Ways to optimize the retail customer experience throughout the year

Regardless of whether a retailer is a small brand or a global entity, providing a consistent, rewarding, and exceptional customer experience is no easy feat.

A possible approach is to collaborate with a business process outsourcing company that specializes in providing an excellent retail customer experience.

The forthcoming webinar, “Mastering Retail: Optimize Your Customer Experience Year-Round,” which is sponsored by iQor, will center on three essential tactics for delivering an excellent customer experience throughout the year. The fireside chat will include a discussion with an expert panel featuring Tone Holmen, senior vice president of operations at iQor; John Swain, who holds the position of vice president for account management in retail at iQor, and Brian Madonna, who is vice president of operations at Universal Screen Arts, Inc.

The free webinar will feature panelists who will elaborate on the necessity of operational excellence for retailers aiming to deliver a gratifying customer experience year-round. This process encompasses various elements, including the recruitment and hiring of the customer service team, their training and development, and the establishment of an effective operations process.

To shed light on the webinar discussion, RetailCustomerExperience contacted Swain for insights on the value of the BPO approach for retailers and the opportunities and advantages that a CX partnership can offer them. Register here for the free webinar.

Q. To begin with, could you provide some background information about iQor and its approach to customer support?

A. iQor is a business process outsourcing provider that is perfectly equipped to assist retailers in crafting remarkable customer experiences. iQor offers a wide range of full-service and self-service scalable solutions specifically designed to provide enterprise-quality customer experience (CX). With the best combination of digital and human capabilities, iQor assists retail brands in providing the customer experiences that are most in demand worldwide. The teams working in the office and at home provide support from domestic, nearshore, and offshore locations to cater to the diverse needs of our clients. We are motivated and guided in all our actions by our seven iQorian Values so that we can provide our customers with rewarding experiences. We deliver the ultimate customer experience as a trusted partner to our clients, leveraging decades of CX expertise, a wide range of agile solutions, and strategic AI utilization. The omnichannel support experience provided by iQor assists retailers, e-tailers, and e-commerce and catalog brands in connecting with customers based on the customers’ preferences.

Our CX specialists collaborate with retailers to create smart channel optimization strategies that align with customer needs. We are a strategic partner that provides tailored CX solutions, the agility to adjust to evolving needs, and thought leadership to ensure our clients’ success. We implement automation in the areas that have the greatest significance for surpassing customer expectations of hyper-personalized, seamless omnichannel support, from agents powered by AI to messaging within applications. The Symphony [AI]™ ecosystem from iQor enhances agent performance at every stage of the employee lifecycle, providing innovative strategies to ensure employees are happy and that they provide outstanding customer service. This innovative AI ecosystem leverages sophisticated machine learning models alongside iQor’s extensive process expertise to enhance the employee experience from the initial recruitment phase through their development of customer service skills on the production floor.

