Every business requires the help of qualified professionals to perform common services and tasks and guarantee the best experience for every customer. Having a reliable pool of qualified people is the most important way to grow your business, and to maintain a strong relationship with your customers. While we are all used to seeing workers in their respective offices and stations, more and more companies are looking to hire employees from outside the country.
Outsourcing brings a lot of employment impacts both in local and international labor markets. To save on labor and production costs and achieve scalability, the United States tops the list of countries that outsource the most business operations.
If you are interested in knowing which type of services, business operations, and jobs can be outsourced, this article can help you. Continue reading to learn more.
What is outsourcing?
Outsourcing is a common practice among foreign companies and business owners who want to extend the scope of their services and operations, but do not want to spend a lot of money on it. This is considered a highly practical business decision that benefits not just the owners, but also the in-house teams. To set up a remote department, business owners tap the help of a third-party service provider, usually a BPO firm.
Outsourced teams consist of remote workers who are hired by your external provider to perform business functions to support your in-house employees. Remote workers usually work on administrative tasks and clerical functions like data entry and appointment setting, but they can also provide high-value services to organizations that can guarantee business growth and success.
When should a company outsource?
Timing is important in any business decision, and it is always advised for companies to weigh the benefits of outsourcing as well as its risks, to make sure that the daily operations will flow as smoothly as possible, and no resources will be wasted.
If you haven’t made a decision about outsourcing yet, see these tell signs that could make you choose a good outsourcing company to help you with your business tasks:
1. Your in-house staff can no longer keep up with the high demand.
This is a common problem that multinational companies encounter. During peak seasons, supply chain activities are in full operation due to the high demand for products. High demand requires faster supply chain processes which can be made possible by hiring additional manpower and equipment.
2. Too many business tasks, too few employees.
When an employee is doing more than one job at a time, it’s a clear sign that you need more people to help you with your in-house team. Outsourcing can save you the time and money needed in hiring and training new staff, a smart move indeed.
3. Errors result in losses.
While errors are a part of every employee’s learning curve, the wrong distribution of tasks can cause a loss to the company, both financial and structural, if an employee makes a mistake.
4. Budgeting is getting more difficult.
When your company is registered and located in Western countries where the cost of living is high, budgeting can be challenging. Entrusting human resource tasks to a reputable service provider can help you save more and focus on business growth.
5. Limited access to skills.
Not just skills, but specialized skills. As your company grows, the need for skilled staff also increases. Finding experienced professionals to work on routine tasks that require knowledge of industry trends and accuracy also means looking for people with a strong background in business and education.
6. You are aiming for expansion.
Round-the-clock services are becoming more and more popular nowadays. Thanks to the emergence of outsourcing companies. If you are aiming to reach your existing and prospective clients 24/7, outsourcing is an ideal move for your business.
What are the most commonly outsourced services and jobs that outsourcing firms and labor markets carry?
1. Customer Service / Customer Support
Every business owner’s dream is to provide outstanding support to their customers and most BPO companies focus on hiring the best customer service agents and representatives to help your customers from start to finish.
Customer service representatives should possess good communication and negotiation skills to continuously build rapport with their existing and potential customer base. They should also be knowledgeable in different strategies for handling and responding to inquiries, requests, and complaints while maintaining a professional and friendly attitude.
Read more: 10 Golden Rules of Customer Service to Keep Customers Delighted.
2. Human Resources
When a company grows and expands, more people are added to the workforce, and overseeing their activities can be more challenging. Hiring a remote human resources specialist can help your in-house team manage and control the recruitment and screening of new employees, as well as the decision to fire them. If keeping your clients is your ultimate goal, then you should also prioritize keeping your employees happy and satisfied at their workplace. A reliable HR service provider can help you achieve this.
3. Payroll Services
You no longer have to worry about salary discrepancies and the long and tedious hours that your in-house team spends every cutoff. By outsourcing your payroll services, the right technology and an experienced payroll officer will handle the task and create fast yet accurate payroll computations.
4. IT Support
Apart from tech companies, many industries are based on technology, and if you are a business owner, you should know that your business can benefit from the latest technology. For some people, installing software and setting up equipment may be difficult, but with the best IT professionals, those functions are considered simple.
