Customer Service Trends to Watch Out For in 2022

The black swan event of the 21st century has without a doubt been COVID-19, a pandemic that has reshaped the way society organizes itself. With widespread lockdowns and quarantines in place, consumers and corporations alike have had to reorient themselves to a new way of living that means more and more of our previously in-person interactions now take place online.

Almost every industry has been affected by the pandemic, especially direct-to-consumer brands and businesses that need to service large customer bases. Now that the new-normal is remote and digital, companies are integrating outsourced customer service offerings to reach, service and cross-sell consumers.

Customer Service Representative

 

The Post-Pandemic Picture

The rapid integration of internet services across the planet and consumers’ pandemic-induced push into them has meant that business has gotten even more competitive over the past few years. Consumers now have a wide variety of brands, products and services accessible with just the tap of a smartphone screen, equalizing the playing field and allowing for the penetration of upstart firms alongside with the entrenchment of bigger players as well.

This is why it’s more vital than ever before for companies to create strong customer support teams to boost customer retention and create strong value propositions to attract new clientele.

The data back this up: surveys indicate that half of customers expect special treatment and status from the brands they do regular business with and utilize customer service as their top proxy for whether or not to trust a brand and do repeat business with it. Some studies indicate that a full one in four consumers expect proactive service from brands with which they interact.

In order to keep up in today’s extremely interconnected world businesses have to up their customer service offerings and provide top-notch communication, follow-up and detailed offerings to consumers. Read on to learn about the biggest trends to watch out for in customer service this year and how outsourced customer service offerings can help your firm achieve these goals.

 

Omnichannel Messaging Apps

With more people staying indoors and avoiding crowded stores, malls and indoor spaces due to lockdowns and quarantine restrictions, customers are going fully digital. Over half of online shoppers have indicated that they bought from an online retailer they’d never heard of before the pandemic, and a full 80% expect to stay with them.

Brands have turned to Messenger, WhatsApp and other popular messaging apps to handle the deluge of new customer service questions and requests accordingly. These messaging apps are widespread and easy to use, making interacting with your customers easier than ever before.

 

Millennials and younger users in particular have flocked to these apps, leading to over half of companies deciding to roll out new messaging channels to support customer service offerings. 

With live chat dominating as young consumers’ preferred method of communication, outsourced live chat offerings are becoming extremely attractive to firms looking to seamlessly deploy remote customer service representatives at scale and economical rates.

 

Chatbots and Automation

Oftentimes a consumer’s question has been asked before, and businesses are utilizing automation to generate automatic answers to the most common questions. This allows businesses to handle high-volumes of customer questions and provide accurate information to consumers.

This helps protect the company’s image and promotes customer loyalty by helping consumers troubleshoot quickly. Automation allows your team to handle all your customers’ questions while reducing wait times and the burden on the customer service team.

FAQs and automated responses have helped 71% of companies manage their influx of customer service requests over the course of the pandemic. With advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning enabling computers to answer more and more questions with each passing year, automation needs to be part of your business’ customer service strategy to help drive brand loyalty and improve your online image.

 

Remote Support Technology

With the full consequences of the pandemic still being played out, the prospects of returning to in-office work seem as hazy as ever. Now that workers have been pushed to working remotely for almost two full years, many firms and employees have grown accustomed to remote work setups. 

Businesses working with BPO providers have utilized remote staff to help in-house employees handle large volumes of customer service requests for decades already. As more businesses go virtual with their customer service, it’s become easier than ever to work with an outsourcing vendor to implement offshore customer service teams that can handle almost all a business’ customer relations needs.

This allows a business to protect its employees’ health and save time, money and resources, allocating its energies to core competencies and diversifying its revenue streams. 

To take full advantage of the remote support trend, however, businesses need to invest in remote support technologies that empower them to monitor, interact with and keep track of customer support representatives. These technologies allow employers to collect data on customer service representative performance on key metrics such as ticket resolution, wait times and customer satisfaction. 

