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Outsourced Travel Management: Value-Added Services Becoming Key Differentiator
With competition intensifying, outsourced travel management providers are analyzing spend and integrating their tools with their buyers' back end systems to stand out from the pack, which now includes traditional procurement service providers.
Solution Delivers High-Quality Customer Experience with Travel Agents
Call centers can impact a travel agency's market share because of the large number of customer interactions. Yet a March study of North American consumers sounded an alarm for call centers that don't have the requisite technology to ensure satisfactory customer experiences. Here's how two travel-related businesses solved that technology problem.
Outsourcing Brings Better Service to Clients and an Award to the Program
Many parents in El Paso County, Colorado, don't want to pay child support; the county has the second largest case load in the state. Outsourcing enforcement improved collections when the supplier offered performance awards to its staffers. And the kids won, too.
Financial Firms Reap Savings Through Outsourced Telecom Expense Management
BancSouth's telephone bill was 30,000 pages. Employees had to manually search for billing errors. If the bill matched the previous bill by a few thousand dollars, the bank figured it was accurate enough. Outsourcing solved these problems and saved $600,000 the first year.
Analytics Helps Retailer Compete
Returns due to sizing errors had been a problem for a company selling children's clothes on the Internet. Outsourcing solved the problem thanks to the supplier's analytics.
New Study on Challenges and Benefits of Outsourcing Insurance Subrogation Claims
A 2005 study on outsourcing and insurance subrogation reveals why some insurance carriers are looking to outsource subrogation and others are hesitant. Another interesting finding: reducing costs is not an objective.
Start Up Starts Up Quickly By Outsourcing Its CRM
A start up needed a call-handling process that could route calls based on the skill and availability of the next agent without regard to geography. Outsourcing solved the challenge.
High Stakes: Web Site Customer Experiences
How can retailers know how well they are serving the needs of the customers coming to their Web sites? Read about an outsourcing solution that gives retailers in-depth competitive intelligence for their online business.
The Customer Relationship Management Forecast for 2006
Buyers will want to mine their data differently next year. And suppliers are developing consulting practices to help all customers, not just outsourcing buyers, do just that. Here's what's happening in CRM outsourcing.
ASP Makes Customer Service Self-Service
ATI manufactures 400 cards for video games. Dissatisfaction with multiple suppliers led it to select a single source solution. ASP Parature improved customer satisfaction and decreased incoming call volume by 80 percent through its self-service options.
Customer Segmentation, Location Attractiveness Key to Utility Call Center Outsourcing
Deregulation and business changes are causing utilities to investigate new areas of value capture. Outsourcing call centers does this. Robert Joslin outlines key considerations for success, including how to determine if offshoring is the right option.
Hospitals Need Nurses on the Floor, Not Answering the Phone: Why Hospitals Outsource CRM
At any given time of day, three ads for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center air on Los Angeles radio. The call to action is to phone a toll-free number. The hospital wants to make sure those calls are answered properly. So it outsourced its call center to a supplier specializing in healthcare.
How Offshoring Is Affecting US Real Estate Leased to Call Center Suppliers
The American press has dissected how the offshoring trend is affecting US employment. A new study by Jones Lang LaSalle shines a spotlight on how the trend is affecting US real estate absorption. It discovered US call center absorption is shrinking. The study shows where the rents are going.
How Outsourcing Helped A Hotel Company Create A Loyalty Program
In the hospitality industry, a small number of travelers contribute a large portion of the revenue. Leading Hotels of the World, a marketing company for luxe hoteliers, used an ASP solution to create its loyalty program. In the process, supplier Quaero helped Leading Hotels improve its guests' experiences.
Convergys's New CRM Solutions Help Travelers
Have you called an airline or hotel and gotten an interactive voice response system (IVR) that could not answer your question? Many valued customers like you are becoming upset with this aggravating solution. Now hotels and airlines are turning to their outsourcing suppliers to find a better way.
To Their Credit, Credit Card Issuers Are Outsourcing More
Credit card companies are outsourcing more than just their call centers. Dan Montgomery of Convergys explains why.
Nearshore? Farshore? Which Shore for CRM?
CRM companies used to make their offshore decisions solely on cost. Today there's a new metric: can the suppliers please picky American customers? Read why Canadian companies are doing a good job.
