Today, technology is very important for businesses. They need it to work and to grow. However, the technology requires technical support to achieve great results. Providing such support is a common challenge among small and medium-sized enterprises as they don’t always have the resources needed, like dedicated support staff. A good solution that many businesses found is technical support outsourcing. Doing this allows them to hand over this important task to third-party vendors, which then results in lower costs and freed up internal resources. However, with benefits come downsides.
In this article, we will discuss the good and bad things about hiring other companies to do your technical support. If you own a business, this can help you make smart decisions.
What are the Pros?
Save on costs. Compared to the traditional way of hiring and training internal support staff, outsourcing technical support helps businesses save on costs. It also gives them access to resources that are not always available in-house. For example, a small software development company may choose to outsource technical support from a country where the labor costs are lower. By doing that, the company can give really good support without spending too much money.
Scalability. When technical support is outsourced, businesses can easily scale their support operations needed, whether for the purpose of growing or shrinking the business. This can be particularly helpful when the demands are high, such as during product launches or seasonal fluctuations. For instance, an online store might hire another company to do their technical support during the busy holiday season when more customers need help than usual.
Increased efficiency. Businesses can improve their response times and reduce customer wait times by outsourcing technical support. In doing so, their customer satisfaction level is increased. An example would be a financial services company outsourcing its technical support to a vendor that specializes in financial software support. This allows them to provide faster and more specialized support to their customers, which results in increased customer satisfaction.
Access to specialized skills. What businesses don’t have in-house, they can find outsourced. There could be certain skills and knowledge that the business requires that can only be found through outsourcing. For example, a healthcare company requires technical support for its electronic medical records. They can find a vendor that specializes in healthcare technology.
Focus on core business. By outsourcing technical support, businesses can focus on their core business. They can use their time to improve their areas of expertise and plan actions. Doing this helps businesses remain competitive and responsive in a fast-changing market.
Also read: 5 Reasons Your Business Needs an Outsourcing IT Consultant Firm
What are the Cons?
Quality control. If businesses hire other companies for technical support, they have to trust that those companies know what they’re doing and act professionally. If the quality of support provided by the vendor is below standard, it can make the business look bad and hurt its reputation. For example, if a telecommunications company outsources technical support from another country and their performance is bad, they will get customer complaints about low-quality support. Negative reviews will tarnish the reputation of the business.
Language barriers. Language barriers and misunderstandings are common problems when technical support is outsourced. This usually occurs when a company hires another company for technical support in a country where people don’t primarily speak English.
Data security. Data protection is very important in business. When a customer’s data is leaked or compromised in any way, it could lead to legal problems. When choosing a technical support vendor, businesses must ensure that the vendor adheres to relevant data protection regulations. They must ensure that customer data is being handled securely.
Lack of control. Businesses may feel like they lack control over the support process and the quality of support being provided to them by third-party vendors. However, they can’t do anything about it. If having full control is a priority in the business, this drawback will certainly affect the business. Even though they want to oversee every aspect of their business operations, they won’t be able to do so, and they just have to trust their chosen vendor.
Cultural differences. If a company hires another company for technical support in a different country, there might be cultural differences that can cause problems. There will also be communication problems, and it also leads to poor quality of service. This drawback is inevitable since the company and the vendor may have different beliefs and practices that they both want to uphold.
Overall, outsourcing technical support can be an effective solution for businesses trying to spend less money and make their support better. However, businesses must carefully think about the potential drawbacks before making the decision to outsource as these could negatively affect their business in several ways. This action will result in them making an informed and strategic decision that will benefit their customers and their net income.
Leave a comment