BPO stands for a Business Process Outsourcing company that gives a variety of services some companies cannot provide for themselves either due to lack of suitable personnel or resources to fulfill the task. Examples of this would be chat systems, content moderation, web design, app development, and search engine optimization. They are considered as supporting forces for other companies. BPO companies hire people that meet the required experiences, skills, and knowledge for the outsourced project or task.

What are the types of BPOs?

BPO services are classified into front office and back office services. The front office services deal with B2C interactions, as in those that take place in customer assistance. Think of it as the “face” of the company that holds one-on-one conversations with customers. Back office deals with interactions  and processes involved in sustaining the business. Their responsibilities focus on accounting, tech support, handling finances and taxes, website maintenance, and even managing strategies for marketing and  brand management.

BPO is also sub-divided into five key services:

1. Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) is the kind of customer service that hires specialists and experts to aid in complex end-user concerns. It is typical in escalations, wherein the issue is more suited for a personnel belonging to a higher tier of client assistance.

2. Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) is a type of KPO best suited for back office transactions. It caters mostly to legal services, or basically anything that touches on the spectrum of legality such as researching, processing documents, and providing legal counsel.

3. Research Process Outsourcing (RPO) takes on projects and tasks that focus on data analysis and research for investment and advertising firms. 

4. Information Technology-Enabled Services (ITES) focus on hiring IT experts who are capable of serving under the areas of analysis and support.

5. Travel -based services benefit greatly from BPO through expanding the breadth of customers they can accommodate across multiple locations while processing reservations and booking destinations.

BPO services are divided further into three variations of sellers or business setups:

1. Offshore is the term used to refer to sellers located outside the area or country where the hiring company is based. For example, an Australian company may hire an offshore BPO company based in Ukraine.

2. Nearshore, as the name suggests, describes sellers who are neighbors to the BPO company contracting services. An example of this is an Australian company availing services from a BPO company that is located in the Philippines.

3. Onshore, the last category, describes a BPO company who hires and avails services from another BPO company whose office is located within their region or country. For example, a company from Melbourne employs the assistance of an onshore BPO service in Sydney, Brisbane, or Cairns.

Now that the main roles and work setups involved in BPO companies have been defined, next to be discussed are the emerging trends in business process outsourcing this 2020.

2020 Business Process Outsourcing Trends:

1. Pair Up with AI
2. Get Cloud-Based
3. Upgrade Employee Skill Set
4. Personalized Outsourcing
5. Fortify with Cybersecurity
6. Utilize Social Media
7. Leveled Up Transparency

1. Pair Up with AI

Artificial intelligence is the next big thing in business process outsourcing trends since companies in this industry are used to automating and categorizing data, sending invoices, and processing bills. These are just a few instances, but imagine pairing up your in-house team with AI technology. Operations would dramatically increase in speed and productivity. 

2. Get Cloud-Based

The cloud is one of the rising business process outsourcing industry trends. It is also an incoming standard for data storage and processing. Some business owners do not have the resources for state-of-the-art offices or storage for data. To cope with this dilemma, they use the cloud, an online-based storage and processor of data. It eases costs on business and company owners alike since they do not need to spend extra cash to expand storage of files alone. It is effective in enhancing organization since archiving information is automatic once files are uploaded to the cloud’s network of servers. Additionally, paperless is the new norm in organizing important company documents, making it even more timely to use the cloud’s data center.

3. Upgrade in Employee Skill Set

Nowadays, it is not enough that your employees specialize in one skill. Having them learn multiple skills is important to hone versatility and adaptability. Honing your employees’ skills and adding new ones increases productivity through multitasking. Multitasking allows you and your employees to finish tasks fast. On the other hand, you must also be careful not to let your staff experience burnout. Training your employees and pushing them to be better is good, just remember to take care of them as well, and they will take care of your company too.

4. Personalized Outsourcing

Personalization allows your customers to choose which services they need instead of advertising and providing an array of services that they do not even need. This kind of outsourcing gives you leverage among the rest since you cater to what the customer wants and needs, and you are not just giving them an entirely generic bundle of services.

5. Fortify with Cybersecurity

Several companies have had their own share of “I’ll See you in Court” experiences brought by instances of breaching user data privacy. This is not good for a business since you are increasing doubt in the minds of potential customers and discouraging loyalty. In order to prevent that from happening, fortify the data you have with cybersecurity. Create firewalls, strengthen your barriers against hackers to be able to foster a sense of safety for your community and business.

6.  Utilize Social Media

Today’s most visited websites on the planet are platforms designed for social networking. According to Buffer, the top five most visited social media websites are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Messenger, and WeChat. Imagine the number of people who visit these sites daily. It is one of the many business process outsourcing market trends that truly reaches your target customers and gets them to engage with you. It allows more traffic and better response to the algorithm of the sites so you get noticed more.

7. Leveled Up Transparency

Customers want to know what they are getting into. They want to know the benefits they can gain from the products and services that you provide. Be open and show them what they are getting in return for choosing your brand. This fosters trust and derails their thoughts of you and your company being sketchy. Transparency equates to trust so you and your customer would have a long-lasting relationship.

Aside from using the BPO trends in this blog as your reference, another excellent option is to employ trusted companies such as New Media Services (NMS) for your BPO needs. NMS provides different types of services ranging from live chat and customer support to machine learning and virtual assistant services to content moderation. Check out their website to learn more about the BPO and outsourcing services they have to offer.