These technologies are paving the way for managers to stay on top of customer service and drive their business forward with ever-improving product offerings.

Customer Service Representative

 

The New Normal: Adaptation

With the lockstep march towards digital integration across all aspects of the consumer journey, businesses must now adapt towards offering perennially-available customer service. In order to stay on top of the competition and attract new customers, businesses must get used to constantly adapting to the new business environment and the challenges of new technologies disrupting the field. 

Implementing dedicated customer service teams can be distracting and difficult for many businesses whose core expertise lies in other areas. This is why many businesses are turning to outsourcing providers such as Sara Call Center to help keep up with their customer service needs. 

 

Discover Outsourced Customer Service Today!

By outsourcing your customer service needs to Sara Call Center your firm can enjoy savings of up to 70% with our cost-effective labor practices. We take care of screening, hiring and training for you to help your firm retain customers, boost its bottom line and keep growing at steady rates.

Get in touch today to learn how Sara Call can provide your firm with outsourced customer service offerings.

 

How to Grow Your Ecommerce Company By Outsourcing Customer Service

Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic the global ecommerce sector has experienced mind-blowing growth. By some estimates the pandemic sparked a 78% increase in global online sales as physical stores had to shut down amid state-mandated lockdowns and customers opting to stay home and shop online. Ecommerce has now reached an all-time high, and the growth which the sector has seen isn’t expected to slow down any time.

Because of its hyper-competitiveness and the ever-evolutionary nature of technology, ecommerce is an increasingly challenging market to operate. An explosion of online sellers and established brands entering the saturated field has meant that price pressures are higher than ever and that there is minimal room for mistakes. A constant need to improve existing operations permeates the field.

This is where outsourcing providers in Albania, India and the Philippines have stepped in to help ecommerce companies grow. Through outsourced ecommerce customer service and live chat services, BPO providers the world over are helping sustain the explosive growth of ecommerce companies worldwide in an effective and economical fashion.

Ecommerce

 

Why Outsource Ecommerce Functions? 

The extremely competitive and global nature of running an ecommerce business means your business needs to be available at all times to its customers in order to maintain its edge. Outsourced staff can operate at lower operating costs while offering similar services for your company at a fraction of the cost. BPO providers can help you save up to 70% on customer service, live chat and social media maintenance while still providing stellar services to customers and improving your brand’s reputation.

Here we’ll list out a few key ways outsourcing providers are helping ecommerce companies with customer care and customer service.

 

Contact Center Services

As much as consumers are shifting towards doing everything online, every major ecommerce company needs to maintain customer service through traditional phone support. Some companies are also finding it useful to deploy call centers to help augment existing digital marketing initiatives. A dedicated call center to manage inbound and outbound calls can help ecommerce firms stay focused on their core competencies while providing customer support and marketing at scale.

 

Live Chat & Customer Support

Consumers are accustomed to receiving service and responses quicker than ever in the digital age. They want to know the answers to their questions yesterday and expect that top brands will provide them with on-demand responses to their questions and inquiries. From order tracking to FAQs to troubleshooting ad-hoc issues, customers have come to expect live chat services from ecommerce companies.

Outsourcing ecommerce live chat with a BPO provider can help your firm provide customers with the attention and care they need. Working with an outsourcing provider in Albania such as Sara Call Center provides your firm with access to a talented pool of staff who can answer customer inquiries 24/7 in multiple languages, helping your firm enjoy a professional image and customer loyalty. 

Ecommerce Fulfillment

 

Social Media

Users are used to interacting with brands on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These intermediaries are now the bread and butter of every major ecommerce firm’s marketing strategy, with almost every online retailer utilizing social media to try to attract customers and address their concerns. 

