Outsourcing is powerful.

When done well, it relieves you of the burden of tasks that are currently slowing you down.

By doing so, outsourcing empowers you to boost productivity and focus more of your time, energy, and effort on the areas where you create unique value in your business. 

Outsourcing isn’t always easy. It takes skill and experience to find the right external partner for your needs.

Here’s a list of the top outsourcing problems and mistakes we often see companies make when hiring VAs or other contract help. 

Note: Need help finding an amazing VA or an outsourced resource? At Remote Coworker, we’re experts at helping you find professionally-trained virtual assistants!

1. Poor fit with company culture

“Culture fit is invisible — and often the biggest cause of employee frustration.” — Moe Carrick and Cammie Dunaway 

Describing a company’s culture isn’t easy. But everyone who works for you feels it. Make sure the people you choose as outsourcing partners won’t disrupt your company’s vibe.

That doesn’t mean your culture has to perfectly match your outsourcing partner’s culture. For example, if your company has a more relaxed attitude toward deadlines, but you need help with bookkeeping and payroll, you may look for an external resource that is very strict about deadlines.

That arrangement could give you a complementary fit for the outsourcing project, even though the internal cultures are different between the two partners. 

The reverse is also true. 

If you outsource a task or project that must be done on time, but your external partner doesn’t value timeliness, it’s very likely to cause frustration for your current in-house team — and fast.

2. Impact on existing employees

“Culture is not about words or what you talk about. Culture is about behaviors and actions.” — Daniel Coyle

Imagine you hire an outsourcing partner to supplement your development team’s bandwidth, but the external vendor you choose doesn’t value timeliness or communication, creating a culture mismatch like the one mentioned above.

Things go well for the first few weeks, but then the partner suddenly goes unresponsive, and the workload is in danger of not being completed.

Your internal team steps in to save the day — working long hours to complete the project.

These experiences can destroy morale for your current team. And it’s why it is essential to consider the potential impact on your existing employees before choosing an outsourcing partner. 

3. Outsourcing your core expertise

“Do what you do best and outsource the rest.” — Peter Drucker

Be careful outsourcing responsibilities in your core areas of expertise. 

Every company has a core set of capabilities that provide its competitive advantage. For example, let’s imagine you run an e-commerce startup that quickly becomes known for an innovative recommendation engine.

Your customer base is growing rapidly, putting the engineering team under tremendous pressure.

To speed up development, you decide to outsource the entire next iteration of its recommendation engine to an external development partner.

The partner’s team builds and delivers the version on time, but now you have a problem: The outsourced team is the only group that knows how the new system works. 

Now your company isn’t just outsourcing its code. It’s outsourcing its core competencies. 

Outsourcing can absolutely accelerate progress in core areas, but make sure you maintain control over direction, standards, and knowledge transfer. 

4. Lack of clear expectations

“Unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments.” — Neil Strauss

If it’s true with employees, it’s even more true with virtual assistants and outsourced partners — clear expectations are a prerequisite for success.

One mistake we see often is hiring a VA without knowing exactly what the VA will be doing. For example, an executive might feel overwhelmed by her schedule, so they seek out a VA “to help me get organized" rather than to take over a specific set of responsibilities.

That’s a recipe for frustration, waste, and outsourcing failure.  

5. Lack of training

“The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is not training them and keeping them.” — Zig Ziglar

Your VA might be a hard worker and skilled at a variety of general tasks, but that doesn’t mean you can neglect training. External partners still need to know how you do things.

Training doesn’t have to be days of instruction or require hours of your time.

Loom videos, checklists, and short collaboration calls can be a great help in the early days of your collaboration.  

6. Becoming too dependent on the outsourced partner

“Unless handled carefully, there is a danger that an outsourcing arrangement that delivers gains in the short term could, over time, create an unhealthy dependency, eroding competitive advantage and strategic options.” — Calin Buia, Christiaan Heyning, and Fiona Lander, in an article for McKinsey

Quality outsourcing services should help you increase velocity, not create a hidden risk that could cripple your business. 

What happens if you suddenly lose a VA? Will your business crumble while you scramble for a replacement?

Design your relationships intentionally to avoid becoming dependent on any one outsourced partner, including outsourcing companies. 

• Document your processes
• Create a backup outsourcing plan
• Cross-train internal staff

This way, if you do lose an external resource, it won’t destroy your business. Instead, you’ll be able to find someone new and get them up to speed quickly. 

7. Not having an outsourcing contract

“The beginning of wisdom is to define.” – Aristotle

A handshake agreement might feel good, but it’s a recipe for future outsourcing challenges. Consult an attorney for a thorough review of a contract of course, but a basic contract doesn’t need to be complicated.

The point is to document the fundamentals of the relationship, which often include:

• Scope of work
• Timelines
• Deliverables
• Cost
• Payment terms
• Ownership
• Confidentiality
• Exit strategy for the engagement if needed

By documenting the expectations — in print — both sides can get to work knowing what’s expected of them. 

8. Unrealistic deadlines

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” — Douglas Adams

If you need a VA, we don’t recommend hiring people like famous author Douglas Adams. 😆 

At the same time, having unrealistic deadlines sets you and your VA up for failure. 

Here’s a best practice you can steal from us. Start with a small, well-scoped task your new VA can complete in a few hours if possible — a few days at the most.

