The sectors that typically use BPO services to stay competitive are: health and healthcare, finance, tech, real estate, food service, education, and retail.
The sectors that typically use BPO services to stay competitive are: health and healthcare, finance, tech, real estate, food service, education, and retail. Of course, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) can positively impact businesses operating in just about any sector—if used correctly.
Rather than be all things to all people, the most effective BPOs specialize in key verticals. For example, Ubiquity covers healthcare, crypto & NFT, fintech and finserv, retail & eCommerce, utilities, insurance, logistics and shipping, and office administration.
How do businesses use BPO?
The way businesses use BPO has changed in recent years. Typically, BPO was used to cover back-office tasks that were essential but varied very little from business to business (HR, payroll etc), or front-office tasks where cost-cutting was the primary strategy (customer service or customer support).
Now businesses are using BPO in a much more collaborative and strategic way. That’s because the cost-first approach often negatively impacts CX when used for front-office applications. As customer experience (CX) has become as important as products or services for the 86% of consumers (according to research from Salesforce), the cheapest-first approach has quickly become a major misstep.
Businesses have also found that by working closely with CX-first BPO partners, they use their CX expertise to inform strategic decisions, design customized CX programs, and scale their operations more successfully.
How is BPO different in different sectors?
As we have explored above, there are some universal benefits for working with a BPO partner (if done right) but each industry also has its own particular challenges that need to be considered.
BPO for the financial industry
The financial sector (including the finserv and fintech worlds) has particular challenges when it comes to regulation and compliance. But with experience still a major concern, BPO partners operating in these areas need to be able to balance complexity with the need to deliver world-class CX.
But since the financial sector has extremely high customer churn rates and a troubled NPS track record—businesses that nail CX create big advantages.
You can dive deeper into BPO for finserve and fintech businesses (including how we helped boost one business’s NPS by 242%) on our BPO for fintech page.
BPO for the crypto and NFT industry
Alongside regulatory compliance, businesses operating in the crypto and NFT sector have a particular need for BPO services that cover fraud and money laundering protection.
The cryptocurrency market and specifically the NFT market is extremely fast moving. NFT transactions increased 8x between 2018 and 2020 (according to BeInCrypto)—a trend that shows no signs of stopping. This means businesses operating in this space also need to know their BPO partner to help them scale rapidly and sustainably to keep pace with the competition.
For more on this, including how CX can help you scale whilst building brand loyalty, check out our BPO for crypto and NFT page.
BPO for healthcare
The global rise in customer expectations has caused a shift towards value-based models of care—consequently, patient satisfaction (from consultation to contact center) is a top business priority.
With healthcare services, even the most administrative of tasks can occur at moments of extreme customer vulnerability. This means businesses in the health and healthcare sector are under increasing pressure to balance regulation and compliance with great CX, founded on empathy. As a result health and healthcare businesses need BPO providers that have deep regulatory knowledge, but couple it with market-leading agent service (e.g. from telehealth agents).
To find out how Ubiquity helps businesses achieve these goals check out our BPO for healthcare page.
As well as agent service founded on empathy, you’ll also find out how our back-office services helped one provider reduce their data management costs by 60%.
BPO for retail and eCommerce
In the wake of the pandemic, customer expectations around the digital capabilities of retail and eCommerce businesses have risen sharply. Add in the cost of living crisis and it’s easy to see why customer retention is at the top of the agenda for retail and eCommerce businesses.
There is also a more predictable generation shift at play, for example, 31% of Gen Z they prefer to shop online through non-traditional methods rather than by website according to research from the National Retail Federation.
Taken together, it becomes clear that retail and e-Commerce businesses need BPO services that deliver the business agility and allow for the creation of omni-channel digital experiences to meet shifting needs.
But they also need to know that the human-touch isn’t forgotten. After all, 69% of American customers still rate talking to a live agent by phone in their top three preferred methods of communication with a company’s customer service department, according to CX today.
To find out more about how a deeper connection with your customers can create a valuable CX-loop, check out our BPO for retail and eCommerce page.
You’ll have a chance to explore how we help businesses instill a CX-first culture and boost brand loyalty. Plus, how we help including an online shoe and fashion retailer boost live chat customer satisfaction to 91%.
BPO for utilities
Utilities has become one of the most volatile industries in the world. With price fluctuations and economic uncertainty an ever present risk, customers want to know that their suppliers both support them and understand their issues. Most customers are all too eager to switch providers if they don’t get the empathy-driven service they’re looking for.
In fact, 61% of customers say they’d switch to a competitor after one bad experience. In effect, they are willing to “pay a premium” for better service.
To find out more about how empathy-driven CX benefits customers, check out our BPO for Utilities page.
You can learn how Ubiquity manages meter operations and billing, sales and campaign management, integrated sales planning and analysis, supply chain and distribution order provisioning and management, technical support help desk, and procurement support services, not to mention customer service.
BPO for insurance
The insurance industry has a big problem with trust. How bad is it? An incredible 42% of customers don’t fully trust their insurer, according to research from IBM Institute of Business Value.
The biggest winners in the insurance sector will be the businesses that provide elite service built on engaged and focused contact points. They’ll combine highly trained staff with access to the most relevant data, to reduce calling times and improve first call resolution rates.
To find out how BPO services can help you build customer trust, check out our BPO for insurance page.
You’ll be able to explore how Ubiquity covers key functions such as: policy administration, front-end services (covering sales, conversions, quotes, and cross-selling and up-selling), new business support, policy reinstatements and quotes, all inbound customer service considerations, fund applications, billing, refunds, change administration, account reconciliation, and end-to-end claims support.
BPO for logistics and shipping
Customers know what’s possible when it comes to service in the logistics and shipping sector. The incumbents offer faster, more efficient, and more easily traceable solutions every year. Challenger businesses need to keep up or face an exodus of customers.
With the right BPO provider you can ensure you’re on hand with the right support, on the right channel, at the right time for your customers—that’s the key to building customer loyalty through seamless issue resolution.
To find out the right BPO partner can help you be there for your customers 24/7, check out our BPO for logistics and shipping page.
You learn how Ubiquity helps businesses leverage their data to: create new efficiencies in operations and deliveries, analyze how quickly delays or service interruptions are resolved, provider customer engagement across all touchpoints, enable smarter operations (including PO creation, global tracking, equipment control, terminal operations, transshipments, and cross-docking), cover documentation, finance, and sales/trade management.
BPO for office administration
Great CX is built on smart use of your employees’ time. If your teams are swamped with repetitive tasks, it not only takes time away from their core responsibilities, it demotivates and drains them in the process.
With the right BPO partner, you can turn your back office into a powerhouse, allowing you to focus your efforts on your strategic business goals.
To find out the right BPO partner to alleviate the perpetual burden of back-office tasks, check out our BPO for office administration page.
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