Retail customer service is the bread and butter of online and brick-and-mortar retail businesses. With customers expecting high-quality customer service, it’s time for brands to step up their customer support game. In an article by Zendesk, just having a lot of bad experiences with poor customer service is enough for most customers (73%) to shift their loyalty to a competitor. As your business grows and the market economy evolves, choosing to outsource retail customer service to the Philippines is a wise venture.
The Philippines is home to a plethora of call centers and BPO (business process outsourcing) companies. No wonder the country has earned a well-deserved reputation for being the world’s BPO and call center capital. Let’s talk about why businesses outsource customer service to the Philippines.
Cultural and Linguistic Compatibility
Due to the country’s history, Filipino culture is a fascinating blend of Eastern and Western values. For many businesses based in the USA or any Western country, the Philippines is an attractive candidate for outsourcing. This helps minimize cultural clashes and misunderstandings between you and your Filipino retail customer service team.
Moreover, Filipinos are fluent in English. As of 2023, the Philippines places second among Asian countries in terms of English proficiency, as reported by the EF English Proficiency Index.
Plus, the neutral English accent of Filipinos and their ability to converse in business English give them an edge in voice retail customer service — ensuring clear and professional communication across the board. All these factors, therefore, contribute to a brand’s willingness to outsource retail customer service to the Philippines.
Hospitable
Hospitality is the staple of Filipino culture. This trait is manifested not just in the family, but also in the workplace. When you outsource retail customer service to the Philippines, expect your offshore Filipino staff to provide the best customer care to your clients. Because they feel heard and valued, your business is more likely to retain these customers who can become loyal to your brand.
Lower Labor and Overhead Costs
Apart from culture and language, cost-effectiveness is also one of the factors why businesses abroad outsource retail customer service to the Philippines. By hiring offshore staff, you can drive more profit to your business without sacrificing the quality of customer care your overseas staff provides to your clients.
Unlike employing onshore staff, you don’t have to invest in a bigger office space to accommodate your new team. Computers and internet connectivity are not an issue either as the Filipino staff you’re going to outsource retail customer service to have the necessary equipment to get the job done.
Robust Data Privacy and Protection
The government’s support for the BPO industry extends not only to skills training and development, but also to the country’s legislation concerning data privacy and protection.
Since BPOs handle a multitude of customer data, they are obliged to protect such data from unauthorized access — accidental or otherwise — under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 or Republic Act No. 10173.
If violated, BPO firms will face penalties, which include fines and imprisonment. If you outsource retail customer service to the Philippines, rest assured that your outsourcing partner will have security measures in place to prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands.
BPO vs. Freelancer: Factors to Consider When Outsourcing Retail Customer Service
In retail customer service, your workforce is the backbone of your business. If your business is attending to a large volume of customer inquiries, you can hire a team of freelancers or partner with a BPO company to boost operational efficiency. Either way, be sure to take note of the following factors before outsourcing retail customer service.
Freelancers
1. Time-Flexibility
Because freelancers are their own bosses, they can work according to their preferred schedules. Freelancers are also based in different geographical regions, which means they can provide 24/7 retail customer service support. This ensures that your customers’ needs and concerns are resolved day or night. While the time zone difference can work to your advantage, take note that freelancers work on multiple projects with different clients.
2. Scalability
There are instances when your business will face an influx of customer needs. When you outsource retail customer service to freelancers, you can scale your workforce as needed to ensure timely, round-the-clock support and customer satisfaction.
3. Data Privacy
Freelancers often work from home or in public places like cafes, with the latter a cesspool of malware and cyberattacks. While they are equipped with the proper retail customer service skills as full-time employees, data privacy and protection remain a concern for businesses. Unless you provide freelancers with access to data security tools or orient them with your brand’s security practices, you risk compromising sensitive customer data.
BPOs
1. Time-Flexibility
BPOs operate 24/7, and what better way to provide real-time customer support than to follow your country’s time zone? With the flexibility of BPO employees — especially Filipinos — your business can enjoy high-quality, round-the-clock retail customer service without all the long wait times.
