Business Process Outsourcing examples and best practices | BPO

Which is the best example of outsourcing

Business process outsourcing examples include tasks such as call center services, human resources management, accounting, payroll, customer service, marketing, and information technology. There are many reasons why companies outsource their business processes. Mainly because optimizing the business processes is both crucial and challenging to manage in-house. By outsourcing these processes to a third party, companies can save time, reduce costs, improve efficiency, focus on their core competencies, and gain a competitive advantage.

Reasons for outsourcing

Some of the reasons include the need for flexibility in staffing, cost savings through labor arbitrage, and access to skills that are unavailable in-house. Another reason for outsourcing is that BPO providers typically have extensive knowledge and experience in the areas they offer services. They can often provide a higher level of quality and efficiency than a company could achieve internally.

Outsourcing examples and best practices

Business process outsourcing (BPO) handles both front-office and back-office service outsourcing. For easier understanding, we’ll group all outsourcing examples and best practices into front-office outsourcing and back-office outsourcing examples.

Front-office outsourcing examples

The first and probably the best example of business process outsourcing is customer care outsourcing. Both outbound and inbound calls and digital customer experience (CX) services are part of customer care outsourcing. Companies are increasingly using customer care outsourcing services to provide better CX and support, which in turn helps them retain customers. Many companies outsource their customer care services to countries with cheaper labor costs. The most common examples of customer care outsourcing are:

• Cold calling
• Follow-up calls
• Scheduling appointments
• Updating contact list information
• Onboarding new customers
• Answering all customer queries
• Resolving customer complaints, issues, and disputes
• Payment processing
• Order processing
• Upgrades and renewals
• Scheduling appointments

Marketing, Strategy, Sales, and Research outsourcing

Marketing outsourcing is another typical business process outsourcing example. Many companies (especially  SaaS providers) outsource their marketing services to third-party companies. These third parties include advertising agencies, event management agencies, digital marketing providers, strategic marketing and management agencies, etc. The most common examples of marketing outsourcing services are:

• Market and competitive research
• Marketing strategy  
• Content writing
• Content creation/production
• Design
• CRM 
• Marketing automation
• Social media marketing
• SEO
• Event management
• Public relations

Often companies combine sales and marketing outsourcing. This means hiring a BPO (or third-party specialized sales agency) to handle the sales process for them. This example is popular among start-ups or smaller companies with insufficient time or the right people on board. Apart from outsourcing the sales processes, some companies choose to outsource the after-sales services as well. This means supporting the customers after they make their purchases.

Another popular front-office business process outsourcing example is market research. Professional market research outsourcing companies use tailored strategies and specific methods for each client. They have skilled personnel in place to efficiently and effectively conduct the research providing the best possible results.

IT and software development outsourcing

Another common  BPO focus is IT and software development outsourcing. Even big companies like IBM and Microsoft outsource some of their IT and software development to countries where it’s easier to find skilled programmers at lower prices. The most common examples of IT and software development outsourcing include: 

• Website development
• Website Hosting
• Application (software) development
• Application (software) support or management
• Database development
• Database management
• IT infrastructure & management
• Team planning and mapping outsourcing strategy

Back-office outsourcing examples

 While front-office services are mostly client-facing, back-office services are not. One pretty common example of business process outsourcing is the use of a third-party company to handle payroll functions. Similar to the other examples, by outsourcing the payroll process, a company can save time and money while also ensuring that employees are paid accurately and on time. Payroll outsourcing most often includes:

• Processing paychecks
• Tracking vacation and sick days
• Managing other benefits

Another common back-office outsourcing example is accounting outsourcing. Many companies hire third-party accountants or accounting firms to handle  accounting services, including:

• Cost Accounting
• Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable Management
• Tax reporting and filing
• Bookkeeping
• Financial statements and reports
• Financial planning, analysis, and strategies

HR outsourcing is also one of the most popular back-office outsourcing examples, where a company transfers management and responsibility for certain HR functions to the external provider. Popular HR outsourcing options available to employers include:

• Monthly HR support
• Strategic HR Initiatives
• Employee Engagement
• Employee data management
• Benefit and leave administration
• Relocation services (international and domestic)
• Recruiting and hiring operations
• Learning and training services
• Reporting and analytics

The right BPO option for your company

At FrontLogix, we offer various BPO services that can help you streamline your operations and improve your bottom line. Above all, we have years of experience in the industry, so you can be sure that we will provide you with the best possible service. We’ll work together to develop customer loyalty tactics. We’ll assist you in making the most of your client data, developing new consumer experiences, and streamlining your business operations. In conclusion, you’ll have more satisfied customers who stay happy for more extended periods of time if you invest in superior customer service—all while spending less time and money!