This will give you and your VA a sense of what it’s like to work together, and how quickly you need them to deliver their work. You can both adjust your expectations from there as you get used to working together. 

9. Scope creep

“There is no such thing as scope creep, only scope gallop.” – Cornelius Fichtner, Project Management Trainer & Author

Scope creep is one of the most common causes of conflict between clients and an outsourced partner. 

Scope creep rarely happens all at once. It’s usually “just a quick revision” or “could you also help with this?” But those one-off tasks that weren't in the original agreement add up fast.

Contractors want to be helpful. Internal stakeholders want momentum. But asking “can you do this one extra thing?” too often is a fast way to create resentment, and your new VA may soon be looking for work elsewhere. 

10. Unexpected costs

"Price is what you pay. Cost is what you spend. Value is what you get." – Alan Weiss

Additional rounds of revision, expanded scope, change requests, additional tools, extra onboarding time, project management hours — they all add up.

The solution isn’t to prohibit your partner from doing what you need them to do. It’s to establish transparency from the beginning of the relationship. 

If needed, get itemized pricing. Clarify what gets billed and what doesn’t. Ask how they handle revisions.

Doing so will help you prevent surprise expenses on your next invoice.

11. Poor communication (both ways!)

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

Most breakdowns in the workplace come down to failed communications. It’s no different for outsourced contractors.

We recommend creating a clear cadence of communications.

Some clients like receiving a brief summary of work completed each day. Others look for updates weekly or on some other regular cadence.

Shared dashboards, project management tools, and working documents also make it much easier for everyone involved to keep track of what’s happening.

12. Security risk

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.” — Warren Buffett

Any time you give an external partner access to systems, tools, or data, you introduce data security concerns.

That doesn’t mean you can’t outsource while maintaining cybersecurity. It means you need an organized system of what gets shared and how that information gets transferred.

Create limited access logins for the tools you’ll be sharing with your VA. Create shared folders and unique logins that limit access to data and data management tools. And whatever you do — don’t share passwords to critical systems.

Most data breaches happen due to a weakness in human security — not a weakness in digital infrastructure. 

13. Language barriers

“I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.” — Daniel Boone

Even when both parties speak the same language, communication nuances between people who live in different parts of the world are common.

Culture-specific turns of phrase, in particular, create significant challenges.

“Moving the goalposts,” makes perfect sense in the U.S., for example. But for someone who has no knowledge of U.S. football, the phrase may be completely nonsensical.

Do what you can to speak directly and clearly. And encourage clarifying questions. That little bit of upfront work can save you all kinds of headaches.

14. Cultural barriers

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” ― Aldous Huxley

It’s not just language barriers that cause confusion across cultures.

Customs and traditions in different parts of the world vary wildly. When you outsource work, you are likely to run into these differences in everything from how feedback is delivered to how quickly people speak up when they have a problem.

Build cultural literacy into your relationship from the start. Learn how your new partner approaches their work, when they’re available, and how they prefer to work (collaborative, individually, etc.).

If your outsourced partner will be working with customers through systems such as live chat or email, take the time to train them on cultural norms for your customers.

There will always be unintended friction. But respecting each other’s differences will go a long way toward creating the goodwill you need for a successful relationship.

15. Time zones

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late” — William Shakespeare

Clear communication is the difference between success and failure when working across time zones. 

If you are someone who wants your VA to always be around to “jump on a call and talk it through,” then we don’t recommend hiring a VA from halfway around the world.

But if you communicate well in writing and the work you need can be completed independently, outsourcing to other time zones can be a major advantage.

In many situations, you can create a 24-hour production cycle where work moves forward while you sleep. 

A pro tip from us?

Many outsourcing relationships benefit from having a few hours of overlap where the parties can communicate in real time (or near real time) each day. 

This eliminates the need to wait half a day to get an answer to a question or get aligned about a project plan.

16. Juggling multiple vendors

“Let us ask our suppliers to come and help us to solve our problems.” — W. Edwards Deming

Beware the complexity that comes from working with too many outsourced partners.

Before you know it, a good chunk of your day is spent writing emails, responding to Slack threads, or jumping on calls with your VA team. And you’re not getting the time you need to do the work that only you can do. 

Whenever possible, increase the scope of an existing vendor (or vendor company) before looking to bring on an additional resource.

17. Turnover among outsourced staff

“Great people are hard to find, so make sure you think about how to keep them.” — Ray Dalio

Outsourcing doesn't eliminate turnover risk. It just moves the risk from your internal team to your external contractors.

With outsourced partners, there are more reasons than “I found a new job” that might lead to turnover. These include:

• Agencies shuffle talent
• Freelancers adjust their client load
• Offshore teams rotate their staff

We strongly recommend asking about continuity up front when choosing an outsourcing partner. 

• Do they document work?
• Do they train backups?
• Do you get a say in staffing changes?

A stable partner will have a plan to continue supporting you even if they lose or move someone you’re working with today.

18. Turnover on your staff

“People leave managers, not companies.” — Marcus Buckingham

We’ve seen internal employees who feel threatened, sidelined, or overburdened by the integration of an external team.

When that happens, resentment builds. And resentment often leads to turnover in your workforce.

Internal communication is critical. Explain why outsourcing is happening, involve your team in the selection process, and make sure they know their role is safe even as you’re bringing on external resources.

