Month: April 2018

Categories
News and Events

The Truth About Customer Service Many Companies Miss

Every company knows the value of effective customer service, but the best companies know the truth about this essential part of operations. The market is fast becoming crowded as new companies join many others who offer the same products or services. In a crowded marketplace, people tend to go to where they feel accommodated.

This relationship between the company and its customers is the focus of customer care. This bond is vital to the growth of the company, which is why companies invest and dedicate resources to customer care. The customer service department is a staple to every successful company back office. Some dedicate time and resources to develop effective CS programs while more and more outsource this delicate process to the experts.

So What is the Truth About This “Department”?

Customer service is not just a department, it is a way of doing business. It must be present in the whole of the organization from top to bottom. Customer care is a goal of every individual in the company. When it comes to satisfying the crowd, everyone should be concerned.

The process of sales and marketing is not only oriented towards reeling in income, but also planting the seeds of a strong relationship with the customers. The well-being and satisfaction of customers should be put into consideration every time a managerial decision should be made. Facilities and maintenance should aim at providing a setting where customers would feel comfortable and cared for.

Most companies, especially the startups, just throw the customer care responsibility to whoever is engaged in customer encounters. Other departments which do not get in contact with the public tend to confine their goals to their specific tasks. A company might invest facilities and workforce into a customer care department or partner up with outsource customer care specialists, but when other parts of the organization become indifferent to the crowd’s well being, the company fails.

The best companies take customer care and satisfaction to heart.

How to Ensure Authentic Customer Care

Taking customer care to heart is just a start, here are some steps a company may take fulfill this purpose:

  • Identify Your Market and Its Special Needs

Which group of people is your company serving? You have to know the people you are trying to satisfy. Is your crowd composed mostly of teenagers, professionals, homeowners, etc.? What lifestyle do they have? What more can you do to ensure their satisfaction?

  • Set Concrete Goals

Set customer satisfaction goals for the company as a whole, that would guide you in identifying sub-goals for every part of the organization.

  • Concrete Action

Organize the perfect customer care department or team up with the experts. A BPO company  helps provide you with an expert team. The perfect BPO company to provide customer service for you is a company who values you as a client and partner, in short, also has good customer service.

Remember

Growth is not an inward motion, it is outward. Reach out to your customers, know them, build a relationship with them. Customer service is the way to growth.

Categories
News and Events

Reducing Overhead Costs: the Simple Solution

Cost is always a part of a business and reducing overhead costs is as important as saving on direct materials and costs.

Overhead is a problem not just for large-scale operations, it is also very crucial for small to medium-sized businesses. The term indirect cost sometimes understates this element of the statement of profit or loss. One must always remember that a big chunk of revenue might be taken by overhead expenses. In some cases, indirect costs are greater than direct ones and may result in a big hit on revenue or even loss.

A Deeper Look Into Overhead

Controlling and reducing overhead costs requires understanding where these costs come from. There are actually several elements where overhead can be traced, the best solution is a solution that covers most of these elements.
Overhead is mostly traced to the following:

  1. Utilities – utilities take up a big chunk of overhead. This includes electricity, water, internet, etc. These may be fixed or variable to production.
  2. Administrative Expenses – Administrative expenses include salaries of personnel from the back office management to management support teams. These salaries are for services not directly attributable to operations but are vital to ensuring quality and the smooth flow of business.
  3. Rent, Equipment, and Facilities – Includes property, plant, equipment, and leases on such. For small to medium-sized businesses, this includes computers and the space used for accommodating tasks that are not directly related to production. This includes the property and equipment used for sales, accounting, recruitment, etc.
  4. Marketing and Sales – Similar to administrative, this includes salaries of salespersons, marketing personnel, insurance, benefits, etc.
    All of these elements have their corresponding methods of control. Avoiding unnecessary use of utilities, cutting on the use of some equipment may help alleviate the burden of these expenses. When it comes to administrative, marketing, and sales, some resort to downsizing but this step might take a toll on quality and sales.

Finding the Right Solution

There are a number of ways for controlling and reducing overhead costs, each method mostly covers just one element of overhead. But there is one solution to all of these, a solution that is practiced by most major companies—outsourcing. When a company uses an outsource, it saves not just on salaries but also on facilities, utilities, and administrative costs.
Outsourcing is not only ideal for multi-million dollar companies, nor is it solely for manufacturing. Small to medium-sized businesses can also benefit greatly from outsourcing. Here are some of many examples:

  • Professional Firms – Lawyers. real estate brokers or Realtors, and the such can delegate clerical tasks like email management and appointment-setting, lead generation, and even telemarketing to outsources. Doing this would greatly reduce overhead cost as it covers administrative, equipment and utilities.
  • Merchandising Companies – No matter how large or small a company’s market is, it is very important to have customer service, sales, and office admin support personnel. Together with these departments come overhead costs like salaries and equipment.
  • Financial Companies – Financial companies are burdened with loads of clerical tasks like data entry and processing. Data entry and processing is one of the most outsourced tasks. Outsource companies have data entry and processing specialists and their own quality assurance teams so you save a lot on salaries and facilities.

There are a lot of other business processes that a company can outsource. Find out more on how your company can save on cost through outsourcing and optimize your revenue.