Q. Which are some of the typical misunderstandings that retailers might have regarding outsourcing customer support?

A. Retailers might have doubts about the suitability of outsourcing for their brand when contemplating it for customer support for the first time. Below are some of the diverse advantages that outsourcing can provide.
Brand ambassador: An outsourcing partner should embody the brand with equal passion and enthusiasm as the internal team. iQor fosters a culture that generates brand ambassadors for the retailers we assist. When customers reach out to a retail brand’s service line, they encounter a seamless and authentic experience. For over ten years, iQor has served as the exclusive point of contact for many retail clients. We foster an environment in which our team members — from frontline agents to supervisors and beyond — develop a profound connection with the brands they serve. By ensuring our objectives match those of our clients, we establish ourselves as a reliable business partner. We ensure that every contact point gives the impression that customers are engaging directly with the retail clients we support.
Control: A successful outsourcing partnership allows retailers to manage the customer experience they have in mind for their customers. iQor is well-known for its longstanding collaboration with retail clients to ensure that frontline workers reflect the brand values of the retailers. This guarantees that retailers can see every facet of service delivery via direct engagement with project managers and tailored reports.
Cost effectiveness: Outsourcing customer support can often be more economical than having an in-house team, as it removes the need for various tasks such as recruitment, hiring, onboarding, training, nesting, coaching, supervision, project management, workforce management, process improvement, and change management. Additionally, it eliminates the infrastructure costs tied to maintaining a customer support function.
Data security: With iQor’s substantial investment and dedication to a zero-trust strategy, our retail clients can feel at ease. Zero trust represents a dynamic security strategy that allows iQor to safeguard our clients’ data and systems against emerging threats while maintaining a secure environment for the client data we store, manage, and analyze.
Open communication: iQor promotes open communication across all levels, from the C-suite to frontline agents, by adopting a genuine partnership approach and maintaining transparency from Day One. We offer outsourcing support in both English and Spanish, with services from over 40 locations across 10 different countries. We guarantee that our multilingual support teams are proficient in delivering customer service that retailers can trust through continuous training, coaching, and performance monitoring.
Quality assurance: By outsourcing customer support, specialized expertise can be leveraged to enhance service quality. With its dedication to training, career development, an employee-focused culture, and highly effective processes refined over time, iQor has decades of experience in sustaining high-quality service. Furthermore, iQor’s Symphony [AI] enhances employee engagement and performance by utilizing our amassed process knowledge within a robust AI ecosystem, resulting in satisfied employees who reliably deliver high-quality outcomes for the brands that rely on us to serve their customers.
Seasonal staffing: Seasoned BPOs provide dependability for quick ramp-ups and guarantee that frontline agents are set up for success from day one. iQor has demonstrated its ability to quickly increase seasonal staffing to meet peak demands during holidays, special events, new product launches, and more — even with little advance notice. With decades of experience collaborating with retail brands, iQor has refined its recruiting, onboarding, and training processes. These are enhanced by Symphony [AI] to fulfill their year-round staffing requirements while ensuring top-notch performance.
Specialized training: iQor collaborates with our retail clients to create tailored and continuous training and coaching programs for our customer service teams. Our solid training programs have earned us over 40 awards. The duration of the sQholar Program is four months, and it comprises over 60 hours of blended learning tasks. The LevelUp Program consists of workshops, training courses, and job shadowing sessions designed to prepare individuals for managerial roles. The iLead Program includes continuous coaching discussions focused on personal and career development. The PeaQ Performance Qoaching Workshop, which we own and operate, is designed for new supervisors, agent team leads, and operations managers to cultivate essential leadership skills. These training programs represent just a fraction of the wide range of training opportunities offered through iQor’s organizational development function. We urge retailers who are thinking about outsourcing some or all of their customer service operations to begin discussions aimed at finding a partner that aligns well with the specific requirements of their brand.

Q. Which factors should retailers keep in mind when assessing and evaluating potential BPO partners, and what makes iQor stand out from the competition?

A. Every retailer aims to provide customer service of consistently high quality that meets the individual requirements of their customers in a cost-efficient manner. At iQor, we believe that the following qualities are indicative of a strong BPO partner.
Partner mindset: We have always regarded our relationships with clients as partnerships, throughout the history of iQor. We often learn about our clients’ businesses in such detail that they reach out to us with questions they cannot answer internally. We adopt a proactive stance regarding CX solutions. When it comes to client relationships where iQor operates as one of multiple BPOs, we are frequently identified as the most strategic BPO connection within their portfolio, providing thought leadership and innovative solutions tailored to their needs.
Brand-centric culture: The partner mindset we foster also relates to creating a brand-centric culture. Our frontline agents fully embrace the retailer’s brand. We train agents to understand your brand, so they embody its culture in every interaction. Your brand affinity with the agent is as robust as that of the retailer’s employees.
Welcome every circumstance: We comprehend the significance of “expect the unexpected.” We’ve witnessed everything. Regarding our partner mindset, we can quickly change direction when our client requires a response to situations that may involve adjustments to workforce management, staffing, or transitioning to alternative service delivery methods like chat, SMS, or social media. We always keep the retail client’s business objectives in focus and are ready to adapt swiftly to changing circumstances.
Continuous training: iQor’s organizational development team is committed to best practices in training, implemented through active learning classrooms. Hundreds of iQor trainers provide interactive learning programs that meaningfully engage agents, enabling them to quickly reach the production floor of service delivery with the required proficiency for consistent excellence.
Irresistible in the digital realm: At iQor, we aim to reliably meet or surpass the KPIs of our retail clients, bringing smiles to both them and the customers we engage with directly. We employ digital technology in the areas that are most crucial to involve retail customers in their preferred channel. We’re always attentive. The cornerstone of a successful outsourced customer experience that meets retailers’ KPIs and enhances their bottom line is a trust-based relationship.

