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

16 April 2021

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.

Contents

1 Support as a service: what is it
- 1.1 An in-house customer support department-
  - 1.1.1 Pros:
  - 1.1.2 Cons:
- 1.2 An outsourced customer support team-
  - 1.2.1 Pros:
  - 1.2.2 Cons:
2 Support as a service: who uses it
3 Available services-
4 Support as a service: how to start
- - - 4.0.0.1 Read Also:

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.

Read Also:

Ariana Smith

I enjoy writing and I write quality guest posts on topics of my interest and passion. I have been doing this since my college days. My special interests are in health, fitness, food and following the latest trends in these areas. I am an editor at Content Rally.

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How To Make Sure You Get The Best Service From Your IT Supplier

The advent of the internet has transformed how various organizational activities are conducted. Many businesses have incorporated IT into their business operations to keep up with the drastic changes caused by the internet. So, how does IT improve business operations? IT fosters the creation of different innovations that affect how business operations are conducted. For instance, the various IT processes help improve data storage, aids in broader and more efficient dissemination of information between multiple departments, and faster business operations processing. A business with an efficient IT process provides better quality services and has high productivity levels. Given how essential IT is to businesses' smooth functioning, you must get the best services from your IT supplier. What are the factors to consider when you are looking for better services from your IT supplier? Several factors play a part in determining how efficient your IT supplier will be. Looking for better service from your IT supplier? Below is an outline of the significant factors: 1. Choosing the IT supplier based on your needs The IT needs of your businesses determine the type of IT supplier suited for it. There are different types of IT suppliers, each providing a broad range of hardware, software, and IT services. They include: Manufactures: These suppliers sell their products and offer essential IT services. These suppliers are desirable if you are confident that you only need someone to provide you with IT services and support. Specialist suppliers: These IT professionals have expertise in a specific field, let's say, management systems or customer relations. Resellers: These mainly act as agents for hardware manufacturers. Nonetheless, some of them also offer software and a wide range of IT services and support. System integrators: These IT professionals deliver an integrated working station by selecting appropriate hardware and software depending on your specific needs. Consultants: These provide consultancy services tailored to meet the IT needs of your business. Consultants also sell services like IT setup and installation. 2. Creating a sufficient budget for IT Your IT budget determines the quality of services you get from your supplier. Most IT suppliers provide different types of services, including cloud backup services, monitoring services, maintenance services, data backup and restoration, firewall services, cybersecurity services, and provision of firewalls. The types of services your IT suppliers provide you will depend on your IT budgetary allocation. If your budget is low, you will likely afford only the essential IT services. Conversely, if you have sufficient budgetary allocations, you'll be able to afford vital IT services that will help improve your organizational efficiency and productivity. 3. Consolidating your IT services Some organizations have in-house IT personnel. Such organizations mostly rely on the services of this personnel for most of their IT solutions. However, there are IT services that the in-house personnel cannot provide. In such a case, the organization source for services of outside IT companies. While there is an option of getting these services from many companies, it is better to consolidate these services from a single supplier. Doing this fosters good relations with the given supplier. It also aids in their quick execution of the IT services, given that they are familiar with your system. Other benefits of consolidating your IT services with one supplier include: You will save on money and reduce the need to make repeat procurements. It gives you better bargaining power when negotiating for prices, given that you deal with one supplier repeatedly. It minimizes the failure of critical business services. 4. Choosing an IT supplier with a proven efficiency track record There are numerous IT suppliers available. However, the quality of services they provide differ. As such, it is vital that you choose a company that offers the best IT services. Some of the factors that determine an IT supplier's efficiency include the ability to complete IT services in time, availability of maintenance services, and ability to provide high-quality services. You can find such a company through referrals, checking their reviews on the internet, or outrightly researching on the internet on how suitable supplier's services are in fulfilling your IT needs. 