Support As A Service For Your Company: Full Guidance And Useful Tips

Published on: 16 April 2021 Last Updated on: 30 December 2024

Customer support is a powerful thing that can help your business to grow. Customers pay attention to how quickly and effectively you respond to their requests and what information you provide.

For example, according to McKinsey, 70% of customers measure their experience based on customer service level.

If the company is not ready to provide good customer service, it’s better to find other solutions than to lose customers. And one of these solutions is called support as a service.

Support as a service: what is it

Briefly, it means outsourcing customer support functions. Let’s imagine that you are managing a middle-sized company and are going to organize customer support. What options do you have?

At least two. First, you may build a customer support department inside the company. Second, you may hire an outsourced customer service responsible for clients’ communications and requests.

What choice is better? You may pick up any of these options considering available financial, human, physical, and other resources. Let’s compare the main pros and cons of both decisions.

An in-house customer support department-

Pros:

The customer support team is fully involved in all processes.
You hire every team member.
You may manage everything on your own.
The success of your external communications with the customers is in your own hands.

Cons:

It’s pretty expensive (needed equipment and installation may cost thousands of dollars).
You pay customer agents for the whole working day and not for the number of calls.
You are not flexible and can’t change the whole customer department in case something doesn’t work.

An outsourced customer support team-

Pros:

You may choose from a variety of different providers unless you find an appropriate one.
You may influence all processes that take place inside an outsourced team.
You should not think about any technical aspects of customer support.
You pay only for the delivered service.
You free up a lot of resources inside the company and use them for more critical tasks.
Your customer service team may speak different languages.

Cons:

It’s possible to get poor service because not all providers guarantee good quality.
Sometimes you may experience issues, misunderstandings, and mistakes.
Your customers may not be satisfied.

Related Reads: Making Sure You’re SOX Compliant

Support as a service: who uses it

During the last five years, support as a service became widespread among different businesses. This model has a lot in common with another approach called SaaS (software as a service) or providing cloud software solutions on demand. Support as a service is popular in:

E-commerce:

People like shopping online (especially now, during pandemic times). They also want to choose goods on the weekend or late in the evening after work. So, customer support has to be ready to provide customers with the required information at any time. In these circumstances, an outsourced customer support team is the best option for businesses.

Tech and finance business:

Hiring a customer support agent with the relevant tech or software experience may last for several months. It’s a lot, taking into account that the company loses money during this time. Professional support as a service provider knows how to find required team members fast and effectively.

Season businesses:

Before Christmas or summer months, some companies experience an increasing number of customers’ requests. As a result, their internal customer support departments cannot handle all questions and answer them quickly. An outsourced customer support team on demand may solve this issue and take over part of requests only for a limited time.

Available services-

Another essential question is what exact services an outsourced customer support team may provide. In general, all normal functions of customer support.

Calls:

According to Zendesk, more than 50% of customers prefer to use phones for communication with the brands. That means that voice customer support plays a significant role in building a positive customer experience.

Emails:

Letters are an excellent alternative to calls. They allow sharing more detailed information with customers. But for better results and effectiveness, you should establish special rules on how soon customer agents have to answer letters, tone of voice to use, etc.

Live Chats:

If your company works with millennials and young generations, think of using modern communication tools like live chat or messengers. According to Statista, live chat has growing popularity in almost all industries.

Support as a service: how to start

Here is a checklist of everything you need to do to start collaborating with an outsourced customer support company.

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Investing in Precious Metals

