BPOs Face Fierce Competition
The BPO space for offshore call center agents is highly competitive with multiple vendors offering similar solutions competing for the same customers.
BPOs often go into bake-offs against other vendors where they are judged by how low their hourly agent rates are, along with how well their agents sound. These 2 dimensions are normally diametrically in opposition, the higher the price point per agent the better they sound.
With the latest GentAI innovations, this inverse relationship can shift, giving BPOs who adopt such solutions a significant leg up against their peers. Capable agents with a thick accent are made to sound more like onshore agents, which boosts trust and intelligibility.
5 Benefits of Adopting Voice GenAI for Agents
1. Lower cost per agent
BPOs are constantly on the lookout for ways to reduce offshore agent costs. Often BPOs reduce agent expenses by going to lower cost locations, like rural towns and lower cost countries. With the advent of voice GenAI BPOs can now expand the hiring pool at existing locations by making agents with thick accents instantly hireable. These agents would otherwise not meet hiring requirements. With the increased labor supply prices per agent go down.
Another reason, per agents costs go down with voice GenAI, is costs associated with accent training become optional.
2. Higher agent retention rates
Offshore agents with accents often suffer abuse from customers on calls. This increases the chances of agents churning, or quitting. By softening, or removing, the accents of agents, using GenAI, agents get less complaints and abuse from customers, and are generally happier on the job. The longer tenured agents help the BPO improve overall performance, and help BPOs compete against other vendors, as they are better trained at handling different types of customer issues or objections.
3. Improved agent productivity
Voice GenAI improves the intelligibility and trustworthiness of offshore agents, helping reduce handle times and callbacks. Such improvements ensure BPOs are better able to meet productivity metrics imposed on them by customers.
4. Improved customer satisfaction
Whether it is CSAT or NPS that BPOs need to carefully manage, by enhancing the speech of offshore agents with AI, BPOs boost these customer satisfaction metrics, and reduce the risk that customers will cancel contracts.
5. Improved sales
Agents in a sales role, calling on customers, are more likely to keep customers on the call longer, and are more likely to increase sales, because in those first few crucial seconds of the call they are more likely to be trusted, and during the rest of the call they are more likely to be understood.
Take Away
BPOs that adopt voice GenAI are expected to increasingly win more business compared to their peers, and are expected to be better at keeping existing customers. By enhancing how offshore agents sound BPOs can showcase offshore agents who both sound great and are affordable in competitive bake-offs vs other vendors. In addition, BPOs are better able to consistently meet stringent performance requirements provided by customers. Next, learn 6 ways to assess voice generators, so that you can get the best results for your call center.
