs that can measure the performance of a virtual workforce will be of greater significance.
