Ecommerce industry has grown exponentially over the last decade. Online shopping is gaining more and more popularity among consumers, putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business. Statistics show that eCommerce is expected to be accounted for 22% of global retail sales by 2023. This brings an increased demand for virtual customer service assistance. However, not all eCommerce businesses have the budget to maintain an in-house support team, let alone to provide a high-quality service. Outsourcing can easily solve that problem.
Ecommerce customer service outsourcing brings many benefits to your online business. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
Focus on core business
As a business grows, a volume of customer inquiries grows with it. That’s when many companies find themselves in a situation where they spend too much time managing customer requests and get distracted from their core tasks. Outsourcing customer support to a third-party service provider can easily resolve that problem. Ecommerce companies get to free up some internal resources and use them for core activities such as sales, marketing, analytics, product development and more.
24/7 Customer Support
Ecommerce industry never sleeps. Once an online retail business is launched its products become available to every consumer on the internet. Ecommerce allows customers from all over the world to purchase anything they want at any time of day or night. This puts a huge responsibility on retailers to deliver round the clock customer support for their consumers. Client care outsourcing companies provide 24/7 support helping businesses to manage all customer inquiries coming their way without missing a single request.
Resource flexibility
Ecommerce industry has its high and low seasons. Due to demand fluctuations, online businesses look for flexible cost solutions to address the inconsistency of ticket volume. Trusting your customer service to an external partner grants you an opportunity to scale up or down your customer support throughout busy and slow seasons.
Furthermore, if you’re just starting a company it’s hard to predict the volume of inquiries you’ll be getting as well as the number of representatives you will need. Outsourcing agencies offer scalable options for startups and small businesses giving companies the option to hire more agents as their business expands.
Increase Quality
Managing customer service requires a set of skills and expertise, which takes time to acquire. Customer support outsourcing helps eCommerce businesses to get quick access to professional agents without spending additional resources on training them internally.
Customer support outsourcing agencies provide high-quality client care which entails a variety of advantages such as agents’ proficiency, customized strategies, multilingual service, effective communication, and more.
Types of Customer Support for Your Ecommerce Business
There are many ways in which eCommerce customer support can be delivered.
Email support
Email is an easy and reliable way to communicate with your clients. This method of communication works perfectly when you have to write clear and thorough instructions or provide an attachment in response to a client inquiry.
Call center support
Having professional staff members dedicated to answering your client calls is a big advantage for your company. Many customers prefer to talk to a representative over the phone rather than message back and forth. Providing call center support is an effective way to connect with your clients and take care of their needs.
Live chat support
Web chatting can significantly influence a buyer’s decision and increase customer engagement. According to the report, site visitors that use live chat are nearly 3 times more likely to convert than those that don’t. In addition, shoppers that chat spend 60% more. Such statistics demonstrate the necessity of live chats in eCommerce business.
Social media support
Providing customer service support through social media is another effective way to interact with clients. Responding to your users on social media demonstrates your reliability and promotes your trustworthiness among clients. One study suggests that 40% of holiday shoppers globally are more likely to make a purchase from a business they can message.
Steps to Outsource Your Ecommerce Customer Service
Hiring an external provider for your customer support is a complex procedure. In the guide below, we’re taking you through steps to help you find the most effective customer service outsourcing solution.
Step #1. Outline your goals
The first thing you should do when searching for an outsourcing partner is to establish your goals for your cooperation. Think about what do you want to achieve by hiring outside help.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What is my budget?
- What responsibilities do you want the outsourced team to cover?
- What is my average ticket volume?
- Do I want a domestic or a foreign partner?
- What kind of support do I need? (email, chat, call center, social media, or all)
Consider your requirements for potential candidates. Each customer support outsourcing agency has its specifics. Thus, setting up your preferences is important if you want to pick a provider that will be able to meet your business needs.
Step #2. Research your candidates
Take your time when seeking a good customer service partner. Conduct a thorough research on each outsourcing provider you think could be a good fit for your company. Check their customer reviews and look for their mentions on different platforms including blogs forums.
Find potential partner’s clients and contact their customer support. This will help you gain an insight into their customer service experience.
When interviewing candidates get information about their software tools, how they conduct quality assurance, and their team management strategies. All those factors play an essential role in customer service productivity.
Step #3. Onboarding
Most outsourcing companies take full responsibility for the onboarding and training process. However, it’s important that a client takes part in that process too. Think about it. No one knows your company better than you. By participating in a training procedure you can provide valuable insight into your company matters. Also, you will be able to make sure your new team possesses the knowledge needed to represent your brand.
Step #4. Maintain communication with an external provider
Communication is a key component of any collaboration. After launching the project it’s important to interact with a new partner regularly. Schedule weekly or monthly meetings with your outsourced provider to exchange updates and discuss reports on the team performance.
Keep your partner informed about any changes to your product, services or policy. Don’t hesitate to point out any performance or service issues should they arise. Your outsourcing provider would be happy to implement your suggestions and ideas into action.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing customer service is the most optimal solution to keep your eCommerce business running smoothly. Hiring an external provider offers a list of benefits including flexibility, 24/7 support, high-quality service and more. By choosing the right outsourcing partner you choose a customer service solution that will fulfill all your online business objectives.
