What is BPO inbound?

Business Process Outsourcing or BPO is a method where companies subcontract business-related operations to third-parties. In the past, BPO was mostly used in manufacturing but today, it includes outsourcing of services as well.

BPO can involve both front-office and back-office operations. Front office operations include sales, marketing, and customer service, while back-office includes payment processing and quality assurance.

Call centre services are one of the most common operations that fall under BPO. There are two types of call centre services, which are outbound and inbound. Outbound call centre services refer to calls made by the company to the customers or potential customers and include telemarketing, lead generation, and data collection.

The focus of the article is BPO inbound, however, thus a closer look must be taken at inbound call centre services. As customers, there are many occasions where we reach out to a business or brand. If we purchase an item, for instance, and find that it is faulty or past its shelf life, we will want to get in touch with the company’s customer support centre. This is what BPO inbound is.

Types of BPO inbound

The above example falls into one of the categories of inbound call centre services. Customer service is perhaps one of the most important lines of communication between the customer and the company. Companies with poor customer service often get bad reviews and it can reflect poorly on a company if they fail to invest in the right call centre outsourcing service for customer support.

Good customer service can convert a disgruntled customer into a repeat customer in no time. This is why many companies opt for customer service outsourcing. This way, they need not hire and train staff specifically for the task but will still have access to staff trained to listen to customer complaints, provide immediate solutions, and also market products and services.

If a customer has purchased a home appliance but is having difficulties with installation, they will call the company help desk. The help desk will assist, guide, troubleshoot, and offer solutions to customer inquiries. This too is a type of inbound call centre services that companies often outsource.

Technical troubleshooting or tech support is another type of call centre outsourcing service. While outbound call centre services may contact potential customers regarding a range of IT products, and troubleshooting with such products will be handled through tech support. Technical troubleshooting covers pre and post-sales support, remote support, and onsite support.

Order taking is another type of BPO inbound used by companies that take orders through the phone. Customers can place their orders directly through the given hotline and call centre outsourcing services will collect data like customer name and address as well as payment information.

These are the four main types of inbound services that fall under customer services outsourcing.

Benefits

When it comes to contact centre outsourcing, companies often opt to hire a third party to handle inbound and outbound call centre services. The main reason for this is that companies can’t or don’t want to invest in in-house call centres as they can be quite expensive and not worth the investment. Instead, it is more beneficial to a company to rely on customer service outsourcing so that they can reduce costs.

The benefits of contact centre outsourcing for BPO inbound are unique to the type of service, but there are some general benefits to outsourcing call centre services too. Cost is one of them but the others include access to trained staff, management of high caller volumes, flexibility during busy periods, and reach expansion.

Customer service outsourcing to a reputable service provider can be extremely beneficial to a company, with strengthened relations with the customer and higher sales being made. In addition to this, a lot of indirect marketing can take place through BPO inbound, which will also lead to an increase in sales.

Call centre outsourcing gives companies access to well-trained staff without having to cover the costs of training. While outbound call centre services include telemarketing and data collection, BPO inbound includes customer service, help desks, and order-taking. When choosing a contact centre outsourcing service, be sure to choose one that is reputable, reliable, and flexible.