19. Locked in processes (rather than continuous innovation)

“If you don't innovate, you die.” — Robert Iger

Stagnation is a business killer. 

Sometimes, businesses that outsource a task inadvertently lock in a workflow for years without having a process for continuous improvement.

“That’s how the vendor does it,” becomes an excuse for complacency, even if those processes have become antiquated.

Build innovation into the process whenever you hire an external resource. Review your workflows on a regular basis. Talk about what could be improved.

The best external partners are constantly innovating, then sharing their learnings across clients so everyone benefits. 

20. Legal and compliance headaches

“If you think compliance is expensive, try non-compliance” — former US Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty

Depending on your industry, outsourcing can introduce complex compliance obligations. To name just a few:

• Data loss
• Privacy laws
• Employment regulations
• Industry standards
• Export controls

If a partner mishandles sensitive information, for example, the liability could fall on you. 

Talk to your lawyer to ensure you remain compliant. And make sure you have a strong understanding of the relevant regulations and that your partner can also demonstrate compliance. 

21. Brand reputation risk

“Even a great brand needs investment and caring.” — Steve Jobs

If an external partner gives your customer a poor experience, that reflects poorly on you, not just them. 

This is a common problem with outsourcing efforts, especially with tasks such as customer service or sales. 

It can also be a problem with more technical projects like software outsourcing. If outsourced developers fail to grasp the goals of your project, you might end up with software that delivers an inconsistent experience across different areas.

For all these reasons, the training, transparency, and communication standards we discussed above are vital to the success of your project. Without them, outsourcing mistakes can be a much bigger risk for your brand’s reputation.

Outsourcing for success!

Outsourcing is a tool, not a magic wand.

To help you avoid the above outsourcing pitfalls, we recommend that you:

• Define a clear onboarding process for VAs
• Document your processes
• Align often on expectations 
• Communicate clearly and often
• Work with outsourcing experts to help you make the best choice for your situation

Get those elements right and outsourcing becomes a competitive advantage that can (finally!) free you up to spend more time on the things that matter most. 

Note: Considering an outsourcing provider but not sure where to start? Remote Coworker can help! Our plans start at $7.99 per hour.

‍

s your law firm beginning to grow? Do you feel like there’s not enough time in the day to complete everything? As your law firm starts to grow, it doesn’t make sense for you to be handling every task.

This is where streamlining your operations with outsourced assistants comes into play. An outsourced assistant can take over simple and mundane tasks in your law firm, allowing you to focus on other value-added items.

In this article, we’ll cover the basics of an outsourced assistant, including the roles and responsibilities they generally take on and how they can help you streamline operations in your law firm.

What is an Outsourced Assistant?

There are a few different types of outsourced professionals that your law firm can bring on. First is an intake assistant. An intake assistant is at the front of client interactions, handling new client inquiries, responding to general questions, and prioritizing the workflow. Intake assistants are indispensable if you don’t have the time to answer phone calls, set up meetings, or manage your schedule.

Another type of outsourced assistant is a legal secretary. A legal secretary might have an expanded legal background compared to your intake assistant, helping you sift through electronic documents and properly categorize legal forms. Your legal secretary can also help you prepare basic documents and communicate with clients about information requests and signatures.

How Do Outsourced Assistants Streamline Law Firms?

Outsourced assistants, whether they are considered legal secretaries or intake assistants, automate repetitive tasks, such as data entry, appointment scheduling, and email management. By handling the backend work, you can focus on high-value tasks, like customer outreach, preparing for client meetings, and handling other legal tasks.

Furthermore, outsourced law firm assistants manage the flow of information coming into your business. This could be a potential client submitting an inquiry through your website or an existing customer sending a follow-up email. Managing all of these items on your own opens the door to less efficiency and poor customer service.

With an outsourced assistant on the frontline, handling all incoming communication, you are positioning your firm for a positive customer experience and streamlining the flow of information, allowing you to prioritize responses and stay on top of your to-do list.

Next Steps

Does it sound like an outsourced assistant is what your law firm needs to streamline operations? If so, it’s important that you determine which type of outsourced assistant your company needs. Are you looking for someone who can handle basic legal work in addition to data entry and responding to customer inquiries? If so, a legal secretary will be the best fit for your law firm.

On the contrary, if you just need help with general tasks, like answering phone calls, organizing inquiry queues, and scheduling meetings, an intake assistant might be the right outsourced professional for your law firm.

The good news is that Remote CoWorker offers both types of professionals, giving you the ability to leverage the outsourced help your business truly needs. Reach out to a team member today to schedule your free consultation.

The healthcare sector is finally starting to return to pre-pandemic staff and revenue levels, with the number of people employed 2.2% higher in June 2023 compared to February 2020. Moving out of survival mode opens the door to new opportunities, especially in innovation, efficiency, and cost-saving initiatives.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) has traditionally been reserved for tasks and roles that don’t require in-person interaction. However, with new technological advancements, the medical industry has begun leveraging outsourcing capabilities.

In this article, we’ll cover the basics of medical industry outsourcing, including common tasks being sent overseas, the advantages, and countries that present prime opportunities for BPO. If you have any questions on what medical industry outsourcing looks like for your team, schedule your free consultation with Remote CoWorker right away.

What Tasks are Being Outsourced?

