Driving customer experience with back office outsourcing

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Back office operations include a range of administrative functions that remain "unseen" by customers. Previously kept solely in-house, nowadays it is common for companies to hand entrust back office functions to outsourcing companies in low-cost countries such as the Philippines. Its benefits extend beyond the obvious cost savings: it also promotes positive customer experience.

Back office and its ties to customer experience


Many believe that customer experience is solely shaped by customer service or support provided by agents. However, the truth is that back office operations also stand as a critical factor for customer satisfaction. This is supported by numerous anecdotal evidence, one of which is the finding of a leading customer experience agency, TARP Worldwide, that shows that 60% of customer dissatisfaction can be traced to back office processes.

Moreover, some issues forwarded to agents are also caused by back office inefficiencies, such as errors in data entry or billing, workflow delays, and more. Simply put, the quality of back office operations has a ripple effect on customer experience.


Outsourcing for back office solutions


Assigning these tasks to an overseas provider offers savings in labor and operational costs and increases work efficiency. It allows the company to shift its focus on business-critical functions and, just as importantly, the lifeblood of any business organizations – the customers.

Services that can be outsourced are comprehensive. A number of BPO companies specialize in back office services, employing trained experts in different areas such as transcription and coding, billing, data entry, recruitment, even digital and web-based services, and much more. The key here is finding a capable company that can deliver quality results at a fraction of the usual costs.

Customer service does not end with the front line; similarly, not all issues can be resolved by call center representatives. Businesses must acknowledge the root cause of issues and uphold industry-standard performance on its back office functions. Outsourcing is a practical method of achieving this as it lends businesses expertise and high-quality output that can satisfy the high expectation of today's customers.

Open Access BPO is a leading outsourcing company in the Philippines that delivers a host of back office solutions. Some of these include data management, digital marketing, web services such as design, and rich media development. To know more about our company, visit our website today.


Photo credit: Glen_Wright on Flickr