From Process Outsourcer to CX Managed Services Provider

Author: Beth Schultz, Vice President of Research and Principal Analyst

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Understanding Opportunities & Challenges for BPO CX

Business process outsourcers (BPOs) specializing in customer service and support are in a curious position today, at once facing opportunities and challenges associated with the latest contact center and customer experience (CX) trends. These both are operational as well as technological in scope.

Regarding the agent workforce, for example, as contact center leaders grapple with attrition amid a tight job market and the challenges of remote/hybrid work demand, BPOs can fulfill a vital staffing need for them. This presents a great opportunity for BPOs. In many cases, however, any old agent won’t do—and therein lies the challenge. As they seek to optimize CX, companies are striving to offer a more highly skilled, deeply knowledgeable, and responsible pool of agents capable of addressing a customer’s most difficult questions and, in so doing, driving up customer ratings. In Metrigy’s Customer Experience Optimization: 2023-24 global research study, most of the 641 companies benchmarked are hiring agents with more skills and experience than they have in the past. Building a more knowledgeable agent pool is particularly important to BPOs, which must differentiate on service. As such, BPOs are upskilling their own agent pools at a higher rate than companies in other industries, at 68.4% compared to 55.0%.

The rising tide around CX technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and self-service also pose opportunities and challenges for BPOs. Let’s first look at the challenge. AI, automation, and self-service have become critically important to CX optimization today for their ability to streamline agent processes and reduce their workloads, keep appropriate customer interactions from ever reaching a live agent, reduce time to resolution for interactions that do require live assistance, and so on. Along with the addition of these technologies into the CX mix comes the potential to do more with fewer agents. Consider the impact of AI alone: Metrigy’s CX Optimization study shows that companies not using AI in 2023 were poised to hire 2.3 more agents than those using AI. Correspondingly, when they’re achieving more with fewer agents because of technology advancements, companies may adjust their outsourcing strategies.

Table of Contents

  • Understanding Opportunities & Challenges for BPO CX
    • BPO Industry Overview
    • Why BPOs Need a Strong CX Strategy
  • Investing in AI and Automation for BPO Success
    • AI Technologies for BPO CX
      • Agent Assist for Helping Agents as They Engage with End Customers
      • Virtual Assistance During Customer Interactions
      • Generative AI for Agents and End Customers
      • WFO/WEM for Agent Empowerment
      • Workflow Automation (WFA) for Agent Efficiency
  • Delivering CX Consistency Across All Interaction Channels
  • Conclusions & Recommendations