Add precious metals to your investment portfolio for diversification and security, but make sure to select wisely as each type of metal and investment vehicle has its own set of benefits, risks, and drawbacks. Protection From Economic Uncertainty Gold and silver have long been seen as symbols of wealth and currency, providing safe investments during times of economic instability. Furthermore, these precious metals have numerous industrial uses including jewelry production and electronics manufacturing that keeps demand for them at an all-time high. This demand ensures their prices will always remain elevated. Gold and silver investments are also an excellent way to diversify your portfolio, according to many financial advisors. Diversifying includes stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds as an overall approach, but adding gold or silver may further lower risk by spreading out your investments across many asset classes. There are various methods of investing in these types of assets, from purchasing physical bullion (gold, silver and platinum coins and bars) to investing in mining companies that produce these products. You can click here to learn more about investing in mining companies. Both options provide tangible investments but some may incur higher storage and insurance costs. Furthermore, physical bullion is subject to higher capital gains tax rates when sold compared with other investments. Alternative purchasing options exist through rare earth elements royalty and streaming companies. These firms own the right to receive set quantities of these assets over time for a fee, offering diversification without incurring additional risks in owning physical bullion. An alternative approach to precious metal investment is investing through your 401(k) or another retirement account, providing diversification with tax-deferred savings benefits. However, before making any decisions related to your retirement plan it is advisable to seek guidance from an independent advisor. Others choose to partner with a well-known company like Goldco for their investments. It is important to do research on any company or advisor you are considering working with. Diversification Diversifying your portfolio is one of the main tenets of investing, as this helps reduce risk when stock markets crash or unexpected market events take place. One way of diversifying is adding precious metals as their price usually follows different market trends from stocks and bonds. You can click the link: https://www.investor.gov/what-diversification for more information. Investors can purchase physical rare earth elements such as gold, silver and palladium or invest in investment products derived from these assets - including mining stocks, streaming companies or royalty companies that generate revenue through sales of rare earth elements, ETFs and mutual funds that specialize in these types of investments, and futures contracts. All these options provide investors with the diversification benefits they seek, yet each presents unique risks and opportunities. Gold bullion, for instance, is one of the direct forms of investments, but requires significant storage space to hold. Furthermore, its initial costs may make entry more challenging. Precious metals-based investment products offer lower barriers to entry, but can still carry risks, including those related to mining companies' share prices falling due to cost overruns, mismanagement or financial issues. Gold and silver tend to increase in value during periods of economic unease as they serve as safe havens. Furthermore, their widespread applications such as jewellery making, electronics production and batteries make them likely safe bets as the world continues its advancement and progresses further. Investors can also use precious metals as a hedge against inflation and to preserve their purchasing power over time. As interest rates and printing of money by the Federal Reserve increase and cause the dollar's value to decline, the price of commodities such as gold and silver are impacted. Exchange Rates Precious metals provide an alternative form of money that's resistant to inflation and economic uncertainty. Due to their intrinsic value and the "safe haven" reputation they enjoy as investments, physical bullion may make for an excellent addition to any portfolio - though investors should carefully consider their financial situation, strategy, and long-term goals before making decisions regarding these types of investments. Precious metals have become an increasingly popular investment choice among investors looking to protect their wealth against economic instability and inflation. Precious metals provide investors with an effective, stable way of diversifying their wealth as they are less volatile than stocks or other investments which may experience sudden drops. Furthermore, precious metals provide tangible assets which can easily be converted to cash. Investing in precious metals is an excellent way to safeguard against inflation and other economic risks; however, it is wise to conduct thorough market research before making decisions and consulting an expert about which options are suitable for your particular situation. Security Even though precious metals can be bought through traditional brokerage accounts, most investors prefer investing directly in physical precious metals by purchasing and storing physical precious metals themselves. While this method may be more costly than trading stocks or bond ETFs or mutual funds, having physical precious metals in your hands provides instantaneous access when economic uncertainty strikes - an invaluable asset during times of economic uncertainty. Physical precious metal investments offer another distinct advantage: They're private assets. You are the only one who knows exactly the details of your portfolio, which makes it more secure than many modern investments. This feature is especially advantageous for families that wish to shield their wealth from outside financial consultants or government agencies. Each metal has different economic sensitivities, technical properties and uses. Gold is often used for ornamental purposes in jewelry design while silver has multiple industrial applications including electrical appliances, medical applications and batteries. Meanwhile, palladium shares many of the characteristics found in platinum but has even greater industrial uses as it's used in automotive catalytic converters, ceramic capacitors in chargeable electronics systems, groundwater treatment processes and manufacturing processes. Though investing in precious metals may provide many advantages, it is also crucial to be aware of any associated risks. Diversifying your portfolio and finding a dependable broker or dealer is crucial when purchasing and selling precious metals. Read Also: Is Investment Bankers/Brokers/Service A Good Career Path In 2021? 5 Reasons Why Bitcoins Are Considered Reliable Investments 5 New Assets To Diversify Your Investments In 2021