Managing the deluge of customer service requests and brand maintenance issues on social media pages can be challenging, which is why many firms are turning to BPO vendors for social media maintenance. Using outsourced customer service representatives to redirect customers who might otherwise tarnish your company’s image on its social handles can be a cost-effective and efficient way to maintain your organization’s reputation online and to help keep customers engaged with your brand.

 

Email Inquiries, Complaints and More

Email is still king when it comes to resolving more complicated technical issues, customer complaints and handling order tracking. Despite the world’s lockstep march towards real-time assistance and minimal wait times for customer support, customer email support has retained its unique edge over other non-voice process channels. E-mail is also the preferred medium of B2B communication as it provides a convenient channel facilitating exact, accurate communication as opposed to live chat.

Employing an outsourced team to manage high email volumes empowers your firm to meet your customer needs at affordable rates. Utilizing a partner domiciled in a country where access to a large pool of college-educated, English-speaking professionals can help your ecommerce firm keep up with customer demands and address customer needs as they arise.

 

The Benefits of Outsourcing Ecommerce Functions

The costs associated with hiring, screening and training in-house staff to manage all aspects of an ecommerce business can accumulate very quickly. Especially as many ecommerce sites start out slim and agile, focusing on improving product and service quality over offering customer support functions, it’s important for companies to find the right partners to manage non-core business functions.

Ecommerce Payment

Most ecommerce firms get in the game to change how products and services are generated and delivered rather than to deal with tertiary obligations such as customer service and live chat. Outsourcing these time-consuming and labor-intensive aspects of running an e-commerce business can help your company keep its focus on what it does best and find new revenue streams for its core business. Such a setup can be especially beneficial for small companies and entrepreneurs who are employing a core number of in-house engineers and product specialists that lack the upfront ability to invest in customer service representative teams. 

 

Find out more – Sara Call Center is here to help!

Sara Call Center has been helping firms the world over since our founding in 2012 to set up outsourcing teams and access high-talent staff in Albania. Our remote customer service representatives are highly-skilled and can help take your ecommerce business to the next level – get in touch, today!

The Benefits of Live Chat Support

Consumers today expect that the brands and companies with which they interact provide prompt and helpful customer service. Online live chat support is one of the quickest and easiest ways for businesses to help customers through their questions and concerns and build brand loyalty. 

When a company utilizes live chat it empowers customers to ask questions about services the business offers, a product they have purchased, work towards resolving issues or provide the firm with feedback.

Live Chat

What is Live Chat?

Live chat support is a form of customer service in which a customer service representative provides troubleshooting, order tracking or general information services to a customer or prospective client. Live chat support is usually carried out through online chat boxes, instant messaging or text messaging. 

Live chat support offers many benefits to businesses and consumers alike – people who have purchased your products or services can receive speedy customer service and issue resolution. Businesses can utilize the customer service interaction as an opportunity to improve brand strength and customer satisfaction, generating strong customer relationships.

Real-time communication between a customer and customer support agent usually looks like customers sending inquiries through a pop-up chat box built into the company’s website or social media page and receiving expedited, personalized issue resolution and experiences.

With the interconnectivity of the global economy meaning that your next customer could come from anywhere, customer service representatives need to be available at the drop of a hat to respond intelligently and quickly to your next customer inquiry. Making such service available 24/7 greatly increases the chances of a user converting into a paying customer.

Because the cost of hiring local operators in your business locale might be expensive, many businesses around the world are looking to call centers and BPO vendors in the Philippines, India and Albania to outsource customer care services at affordable rates.

Typical Chat Support Structures

Live chat boxes will usually live on the bottom right corner of your company’s website or can be accessed through the website’s contact us page with a button directing users to a customer service representative. 

Many companies find it beneficial to add an automated FAQ section to the chat window pop-up. This can help reduce the customer support workload on agents as many questions can be easily managed with a list of the most commonly inquired about topics and issues.

If the website visitor’s question cannot be answered by the FAQ they are then prompted to type a personalized question into the chat box and are then connected to a customer service representative.