Although it can be difficult, if not impossible, to outsource all healthcare tasks, there are certain roles that can easily be moved to remote positions. Here are a few tasks to consider outsourcing:

Billing

Medical billing can be complex and time-intensive. Each service complete or product used needs to be billed on its own line, with a specific code. Proper treatment and bill creation generally require medical professionals that are familiar with the terminology.

However, learning the terminology and billing codes doesn’t require a formal U.S.-based education. In fact, there are books, software, and other resources that overseas professionals utilize to complete accurate U.S. healthcare billing.

Outsourcing this task not only frees up time in your team’s busy schedule, but it can also lead to quicker billing and receivable collections.

Claims Processing

The medical industry works closely with different insurance providers to piece together insurance coverage. This often involves multiple back-and-forth correspondence. Without the proper back-office support, the claims your medical practice bills out might be incomplete or incorrect, dragging on the claims process.

Outsourcing this task to an individual or team that has the availability, knowledge, and back-office support to properly handle claims processing is beneficial. From quicker verifications to complete claims, outsourced firms can process claims quicker.

Transcription

Audio transcription is a tedious but vital task in the medical industry. It can take hours to get through a doctor’s day of audio files. Assigning one of your office staff or a nurse to sift through these files isn’t producing value for your company.

Instead, outsourcing medical transcription to a third party results in less time constraints on your internal staff while still ensuring you are keeping the proper documentation and paper trail of audio files.

Healthcare Support

It’s not uncommon for medical practices to receive dozens, if not hundreds, of calls per day. Passing this burden off to one or two staff might not cut it, leading to higher dissatisfaction rates. Providing your patients with around-the-clock support from an outsourced team for any and all questions can bolster patients’ experiences and lead to positive reviews.

What are the Advantages of Medical Industry Outsourcing?

Why is the medical industry gravitating towards outsourcing? There are numerous advantages of outsourcing certain roles in your organization. Let’s take a closer look.

Lower Costs

Outsourcing your back-office functions can result in significant cost savings, with the ability to reduce up to 25% of your costs. Not only can you avoid employer payroll taxes, but certain countries also offer lower average wage rates.

Moreover, you don’t need to worry about regularly replacing office equipment or paying for facility fees when you outsource. This furthers your cost-saving initiatives.

24/7 Operational Capacity

Domestic contact centers generally only run during normal business hours. This isn’t ideal, as your patients could hold jobs or be busy during this timeframe. Outsourcing your contact centers allows you to appeal to all patients.

In addition, you can see increases in your operational capacity, as your outsourced team doesn’t need to stick to a 9-5 schedule. The ability to send bills quicker or process insurance claims on the same day opens the door to stronger cash flow and efficiency.

Stronger Back-Office Technology

Outsourcing firms prioritize the latest technology and security measures. This means that outsourcing firms might naturally have better technology than your internal infrastructure. These solutions include state-of-the-art customer relationship management software, comprehensive data management resources, and more.

HIPAA Compliance

The medical industry would be hesitant to work with outsourced firms if the proper HIPAA compliance controls were not in place. Most medical outsourced companies understand the stringent regulations of HIPPA, working compliance into daily tasks. When you trust your records with an outsourced team, you might see a higher level of due care and responsibility compared to an overworked internal team.

Which Countries Are Best for Medical Industry Outsourcing?

When looking for a country to outsource your medical administrative tasks to, there are a few different considerations. First, you need to evaluate the infrastructure. What controls are in place for security? What is the process for BPO?

Another factor you need to consider is communication. What are the popular work times in that country? Are there language barriers? Keep in mind that you can find domestic medical outsourcing firms, but they might be more expensive compared to overseas options. Cost, availability, cultural differences, and qualifications are other integral components to consider before outsourcing.

Keeping all of these factors in mind, there are a few countries that are up-and-coming in the medical outsourcing industry. The Philippines is an ideal country for BPO services because of the highly skilled talent pool and advanced English proficiency. The Philippines Government also has favorable tax laws to attract outsourcing businesses.

Other contenders include India, Asia, and Thailand. These countries also demonstrate proficiency in medical billing at lower prices compared to hiring in-house. Be sure you evaluate all of the applicable criteria before making your selection.

Getting Started

Are you ready to hop on medical industry outsourcing trends? If so, it’s important that you find the right team for your operations. At Remote CoWorker, you can find a plethora of Filipino VAs that can help you with your medical administrative burdens. Reach out to one of our team members today to get started.

Sources

How has Health Care Employment Changed Since the Pandemic?

In today’s highly competitive business landscape, customer feedback is an essential tool for any company that wants to be successful. By collecting and utilizing customer feedback, companies can gain valuable insights into their customers’ needs, preferences, and experiences, and use this information to improve their products, services, and overall customer experience.

Customer feedback strategies are methods in which companies can gather information and data from customers during, or after, a transaction or interaction. Including surveys (CSATs), focus groups, quality monitoring and more, there are many different ways companies can gain this crucial feedback.

In this article, we will explore the reasons why customer feedback matters and provide strategies for collecting and utilizing it effectively.

Why Customer Feedback Matters

The customer is number one. For any business to succeed the customer has to be happy and willing to pay, so gathering feedback from customers who have had interactions with your business is the best way to learn so that practices and policies can be developed that keep the customer’s experience at heart.

