Businesses of different sizes require an array of unique services to stay functioning on all cylinders. Given this fact, most companies rely on some form of business process outsourcing (BPO) to fill in the gaps where a company may lack experience or expertise. An insurance company has a strong grasp on claims and policies, but they may leverage a BPO provider for contact center services to help with routine tasks (such as password reset requests) for their customers.
There are also unique challenges when it comes to operating a BPO company. Instead of customers residing in a single vertical, such as transportation, a BPO can have customers across many different industries. Employees working for a BPO may work with customers for a telecom company one month and represent a natural gas organization a month later. To stay profitable, BPO companies rely on efficient and agile employees to make their customers happy.
How can a BPO improve their level of efficiency? One way is to implement workforce management (WFM) technology solutions. Here are four ways workforce management software in BPO companies is leveraged to improve operations.
1) Easily shift employees between companies that are outsourcing your services – For a BPO company, flexibility is arguably the most valuable trait an employee can have. Team members that can quickly switch accounts and handle varying workloads can make all the difference in keeping customer satisfaction high. For BPO contact centers, having a full database of agent skills within your WFM software makes it easy to find the right agents for each customer when you need to. Within the software is a profile for each agent that details the skills and account experience they have so your WFM analyst can see instantly who is available and when they can work.
2) Create and leverage agent information to quickly make scheduling changes – With detailed agent information at your fingertips, it’s time to get started on improving operations. Through solutions such as an automated schedule adjustment plan (ASAP), a WFM analyst in the BPO industry can quickly locate the right plan to staff up a specific account and send notifications to relevant agents that a shift is available. Best of all, these agents will receive information about the shift through multiple channels, including a mobile app, and they can also accept the shift immediately. A solution like ASAP is an immense time saver for any BPO company with contact center employees.
3) Evaluate agent performance across multiple channels – Simply put, even though you can schedule agents to work on different accounts, it’s important to take their customer preferences into consideration as well. And, even though an agent may say they love working on an account, their performance may indicate otherwise. This is a reason why more companies are utilizing schedule adherence data within WFM software to get a realistic view when it comes to agent performance. With this data, companies can see which accounts specific agents thrive on and which ones they struggle with. Through adherence technology, BPO companies are able to see when agents clock in, when they take breaks, how active they are on each channel, and more. If you notice an agent has a low call volume and frequently shows up late when they are assigned to a specific customer, it’s time to reach out and see what’s wrong. Check in with the agent to see why they are struggling and ask if they would prefer to not work with this customer anymore. Leaving a good agent on an account they don’t like often leads to a bad experience for everyone involved.
4) Improve efficiency when working with gig and temp employees – One of the major changes to the BPO industry over the past decade has been an increased reliance on gig and temp employees. Many BPO companies with contact centers now have partner relationships with third-party gig and temp agencies to find skilled workers when they need them. For example, if a utilities company outsources their contact center to a BPO but they are expecting a surge in call volume next month, the BPO may turn to a third-party agency for immediate staffing support. A WFM software solution excels in these scenarios because it provides real-time metrics to determine whether these gig and temp employees are a good fit. This information enables BPO companies to make decisions fast with hard data on specific agents. Lastly, the leading WFM software technologies have a built-in communications framework so there’s no need to involve IT with creating and deactivating additional system accounts. Instead, send messages to individuals or groups directly through WFM software to communicate efficiently from day one.
Wrapping up, BPO companies utilize WFM software to improve operations by making the most of the data and communications features the technology provides. It’s a one stop solution for staffing the right agents quickly and ensuring their performance meets the standards agreed upon with customers.
