The Difference Between a BPO and a Call Center

There is a difference between a BPO and a call center.

Not many people know about it. And a lot of people often interchange both thinking that they’re the same.

Allow me to explain the difference between the two.

What does a BPO do?

BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing. From the phrase itself, you can get an idea of what the industry is all about.

Companies tap BPO organizations to carry out their back-end and front-office operations, and perform tasks found in a specific process or part of a process.

Back-end processes refer to those not related directly to customer support, but complement and help improve the customer experience. 

Examples of these include tasks related to accounts and finance, data entry, billing and payments, employee payroll, surveys, content writing, processing of claims, verification of applications, and more.

Front-office processes, on the other hand, involve customer management functions through email, live chat, social media and others, helpdesk services, appointment setting, and more.

BPO outsourcing is for startups, too.

You may notice that these tasks are often management and administrative, and though menial, can take up a lot of time to be accomplished.

As such, companies often outsource to BPO organizations to do these for them. Doing so allows them to enhance their efficiency, productivity, and performance.

If you own a startup or a small business, and you think outsourcing to a BPO organization is only for big-time companies, think again. 

Outsourcing can work wonders for startups and small businesses. With the help of BPO companies, startups owners can focus on focus on the more important parts of their business.

It allows them to delegate administrative tasks so they can better focus on things like business growth, sales, streamlining their process, etc.

It also helps companies manage their workforce, costs, and resources better as they expand their business.

What Do Call Centers Do?

Just like BPOS, you can grasp the work/offer of call center companies by what they’re called.

Call centers accomplish a company’s tasks that deal mainly with phone calls. They can fulfill various objectives such as lead generation, sales, marketing, customer support, and others.

These phone calls can either be inbound or outbound.

Inbound processes happen when customers call to avail of a company’s services, make product inquiries, report a complaint or defect, or request for resolution of a technical problem.

The classic examples are airline ticket reservation and purchase, requesting internet connection recovery, terminating postpaid mobile plans, requesting pizza delivery, and a lot more.

Outbound calls happen when call center representatives reach out to prospects or leads, on behalf of the company for sales, marketing, or other purposes.

For instance, they invite customers to open a credit card account or get life insurance or even follow up for payments.

Agents or representatives typically call customers indicated in a contact list and proactively pursue them.

Services call centers provide are vital. They cultivate the company’s relationship with its customers through direct interaction, whether the customer initiates it or the call center does.

Your Turn!

Are you looking for a Philippines business process outsourcing call center or company?

Either way, you can call us at  1-888-700-9555. Our associates are more than happy to talk to you about your outsourcing needs may it be inbound or outbound calls, lead generation, etc.

We look forward to hearing from you. Cheers!