A plethora of software tools exist for deploying live chat channels to support customers as they navigate your website or look for help with existing orders and services. Some popular website builders and social media platforms provide built-in live chat options that can be set up and customized easily. Custom solutions for more advanced troubleshooting and support are also available for companies that want to provide in-depth support via live chat.

What are the Benefits of Online Live Chat?

Outsourcing live chat to a trusted BPO provider with experience in customer care can help your business benefit from gathering data on product and service design, improved customer experience, increased sales and cart abandonment prevention. 

Valuable Services & Products Feedback

Providing live chat services allows prospects to ask detailed questions about products and services before making a purchase decision or leaving your site without making any move to buy. This provides your firm with valuable feedback about website design, product feature desirability and what clients are looking for.

Live Chat Through Phone

Different software vendors provide the ability to then analyze live chat outputs in an organized fashion so your business can utilize keywords and conversation patterns to identify what’s important to clients. This data can inform marketing, design and product decisions.

What are customers actually looking for when they shop for this product or service? Do they require more documentation than is being provided? All these questions and more can be answered by providing live chat services and analyzing the data they produce.

Improved Customer Experience

Quick, personalized responses are the main reason why most customers prefer live chat. A user can reach out to your business the same moment they experience an issue or have a question, receiving professional help with issues they can’t resolve by themselves.

Because results are instantaneous, asynchronous-provided and easy to achieve, most customers rate live chat services higher than email or phone for customer support. This generates customer satisfaction with your brand and helps create repeat business from loyal customers, along with favorable reviews and word-of-mouth marketing.

Increased Sales

A happy customer is a returning customer – when clients feel that their needs are met with excellent live chat services, they are more likely to return to the business and make repeat purchases or to sign up for subscription services, building out recurring revenue sources.

Websites are today’s digital storefronts. When customers access your website and can easily receive support from service personnel, they are more likely to come back and shop at your business again.

Providing a live chat agent to answer questions and concerns helps pique customers’ interests as they learn more about your firm’s products and services and realize the value offered by your company.

Cart Abandonment Prevention

One of the biggest obstacles facing ecommerce companies in particular is cart abandonment. Many customers start off excited, adding items and services to their cart, only to lose steam and log off before checkout.

Customer Service Representative

Providing live chat services ensures that customers can have their questions and concerns addressed immediately. This helps them feel more confident with their purchase as they acquire the necessary information for going through with the purchase and knowing that the company is present at all times to help them with their questions and concerns in the future. 

Providing live chat provides customers with a feeling of security that the company cares for them, wants to provide the best information it can and that there will always be a service representative available to help with future issues and concerns.

Learn More About Live Chat Services, Today!

By outsourcing live chat with an established BPO vendor such as Sara Call Center your firm can enjoy savings of up to 70% with our cost-effective labor practices. We take care of screening, hiring and training for you with our highly-trained, English-speaking staff.

Get in touch today to learn how to boost customer retention, lower cart abandonment and increase sales with remote live chat!

 

How eCommerce Companies Are Outsourcing Today

In today’s competitive business environment digitally-integrated companies find themselves offering consumers all types of services. Ecommerce businesses are no different – online brands need to integrate customer service, tech support, order tracking and more when they develop strategies to scale their business.

When ecommerce businesses grow they may find themselves struggling to manage all these tasks in-house. Prohibitively-high labor costs in the host locale and the time-intensive aspects of training employees often leave ecommerce support departments strained and understaffed. Subsequently many ecommerce companies are turning to BPO providers to meet labor demands and grow their business sustainably and reliably.

Ecommerce Payment

Many of the roles ecommerce firms manage in-house can be smoothly transitioned to an outsourced team. Customer service, live chat, inbound and outbound calls, social media maintenance, responding to email inquiries, market research and data entry are all tasks that an offshore team can handle for you. 

