Company learns low price without quality is no bargain

Nothing wrong with getting the best deal, but not at the expense of quality

Challenge

A company that assists customers in filling out and filing government forms visited Belize for the purpose of outsourcing phone and email customer support due to increased demand for its services. Rising wages and high agent attrition at its internal contact center made it impossible to scale to meet the need.

The client had two overriding concerns: price and quality. They wanted the lowest cost but also an outsourced partner that provided high-quality service. They looked at nearshore for the price point and Belize because of the country’s native English-speaking population.

At first, the client divided its business between Transparent BPO and another operation in Belize, whose quoted pricing was less. It did not take long, however, to realize that you get what you pay for — low cost at the expense of quality is no bargain.

Low cost at the expense of quality is no bargain!

The other outsourcer lacked the necessary infrastructure to offer the level of quality service the client was looking for, including technology, facilities (such as a training room), and, more importantly, PCI compliance, which was required to take customer credit card information.

It was also unable to provide essential program oversight, including training staff operations managers and floor management. Agents needing coaching on the company’s products and services were not receiving critical feedback for improvement.

Solution

The client canceled the other outsourcer’s contract in under 30 days and consolidated operations with Transparent BPO.

Due to the nature of the services provided — tax and social security form completion assistance — and the target market, consisting primarily of senior adults, metrics such as Average Handle Time and Average Talk Time were of lesser importance than quality.

That aligned well with Transparent BPO’s philosophy of providing high-quality service that represents our clients’ brands well. We were able to provide the infrastructure the client needed: trained agents, quality assurance staff, operations management, ongoing coaching and training, and PCI compliance.

Results

Since its realignment with Transparent BPO, the client has seen a 100 percent increase in the number of agents assigned to the program, with prospects for future growth. Also, the quality score, currently at 96 percent, has seen month-on-month improvement.

The lesson — for this client and others — is that the cost-to-value ratio is relative, and shopping for an outsourced contact center provider based on price alone can backfire.

There is nothing wrong with negotiating the best deal for your business you can get, but diluting quality at the expense of price is a mistake too many companies make.

To learn how Transparent BPO can deliver the same results to your company, contact us via email or call us at 1-800-276-5140. A member of our friendly sales staff will reach out to answer your questions.