Technical support has come a long way, in more ways than one. From the way, it is delivered (evolving from single channel to multi-channel, and now omnichannel) to the role it plays in business (from being a cost-center to driving revenue). At its core global tech support and services are still about providing assistance in fixing issues that arise, to users of a range of electronic products and services, including, but, not limited to mobile devices, computers, TVs, and SaaS products. These services are generally rendered on a long-term contractual basis, or through a pay-as-you-go model for individual incidents. Assistance can be provided remotely via phone, web, email, or automated means existing on the user’s device.
WHY DO ORGANIZATIONS NEED
TECHNICAL SUPPORT?
Beyond break-fixing, technical support is vital to an organization because of the role it essays with respect to customer experience. Technical support is the first, and very often, the only point of contact for problem resolution. Thus, it becomes important that organizations ensure that their technical support teams are equipped with the requisite skills, and technology to provide assistance to disgruntled customers. This is particularly necessary in the internet era, where negative reviews are hard to shake off.
Further, by being in regular contact with customers, technical support executives are well placed to make sales, as they are aware of the customers’ history and can make relevant and useful recommendations. Their suggestions have a better chance of hitting the mark than cold sales calls or spam emails.
Additionally, organizations lose out monetarily when technical issues arise. Downtimes lead to lost productivity, increase in overhead costs, and drop in employee morale.
Today, technical support doesn’t just fix problems after they are reported, it monitors systems to predict and prevent problems before they arise. Technical support makes use of sophisticated technologies including AI, Automation, and Analytics to enable a proactive and preemptive approach. After all, the best support is the kind where the customer doesn’t need to get in touch.
THE PROS AND CONS
OF OUTSOURCING TECHNICAL SUPPORT PROCESS
Arguments can be made for and against handing over your support function to technical support outsourcing companies. Outlined below are some of the key pros and cons of outsourcing your technical support process.
The Pros of Outsource Technical Support Services
Cost effective when compared to in-house support - Customers today demand swift, easy, and convenient service. It means you have to be available to them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And If you don’t, your competitors will be more than willing to take your place. 71% of customers terminate their relationship with a company due to poor service, while 61% take their business to a competitor. Maintaining an in-house IT support team is a costly affair, from office space, equipment, to manpower. Regular training for employees, upgrades, and maintenance expenses aside, organizations have to bear the cost of unexpected technical issues like a busted server, or high employee retention. On the other hand, you will have to pay the technical support outsourcing company a fixed rate for services rendered, which increases only as the requirements of your organization does.
Expertise in technical support - Unless your organization is in the business of providing technical support, chances are your in-house team won’t have as much depth and breadth of experience as technical support outsourcing companies and customer service outsourcing companies. These companies deal with several clients across diverse industries, each having unique issues. Thus, they are able to gain experience that is insightful and varied. Plus, since it’s their job to be the experts, they will have on board trained and qualified staff, along with the requisite technology needed to provide excellent technical support services. Additionally, intense competition acts as an impetus to constantly upgrade and improve themselves. Having a specialized global tech support and services team from a technical support outsourcing company ensures that issues are sorted faster and more efficiently.
Enables you to Focus on core business - Technology, internet, mobile, and social media have made it possible for companies to rise overnight, as well as fall. In order for organizations to withstand the rapid changes facilitated by the aforementioned factors, they have to have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that cannot be easily replicated by competition. Additionally, this USP might have to evolve over time to meet the demands of a changing market. Thus, organizations need to devote time and resources to research, innovation, and activities that will keep them relevant, and keep redundancy at bay. Technical support outsourcing companies and customer service outsourcing companies can efficiently manage your organization’s IT infrastructure, while you focus on growing and improving your core business.
The Cons of Outsource Technical Support Services
Quality of Technical Support - As your organization no longer has control over how services are rendered, it can pose certain quality issues, especially with respect to customer-facing tasks. You may wonder how well the technical support outsourcing company is handling customer grievances, to what extent they are extending assistance, whether they are going the extra mile to provide a superior customer experience, and whether they are aligned with your service standards. These are valid concerns, as poor customer service has severe repercussions. Financially, bad customer service is estimated to cost companies $ 83 billion, in the U.S. alone. Further, recovering a tainted reputation requires immense time and effort. According to "Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner, “It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one negative experience.”
Knowledge about the Organization - Can a technical support outsourcing company know your organization as well as your internal employees? Perhaps not. This could impact their knowledge of products and services, of offerings, of company culture and strategy, of your organization’s goals. You won’t be in control of what data is collected, how it is collected, and how it is processed and analyzed. This might have a bearing on the insights drawn from the collected customer data. Without the guidance of your organization’s strategy every step of the way, the technical support outsourcing company might miss out some vital insights.
Security and Privacy concerns - A grave concern with respect to hiring a technical support outsourcing company is the risk of a data breach. An external team has access to confidential customer data, which if leaked, could cause serious damage, financially and otherwise. As your organization lacks control over the internal processes, systems, and policies of the technical support outsourcing company, you remain unware of their data governance and security protocols.
WHY CHOOSE A
TECHNICAL SUPPORT OUTSOURCING COMPANY?
Despite the cons mentioned above, there is merit in outsourcing your technical support process. The cost benefit is a major factor; money saved on IT support can be channelized towards core business activities to build competitive advantage. Further, being well-versed in their field, the technical support outsourcing company can provide tools, knowledge, technology that boosts your organization’s efficiency and productivity, which you might otherwise have been unaware of.
Scaling up is less of a hassle with a technical support outsourcing company by your side. As your requirements increase, in terms of quantity and intensity, you can avail their services without having to invest in infrastructure and manpower. Plus, most technical support outsourcing companies and customer service outsourcing companies provide customized packages.
In terms of security, it is standard practice to offer security as part of their technical support services. Also, technical support outsourcing companies and customer service outsourcing companies deal with a range of security issues, and are better prepared to handle the risks. They would be able to advise on appropriate security measures and protocols.
CSS Corp
GLOBAL TECHNICAL SUPPORT
CSS Corp Global Technical Support services are designed to provide technical support to customers and enterprises. Additionally, our range or Premium Technical Services encompasses a host of products that are made to enhance customer experience, build revenue streams, create specialization, and improve operational efficiency.
Each product covers an important support area, with the ultimate goal of providing superlative customer experience. Yodaa, our AI driven virtual assistant that operates on multiple platforms, is an intelligent and intuitive product which provides contextual solutions through human-like interactions. Our other sophisticated solutions include Contelli, which provides Automation for Network Management, Active Insights that covers Predictive Maintenance and Operations Analytics, Active Edge, which deals with Omni-channel Experience Management, and GADET, which is our Mobile Support Solution.
CSS Corp iTACK framework provides guidelines (Intelligent, Technology Competency, Automation and Analytics, Customer Advocacy, and Knowledge Management) to be followed when designing products and services. This framework ensures that all our offerings are created with a focus on customer experience, thereby ensuring success of our clients.