Giving Up Control
If you outsource your support services, your ability to effectively deal with issues and queries will be hindered by ineffective communication. These hiccups in communication cause delays that can slow down the entire process of recovering an issue and dealing with it, or even delay working on a customer complaint.
To complicate matters, customer data is then held by a third party, which is not within your control. In such a scenario, the security of your data is at a much greater risk and data confidentiality is not guaranteed.
In addition to that, when your customers’ data is held by someone else, it takes longer to retrieve it when you need it, further slowing down your operations.
Prohibitive Contracts
Most contracts drawn up by the support providers cover a specified time period and it is extremely difficult to go back on them. Even when you feel like the relationship with the provider is not serving your interests, you are stuck with them. If you intend to change the provider or create your own team, you may be barred by the contract and it could prove to be rather costly just to tear up the agreement.
To make matters worse, if customer data is in the custody of the provider, it may be harder to exonerate yourself from the deal because it may result in you losing vital customer data; such a scenario is unthinkable. To avoid putting yourself in such a fix, go through the contract before you sign it. Ensure that it serves your business’s interests in as much as it serves the provider’s interests.
Impact on Company Morale
If by outsourcing you had to get rid of your previous global it services company, your other employees may feel unsafe. They may become worried that their jobs are on the line if you decide to do away with their workstations and outsource their roles. That kind of uncertainty will breed job insecurity and employees will be really low on motivation.
Foreign Support
If you want to provide your customers with 24/7 support, you may have to consider a foreign service to work when your own crew is not in the office. Support from foreign countries sometimes comes short in terms of quality. Customers get wound up by poor foreign customer service when they already have an issue that is bothering them. When choosing a company to provide you with customer support, find out where it is from so that you can know of any potential problems you may have to deal with.
The Bottom Line
When you are looking for a provider, you should do your research on them extensively. Such providers can prove invaluable for the smaller businesses that cannot afford to have their own IT departments. If your business has an IT support department in place, compare the providers in the market with what you have before you make any decisions.
If you ultimately decide to outsource, be very keen on the details of the contract. It has never hurt to get a few quotes from various providers so that you can find your perfect fit; the one that serves your business’s interests. Do not shy away from asking the tough but important questions so that you can unearth any potential problems. It may be tough to find the perfect fit if you are a sizeable company; therefore, examine what you have in your own company and use the points delineated above to find the best of what you have to work with.
