When you’re evaluating potential business process outsourcing (BPO) partners, you probably know it’s essential to look into their areas of expertise, services offered and availability across time zones. But did you know that the actual brick-and-mortar locations your outsourcing provider has around the world can either be advantageous for your BPO business partnership – or limit (and even derail) you at some point?
Here’s why it’s in your best interest to make sure your BPO partner has each strategic location of theirs planned out intentionally, so you can reap the benefits.
Better Coverage
At Conectys, we have nine physical sites across seven countries around the world – and this means we have our lights on 24/7, even when you’re sleeping or unable to respond to your customers. If your business needs to have reliable, around-the-clock support, whether, for technical or customer service purposes, you’ll get better coverage with a global partner than you would with a company based in one place or one region. Our customers can get ideal coverage for their hours of operation across a variety of time zones, and we can always cover the hours you can’t. No exceptions.
Regional Benefits
As great as 24/7 coverage is, that’s hardly the main benefit of your BPO partner having the right brick-and-mortar facilities. It’s important to also consider what specific gains you get from each of the geographic locations. Every region around the world has not only different cultural nuances and laws, but it also has advantages and disadvantages in terms of the labor pool, skill sets, languages, training, and more. It goes without saying that understanding all of these factors – and their impact – can make or break your success. Let’s say that you’ve expanded to an area that makes sense for your product from a market standpoint. But, you may not understand all the cultural, legal, and other nuances in that place. This is where it can mean all the difference to have a BPO partner like Conectys who is in that place already and does understand those things, so they can help you navigate them effectively.
When we expanded to the Philippines, for instance, we chose Davao City and the second site in Iloilo because of the friendly and courteous talent pool there, and the cost-effectiveness of operating there. Additionally, we understood that our locations in the Philippines have a lower cost of living, higher quality of life, and a lower propensity to natural disasters versus more popular areas such as Manila and Cebu which have become over-saturated.
Specifically, with lower rates of natural disasters, we could realize true global business continuity across our sites and share those benefits with our customers. We knew that putting down roots in the area would mean we could offer our customers (and their customers) superior customer service along with cost savings. We’re very intentional about the geographic sites we choose, in order to maximize the gains we pass on to our customers.
Business Continuity
Something many people don’t think about when selecting a partner to handle their outsourcing is business continuity. Think about what could happen if your BPO provider only had a handful of locations, or was concentrated in one geographic location. What happens if a natural disaster strikes? Or something else unexpected happens that disrupts normal operations? In these situations, your services would go offline as well.
This has happened many times with companies that are not strategically dispersed around the globe. Whether it’s a hurricane, blizzard, or other anomaly, customers can be left in a bind if the unforeseen ends up happening. When your BPO partner has strategic locations all around the world, as we do, one or two or even more locations being shut down by unexpected circumstances won’t cause a dent in your services.
Our locations have the capability of automated fail-over and load balancing between the sites and real-time replication of critical data. This simply means that we are ready if an emergency should arise. Business continuity is incredibly important, and it’s one thing you should be able to count on when outsourcing some of your business processes.
Singular Partnership
Finally, think about the benefit of having a single BPO business partnership that fulfills all your outsourcing needs, instead of a few providers cobbled together and working independently from one another. The seamless, optimized nature of a single BPO relationship far surpasses having to manage multiple programs and multiple partners.
At Conectys, we make sure that each of our locations has its individual strengths in languages, culture, and services, so you don’t have to look elsewhere to fill in any gaps. Instead of spending the time and energy (and resources) trying to put together a team, you can have one team that’s cohesive and already conveniently located around the world.
Even though it may not be your top priority when evaluating BPO providers to engage with, your partner’s physical locations can make a difference in the kind of service – and the results – you end up seeing. Get the most from a BPO business partnership by choosing a company that is already a robust team on its own, and will act as an extension of your own team. Contact us to learn how we can be this type of team for you.
