BPO Services: What’s the Advantage?

Outsourcing work to a third-party BPO services company is common among businesses. At this point, I’d suggest that most everyone understands what outsourcing is, at least the overall concept. 

While business process outsourcing has been around a while, let’s look at what BPO services are, why they work, and how your company can engage with a BPO provider. 

What is Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)?

Business process outsourcing (BPO) develops strategic partnerships with third-party companies to handle specific internal business functions and tasks. 

Engaging with a BPO services provider is typical among many businesses because it provides companies with access to services that may be too difficult, cumbersome, or expensive to build internally.

The main goal of business process outsourcing is to outsource work that internal employees would generally perform to a third-party company, saving time and money to put towards other critical company goals.

Advantage of BPO Services

1. Accessing specialized expertise: One advantage of outsourcing work is that you can access highly skilled experts who may not be available in your own company. 

For instance, you may need help generating qualified leads for your sales team. BPO services companies are experts in the roles and tasks they take on for their clients.

2. Increased flexibility: Another advantage of using BPO services is it increases your company’s flexibility. Outsourcing allows an organization to adjust its operations quickly and easily without negatively impacting the core business functions. 

An example would be businesses with seasonal demands, such as those with high call volumes during their respective peak seasons.

3. Tap into new or underserved markets: Regardless of the company’s size, there are never enough resources, specifically salespeople, to cover different territories and industries effectively, let alone pursue prospecting opportunities.  

A BPO services provider can help focus on specific verticals, products, or lead segments to expand the business’s reach and gain more customers.

4. Access to geographically dispersed talent: Most companies benefit by having access to talent outside of their local talent pool. BPO services providers have access to talent throughout the US and nearshore and offshore options as needed.  

5. You don’t have to hire, train, and manage: When you outsource to a BPO services company, the cost includes hiring, training, managing, technology, benefits, etc. 

6. Cost reduction: One of the primary driving forces behind outsourcing is intelligently reducing internal operating costs. This savings in labor costs doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of staff, which remains the same if not better. When you outsource, fewer employees need an office, and everything else required for employers provides to employees. 

Read this article from Chris Grothe, VP of Operations, about evaluating and reducing your internal labor costs. 

7. Stay ahead of the competition: BPO services help companies gain and keep a competitive edge. You provide customers with a best-in-class experience through strategic outsourcing and increase your in-house productivity by managing resources intelligently. 

How to Find the Right BPO Company

When you’re considering outsourcing work, it’s crucial to find the right BPO services partner. Here are a few high-level considerations.

Services: Some BPO services providers are very specialized in their services. 

• Do you need outbound, inbound support, or both? 
• Are you looking for expertise in a specific industry?

Technology: BPO services provide access to the latest technology. 

• Do you need omnichannel capabilities?
• Are you integrating with your internal CRM?
• Is there a required framework to support data transfers?

Experience: Choose a company that’s experienced and has the proof.

• Is industry experience critical?
• What’s the tenure of their leadership teams, management teams, and employee? 
• Who are their clients, and their experience working with the BPO services company?
• Do they have proven experience with telemarketing laws?

Data Security: Maintain the privacy and security of you and your customers.

• What measures are in place to keep customer information confidential?
• Do they need to be SOC 2 compliant?
• What security certifications do they have?

Many resources are available to help guide your search for the right BPO services partner.