● A Step-by-step guide to effectively outsource customer service for your ecommerce business's growth:

1. Identifying key business goals to outsource:

What does your business need in order to scale bigger heights? Where do you identify a considerable gap between your goals and present company strategies or processes?
And, more importantly, how can exemplary customer service help you with all of this?
Knowing what to outsource or hiring the right person/ team to help you maximize business objectives is the first step in achieving E-commerce greatness.
Hire a project lead to guide & facilitate the outsourced services.
More importantly, he/her will be in charge of delegating exact tasks as well as prevent any misunderstanding related to procedures, guidelines, training & performance.
Satisfactory and consistent customer support is a considerable achievement as the best in this business know exactly how to drive customer loyalty by rightfully addressing customer pain points or demands.

2. Points to consider while partnering with a BPO

a. Do they provide 24/7 customer support?

An efficient, customer-friendly and responsive 24/7 customer support team is the hallmark of a successful e-commerce business.
Partner with an outsourcing agency that provides your customers real-time and round-the-clock support.
An ideal agency could be the one with skills and resources to provide Omni channel customer support. Few of the channels which can be deployed 24/7 are - Live chat, pre & post sales assistance, automated chatbots and Inbound/Outbound calls.

b. Specialized skills or subject matter expertise

Doesn't it feel like you've hit the jackpot with an outsource partner/BPO that has the right combination of skills and expertise to get everything done smoothly?
Yes. That is possible when you have crossed paths with Customer service outsourcing operations with SMEs.

A subject matter expert will be knowledgeable and aware of your business nuances and needs. E-commerce industries cater to multiple sectors like Healthcare, Beauty & Personal care, Fashion Apparel, Food, etc.
Having a SME as the outsourcing partner will ensure your business needs are understood and the support is provided as per your industry segment.
For e.g. If your e-commerce business prominently deals with medical or healthcare products, it is best the customer support agents employed are aware of various medical terminologies that customers may use related to the products or services you provide.
Being multilingual is an added advantage.

c. Past client referrals or Ecommerce experience?

Look for customer reviews or client testimonials that will help you gauge the BPO Company's past work outcomes and challenges. This will let you know whether they're capable enough to handle the likes of your clients or not.
Another productive way of measuring their success is asking for any kind of performance data or reports from past clients to give you a clearer picture of their past work/experience.
It is imperative that your up and coming e-commerce business is handled by a team who has real world experience of varied customer service situations and projects.
You will be in safer, if not better hands to do so.

3. Sharing Knowledge for Customer Interaction:

How do you further educate your outsourcing partner on key customer service to-dos and responsibilities?
By sharing documents or creating a common knowledge base that introduces them to the unique set of challenges or guidelines they are required to meet.

This often requires:

• Product manuals for basic product information/background,
• How to answer FAQs for better user experience,
• Guidelines that help you navigate varied customer interactions and
• Training videos

Another way to ensure your outsourced customer service consistently delivers is to update your partners regularly on current industry trends. Having SME and a good communication training for active listening, patience, emotional intelligence & growth mindset is a powerful package in itself.
Having a shared knowledge base not only keeps them in the loop about major roles/responsibilities but also makes it possible for them to access it in times of need.

4. Setting up monthly reports/review:

As most customers would agree on how making a purchase depends upon the customer service provided, it is crucial we recognize customer satisfaction as the primary driver of ROI for your business.
To measure or evaluate your outsourcing provider's performance, you can begin with a standard key metric like CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Test/Score).
This is more likely to give you clarity on your outsourcing partner's efforts, skills and whether the desired outcome was produced or not.
However, a more productive and streamlined effort at tracking your outsourcing party is by setting up a monthly review or meeting that focuses entirely on identifying problem areas or satisfaction points.
Other than tracking customer satisfaction scores or testing the level of customer service provided, a monthly report can also throw light on few other important aspects like:

• Internal communication
• Whether their service was cost-effective
• A detailed analysis of customer grievances that were addressed or left out
• How agile or quick were your partners to respond in real time?
• A final summary of problem areas that they can work on for increased customer support & loyalty.

To sum it up, your effort to outsource customer service will prove to be beneficial not only with visible customer satisfaction, but also when you have spent minimal amount of time, money & resources to achieve the above.