In many industries, including automotive, it is an increasingly common practice for companies to contract with a business process outsourcing organization to help manage the more mundane, but necessary, functions that keep their operations running. Customer service tasks are most typically relegated tobusiness process outsourcing in addition to other tedious duties such as data entry, collections and certain accounting functions. The prevailing wisdom has been that for front-of-the-house activities, like inside sales and targeted marketing activities, a business is better off assigning these responsibilities to their own employees, since they are trained on the products and services they sell, are familiar with the corporate culture and have a suitable understanding of customer needs.
But is this the optimal strategy? Sophisticated business process outsourcing can now deliver “smart sourcing,” an enhanced iteration of outsourcing that can help companies improve their operations beyond just rote back-office activities for companies in the automotive industry. Basic outsourcing tends to emphasize a reduction of costs through the use of contracted staff. The more advanced sourcing concept involves using experienced and professional outsourced personnel to augment existing teams, allowing organizations to gain agility and scale more effectively so those companies may develop new and innovative capabilities.
Businesses can utilize a smart sourcing partnership to fulfill more crucial, skill-based and revenue-generating front office tasks such as sales, marketing, promotions and prospect management. These areas usually require more specialized knowledge of a company’s core industry, such as regulations and compliance issues in automotive lending. Effective smart sourcing can help companies grow as long as the provider in question has the right expertise, skill set and tools.
Simply put, smart sourcing offers what businesses crave: agility and scalability in a cost-effective package. Partnering with an intelligent business process outsourcing provider allows a business to scale its operations and enhance its capabilities without the costly investment of onboarding and managing a large work force. The right smart sourcing provider should be able to deliver skilled and seasoned professionals to handle a multitude of operations, including higher-level customer-facing activities. The provider should be managed like an internal resource, provided with quotas and expected to follow strict protocols and processes. A well-trained smart source team can function as an extension of the in-house team as a strategic partner and, if managed appropriately, will work seamlessly with the company’s existing internal work groups and departments.
To cite an example, a provider with expertise in automotive lending can easily supplement staff, whether for a banking institution, a credit union or a marketplace. The smart sourcing provider can take on more sophisticated responsibilities that allow the lender to increase core revenue-generating activities that will enhance profitability.
That provider should deliver a highly trained team of agents with deep expertise in the industry’s financial, security and compliance processes. All this can be economically accomplished under the organization’s own brand without their investing in additional full-time staff. The provider can also be a smart resource to supplement front-office personnel at peak hours or during busy seasons, delivering consistently superior performance, customer engagement and efficiency.
A productive smart sourcing organization can execute a brand-specific, scripted outbound campaign directed at the lender’s customer list, from start to finish, including customer outreach, prequalification, management of inbound calls and post-campaign outreach. Smart-sourced tasks can even stretch into the fulfillment phase, where the contracted team makes sure that financial transactions are processed correctly.
In the case of an automotive auction, smart sourcing providers can precertify and register interested bidders before an auction, collecting and verifying sensitive personal and financial data, while adhering to strict data privacy compliance measures and do-not-call lists. The auction house might use the provider’s team to take on targeted pre-event marketing efforts, such as lead generation and prospect management, or even assist in creating sales scripts or conducting post-event outreach.
Ideally, a smart sourcing provider should also be able to leverage reporting and analytics capabilities, where all electronic customer interactions can be monitored, recorded and analyzed in real-time usingartificial intelligence-assisted software — and all flawlessly delivered under the framework of the business’ brand. At the other end of an event, the provider can help with payment acceptance and processing, ensuring the experience is as pleasant and smooth as possible for the auction house’s clients.
Outsourcing both back-office and front-office functions to a reputable service-oriented provider can provide a range of revenue-generating benefits. The ability to execute a long-term smart sourcing plan could have wide advantages throughout the automotive space. A smart sourcing strategy can help a company expand its operations, lower costs and focus on innovating its own service offering — without the headache and cost of adding full-time personnel to its roster.