The Pros And Cons Of Outsourced Technical Support

Without a doubt, one of the most important parts of any company is technical support. This is vital to providing good customer service, especially in this day and age where speed is essential. No one likes to wait for a long time to have their concerns addressed. At any given time, any customer may require technical support. So, without a good team, you’ll have disgruntled and dissatisfied customers. 

Generally, the first choice of many businesses may be to have an in-house technical support team for that purpose. Nowadays, however, this fact may not necessarily apply to some. Many businesses swear by the merits of outsourcing technical support, and that could also be precisely why you have yourself wondering whether or not you should outsource as well. 

In this article, you’ll come across a discussion on the pros and cons of outsourced technical support.

The Pros 

1. It Results In Reduced Costs

One of the main proponents of outsourcing is that it may reduce company costs. This applies to all forms of outsourcing, regardless of the service outsourced.  

When you have an outsourced technical support team, you have fewer employee salaries and benefits to pay as the payment will be for the services of the team you’re outsourcing. You’re only paying for what you need, though. This arrangement can still be cheaper than if you had to bring those workers in as employees in your business.  

Let’s also include the cost savings related to utilities and equipment costs. You don’t have to invest in and maintain any equipment because the technical support agency is now responsible for such. Utilities are also lower, with fewer employees going to your office every day, consuming electricity and office space, for starters. 

2. It Enables You To Focus On Other Business Activities

When you outsource your company’s technical support, this means your current employees who previously had to do that function now have a lot more time on their hands. This enables you to have more focus on other crucial business activities.  

Your in-house team can significantly do better when they don’t feel like there are just too many things to achieve in a day. Their output quality doesn’t have to feel rushed, too. Besides, employee morale may be boosted when they aren’t overworked.

3. It Brings In More Flexibility To Scale

The past years in business would have taught companies one thing: that no business is assured of a strong economy. In the blink of an eye, even stable and long-standing businesses may crumble to economic challenges brought forth by unprecedented global changes.

In those instances, scaling is critical. This refers to the ability of the business to increase or decrease operations whenever needed. When you outsource, flexibility is easier because you can simply ask the agency how many technical support representatives you need at any given time.

The Cons

1. It May Give You Lack Of Control Over Your Technical Support

When you outsource, the responsibility of controlling and ensuring the quality of service provided lies in the hands of the agency’s management or owner. This means lesser control from your end than if those employees were a part of your in-house team. 

Of course, as the client, you’ll set the directive of the technical support task needed. Yet you have to be willing to give up some amount of control over professionals who aren’t employed under your roof. 

Moreover, in outsourcing, the agency isn’t working in the same place as you are. Some companies can even go as far as outsourcing from other countries. This limitation in itself already contributes to lesser control over the outsourced team.

2. It May Result In Language And Cultural Barriers

This second drawback may apply to companies who choose to outsource overseas. This does have its advantages, too. However, the major drawback is you have to be very careful about the possible language and cultural barriers.

Not everyone has that innate character in them to be culturally sensitive. So, if you outsource from overseas, you may risk having a technical support team that couldn’t be as effective as a local team, of the same culture and language, could have.

This disadvantage, meanwhile, can easily be remedied by being very selective of the agency you choose to outsource to. When you work with a good, reputable, and experienced technical support agency, those problems may not even arise. The team is used to dealing with customers and clients from different cultures, so the barrier can be slimmer.

Final Thoughts 

If you’ve previously been mulling over the idea of outsourcing your technical support-related tasks, the guide presented here should help you out in making a decision. Like any other business decision you’ll make, it’s always best to have an informed choice. This entails going through all the possible pros and cons and weighing each to your specific business platform, circumstances, needs, and preferences.