Q. What internal or strategic preparations should retailers make before collaborating with a BPO/iQor?

A. iQor advises retailers to take the following internal and strategic steps to guarantee a successful outsourcing partnership. We support our retail partners at every stage of the process, providing guidance along the way. Our operations and executive teams are approachable, and our knowledgeable inter-departmental New Program Implementation Team ensures a seamless transition to outsourcing.
Set targets: Clearly define and convey the particular aims and targets you wish to accomplish through collaboration with a BPO. No matter if the goal is to enhance customer support, cut costs, or scale operations, it is essential to have clearly articulated objectives.
Evaluate existing processes: Assess your current internal processes to pinpoint the aspects suitable for outsourcing. Ascertain which processes are clearly defined and which require updates and enhancements.
Budget and cost analysis: Create a detailed budget and cost analysis of your existing CX delivery systems. Prepare to talk about the financial impacts of outsourcing, taking into account expenses and savings in both the short and long term.
Risk evaluation: Evaluate your existing potential for internal risks linked to CX delivery, including data security, compliance, and quality control. Get ready to talk about how a zero-trust strategy for data security, like iQor’s, tackles threat risks.
Pinpoint essential metrics: Establish KPIs and metrics that correspond to your business goals in order to assess how successful the collaboration is.
Cultural fit: Get ready to talk about how iQor’s methods correspond with the culture and values of your company. To achieve a successful partnership, it is important to have a common understanding of your brand’s identity.
Legal and compliance considerations: Intend to examine the legal and compliance obligations linked to outsourcing in your industry and/or location, to guarantee that iQor adheres to these regulations.
Requests for proposals: Develop a comprehensive Request for Proposals to invite bids from prospective BPO partners. Incorporate your requirements, expectations, and evaluation criteria into the RFP. Get ready for a meeting with iQor to go over a tailored reply to your RFP.
Due diligence: Carry out a comprehensive due diligence process on potential BPO providers you are considering in addition to iQor. Take into account their experience in retail, client references, financial stability, and track record. Set up a visit to iQor’s facilities to connect with the leadership in the trenches and those on the frontlines of service delivery.
Contract negotiation: Get ready to take part in contract negotiations so that the contract satisfactorily defines roles, responsibilities, service levels, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
Transition strategy: Work together to develop a detailed transition strategy that specifies how processes and responsibilities will be transferred. This should encompass a timeline, training, and communication approaches.
Change management: Provide guidance to your internal teams regarding the changes that outsourcing may entail.
Offer training and assistance to employees collaborating with iQor.
Communication Strategy: Create effective communication channels and designate points of contact with iQor. Make sure to communicate openly and transparently to deal with any problems right away.
Performance monitoring: Work together to create a system for tracking iQor’s performance based on mutually accepted KPIs. Performance should be reviewed and discussed regularly, with adjustments made as necessary.
Retailers can establish the groundwork for a successful collaboration with a BPO such as iQor by carefully dealing with these internal and strategic factors. By preparing in this way, you can ensure that your operations are efficient and aligned with your business goals, and that you achieve the outcomes you want from a CX outsourcing partnership.