5. Fostering a good relationship with the IT supplier Like the case with other suppliers, fostering good relationships with your IT supplier plays a massive part in the quality of services they will offer you. Some of the ways you can do this are by: Ensuring that you pay for their services promptly. Prompt payment reduces the chances of any disagreements with the supplier, leading to them opting to stop working with you. You are offering them reasonable prices for their services. When you pay your IT supplier affordable prices, there is a high probability that they will want to retain you as a client. Moreover, they will strive to provide top-notch services that ensure that your business grows. Renewing their contracts: When your IT services are offered by one supplier repeatedly, the chances are that they will become vested in your business such that they will work towards ensuring your business succeeds. 6. Choosing a company that offers a wide variety of IT services Working with a single IT company helps you foster a good relationship with the supplier and cut your IT services costs. When you work with a single IT supplier, you reduce costs such as procurement costs. Some of the IT services that you should consider when choosing an IT supplier include: Managed IT services: These include handling of remote servers, device and desktop management. These services will ensure that your system works smoothly. Cloud backup services: The supplier should know how to store your data on the cloud to be available even when the server has a malfunction. Monitoring services: keeping an eye on the server's net traffic, security, communication, and any other monitoring services that your system may need. Data back up and restoration: Should offer data backup with both external data centers and the cloud. You, therefore, won't have to worry about losing your data in case of any unforeseen problems such as malicious intrusions, natural occurrences, and hardware failure. Firewall services: Firewall services are vital in ensuring that your enterprise is insulated from cyber attacks. Preferably, your IT supplier should have a hybrid network with additional control and network monitoring abilities outside of the normal rulesets. Antivirus protection: Your supplier should provide you with up-to-date antivirus to protect your IT systems from any malware that may lead to the loss of sensitive data. Remote services: Your It supplier should be flexible enough to provide you with IT services even from remote locations. This can be beneficial, especially if you are outsourcing services and there is an abrupt IT problem. Some of the services these IT professionals can solve remotely include software repair, IT support services, and software updates. Mobile and remote networking: Your supplier should install mobile networking services in your system that enable your employees to work off-site using computers or mobile devices. Data analytics: Your supplier should install data analysis software or personally analyze the data to help your enterprise process information such that the data can produce usable information. Networking services: Networking encompasses activities that are geared towards ensuring your business has an efficient network. The supplier should build efficient network infrastructure, setting up devices like LAN, Reuters, Modems, optimization, security, and other factors essential in creating a seamless network. Unified communication: The supplier should provide you with software that unifies all communications in your enterprise in a single space, such as the UC software. Communication management: Efficient communication within the various departments is crucial to your business's smooth flow. As such, your IT supplier should provide you with universal communication software that incorporates messaging from chat, voice call, video call, and email. Such a system will ensure that there is an efficient flow of information between the personnel from different departments. It can also aid in creating efficient communication with outside parties such as suppliers and creditors. 7. Choose an IT supplier that has experience in working with a company like yours. There are different types of IT suppliers. Each of them has the expertise to provide solutions that are tailored to specific businesses. Working with a company that is averse to IT solutions to businesses similar to yours ensures that you get the best services from proven industry professionals. The recent increase in internet usage and technology demands that every business have an IT department to run smoothly. While there are several IT suppliers to choose from, knowing which supplier is best suited for your company is essential to ensuring that your business gets the best IT services. The first step to ensuring that you get the best IT services is choosing an IT provider that offers services that meet your needs. Some of the ways you can do this include ensuring that they charge affordable prices for their services, offer a wide range of services, are available whenever you need their services, and offer excellent IT services. Getting such a company will ensure that your business's operations run smoothly and that your productivity increases. Read Also: 6 Crucial Aspects to Consider Before Starting a Business Why OKRs Help Businesses Grow and Improve Top 10 Best Serial Entrepreneur Of All Time – 2021 Update