A Digital Asset Management Solution Overview

More businesses these days operate exclusively or mainly in the digital world. The digital frontier is the internet and the various software suites that companies use to access it. They might utilize cloud computing for the enhanced security that it offers. This also means that more companies have extensive and highly valuable digital assets. These businesses must frequently come up with safe yet innovative ways to manage them. We’ll talk about some digital asset management solution basics in the following article. In this article, we are going to speak with leading professionals from SPW Enterprises. They offer IT asset relocation in Malaysia to both big and small firms. They will help us shed some light on what are Digital Assets and why they need to be taken seriously in 2022. What Exactly Are Digital Assets? Before we get into the exact purpose of DAM, or digital asset management, you should understand what we mean when we use this particular term, “digital assets.” That’s kind of a catchall phrase that can include all sorts of things, but let’s run through what a company might mean when they use it. The most basic way to define the term is to say that digital assets are assets that come in a digital format. Digital simply means the asset in question appears in cyberspace. You cannot physically hold it in your hand. When a company uses the term “digital asset,” they also probably mean they have exclusive rights to it, and it is their sole prevenance. They would not use the word “asset” if that weren’t the case. Other companies or individuals cannot legally use it without permission or without paying a licensing fee. Digital assets might include slide decks, images, spreadsheets, files containing text, videos, photos, and so forth. Companies might have a tremendous amount of digital assets that are their intellectual property, or they might only have a few of them. That depends on how big the company is and what exactly it does. How Can You Manage Digital Assets? Now, let’s get into the digital asset management concept a little bit more. The reason the average company needs to produce digital assets is to help a customer. They must create the images, photos, text, etc., to help a customer or client through each buying journey phase. The “buying journey” is the route through which a company leads a client until they produce the finished product that the client wants. If the client wants to get to that end-stage where they’re happy with the deliverable, they must be part of this process through each development phase. It stands to reason that the digital assets a company creates for a client will include trade secrets of all kinds. The digital assets might feature new tech that the R and D department has produced. It could consist of images, crucial development data, lab test results, and more. If a company does not bother to get a digital asset management solution to handle all of that, they risk a data leak. Security is definitely one of the main reasons why businesses implement DAM systems. Convenience is another since a DAM system often adds structure and clarity when the client wants a project status update. What Specifically Can a DAM System Do? Different digital asset management systems have various functionalities. However, you can count on them to do a few basic things, regardless of the industry or project details. They can keep all the assets in a centralized location so both the developing company and the client can review them easily. They can look for a file based on its name, the copyright information, associated keywords, technical specifications, and its origin. If you’re one of these companies that are doing project development for clients, you’ll probably want a DAM system that allows you to find files quickly using advanced filters. If you’re in a vital project status meeting with a customer, they will expect no less. You’ll also want your DAM solution to ensure marketing and brand compliance. You might be in a field or you may represent clients who are in an area that has governing bodies which demand strict protocol adherence. You must comply with all licensing agreements because if you don’t, these governing bodies can levy heavy fines against you. You also want a DAM solution that speeds up the project’s time to market, assuming it’s a physical product the company that hired you is going to offer the public. The right digital asset management solution is one that helps you speed through the development process, so your client’s competitors don’t leave them in the dust. In short, companies that don’t utilize digital asset management solutions often find it hard to compete with ones that do. Read Also: A Guide to Choosing an Enterprise Document Management Solution How Can Master Data Management Help Your Business?

