Choosing The Right Customer Service Solution For Your Brand

Call us biased, but there’s truly nothing more thrilling than watching customers flood your online store, especially during the holiday shopping season or after a killer marketing campaign. 

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To keep up with rising customer demands and ensure that a poor online experience doesn’t cause you to lose traction, it’s crucial to continue growing your customer service team as well. 

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Though it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of customer service solutions available for E-Commerce brands, we’ve got you covered with the details you need to make an informed decision for your business.

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What Are The Pros And Cons Of In-House Customer Service V. Outsourced Customer Service?

Choosing whether to keep your customer service team in-house or outsource it to an agency is a huge decision, and there are many factors that go into making the right one for your business.

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We LOVE a pro/con list here at TalentPop, so we’ve put one together for you that outlines the positives and negatives of in-house and outsourced customer service solutions (plus a little extra comparison of domestic versus offshore solutions). 

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Pros & Cons Of Outsourced Customer Service

Pros:

• Cost Efficiency. Outsourced customer service is a go-to option for growing brands and start-ups because it eliminates both time & financial investments into training, hiring, and general infrastructure costs.
• Training & Vetting. Customer service outsourcing agencies typically handle the vetting & training of their employees, which means the agents you onboard will already be equipped with the specialized skills they need to do their job effectively.
• Scalability. Since E-Commerce businesses often see a huge increase in traffic and sales around holidays or during their peak seasons, outsourcing makes it easy to scale your level of support up or down to accommodate for the changes.

Cons:

• Reduced Brand Familiarity: Outsourced teams may take more time to fully understand and embody the nuances of your brand, potentially leading to less personalized customer interactions early on as they learn.
• Less Direct Control: While outsourcing is an efficient customer service solution, it may mean giving over a bit of control to the outsourcing agency, which can be challenging for businesses that prefer a hands-on approach to customer service.
• Multiple Clients. Some outsourcing agencies assign their agents to multiple brands, which can make it difficult for them to seamlessly transition from one client to another throughout the day without sacrificing the quality of the experience. 

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Pros & Cons Of In-House Customer Service

Pros:

• Strong Communication. Having your customer service team under the same roof allows for immediate communication and collaboration with other departments, which leads to quicker problem resolution and a more seamless customer experience.
• Product Knowledge. In-house agents often have an intimate understanding of your brand and offerings, which makes them especially skilled at having brand-aligned customer interactions and resolving inquiries (even highly technical ones) quickly.
• Flexibility and Control: With in-house agents, you have direct control over training, workflows, and processes, which allows for quick adjustments to address changing customer needs or market dynamics.

Cons:

• High Costs. Brands that employ full-time customer service agents typically spend more money paying for employment benefits (think health insurance, PTO time, 401Ks) as well as equipment like computers, tech, and software licenses.  
• Resource Limitations. If an agent is sick or unavailable to work, it can be challenging to fill in the scheduling gaps to ensure that each customer service channel has the proper coverage.
• Expertise Challenges. Not every in-house agent will be skilled or experienced in all facets of your business, which may make it difficult to assign tasks or complete projects fully and successfully.

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As you can see, we weren’t fibbing – there are MANY factors and considerations that go into choosing the right customer service solution for your brand.

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However, we’re not done yet. We promised you more info about outsourced customer service, so we’re breaking down it even further to outline the main differences between offshore and domestic customer service. 

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Differences Between Outsourced Outsourced Offshore & Domestic Customer Service

Offshore:

• Diverse Skill Sets vs. Culture Barriers: Though offshore outsourcing opens the door for a more diverse talent pool that may offer specialized skills and language capabilities, it may also mean that cultural nuances and misinterpretations can pose challenges in working with your in-house departments and customers.
• Cost Efficiency: Between the high inflation and labor costs that often pose as obstacles for US-based businesses, offshore outsourcing is a cost-effective solution that allows brands to access quality services at much more affordable rates.

Domestic:

• Culture Alignment vs. Higher Costs. Though domestic outsourcing ensures closer culture alignment with your in-house teams & customer base (and often means your agents will work in the same or similar time zones, languages, etc.), elevated labor costs can make it less cost-effective for brands operating on tighter budgets.
• Compliance Standards. Domestic outsourcing abides by the same compliance requirements for your business, which is especially important for privacy and security purposes. 

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3 Must-Haves For Your Brand’s Customer Service Tech Stack (Plus Our Go-To Options For Each!)

No matter which solution you choose for your brand, there are certain tools your customer service agents need to offer a consistently high-quality experience to your customers. 

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To get you started, we’ve dropped our top three must-haves to include in your E-Commerce tech stack, plus our suggestions for each that we’ve pulled straight from our TalentPop Partner Directory.

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1. Helpdesk Software

A helpdesk software that offers omnichannel customer support allows your brand to streamline the customer experience and streamline processes with strategic automation.

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Our Recommendations:

• Gorgias
• Zendesk
• Gladly 

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2. Subscription Management

If your brand offers products through a subscription, then you need a subscription management tool to ensure that yours are easy for customers to navigate (hello, consistent revenue!). 

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Our Recommendation:

• Recharge

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3. Fulfillment 

Order fulfillment is a HUGE part of your E-Commerce business, and having a trusted partner by your side to help you optimize your order fulfillment process is absolutely essential to your future success. 

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Our Recommendation:

• ShipBob

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Partner With TalentPop To Set Your Brand Up With The Right Customer Service Solution For Your Customers

It’s not easy choosing the right customer service solution for your E-Commerce brand, which is why we’ve created one that offers everything you need from your customer service team (without the useless fluff you don’t!). 

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From our no-contracts solution that offers scalable monthly support to a transparent, affordable pricing model that allows you to onboard agents for as little as $8/hour per agent, it’s no wonder why over 500+ top brands like True Classic, JAXXON, and USB Lighter Company trust us with their customer service needs.

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Plus, by assigning dedicated agents to your brand along with a Customer Success Manager to oversee training and help you out along the way, you’ll feel confident that you have a supportive team standing with you. 

Start by scheduling a call with us today, and we’ll tell you more about how you can try TalentPop risk-free and set your brand up for success in 2024.