Unleash The Benefits Of Choosing The Right Water Provider

The water provider you use for your business water needs isn’t necessarily the right one for you. Being familiar with them or having a longstanding contract doesn’t guarantee that you’re receiving the best deal you possibly can. It doesn’t even occur to some people to switch water suppliers, it can seem like an unnecessary step to take. However, switching your water suppliers fairly regularly can actually cut down on your water bills. Watching your usage won’t be as effective of a strategy for reducing costs if the tariff you’re paying is quite high. Therefore, it is important to compare prices offered by different water suppliers in your area, so that you can make sure that you are always paying the best possible rate for your water consumption. Better Prices Finding a different supplier for your business water needs can actually reduce your water bill. You will find that different suppliers offer different deals and tariffs. Staying with the same supplier can lead to paying higher tariffs than necessary. There could be a better deal out there for you but you won’t find it if you don’t at least go looking! You can easily compare multiple suppliers simultaneously to find the best deal, find out more, and see what’s on offer. Tailored Packages Aside from finding better tariffs when you look at other water suppliers, you might also find that they have packages that are better tailored to your needs. You may also find the different suppliers will allow you to create your own tailored package at a better rate. By comparing the different suppliers and their offerings, you can make sure you get the best possible deal that meets your individual needs Better Customer Service If you’re unhappy with the level of service that you’re receiving from your current supplier, that’s more than enough reason to switch suppliers. Customer service is an important part of your choice of supplier. You want to feel secure in the knowledge that any issues you may encounter will be resolved quickly and professionally. You’ll also want to deal with a supplier who is quick to respond to you when you need assistance. Same Water Quality The water you receive will still be as good with a different supplier. The water quality will not change because you change providers! The water quality will still be great but you will also have other benefits such as better tariffs. There are more reasons to switch water suppliers than there are to stay with the same supplier. Easy To Switch For some people, the only reason they are still with the same water provider is that they aren’t aware they can switch. Alternatively, most people believe that switching energy suppliers is actually harder than it is. The process is fairly simple and hassle-free. We’ll break it down into a few easy steps! • Keep track of important dates on your existing water contract. This means you should know when the contract expires and when the notice period starts and ends. • Send your termination letter to your current supplier within your notice period. If you don’t, you may have to pay a cancellation fee. You may also have to pay this fee if you decide to terminate your contract early. • Now, all you have to do is find your new supplier before your existing contract expires. Once you've chosen your supplier and signed your contract; they will handle the rest for you! Streamline Water Bills If you have multiple sites for your business, switching to one water supplier for all the sites can streamline the bill-paying process. You can sometimes get better deals from water suppliers if you’re using them to supply water to multiple locations. You can also reduce your costs across the board if one supplier has a favorable tariff. This will also mean less hassle and paperwork as you can have all your sites covered in one agreement and one contract. So instead of keeping track of multiple expiration dates, you’ll just have to worry about the one. Final Thoughts The provider you have isn’t necessarily the right provider for your business. There are always new deals being offered by different suppliers. You’ll miss out on deals that might be right for you if you don’t keep an eye out for better! Always compare your current supplier with other suppliers as your contract nears the end. You may find that a new supplier is offering you a better tariff or tailored package than the supplier you’ve already established a relationship with. Additionals: 4 Simple And Cheap Methods To Attract More Customers Tips for ensuring your company’s customers are content with its content Your Ad Can Show To A Potential Customer When Your Targeted Language Matches

How to Choose Insurance When Launching Your HHA Business

If you have decided to make a career in the home healthcare aide industry or set up a home healthcare aide agency, you already have a fair idea of how to set up your business. You know what kind of qualifications you need, or you must seek in your employees, and know what inherent qualities, such as compassion and patience, are needed to succeed in this field. However, many HHA agencies start out without a comprehensive insurance plan covering them, and this can prove to be a dangerous lapse. Take a look at some facts that were outlined in a report by NERA Economic Consulting, commissioned by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. In the year 2008, small businesses in America paid up a total of over $105 billion towards tort liability. Small businesses absorbed about $35.6 billion of tort costs and paid from their funds, not through insurance. Medical malpractice costs plus other tort liability cost for small businesses amount to over $133.4 billion. The fact is that no small business owner wants to think about being dragged into a lawsuit when they are just about to embark on the business, but this is not something that can be ignored. The potential costs are simply too high, and they can push your fledgling business to the brink of ruin. Remember that letting a claim go unchallenged is not a very good option for you either, since your inaction may be taken as an admission of guilt by potential/future clients. This could impair your future business drastically. Given the disastrous consequences that a lawsuit against your agency can have, it makes business sense for you to get insurance cover in place as one of your top priority items when you set up your HHA agency. This also true if you are setting up a non-medical HHA agency. In fact, take a look at this step by step guide to setting up such an HHA agency, and you will see insurance coverage listed here as one of the critical tasks to do. Can liability insurance cover you effectively? The answer is a resounding YES! A savvy business owner knows that insurance is a simple, effective way to protect the business financially. Legal issues tend to run up bills that can be huge, even if you can prove your innocence and do NOT have to pay damages. There are costs associated with fighting your lawsuit, remember, and without the right insurance in place, it is your business that absorbs all these costs. To prevent this, you need to opt for the right kind of insurance plans to cover all your bases. Take a look at what you need: General liability insurance explained: This is broader base insurance that is often referred to as business liability insurance. For example, if your aide accidentally damages some medical equipment that is at the patient’s place when they are operating it, this insurance may kick in to cover any costs arising from legal claims made against you for property damage or bodily injuries resulting from your services or operations. Malpractice liability explained: This insurance coverage kicks in when a claim is made against services you or your aide have provided. There may be patients or family members of patients alleging that you/ your aide were negligent in duties or there was a failure to perform services as claimed or that you gave wrong advice that led to some detriment to the patient. In any such situations where you are accused of a lapse in medical care that has led to some harm to the patient, your malpractice liability insurance helps cover the risk. Wrap: Knowing how your insurance plan protects your business helps you tackle legal claims with confidence, challenging allegations that are falsely made against you. Talk to your insurer and understand the many benefits that your insurance plan provides because this may be your lifesaver in a challenging situation with a client. Read Also: Finding The Right Hospital Your Simple Guide To GAP Insurance

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