2. Scalability
BPO firms can scale according to the demands of their client. This can mean hiring more voice or non-voice retail customer service agents or downsizing the workforce without sacrificing the efficiency and quality of customer service.
3. Data Privacy
Much like freelancers, BPO companies also have access to sensitive customer information. One edge that Philippine-based BPOs have against freelancers is better data privacy and protection, all thanks to the Data Privacy Act of 2012. These companies have data security policies in place to prevent breaches of confidentiality. As such, BPOs make for a safer option to outsource retail customer service.
5 Steps to Outsource Retail Customer Service to the Philippines
Outsourcing retail customer service doesn't have to end up in a sour experience. This tutorial will walk you through the steps of outsourcing, from assessing the status of your retail brand to meeting and working with your Filipino customer service agents.
Step 1: Do A Holistic Assessment of Your Retail Business
From your employees and customers down to the daily workload, examine the current needs of your retail business. Maybe your business’s voice or email retail customer service has become a source of stress due to increased call or email volumes, and there’s not enough staff to cover peak hours or seasons or certain tasks, such as product replacements and refunds. Understanding these issues can help you assess if you need to outsource retail customer service overseas.
Step 2: Define your Goals for Outsourcing and Prepare A Contract
After assessing your business needs, your next step is to establish goals for outsourcing retail customer service. You can also start drafting a contract outlining the following details:
- Scope and complexity of the retail customer service
- Performance benchmarks
- Data protection and confidentiality clause
- Termination clause
A contract is a legally binding document that benefits the goals and interests of your business and your outsourcing partner. To avoid ambiguity and contract disputes, every clause must be clear, precise, and straightforward.
Step 3: Find A BPO Partner In the Philippines and Close the Deal
The Philippines is a treasure trove of the best BPO companies. While you won’t be out of options, finding the right outsourcing partner is paramount to the success of your business’s retail customer service. Do your research and choose reputable outsourcing companies with proven track records in the retail customer service industry.
Looking up client testimonials or reaching out to former or current clients also does wonders in your search. This way, you can better gauge if a BPO firm is reliable and capable of providing high-quality retail customer service through various communication channels, including email, phone, and live chat.
Getting up to speed with Filipino culture and Philippine laws doesn’t hurt, too. Once you’ve chosen a BPO company, present and discuss the terms of your contract. After closing the deal, the company will onboard the most qualified employees for your business.
Step 4: Meet and Train Your New Filipino Retail Customer Service Staff
Your first meeting with your Filipino agents need not be awkward. To facilitate hassle-free virtual communication between you, your Filipino staff, and their team leader or point of contact (POC), use Microsoft Teams, Skype, or any platform your business uses.
Share training manuals and scripts and orient them about your business’s etiquette and workflow. When your Filipino staff is knowledgeable of the ins and outs of your business, they can represent your brand, handle the rigors of retail customer service, resolve customer issues, and meet KPIs.
Step 5: Conduct Regular Feedback Sessions
To maintain exceptional retail customer service, BPO employees undergo regular coaching from their team leader and clients. When reviewing the performance of your customer agents, take into account the following metrics:
- Customer satisfaction and feedback
- Customer hold times and handover rates
- Response times
- First-call resolution
Providing constructive feedback to your Filipino customer service agents equips them with the necessary skills to resolve complex customer issues faster. Giving kudos to your agents for a stellar performance or an achievement also motivates them to do better. With a successful team of customer agents at your beck and call, your brand can retain more customers and build a solid reputation.
Outsource Retail Customer Service to the Philippines Now
Nowadays, a brand’s reputation is built not just on its products, but also on the quality of retail customer service it provides. With seasonality, peak hours, and omnichannel customer support contributing to an influx of customer inquiries, outsourcing to a BPO like KDCI makes all the difference.
Since 2011, KDCI has provided clients with state-of-the-art customer service. With our pool of talented agents, we are confident of their ability to provide exemplary customer support and improve your brand’s image.
Learn more about outsourcing retail customer service. Contact us today!
