In the recent study of HFS Top 10: Digital Contact Center Services, we surveyed 52 client references across industries. The BPO services market is highly competitive, and the partnerships can be long-lasting. Enterprises are generally seeking better customer experiences, adaptability, flexibility and many other important capabilities in the process of selecting their contact center providers. The study also reveals that enterprises are not only looking for vendor services but also a better partnership with greater understanding of their requirements. The top five capabilities that emerged to be the most important in our survey are Service/delivery, adaptability/flexibility, relationship management, innovation/technology capability and pricing.
- Enterprises want improved CX from their providers, which is also a driving force for competitive differentiation and successful business. Enterprises also want their BPO providers to understand who their customers are and what are their needs. Quality and efficient service delivery is a key component of delivering on these expectations. Customer analytics and intelligence systems assist with better understanding of their customers’ customers and aid in delivery of better quality services.
- Customers behaviors are ever changing. There were drastic changes in customer behavior during the earlier pandemic days, where the customers changed preferences dramatically and capabilities such as e-commerce became mission critical. In order to overcome these unique real-time challenges, digital contact center providers needed teams and systems with tremendous adaptability and flexibility.
- Relationship management is key to the success of any partnership. Enterprises prioritize the contact center service providers who are easy to work with, open to communication, understand them, be transparent and responsive. Service Providers are increasingly required to be proactive to enterprises; updating their clients on vision and roadmaps and being open to ideas/requirements from the enterprises thus maintaining the better relationship with them.
- Enterprises are looking for innovation from their partners. Analytics, intelligent chatbots and even innovative frameworks and methodologies or innovative business models will provide increasing value to customers; helping both with large and fluctuating volume of customer queries, but also to better understand customers and what to do with insights from customer data.
- Pricing continues to remain one of the enterprises’ major concerns when partnering with a BPO service provider. Being transparent with the pricing model and exploring outcomes focused pricing will keep the partnership focused on a win-win scenario that incentivizes both sides to out their best foot forward in the relationship.
The Bottom Line: Quality services and cost savings are now more table stakes than ever. Creating true partnerships through flexibility and innovative ideas is now essential to succeed in the highly competitive CX services market.
