Trend 2
Premium partners
Rethinking relationships and optimising business outcomes
Leading BPO firms have transformed from merely staffing call centres to becoming comprehensive customer experience delivery experts. Today’s top BPOs offer capabilities in consulting, business transformation, AI, automation and advanced reporting. While outsourcing still effectively reduces costs, it also enhances customer insights, minimises attrition, optimises quality, and introduces innovative tools and solutions.
Unfortunately, many organisations continue to see BPOs as vendors rather than partners, resulting in transactional relationships. However, the current landscape of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, alongside ongoing technological disruption, should be enough for any business to reevaluate its perception of and approach to outsourcing. The reason many CX tools and technologies have been limited to larger brands stems more from mindset than budget constraints. Forward-thinking organisations understand that combining these elements leads to solutions that lower costs while enhancing CX capabilities. Focusing on outcomes rather than just initial expenses aligns business interests and drives innovation. This mindset enables the implementation of advanced services and processes that may seem costly individually but, when integrated, provide invaluable protection and performance. As we approach 2025, leading players in the outsourcing industry are reshaping their models to help organisations tackle complex challenges and elevate performance, rather than merely cutting costs. This shift towards outcome-driven partnerships could redefine CX delivery, but only if business leaders can embrace the change and recognise the long-term benefits.
Learn more about negotiating outcome-based outsourcing agreements.
How outcome-based agreements can secure success
Even though the levels of service and solutions offered by leading BPOs have evolved significantly, particularly with the integration of generative AI, many organisations still approach negotiations with potential partners predominantly focused on price. While cost reduction is a critical motivator for outsourcing, especially for first-timers, overemphasis on time and materials can create a false economy and heighten vulnerabilities in system and information security — particularly if an element of a proposed solution is rejected solely based on upfront costs.
Revised operating models
Shifting focus to outcomes can mitigate cyber risks and enhance business performance. This is why many leading BPO organisations prioritise client engagements centred on delivering outcomes and integrating specific tools and processes into their operational models; because they reflect the realities of customer service delivery and help minimise security or cyber risks. However, organisations often feel apprehensive about negotiating such contracts. To reach an agreement that maximises future success while minimising security risks, there must be clarity on the definition of the solution or desired outcome, as well as the metrics used to track and verify this outcome over time.
Shared responsibilities
It’s essential for both parties to agree on their specific and shared responsibilities during the engagement, simplifying contract design and the establishment of service level agreements (SLAs). This clarity will outline the degree of control your organisation retains versus the latitude granted to your partner to achieve objectives. Defining the parameters of control and responsibility ensures a focus on long-term benefits rather than short-term gains, alleviating potential cost concerns and introducing financial predictability to the partnership. Given the rising frequency, cost, and reputational damage from data breaches and cyberattacks, it’s imperative to ensure that your business partners employ best practices for information and system security.