5. Bookkeeping and Accounting
Financial stability is an important goal that businesses aim for. Why not? Keeping track of your company’s financial activities is a sure way to monitor your company’s growth and, at the same time, avoid bad financial decisions.
Your outsourcing partner will select competent accountants and bookkeepers to maintain financial records. These records will assist you in developing your business plans.
6. Tax Preparations
Organizations hire tax preparers to help them calculate and prepare the amount of taxes that their business needs to pay during tax season. They possess solid experience in tax and auditing, and most importantly, a vast knowledge of the tax regulations and policies of your city or state.
7. Virtual Assistance
Managing emails and appointments during peak seasons can be exhausting, but with the help of a personal assistant, you can focus on doing revenue-generating activities without worrying about routine tasks, such as phone calls, or post-meeting reports.
Outsourcing your personal assistant can help you and your team save time and money. Instead of purchasing new equipment and software for administrative tasks, your outsourcing partner will be responsible for hiring and training your virtual assistant.
In addition, they will cover all the costs to buy and use the latest equipment and technology to provide more personalized services to your customers. The international outsourcing market is going big in hiring virtual assistants for various accounts and the Philippines is one of the top sources of VAs in the world.
8. Computer Programming
If your business is not IT-centered, there is a good chance that your internal team lacks employees who are experts in computer programming. Computer programming involves technical tasks like generating codes, program tests, maintenance, and troubleshooting errors.
List down a set of qualifications that you need in a computer programmer and your outsourcing provider will give you access to the best computer programmers in the industry at a very low cost.
9. Data Entry
Records management and documentation are two of the most crucial tasks in every business. But for large companies that serve a large customer base, it is important to encode and process business and customer information with care to avoid data errors.
Data entry clerks are in charge of encoding business and customer information into the company database. They are also responsible for cross-checking and verifying all data to prevent discrepancies that could delay transactions and result in customer complaints.
10. Web Design and Development
To effectively reach your customers and present your products and services in a creative and professional manner, a company website is important.
Setting up a website on your own can be difficult, but with the help of an outsourced web designer and developer, it is possible to create a website that is easy to use and accessible 24/7. Having a website with active live chat support can also allow your business to provide round-the-clock assistance to your existing and potential customers.
11. Social Media Management
Apart from a well-designed website, a social media page can also help you boost customer engagement and increase people’s interest in your products and services. Social media managers spend their time handling social media pages and monitoring customer activities and social media trends, so they can use them as references for future media and content for posting.
12. Content Writing
Whether you choose to market your business through social media or your website, creating engaging content is a sure way to increase your brand awareness. Creating content that not only fits with the current trends but also with people’s experiences is one of the best ways to promote your business. Marketing agencies recommend this to startup businesses and even to established ones.
When outsourcing a content writer, make sure to include SEO knowledge as a requirement. A writer who is knowledgeable in SEO strategies can help your business rank on top of search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
13. Digital Marketing
Designing effective digital marketing campaigns will be easier with the help of professional digital marketing experts. The outsourcing market is full of marketing professionals with experience in using different strategies and techniques to promote your business and gain an advantage over your competitors.
They will help you design the best marketing plan and use the most appropriate technologies to reach more customers, maintain impressive branding, and decrease delays in responses.
14. Proofreading
Error-free documents, marketing materials, and content are marks of a reputable business. To make sure that your internal team will be distributing quality content and documents, it is a smart move to outsource experienced proofreaders who worked in media and publishing companies.
15. Medical Transcribing
Outsourcing healthcare services is becoming more and more popular nowadays. If you own and manage a healthcare organization, outsourcing a medical transcriptionist can help you save on equipment and labor costs. When the needs are high, you can even outsource contract workers to operate devices that will turn medical professionals’ voice recordings into formal reports. The work of a medical transcriptionist requires strong attention to detail, so make sure to set your standards and coordinate well with your outsourcing provider.
