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Did you know that around 69% of people are willing to pay more for goods and services when the customer service is excellent? This shows that customer service plays a big role in a company’s reputation and success.
Choosing between outsourced or in-house customer service depends on various factors, but there are general indications that one may be most suitable for your business.
In-house offers transparency but requires resources. Property Management Customer Service Outsourcing, on the other hand, offers flexibility, cost savings, and expertise. Let’s dive deeper into the comparison between these two.
It’s crucial to have a cost analysis of your business and the outsourcing service to determine the most convenient provider. This allows you to make accurate comparisons and informed decisions for your growing business.
Calculating in-house customer service costs involves dividing them by working hours, considering recruiting costs, paid vacations, and insurance. Comparing in-house costs with outsourcing options requires understanding the outsourcing service’s coverage — not only agent salaries and equipment.
The process of establishing and maintaining an in-house customer service team involves a comprehensive cost analysis, including direct and indirect expenses.
Here are three examples of direct costs:
Four indirect costs property managers might encounter are:
According to the Forbes Business Council, famously recognizable United States companies like Target and Bank of America have outsourced customer service call center operations to the Philippines and India, saving labor costs.
An outsourcing customer service team may not be as familiar with your company’s culture and processes compared to an in-house team, but they possess experience in customer service. Luckily, part of their training is to absorb company culture extremely quickly. Outsourcing providers are typically able to hit the ground running, allowing your team to start immediately and reduce working hours and customer waiting times.
Customer service outsourcing is a cost-effective solution for small to medium-sized businesses without the resources or capacity to build their in-house customer service teams. This service reduces start-up costs, offers significant savings, and allows instant implementation. With this, teams can bypass the unavoidable learning curve with a homegrown alternative.
Additionally, property management companies can cater to a higher number of clients as outsourced customer service teams are trained to provide efficiency. Business costs reduce as productivity increases.
Outsourcing customer service provides businesses with specialized expertise which enables the efficient resolution of customer queries. If you combine this with the outsourced company’s technical expertise and data analytics tools, it strengthens customer relationships, thereby boosting business growth and customer development. Property management companies can take advantage of this global talent pool.
You can still deliver top-quality services through your in-house customer service, but outsourcing wins when it comes to efficiency. When you outsource, you get a dedicated team to perform customer service tasks, which can result in higher productivity and a better customer experience.
Aside from being an efficient choice, outsourcing delivers top-notch customer service. When you outsource, quality monitoring and assurance are included in the contract. They implement strict performance metrics and quality assurance processes to help ensure that they uphold your company’s standards, brand identity, and protocols.
While some may believe maintaining quality is easier with an in-house customer service team since they have direct control, it may add to the daily burdens they face. This can lead to a longer time to address conflicts and challenges, which can eventually lead to unhappy clients and scaling difficulties.
At STAFFVIRTUAL, we believe that every business should have access to the highest quality outsourced customer service. We want to help companies achieve their business goals and make their investment worth every penny. With our almost 15 years of experience, we continue to assist our clients with their customer service needs and deliver top-notch service.
Here are some of our clients’ outsourcing success stories:
We couldn’t be prouder of our Erin Condren case study.
Erin Condren Designs is a US-based lifestyle brand specializing in creating functional organization essentials. They sell their products through e-commerce and retail stores in the US. To provide consistent, high-quality customer service, they decided to outsource their customer rather than building one in-house.
We helped them through the following:
Our customer service team has consistently provided high-quality service to clients, transforming from a stationery business to a leading brand in the organization space industry. They’ve also recently achieved an average positive CSAT rating of 97.9% which is higher than the industry average.
StripViewSuites, established in 2015 by Alex Kostushin, is a renowned property management firm specializing in short-term and vacation rentals, offering exceptional services to guests and property owners in the Las Vegas area.
Their goal is to have a dedicated team of experts who:
We stepped in and helped them achieve their goal through flexible outsourcing customer service. At present, STAFFVIRTUAL supplies the client with customer service representatives, a Rate and Revenue Specialist, and a Team Coordinator.
The STAFFVIRTUAL team consistently delivers exceptional results in property management, earning recognition for high show rate. They support StripViewSuites, providing almost 24/7 assistance.
Both models have the potential to help your business grow. Sure, you can just easily decide based on which is cheaper and can save financial resources, but not every form works for every business.
Here are some factors to ponder (beyond cost savings):
Still not sure which path is ideal for your property management venture? Ask yourself the following questions:
Have you decided whether to outsource or not? Great! Now comes the transition.
It’s one of the most important steps that can determine the success of a customer service team. A well-executed and smooth transition can prevent negative impacts on productivity, employee satisfaction, and customer satisfaction.
Here are a few guidelines for switching to an outsourced model or optimizing in-house services:
When setting up your customer service team, determine what processes work or not. At the same time, gather the necessary reports or documents to ensure a seamless transition.
A smooth transition requires careful planning of systems, such as phone systems, ticketing systems, and organizational charts. A detailed description of these systems is crucial for successful integration.
Effective communication is crucial for in-house and outsourced teams. Pr
omptly address any issues, conflicts, or challenges that may arise.
In conclusion, to answer the question “Is Property Management Customer Service Outsourcing Cheaper Than In-House?”, it really depends on your unique financial situation and budget to decide which is the better fit. But keep in mind that outsourcing can bring huge cost savings, which can benefit small, medium, and large businesses.
Additionally, you need to weigh all the pros and cons, especially when it comes to costs. While both blueprints offer a couple of advantages and disadvantages, think about other factors aside from the cost. An in-house team can handle problems due to proximity and parallel schedules, while outsourcing provides support for emergencies outside office hours and ensures business continuity (although they can also work traditional North American time zone work hours).
When deciding which business model to go for, it’s vital to balance cost-effectiveness, flexibility, scalability, and focus. This decision requires a detailed evaluation of all aspects of successful property management customer service.
STAFFVIRTUAL has almost 15 years of experience in customer service. Our clients are a testament to our expertise. If you want to know more about outsourcing vs. in-house, we’d be more than happy to jump on a call with you. Schedule an intro call today!
Sources:
How To Guard Against The Cost Of Unplanned Downtime And Network Outages | Forbes
In-House And Outsourcing Customer Service: Key Differences, Pros, And Cons | Forbes
What is Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and How to Measure it? | TechTarget