Creating a Sales Pipeline: Effective Steps To Do So

An effective sales pipeline allows teams to develop and execute strategies that convert prospects to buyers quickly and consistently. Establishing yield probability estimates at each stage helps teams determine monthly or quarterly revenue projections as well as spot bottlenecks in the process. Standardized processes help salespeople collaborate on a common strategy and shorten sales cycles. Defining The Pipeline A sales pipeline is an organized visual representation of your sales process. It not only tracks leads but also prospects from various stages to closing. Often described in terms of horizontal bars or funnels, sales pipelines typically represent various steps within an ideal customer profile (ICP) buying journey. For example, suspect, prospecting, analysis, and negotiating closing. It's crucial that these stages are identified clearly to set expectations among your salespeople. You can visit Clickfunnels to learn more. It is important to visualize the sales process. Beginning The Process Of Creating A Sales Pipeline Establishing your sales pipeline starts with collecting a list of prospective buyers. The latter must meet your company's target audience and ideal customer profile. Additionally, you might need their contact details and other pertinent details. Next, build buyer personas for each prospect. The more in-depth the personas are, the easier it will be to understand their pain points and specific challenges. As a result, you can customize your messaging appropriately. As part of building your pipeline, it can be helpful to develop a forecast based on your average sales cycle. You can also determine the length of each step in your sales process. This will give you a sense of how many leads and revenue are necessary at each pipeline stage, as well as whether your goals can be reached. At times, it's also essential to review your pipeline periodically in order to identify deals that have remained dormant for an extended period. Doing this will prevent your sales pipeline from becoming blocked up with old deals while setting realistic expectations about future performance. Identifying the Stages of the Pipeline When creating a sales pipeline, it is essential that each stage be identified. This will allow you to determine which steps a potential customer needs to go through before becoming ready to purchase and can also assist in tracking metrics like win rate and revenue. Once identified, lead nurture sequences can begin. Prospecting Prospecting is the initial stage in any sales pipeline. This involves identifying and cultivating leads through activities like marketing campaigns, social media engagement, email outreach, or cold calling to identify prospective leads who might be suitable candidates for your products and services. Here, the goal should be to uncover any mutual interests between yourself and a prospect that might indicate compatibility for sales success. One-On-One Meetings Once prospects reach the qualification stage, they're often eager to learn more about your company through an in-person meeting, free trial, or product demo, and can also include sales meetings. This step of your sales pipeline gives your team a crucial chance to differentiate your solution and establish credibility while gathering essential details such as budget and ownership information about each prospect. When selling to businesses, it is vital to fully comprehend their current problems and challenges so you can create an effective business case around how your products or services will address these challenges. Analysis The needs analysis stage of a sales pipeline typically includes meetings with stakeholders, competitor research, and establishing ROI projections, all designed to position your solution as the most cost-effective one on the market while crafting winning proposals. You can visit this site to learn more about ROI. Settling On Terms The final stage of your sales pipeline involves finalizing terms with prospects and preparing to implement your solution. Depending on the size and structure of the deal, this may involve negotiating pricing terms or legal issues as part of this phase. Measuring Your Sales Pipeline Success: Steps That Often Go Unnoticed Just like physical pipelines, pipelines have an endpoint or destination. This point corresponds with company sales goals or revenue targets. Identifying the Prospects A successful sales pipeline begins by creating an in-depth list of potential customers that aligns with the company's ideal customer profiles and target audiences. Additionally, it includes a number of prospects with rough pipeline stages. Therefore, the team is focused on only moving through promising prospects in its sales cycle. The next step is of paramount importance in the sales process. Here, the team analyzes lead scoring to identify hot leads from cold opportunities. Furthermore, it prevents sales reps from spending too much time with those who won't buy or aren't interested. In this step, they also create and foster relationships with prospective customers through scheduled meetings, product or service demos, and price quotes. As prospects progress through your pipeline, some may fall out while others will close. While this is expected, it's essential that you understand why some prospects drop out. For example, if 40% of your prospects drop off between the presentation and proposal stages, this could indicate problems with presentation or pricing that need fixing. Especially if you want to increase the pipeline conversion rate. Identifying any such problems early can help you fix them effectively while improving conversion rates. The Only Drawback… One of the biggest problems in sales pipeline management is when teams try to push deals through without fully comprehending customer needs. As a result, it leads to missed quotas and lost revenue for a company. To combat this problem, having a well-defined sales process with steps necessary for each prospect to become a customer is essential. Set up an ongoing sales review process to ensure everyone stays on track. Sales managers should meet with each rep once a week to review data in their CRM. The latter can be used to monitor how each is performing and compare it with quota goals. Finally, sales managers should ask each rep to quickly summarize each deal. So that they can give feedback or address any potential issues that may have surfaced during that week. Identifying the Opportunities At all stages of the sales pipeline, salespeople need to identify prospects through lead scoring. Hence, this method takes into account each prospect's needs and budget before moving them along to the next stage. Furthermore, leading technology can assist salespeople in prospecting, scoring, qualifying leads, and making sure no opportunities slip through the cracks. Utilizing sales team efficiency tools can increase efficiency and decrease workload. This ultimately frees them up to focus on nurturing relationships with customers instead of data entry or administration tasks. In turn, this can increase retention rates while decreasing customer churn rates. Furthermore, it's key that sales organizations establish clear goals for their sales pipeline on the basis of organizational revenue goals. Moreover, it should have clear communication with sales staff members regularly during performance reviews and regularly tracked via metrics. Conclusion An effective sales pipeline is in constant flux as new opportunities arrive and others move through its stages. Regularly clearing out stalled prospects helps ensure its smooth running. It also provides sales managers with an accurate view of its health. When creating a sales pipeline, it's vital to take into account both potential buyers and their average deal size. This will allow you to assess how many prospects are necessary in each sales stage. The goal is to meet targets and develop monthly or quarterly goals accordingly. Close ratio tracking can also provide valuable insight into the performance of your sales team as well as product value and pricing structure. This metric can assist in measuring how effective your team is in delivering services or selling products to customers.

Support As A Service For Your Company: Full Guidance And Useful Tips