16. Legal Services
When you own a business, legal documents and processes must be followed to prevent law-related problems in the future. Depending on the nature of your business, your service provider can hire legal professionals in various fields apart from corporate. You can have your own paralegal who is an expert in corporate law, banking and finance, civil rights, employment, entertainment, health, intellectual property, etc.
See the different fields of law and their scope here.
17. CAD and Graphic Design Services
These services are especially needed by construction companies and media agencies. Outsourcing your CAD and graphic designer can help you save on software and equipment costs. These things usually cost a lot of money and need to be updated often.
18. Lead Generation
Even with the best marketing strategies, it can be difficult to generate leads in a competitive industry, and some businesses still struggle to find qualified leads to drive sales and revenue. Fortunately, more BPO companies are offering lead generation services to help businesses reach a wider market and improve their financial state.
Some lead generation strategies now use technology and artificial intelligence to spread marketing and advertising materials to help more businesses grow and succeed.
19. Events Management
Organizing events requires a lot of hard work and time. Finding the best event suppliers that will match the needs and budget of your clients can be exhausting, especially during the holiday season when parties and reunions fill venues and appointments of families and working individuals.
To prevent event mishaps caused by overpriced event supplies or mishandling of events, you may consider outsourcing a professional event management specialist to help you during busy months.
20. Security Services
Having an internal team of security professionals can help you secure your company’s external structure. But when security threats like data breaches and phishing start to threaten your business and your customer base, it’s time to hire security experts to help you protect your business. These experts have experience in DDoS, business email compromise, and more.
What are the benefits of outsourcing these business functions?
Most of the time, companies outsource a business process when their in-house employees can no longer keep up with the demand of their customers. Peak seasons like holidays can result in service delays, and delays are never beneficial to any type of business. Apart from its positive impact on economic growth, there are some major benefits of outsourcing that motivate company owners to outsource business operations:
Outsourcing helps save costs.
Many companies outsource to save money through reduced labor costs, budget allocation for recruitment, operational costs, and other overhead costs. A survey conducted in the U.S. found that outsourcing external services assigned to one or more tasks can help your business save up to 70% in labor costs.
Moreover, outsourcing services from overseas companies is considered cheaper due to lower costs of living, taxes, and wages. Many businesses choose to offshore some of their functions and tasks so that they can focus on their core business activities and reduce costs.
Outsourcing increases efficiency.
Outsourcing allows your core team to focus on the major job functions that carry your business. You will no longer have to worry about choosing the best talent pool to make sure that goals are met. Once you set a target along with a specific time frame, external agencies will be responsible for the selection process. To ensure quality results, you need to check it on a regular basis.
Outsourcing gives you affordable access to technology.
Work is almost always finished on time since your external service provider has updated and close access to technology. BPO companies invest in project management and accounting tools and software to provide you with the best services that will benefit your business.
Outsourcing gives you access to global talent and expertise.
Outsourcing certain business functions and tasks may require specific levels of expertise and competence and this is what outsourcing agencies do best. BPO companies are known for conducting intensive training programs for new employees who wish to work in customer service, technical support, sales, and marketing.
Outsourcing companies train agents in customer service best practices, language, and call center etiquette to make sure the right people are doing the right things. By outsourcing your business operations, you can gain access to staff with different skill sets and specialized skills needed to perform technical tasks.
Outsourcing helps you scale your business.
Got business growth plans? Then you can make the most out of one of the main advantages of outsourcing, which is scalability. This means that businesses can scale up or down their use of outsourced services as needed, without having to make a long-term commitment.
Set limits on the number of full-time employees that you want to keep in your internal team and find reputable freelancers to do seasonal jobs. This flexibility can be a major cost-saving measure, as businesses only pay for what they use when they use it.
Start Outsourcing Your Business Functions with Digital Minds BPO.
Save costs and work with skilled and experienced professionals in different fields. Outsource your business operations with Digital Minds BPO. Our affordable services cater to both growing and established industries and organizations. We provide help at all times to ensure customer satisfaction and deliver the best quality service and experiences.
As a BPO company in the Philippines, our specialized teams offer reliable customer support, sales, and marketing services. Our agents prioritize the golden rules of customer service while also fostering a positive work culture. Contact us now and get ready to build your dreams with us!
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