India 2005: Facing the Challenges of Labor Shortage and Rising Wages
New reports clearly indicate that India remains firmly perched at the top of the offshoring industry. But is all well amid all this optimism? We take a look at the challenges that India currently faces in the wake of a price spiral and increased pressure on India's reported shortage of qualified information technology workers. India also faces heightened challenges from new geographies. How will it stay ahead of the pack in 2005?
What to Expect This Year in the Leading BPO Processes
Here's a sneak peak at new developments in human resources, finance and accounting, customer relationship management, and procurement and global trade management outsourcing. 2005 promises to be a busy year for BPO.
When Outsourcing CRM, Total Business Value Eclipses Labor Arbitrage
In the past, cost was the overriding consideration when companies outsourced their call centers. Work went offshore because few American suppliers could compete with the offshore providers. Today companies have discovered cultural compatibility between buyer and provider is just as important as the savings. Here's what they learned.
Considering More than Cost When Choosing an Offshore Locale
Optimizing skill sets should be as important as cost savings when selecting an offshore location.
American Outsourcers Revamp to Compete with Offshore Suppliers
Two American suppliers created offerings that allow them to compete with Indian outsourcers. Here's what they did.
Why the Healthcare Industry Is Now Outsourcing CRM
Retailers have been outsourcing CRM for years. Now competitive pressures in healthcare are causing both payers and providers to outsource this process.
Small to Mid-Sized Businesses Turn to ASPs; Larger Enterprises Follow Their Lead
Residential Realtor Keller Williams® is in a hyper growth mode. It wanted to attract young brokers, who expect cutting edge technology. The broker outsourced an intranet, which acted as a magnet and made the document-driven transactions easier.
And Then There Were Two
AAA and EDS collaborated on how AAA could increase market share and customer satisfaction, at the same time, allowing EDS to enter a new market. They have leveraged each other's domain expertise and now go to market with a single, seamless solution for some of AAA's customers.
Aprimo's Marketing Success for Cummins Brings the Customer Back for More
It's budget time. Do you know where your marketing dollars went? Outsourcing helped global manufacturing firm Cummins know exactly how it spent its money.
Why a Silicon Valley Supplier Brought Its Offshore Call Center Home
Here's what went wrong.
Outsourcing Picks Up Speed in the Consumer Package Industry
Knowing who your customers are and what they want is crucial in today's competitive packaged goods industry. Outsourcing their IT to companies that can mine this data gives them an edge. Read why.
Customizing Service Level Agreements in Call Center Outsourcing Yields Better Results
Service level agreements (SLA) increase the probability that the operation of your outsourced call center meets your expectations. Attorneys from Latham & Watkins outline the crucial elements that need to be in those SLAs.
Outsourcing Email Proves To Be a Wise Investment for
Schwab
Customer service costs at Charles Schwab began to rise as customers phoned more frequently to ask about their portfolios. Understand how this type of outsourcing can pay dividends.
How Gain Sharing Is Ringing Up Incentives for AT&T and Accenture
You almost need a spreadsheet to select the most appropriate telephone calling plan. AT&T worked with Accenture to develop a program to match customers to the right plan, ringing up profits both parties will share.
Outsourcing Customizes Customer Care Worldwide
Buyers who outsource their call centers are discovering they can reduce cost and increase their customers' satisfaction even when call volumes are increasing. New studies show using a mix of offshore and domestic agents is sparking double-digit growth in Europe.
Canada, the High Touch/High Quality Call Center Outsourcing Option
India is receiving all the headlines as the best place for offshore outsourcing. But a new study by the Aberdeen Group found that a majority of companies prefer to send their call center work to Canadian service providers if the work is leaving the US.
Aberdeen Group: Outsourcing CRM to ASPs to Overtake Licensed Software by 2006
Aberdeen reports ASPs specializing in CRM will enjoy a growth rate of 84 percent in the next 36 months. The preferred way to outsource is now hosted applications.
CRM Outsourcer Is Just the Ticket For CARFAX
How do you handle 12,000 Web queries a month? Used car company CARFAX found an ASP put the solution in high gear, including a 50 percent reduction in service-related emails.