Outsourcing provides ecommerce businesses with highly-trained staff that don’t require time-consuming management and training. These employees can oftentimes be onboarded over the course of a week. 

The benefits of ecommerce outsourcing are numerous; below, we’ll list out some of the ways ecommerce businesses are already benefiting from partnering with BPO companies for customer service, data entry, market research and more.

What are the Benefits of Ecommerce Outsourcing?

Staff Retention

One of the most important factors ecommerce businesses should take into account when partnering with a BPO is retention. High churn is a headache for business owners and means more time spent on hiring and training new staff. By partnering with an outsourcing company with a record of high retention rates your firm can benefit from continuous investment in the staff that will be handling short and long-term BPO services. This helps your business scale and to focus on the core business instead of screening and hiring new staff.

Increased Sales

Every company needs to prop up its bottom line, and ecommerce firms are no exception. But many firms find that deploying a dedicated local sales team can be expensive and time-consuming. Utilizing a BPO center’s dedicated sales teams can help your business scale faster and quicker with data-driven sales techniques and expertise.

The knowledge and headcount of a BPO partner gives your business the tools it needs to thrive in today’s competitive market. Outsourcing these vital business functions to a call center or outsourcing company allows your firm to maintain steady growth at affordable costs, without the headache associated with increasing headcount.

Omnichannel, Omnilingual 24/7 Customer Care

In today’s interconnected economy, your next customer could come from anywhere on the planet. Finding local staff to respond to customer inquiries anytime, anywhere and in any language can be tough in your ecommerce firm’s locale. 

If your platform is online 24/7, chances are that your customers will expect minimal wait times and to troubleshoot issues on the spot. This is why many companies today turn to BPO providers who staff employees that speak many different languages and are located in different time zones. Outsourced staff can be on hand to address customer concerns on social media pages, e-mail, live chat and more in a variety of languages, all at economical rates. 

Increased Competitiveness

The many aspects of running an ecommerce business cannot be handled by one person or one firm alone. From setting up servers and websites to writing content to payment processing, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes of an ecommerce firm’s shiny, sleek, customer-facing website. 

Partnering with a BPO vendor in the Philippines, India or Albania can save your business up to 70% on labor costs and give you access to a network of professionals that takes the burden of customer service, data entry and more off your shoulders, providing your firm with the competitive edge it needs to thrive. Stay focused on your core competencies and allow an outsourcing partner to do the heavy lifting for you.

Improved Flexibility

While certain in-house functions need to be maintained year-round, a lot of your business needs fluctuate with time around peak demand seasons or short-term projects. One advantage of outsourcing your projects and workload to a BPO company is that it allows your firm to maintain its agility and move faster without having to worry about hiring and retaining local staff. 

Shorten the amount of time it takes employees to onboard and stay focused on the core areas of your business so that you can keep growing. Scale up efficiently with an outsourcing strategy that allows your company to attend to its growth plan while keeping customers happy and satisfied with outsourced customer service, market research and other offerings from a BPO provider.

Benefit from Outsourced Expertise

Searching for, screening and hiring new staff is time-consuming and labor-intensive. If you’re in the ecommerce sector, your company was probably started to revolutionize the way people purchase what they need, not to juggle administrative work that can be easily managed by a remote team.

By partnering with a trusted BPO firm your company can benefit from a pool of highly-qualified individuals specially trained in your service area of interest. Sales representatives, customer care agents and market research experts are available to help your firm move forward and focus on what it does best. An outsourced team makes it easier to find employees boasting specialized skills that fit your current needs and help your firm provide the best service it can to your customers.

Discover BPO services to help your firm, today!

By outsourcing to Sara Call Center your firm can enjoy savings of up to 70% with our cost-effective labor practices. We take care of time-consuming, labor-intensive and repetitive work for your ecommerce firm to help it retain customers, boost the bottom line and keep growing at steady rates.

Get in touch today to learn how Sara Call can help your ecommerce firm with outsourced customer service, data entry and more.