Identifying Customer Needs and Preferences

Collecting feedback from customers is one of the most effective ways to identify their needs and preferences. By listening to what your customers are saying, you can gain a better understanding of their pain points, what they like and dislike about your products and services, and what improvements they would like to see. Armed with this information, you can make informed decisions about how to improve your offerings to meet the changing needs of your customers.

Improving Customer Experience

One of the main benefits of collecting customer feedback is that it allows you to improve your customer experience. When customers feel heard and valued, they are more likely to have a positive experience with your brand, which can lead to increased loyalty, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth referrals. By addressing customer complaints and suggestions promptly, you can show your customers that you value their opinions and are committed to providing them with the best possible experience.

Increasing Customer Retention

Collecting and utilizing customer feedback is also an effective way to increase customer retention. When you take the time to listen to your customers and address their concerns, you show them that you care about their satisfaction and are willing to go above and beyond to ensure they are happy. This can help to build a sense of loyalty and trust, which can encourage customers to continue doing business with you.

Identifying Areas for Improvement

Customer feedback can also help you identify areas for improvement within your business. By analyzing customer feedback, you can identify trends and patterns that indicate where your business is falling short. This can help you to make data-driven decisions about how to improve your operations, products, and services to better meet the needs of your customers.

Strategies for Collecting Customer Feedback

There’s nothing like asking a simple question at the end of a customer interaction that says ‘How have you found my service today?’. Short and straight to the point, this question is a useful way for employees to get immediate feedback. However, there are now many different ways this feedback can be gathered.

Surveys

One of the most common ways to collect customer feedback is through surveys. Surveys can be conducted online, in person, or through the mail, and can be used to gather information about a wide range of topics, from customer satisfaction and loyalty to product features and pricing. To maximize response rates, it’s important to keep surveys short, simple, and easy to complete.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are another effective way to collect customer feedback, and are particularly useful if you’re developing something new in your business. Focus groups typically involve bringing together a small group of customers to discuss their experiences, opinions, and preferences in a structured setting. They can be conducted in person or online, and are often used to gather more detailed and nuanced feedback than surveys can provide.

Social Media Monitoring

Social media is a powerful tool for collecting customer feedback in real-time. By monitoring social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, you can gain insights into what customers are saying about your brand, products, and services, and use this information to inform your marketing and customer service strategies. Social media monitoring can also help you identify and address customer complaints and issues before they escalate.

Customer Service Interactions

Every interaction a customer has with your business is an opportunity to collect feedback. By training your customer service representatives to ask for feedback and to listen actively to customer concerns and complaints, you can gain valuable insights into what customers like and dislike about your products and services. You can also use these interactions to show your customers that you value their opinions and are committed to making improvements.

Website/Product Analytics Tools

Companies like Hotjar give you feedback that would be difficult to do manually – through heatmapping your site and giving you invaluable information about where your customers go on their journey with you.

When you can understand more about your customer’s behavior, you can adjust your site to better cater to their needs and, most importantly, get them to the final stage of purchasing as effortlessly as possible.

How To Use This Feedback

It’s all well and good gathering the data and information, but if you don’t do anything with it, it’s useless. Developing robust methods of analyzing the data and feeding this back to the employees, as well as back to the business, is imperative to effectively make the best use of the information given.

Customer feedback doesn’t always relate only to the experience with a specific customer service representative. Often, the feedback will include points about certain processes or procedures that aren’t benefiting the customer, and these pieces of information must be fed back to the relevant internal departments so that improvements can be made.

Are you trying to scale your CPA firm? Scaling your accounting practice involves more factors than just client outreach. In fact, scaling doesn’t always mean taking on new customers. It could be improving margins to generate more profit.

Whatever your growth goals are, it’s important that you use the right strategies to get you there. Here are five ways to scale your CPA firm.

#1: Leverage Technology

Technology has come a long way in the past decade. Almost all of an accountant’s tasks are completed digitally. If you don’t have the proper technology and IT team working in the background, your firm might be met with low productivity margins.

Data estimates that CPA firms should spend between 5% and 8% of their gross revenue on software. This means that for every $100,000 you make, $8,000 should be allocated to your IT department.

Go through your current software programs and devices used. Are there software subscriptions that are unused that you can cancel? How about a laptop that could use updating? Deploying your money in an efficient way can help you add capacity to your firm and generate more profit.

#2: Track KPIs

Most accountants like to work with numbers, meaning KPIs should not be a foreign concept. Odds are you compute KPIs for your clients on a regular basis, but what about for your own firm? How can you expect to know where change is needed if you don’t have tangible data to base your decision on?

Implement a combination of qualitative and quantitative KPIs into your monthly procedures. Tracking progress between periods can help you implement actionable change to reach your scalability goals.

#3: Utilize Outsourced Talent

The advancements in technology make it easy to outsource mundane tasks that you might not have the time for. If your firm is operating at capacity, you should utilize outsourced talent. This prevents you from turning down a new client because you lack manpower. Developing an outsourced team gives you the opportunity to reduce bottlenecks and scale your practice.

Think of tasks that you or your staff might be completed on a regular basis. This could be monthly bookkeeping or general customer service. Can some of these bookkeeping tasks be outsourced? Outsourcing a portion of your workload can also result in hidden benefits, like lower employee turnover, and higher productivity. Each of these items can help you scale your CPA practice.

