5 Most Common Misconceptions About Offshoring Customer Support and Success Debunked

Offshoring has become the go-to strategy for businesses looking to optimise their operations, cut costs, and drive innovation. Thanks to advances in connectivity and collaboration technology that break down barriers to geographic distances and time zone differences, any task or function that can be digitised can be offshored.

In today’s globalised and hyperconnected economy, distributed teams are fast becoming the norm, and they come with a slew of benefits. Organisations can access global talent pools, bypass regional staffing challenges, and bring together the diverse expertise necessary to achieve their goals most cost-effectively.

With its manifold advantages, what's stopping companies from offshoring their customer support and success functions? Below are the five most common misconceptions preventing them from exploring this option.

1. Offshoring Your Customer Support and Success Means a Loss of Managerial Oversight

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The most basic definition of offshoring is relocating a business function, whether partial or full, to another country, while overall management remains with headquarters or onshore business centres. In this set-up, businesses will likely lose some degree of control over their offshore team. This is not something that should be minimised and ignored. Loss of managerial oversight can lead to a host of potential problems in productivity, employee engagement, and overall quality of work output. For client-facing functions like Customer Support and Success, that could have a disastrous effect on bottom-line results.

At Unient, we have taken steps to mitigate these potential pitfalls with our Managed Resources engagement package. Our offshore team solutions include Client Success Managers and Operations Managers working exclusively for you to handle the day-to-day people management and operations. When you build your dedicated Customer Support and Success team with us, we will not leave you in a lurch after onboarding; we will be your partner every step of the way.

2. Offshoring Your Customer Support and Success Means Language Barriers and Other Communication Issues

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The issue of language barriers and cultural differences has always been a sore point for the offshoring and outsourcing industries. Obstacles arise when people cannot communicate effectively. Every cross-cultural team, whether working together in the office or collaborating remotely, experiences this. And, even when speaking the same language, some cultural nuances can get lost in translation.

For customers, this can lead to a frustrating experience. The fact is that offshoring your customer support and success works best if the team and the customers they serve share a common language.

For decades, India and the Philippines have been the top preferred offshoring locations to serve English-speaking customers precisely because of their people's fluency in the language. Both countries also boast readily available, proficient, and culturally adaptive workforces. Unient is a remote-first distributed organisation with business centres in Australia, the Philippines, and India.

3. Time Differences Will Negatively Impact Your Customer Response Time

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While it is true that significant time zone differences between a customer support team and the customers they serve can potentially pose some difficulties, this does not have to be the case. It can be an incredible benefit.

Having an offshore customer service team operating in a different time zone allows you to take advantage of the 24-hour work cycle. This is especially important for operations that wish to provide round-the-clock service or 24/7 omnichannel support. Customers expect timely responses to their concerns at all hours. Making them wait for the usual business hours before they reach anyone will drive them straight to your competitors.

4. An Offshore Customer Support and Success Team Lacks Firm-Specific Expertise

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On the surface, the concern that an offshore customer support professional may not have a sufficient understanding of your products and services seems valid. However, some customer service management principles are universal regardless of the location of the customer support team. A well-trained, diligent, and professional customer support team that is thoroughly briefed on product details, service policies, and other relevant information will be able to provide customers with what they need, regardless of their location.

At Unient, we know how important customer-facing functions are and, as your Customer Support and Success partner, we see ourselves as an extension of your brand. We are committed to providing our customers with a seamless and satisfactory experience at every point of contact. A huge part of this is making sure your team members have all the tools they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

5. An Offshore Customer Support and Success Team is Vulnerable to Privacy Breaches and Data Leaks

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All online-operating businesses are at risk for possible privacy breaches and data leaks. This concern is not exclusive to those working with offshore third-party firms. Cybersecurity is everyone's business and a top concern for technology leaders.

We take cybersecurity and data confidentiality seriously at Unient. We maintain and implement a robust cybersecurity strategy to safeguard sensitive customer data and proprietary information. We take all the necessary measures to prevent accidental exposure and reduce vulnerabilities to data theft, phishing attacks, and similar threats. This includes training, regular security audits, and maintaining compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and all other applicable industry standards.

With our expertise, customisable services, and scalable solutions, Unient is your versatile partner for better offshoring. Let us build your Customer Support and Success team together and start achieving your business goals. Send us a message and start unlocking the benefits of a high-performing, results-focused, and fully managed dedicated offshore team. Get started today!