How a Drooping Economy Spurred One PC Maker to Improve Customer Care: Tough Times Call for Tough Measures
Gateway closed its Ireland office but still had customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Outsourcing allowed the computer manufacturer to continue to provide top service through the warranty period.
Outsourcer Makes Event Reporting Easier For Ingersoll-Rand
Ingersoll-Rand discovered using an ASP to monitor and resolve IT trouble tickets not only removed the middleman but offered an added bonus: it provided coverage on week-ends and holidays.
How to Win the Pharma Sales Force Scrimmage
There's a new help desk capability for pharmaceutical companies seeking
expert services and lower costs in an offering from Getronics and Everest
Field Technologies, which combines campus and field sales support.
Salesforce.com is the CRM Rx for Health Insurance Firms
MedUnite handles eight million transactions a month. It needed an easy-to-implement
CRM solution to manage its large customer base. Salesforce.com was the
answer.
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Sporting Goods Manufacturer Outsources CRM to Drive a Golf Email Campaign
Wilson Sporting Goods wanted to send 90,000 emails to its golf customers. But it had never done an email campaign before. Outsourcing got the job done.
Calling Canada... A Red
Hot Spot Develops for Call Center Outsourcing
The exchange rate is helping Canada become a popular offshore location
for call centers for American buyers.
Data Center Outsourcer
Keeps Power Grids Up and Running
A utility service provider emphasizes people over software to keep the power
grid humming.
ClientLogic the Logical Choice for Retail Fulfillment
A retail start-up had to grow quickly but did not want to invest in an
expensive customer relationship management system. Outsourcing came
to the rescue.
The Irony of Customer Contact
Center Outsourcing: New Rationale for Onshore/Offshore Decisions
Recent political instabilities in many of the world's regions have been
thrust into debates as to the wisdom of offshore outsourcing strategies.
Now there's a "made in America" outsourcing solution that offers viable
alternatives to mitigate that risk.
Prestigious Brand Building
Leading companies are increasingly using global concierge services and other "wow" features
of a specialty outsourcing service provider to build their brands
and offer unique capabilities to their end customers in specific
markets. It's outsourcing at its best -- affordable, effective
access to highly
valuable resources, expertise and flexibility that can't be achieved
internally.
Remote Customer Service Agents
Make Call Center A Big Hit With Clients
As a call center service provider, you spend $10,000 training an employee
to handle complicated financial services and insurance calls. How do you
keep them from leaving? ARO found a way to retain these hard-to-find,
licensed employees: let them work at home. This kind of continuity is
exactly what its buyers want.
EDS Creates a Magical CRM
Chemistry With Dow
Dow Chemical Co. had under invested in its call center. It needed to upgrade
the technology, reduce its capital investment and add best practices.
Who ya gonna call? EDS.
CRM Becomes A Star At ENSTAR
The "I Love You" virus did very unloving things to the computers
of email readers who couldn't resist opening the infected note. The malicious
message did billions of dollars of damage. And an avalanche of email messages
brought down Yahoo in a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack.
Digital Dilemma
Thomson multimedia inc., which manufactures electronic products for the
well-known brands of RCA, GE and Proscan, came to understand in the mid
1990s that customer care is a separate skill and a trade apart from manufacturing.
Counting on Communication
Outsourcing drove down costs for Hallmark, which was the original intention.
At the same time, outsourcing allowed Hallmark to sustain its high quality
of customer service and satisfaction.
Customer Support
When a frustrated customer calls an 800 number for help, the Help Desk
Institute says that call costs the company $33. SafeHarbor.com has devised
a way to use technology to cut that cost.
Facing Up to Customer Needs
Online
Communication is fundamental to any kind of commerce. But it's especially
important on the impersonal Net where buyers sit alone in front of a computer
screen, wondering if their orders will get lost in the ether.
Hearing the Cries For
Help
Today, folks who have never owned a computer before are shopping on-line.
And many of the planet's new businesses are dependent on those folks successfully
completing the process so they can make a sale.
Lowering the Cost of
People
It is becoming clear that what is going to separate successful companies
from unsuccessful ones in the evolving e-commerce world will be people.
An Outsourcing Relationship
Worth The Paper It's Written On
Shurman Fine Papers realized some accounts had become billing problems
and had not been contacted for two years.
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