#4: Create Meaningful Advertising Campaigns

The methods of effective advertising have dramatically changed in the past few years. What once were ads in the newspaper have turned into social media. To grow your practice and generate more traffic, you need to understand who your target market is. Are you looking to bring on clients that are small business owners or millennials?

Keep in mind that you may have to break out of the clients you generally retain to grow your practice. For example, maybe you find that your firm is an up-and-coming area with millennials and gen z taxpayers. Are you targeting that customer base? Moreover, consider your geographic location and the services you currently offer to target the right consumer base.

After you’ve identified your target market, you will need to complete due diligence on where these consumers get their information. Are they on Tik Tok or Facebook? Finding the right advertising platforms ensures you aren’t paying for ineffective campaigns. If you notice that you aren’t gaining as much traction as you hoped, reevaluate your target market and marketing campaigns to uncover where to make changes.

#5: Offer New Services

Scaling your business relies on expanding your reach. If you only offer in-person, consider offering remote services using outsourced labor or implementing new technology. Make a list of your current services and jot down a few additional services you can reasonably offer. You don’t want to offer clients a service that you don’t have the qualifications for, as this can lead to bad reviews.

Once you’ve identified services you want to add, create meaningful advertising campaigns, identify what team members will be on these new projects, and develop a pricing structure. Working out the fine details before you add new services promotes a smooth transition in your scalability process.

Summary

Every CPA firm should have the goal to scale. Growing your practice can yield additional profit, improve financial health, and contribute to creating a generational business. Remember that your time is valuable. Is your time more valuable completing a QuickBooks bank reconciliation or meeting with new clients?

This is where outsourcing should be infused into your business, giving you the flexibility to leverage more valuable tasks. For help finding the right outsourced partner, reach out to one of our team members at Remote CoWorker. We can pair you up with the professional that fits your business needs.  

The art of communication is a vital skill in all aspects of life, but it is especially important in the field of customer support. In the tech industry, where customers can become frustrated and overwhelmed with technical issues, effective communication can make the difference between a satisfied customer and a dissatisfied one.

Improving customer interaction in tech support requires a combination of technical expertise and soft skills. Technical knowledge is necessary to resolve specific issues, but soft skills are equally important to effectively communicate with customers and provide exceptional service.

In this article, we will look at the ways communication can be improved when dealing with technical inquiries, with people who perhaps aren’t naturally gifted at creating rapport and relationships with people.

Why Is Communication Important?

Customers need to feel understood in order to leave feeling as though they’ve had a good customer experience, and good levels of communication is key to this. If an agent is unable to effectively communicate the issue to the customer, advise on an easy-to-understand and reasonable solution, and build rapport with the customer, it will be difficult to create a good customer relationship.

Out of the resolution, the emotion/relationship, and the effort required to fix an issue, it is the emotion within an experience that is the determining factor to the overall impression of said experience. In other words, even if the issue is resolved and it’s really easy for the customer, if there hasn’t been any connection formed with the agent, they will leave feeling either neutral or dissatisfied, rather than happy.

How Can Communication Be Improved?

There are many ways that you can begin to improve the communication between your team and the customer, and the below suggestions will help increase customer satisfaction through empathetic, authentic service.

Active Listening

Active listening is an essential aspect of effective communication in tech support. It is important to listen carefully to customers and ask questions to fully understand their issues. Customers want to feel heard and understood, so it is important to show empathy and acknowledge their frustrations. By actively listening and acknowledging their concerns, you can build trust with customers and create a positive customer experience.

Patience

Another key aspect of effective communication in tech support is patience. Technical issues can be frustrating for customers, and it is important to remain calm and patient throughout the interaction. It is important to avoid getting defensive or dismissive, even if the customer is angry or upset. By remaining calm and patient, you can de-escalate the situation and focus on finding a solution.

Part of patience is also remembering that the customer may not understand all of the technical jargon involved in the issue, so it’s important to use plain language in order to ensure the customer is clear on what’s happening. Using analogies or metaphors can be an effective way to explain technical concepts in simpler terms. Additionally, it is important to avoid using acronyms or abbreviations that customers may not be familiar with. Clear communication helps customers feel confident in the solution you provide and can prevent misunderstandings.

Proactive Communication

It is also important to communicate proactively in tech support. This means providing customers with updates and progress reports throughout the resolution process. Customers want to be kept informed and updated on the status of their issue, so it’s important to communicate regularly and provide realistic timelines for resolution. Additionally, following up with customers after the issue has been resolved can help to ensure their satisfaction and provide an opportunity for feedback.

Positive, Empathetic Language

Incorporating positive language into customer interactions can also improve communication. Positive language involves using words and phrases that convey a helpful and solution-oriented attitude. For example, using phrases like “I can help you with that” or “Let’s work together to find a solution” can convey a positive attitude and show customers that you are committed to helping them.

Practical Ways To Improve Communication

Be available when your customer wants help

Chatbots that are able to suggest relevant articles or help center information is great to have on hand if you don’t run a 24 hour contact center.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way businesses interact with their customers. These modern technologies are enabling companies to provide personalized and efficient customer experiences, improve customer interactions, and provide tailored solutions to each customer.

AI is improving the customer experience by allowing businesses to be consistent, always-available, and uniquely tailored to each individual customer through real-time analysis of a customer’s history, loyalty and needs.

