How to Lead in Customer Support via White-Label Remote Outsourcing

15 Jul, 2010

By: Ted Werth

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The million-dollar question (sometimes literally) for any company that uses or provides services, is whether to grow those services in-house or contract for them from outside the organization. Dozens of factors play a role—the current economic environment, complexity of the service, competitive pressures, vendor capabilities, even dictates from the corner office.

The fact remains, however, that in the contact industry, there’s never been a better time to consider a white-label solution for your technical support services. Due to a combination of factors, customers are often better served these days, and at a lower price, through an outsourced provider.

Many issues are driving this new interest in outsourced support. At the top of the list is a complicated problem: an insistence by customers that support technicians be a “Mr. Fix-It” for all their technical problems. No one cares if a problem only indirectly involves your product or service; when something goes wrong, the customer expects you to be able to find a solution, preferably on the first call. If you can’t, you have an unhappy customer who’s likely to buy from someone else in the future.

It’s very difficult and costly to assemble an in-house staff that can meet the broad array of skills necessary to keep customers satisfied. Outsourced customer service providers, on the other hand, make it their business to be multi-disciplined. Their technicians are trained in PCs, peripherals, routers, applications, even cell phones—what’s more, technology routes the right problem to the right technician. When a customer calls in with a “Mr. Fix-It” problem, they’re able to solve it the first time out, or find someone in the service network who can.

Top outsourcers have other business and quality-of-service advantages. The profit incentive motivates outsourcers to meet SLAs at a contracted price that can provide guaranteed savings. Their extensive pool of qualified technicians means that trained personnel can be added on short notice to meet surges in call volume. And thanks to their distributed virtual workforce, outside support providers can extend service hours beyond your typical business and early-evening hours. In many cases it’s possible to contract for 24/7 support that sets you apart from your competition.

But how do you leverage an outsourcer to generate maximum profit? First off, use the broader expertise of your outsourcer to reduce product returns. Most returns are due to customers not knowing how to use your product—or how to integrate your product with other devices in the customer’s network. Qualified remote service representatives can quickly set up devices properly, configure products for specific needs, even provide training to customers. By taking advantage of your outsourcing partner’s skill sets, NPFs (No Problem Found) product returns will drop off considerably.

Secondly, you can use your full service outsourcer to increase your revenue by offering good/better/best concierge support. Ask your outsourcer to create a marketing program for tiered support; experienced service providers have an extensive background in sales program development and deployment. They can sell such programs over the phone, provide the necessary systems to complete subscription transactions, and even develop suitable sales collateral.

For your part, make sure your concierge support program is promoted properly. Place sales flyers in your product packaging, and be sure to banner your tiered support program on your online shopping cart.

Finally, your white-label remote support partner can help you increase sales of other products or services you offer, through effective cross-selling. There’s a critical difference between providing technical support and selling product—unfortunately, many call centers don’t adequately train their people to cross-sell properly. A well-trained service provider will not only enhance your sales staff, but also help you identify sales opportunities for based on call analysis.

As a true partner, an outsourced remote tech support organization can save you money, provide higher levels of service, solve more technical problems, reduce returns, and even increase profits. In fact, it can help you reach your goal of providing category-best customer service. In today’s commercial environment, where customer service expectations are high and competition is intense, the right technical support can make all the difference.