For a long, the BPO industry has been the talk of the town. Even though the industry was existent for a very long time, it is only in the last half a decade or so that we have seen it flourish to a whole new level. Every aspect and service portfolio that spawned out of the BPO sector has imbibed technology to become the best version, even during the Coronavirus pandemic adversities.
Out of the many services, tech support outsourcing has always been the foremost, especially in the IT industry. There are various reasons why businesses still prefer outsourcing their tech support process, and we are here to talk about that in detail.
However, before we do that, let’s just build up to another widely debatable topic. Tech support and customer support are extremely different from each other, even though they are often used synonymously. This article will clear those doubts, but not before we mention the various reasons that make tech support and customer support so essential for your business.
- Changing Customer Expectations
Customer expectations have been very dynamic, much like the industry itself. With the world fast-forwarding towards the digital age, the expectations are ever-increasing, and that’s very much in tandem with the changing pandemic situations and technological advancements.
Now, the shift of technology did bring a surge in demand for modern equipment, tools, and other such amenities that are meant to make lives easier. However, consumers still need a lot of time to get used to the operation. And this is exactly where the changing expectations from tech support come into the picture.
With more and more IT companies pushing through technologically advanced products, tools, and software, the need for a team of expert troubleshooters with appropriate industry and product knowledge has become the need of the hour.
- The Price Factor
The price factor could be a decisive factor behind businesses the trend of the outsourcing call center to BPO company. Now, the Coronavirus pandemic, which is existent for over a year now, did manage to dent the financial stability of almost all the businesses and industries around.
Coming to the rescue were the tech support outsourcing companies, which managed to keep the price factor in check while ensuring that customer satisfaction has never been compromised. This was possible since these BPO companies did work very hard in making their services in line with the industry requirements and also ensuring that the agents are experts at handling your customers’ needs.
- The Ease of Setup
With an in-house tech support setup, there is a lot of effort that goes behind, apart from just the financial part. Now, hiring, training, and managing the entire setup can take up a lot of your resources. However, on the other hand, when you consider outsourcing a call center to a BPO company, you can save all the resources and efforts and use them in bettering your product offering.
And at the same time, the outsourced company handles your tech support process with expertise and at a lower cost too.
- 24×7 Availability
This is of prime importance for IT companies that operate on a global level. Now, setting up an in-house team can be a little difficult, especially if you need a 24×7 process. On the contrary, outsourcing call centers to the United States for on-shoring and near-shoring or India and the Philippines for off-shoring can help you set up 24×7 process.
This can be of great help for both B2B and B2C-focused IT businesses. Moreover, it can even assist you in scaling up your IT business to the very next level.
Major Differences between Tech Support and Customer Support
As mentioned earlier, we will now discuss a little more about the differences between tech and customer support. Though not much, we will stick to the most important ones only.
- Based on Skill Required
The skills required for both tech and customer support are very different from each other. Starting with tech support, the agents need to have uncompromised and expert product knowledge. The technical stability of every agent should be at its best. Plus, they also go through a long training specifically on the product so that they can grasp every aspect before trying to troubleshoot the problems for the customers.
On the other hand, customer support has little to do with technical knowledge. Instead, it works on the more emotional side, where being empathetic to the customers is of prime importance. The support agents are very good at listening to the issues that the customers are facing. They also have a very friendly and polite approach towards every customer.
- Service Availability
Service availability is the least talked-about difference between tech and customer support. This is because it is very difficult to provide a concrete distinction between the two in this parameter.
To put it in simple words, customer service is a more freely available feature that businesses offer. Customers don’t necessarily require a concrete issue or reason to call. They might even call for a small doubt, and the calls are generally very short and to the point unless the customer wishes to continue with other doubts.
On the other hand, with tech support, there is always a concrete reason for the call. Moreover, the caller is always an existing customer who has a genuine problem with the product. Most tech support calls are based on appointments and callbacks.
Service Goals
Another major difference between tech support and customer support is the goal that each of the two is looking to achieve. The primary objective of a customer support process is to ensure that customer is happy. Plus, in many instances, customer service also leads to new conversion, customer retention, and sales.
On the other hand, the primary objective of tech support is to ensure that the problems of the existing customers at the earliest so that their faith and trust in the brand continue. The agents are required to identify the problem and then troubleshoot it without delays.
Final Words
The BPO industry has come a long way from the first technical support way back in the 1980s and 1990s to the modern and very advanced version of contact centers in the 2020s. However, during this period, the world had already been through a major economic crisis and a pandemic globally. But despite these, the sector managed to grow and assist other industries to the best of its capacities.
For now, outsourcing the call center to BPO company, irrespective of the service or industry, has become the mainstay for major brands. It can bring a world of good for your business and also take away the undue pressure of infrastructure and resources.