In this article, we’ll explore five real-world examples of how AI is revolutionizing the customer experience and share some predictions for the future of customer services.

How Can AI Help Deliver Customer Service?

There are many different ways that AI is currently, and will continue to, help to deliver exceptional customer service that is personal, quick and available 24-hours a day.

Chatbots

Chatbots are AI-powered conversational agents that can simulate human conversations with customers. These bots can handle customer queries and provide real-time assistance, improving customer satisfaction and reducing response times. Chatbots are used by companies such as H&M, Pizza Hut, and Mastercard to provide quick and efficient customer service.

Whereas chatbots up until now have sometimes left customers more frustrated than if they’d spoken to an agent, chatbots powered by AI – that are capable of learning and improving, rather than simply relying on pre-existing articles and FAQs – will transform the CS landscape and, likely, reduce the need for call centers with hundreds of staff.

Personalized Recommendations

AI algorithms can analyze customer data, such as purchase history and browsing behavior, to provide personalized product recommendations. This approach is used by companies like Amazon and Netflix to provide tailored suggestions to customers based on their viewing or purchasing history. With AI, companies can provide a more personalized experience to their customers, increasing the likelihood of repeat business.

Predictive Analytics

AI-powered predictive analytics can analyze customer data and identify patterns, predicting future behavior and preferences. This approach can help companies provide tailored recommendations to customers and anticipate customer needs, improving the customer experience. For example, predictive analytics can help companies anticipate customer complaints and take proactive steps to prevent them.

Voice Assistants

Voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant, use natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to customer queries. Starbucks has recently  introduced its app My Barista, which lets customers place and pay for their orders simply through voice-communication. The texting generation has been, and now it’s back to voice as it allows companies to provide a seamless and efficient customer experience.

Image Recognition

Image recognition is a type of AI technology that can analyze images and identify objects, people, and other visual elements, which provides a more immersive and interactive customer experience.

This approach can be used by companies such as IKEA to provide customers with augmented reality (AR) experiences, allowing them to visualize furniture in their homes before making a purchase.

Microsoft Teams Premium AI Powered Productivity

Microsoft Teams Premium is a new service which offers several features that can help revolutionize customer service with AI, including:

AI-Powered Chatbots

With the help of AI-powered chatbots, customer service teams can automate the process of handling frequently asked questions and provide instant answers to customers. These chatbots can also assist in the triage process by gathering information from customers and routing them to the appropriate team member for further assistance.

Real-Time Resolutions

As well as this, AI will soon be able to resolve issues while a customer is on the phone to an agent by ‘listening in’ to the conversation, understanding the needs of the customer and finding, and completing, the processes required to fix them. All of this will be done while the customer is chatting to the customer service agent, meaning increased

Having a robust, efficient and skilled intake service is crucial for any number of reasons in a law firm. Whether growth is your goal, or you simply want a better way to filter out enquiries and free up your core team’s schedules so they can focus on the important work they have on their plates, outsourcing your intake process will create an efficient business that’s always ready for potential clients.

Law firms are choosing to outsource their intake departments because it will make their operations more accessible. By being able to offer longer, or 24-hour, service, be more efficient at dealing with enquiries through screening and prioritization, and more cost-effective by utilizing the skilled workforce of a BPO, rather than your highly trained legal team, law firms can benefit greatly from partnering with an experienced BPO company.

To find out more about why outsourcing your intake department could be the best move for your business, as well as the main benefits of doing so, keep reading.

What Is An Intake Department?

The intake department is any person or department that handles incoming enquiries – calls, emails, contact form messages – and is the first point of contact into the business. The importance of this department cannot be underestimated, as it’s crucial that potential clients have a method of contacting a business that’s easy and quick.

This is often where growing law firms can go wrong, making the process of contacting the right person for advice too difficult and time-consuming, meaning you could be losing out on valuable cases.

The intake department will screen the calls and enquiries the business receives, making sure they’re filtered through to the right people, or politely pointed in a different direction for help.

What Are The Main Benefits of Outsourcing Your Legal Firm’s Intake Department?

Having a well-run and efficient intake department will increase the number of conversions and, therefore, your bottom, line, because with trained and helpful first-line agents all new potential clients will get the treatment they expect, as well as the thorough pre-checks, to bring them in as a customer.

First Line of Support

When making an enquiry, in particular for something that can often be highly emotive, being able to speak to someone about their needs and concerns will help your potential clients build a relationship from the start. Whether it’s over the phone, or through a quick response to a contact form request or email, that first interaction can make a huge difference to the client experience.

Scheduling Appointments

This isn’t something that your trained and experienced lawyers should have to spend their valuable time doing, and when working with a reliable and experienced BPO company you can trust that your scheduling and new client intake system is performing as it should. Allowing the outsource partner to filter enquiries, making sure they go to the right person or aren’t forwarded on (reducing the number of spam or inappropriate requests that may come in), will save time and, therefore, money.

Out-of-Hours Service

One of the main benefits of outsourcing your intake department is the ability to have agents on call 24 hours a day. No longer will your leads have to wait until the next business day to receive a response – or even longer if there are lots to get through – they can be dealt with as soon as they come in, providing a real customer experience that’s efficient and personal.

When you outsource your intake department you can have agents active at all hours, so your business could be gaining new clients as you sleep.

