A “hybrid” technical support department offers both the offline services of an in-house help desk and on-call assistance provided by outsourcing customer support. Companies typically hybridize their customer service to harness the advantages of outsourcing and strengthen their in-house team. As with any other business ventures, however, hybridizing customer service has downsides.
If you are planning to partner with another company to have experts aid your current staff, you should first know the pros and cons of hybridizing to know whether or not this move is right for your business.
Advantages
A hybrid customer service department gives your consumers more options as to where and how they want reach tech assistance.
You can keep your help desk in-house for customers who want readily available services. Customers in need of assistance have the option to go to your business site to have their product fixed or replaced. However, if they would rather do the fixing by themselves, they can call, email, or send a message to your outsourced tech support representative to ask for instructions on how they can solve product issues in the comforts of their home.
Additionally, hybridizing your customer service by outsourcing customer support to a company located in a foreign country can give you a higher assurance of business continuity.
If there are threats of delays in your main site’s operations, your outsourced tech support team can carry on and serve as an alternate office. They will still be able to process customer requests while your headquarters cope with damage from physical threats like natural calamities and data disasters. Reciprocally, your in-house help desk can cover for the outsourced team in the event of a disaster in that location as well.
Disadvantages
Having both an in-house help desk and outsourced tech support team can be costly, especially for businesses in the IT industry. Since technology is always evolving, staff often has to go through constant training and even pass licensure exams to keep up with the industry changes and stay qualified for their positions.
Hybridizing your customer support also means that you would have to put additional people under your payroll. You would have to shell out on expanding facilities for your in-house staff, paying monthly dues, and providing them with employee benefits.
Outsourcing customer support to strengthen your help desk is a wise decision, but it may be impractical if you don’t have the budget. Thus, assess the current condition of your business and identify your customers’ needs to make the most out of your hybrid customer service.