Lower Rates of Lead Abandonment

When your potential leads are being dealt with efficiently and professionally they’re much more likely to want to work with you. Most BPOs will have requirements and SLAs they need to hit with regards to call abandonment rate, response time and conversions, so you can be comforted knowing that they’re being dealt with, perhaps more efficiently than your own in-house team would have time for.

Outsourcing Isn’t Right For Everyone

It’s important to recognize where you and your business are in terms of your growth and even your ability to take on new work, as an outsourced intake department will create more cases and more clients that you need to be ready for. As with all of the outsourcing that’s on offer out there, it’s important to find the one that’s the right fit for you and who is flexible enough to offer a personalized service.

The mammoth growth of the BPO industry in the Philippines since the 1990s has been unprecedented, but what’s to come for the industry going forwards? With over 1000 BPO companies employing 1.3 million people, it’s the second-largest industry in the country, but is there continued growth and success on the horizon, or is there something new for the country?

The BPO industry in the Philippines is worth approximately $38 billion as of 2022 and is estimated to rise above that of the standard IT-BPO industry in the coming years. With innovations in technology, upskilling workforces, and continued foreign investment, the future forecast growth for the BPO industry is positive.

With stiff competition from its biggest rival, India, and the advent of evermore remote working, we look at the potential future growth of the BPO industry in the Philippines, with predictions and forecasting.

The History of the Growth of BPO Services in the Philippines So Far

Since the 1990s the Philippines has been one of the biggest players in the BPO industry. Thanks to high levels of government support, including tax incentives, a capable and willing workforce, and quick and sustained investment from overseas, the industry has gone from strength to strength.

By 2005, the Philippines accounted for 3% of the global BPO market, and in the following year the company ePLTD, a firm focused on pushing economic growth in the Philippines, set up in the country and provided over 11,000 jobs. It is estimated now that 10-15% of the global BPO industry is held in the Philippines.

The disruption caused by the pandemic in 2020 had an effect on businesses across the world, including those offering remote business solutions. While many businesses, and even entire industries, struggled, the BPO industry was at an advantage, already engaging in robust and proven methods of remote and off-shore work, with proven success.

As such, between 2020 and 2021, the industry recorded growth in employee numbers by 9.1% and revenues increased by a huge 10.6%. Popular opinion suggests that this unprecedented growth in a time of global worry was thanks to the increase in start-up tech companies entering the market through the pandemic, many of whom required assistance and support from people with knowledge and skills, as well as experience in working remotely with confidence.

The BPO industry in the Philippines has, itself, grown by between 8-10% in previous years, with the majority of clients based in the US.

The Long-Term Future of The BPO Industry in the Philippines

With the world almost back to normal post-COVID, what’s to come for the BPO industry in the Philippines? From growing numbers in terms of industry value and employee statistics to advances in technology, there is a lot to come for the BPO industry as a whole, and in the Philippines, it’s a matter of adapting and evolving in order to stay at the top of their game.

Increased Professionalism and Skills

There’s a call for increased professionalism and ever-increasing skill sets. With shortages of skilled talent in countries such as the US and the UK, recruitment is more difficult than ever, but that’s not to say firms will choose to work with anyone. Top talent is required when working with outsourcers, especially in order to stand out from the thousands of other BPO companies offering similar services.

It is expected that the Filipino BPO sector will outperform those in the same industry in other countries, with sectors such as animation and design, and healthcare looking to be big growth areas in the Filipino BPO industry.

Automation and AI

A big piece in the growth of BPO worldwide is the modernization of automation and AI. Many traditionally outsourced tasks will become automated – for example, data entry, machine operators and even call center agents –  meaning firms will need to diversify their portfolio of services and embrace new technologies in order to be able to provide the high-level service required by international firms.

In particular, since Covid, firms have had to reevaluate ways to improve their bottom line and AI is one way of streamlining processes in order to do so. It’s a sector that’s only going to keep growing, and offers the Filipino BPO industry great opportunities in the coming years.

Increased Employee Numbers

It’s estimated that there will be 2.5 million Filipinos employed in BPO companies by 2025, which is an increase of roughly 1 million between now and then. Importantly, following on from the increased professionalism and skills needed, many predictions show that while AI and automation will likely reduce the number of employees required, if those employees are able to upskill to more analytical roles, rather than simple call-answering or data input, the job opportunities will still exist, if not grow.

Diversity In Services

In order to stay relevant and desirable, BPO firms in the Philippines will need to continue developing their service offerings, in line with progress in IT and diversified demands from clients. Cyber security, software and gaming developers, immersive technology experts (for example, VR and AR), SEO, and even healthcare-based skills such as genome sequencing, are all predicted to be in high demand in the future (Nexford University, 2021).

Final Thoughts

In order to ensure the growth of the BPO industry in the Philippines, as one of the longest-standing contributors to this global industry, the time is nigh for rethinking old ways of working, being proactive in their approach to the type and quantity of services offered, and potentially re-market themselves to remind people of the incredible breadth of knowledge, thanks to years of expertise, they have in the services they can offer.

What’s known as knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) is the future – outsourcing not just those parts of the business that are menial or time-consuming, but engaging and working with highly-talented and capable partners, who can offer quick, reliable, and efficient service and who feel like a part of the business, who just happen to be located in a different part of the world.

Sources;

IBPAP

Nexford University: Future of BPO Industry in The Philippines