Call center outsourcing involves hiring an external service provider to handle a company’s customer service, support, or sales operations. Rather than managing an in-house call center, businesses delegate these tasks to specialized third-party providers who operate call centers on their behalf.

For Malaysian companies, call center outsourcing can help in the following ways:

1. Cost Efficiency

Cost efficiency in call center outsourcing stems from reducing or avoiding the direct and indirect costs of running an in-house customer service department. These costs can include:

1. Infrastructure Costs: Setting up a call center requires physical office space, equipment (phones, headsets, computers), software (CRM systems, telephony), and utilities (internet, electricity, etc.). Outsourcing eliminates the need to invest in these infrastructure elements.
2. Hiring and Training: Companies that manage in-house call centers must recruit, train, and retain agents, which can be expensive. Outsourcing providers already have skilled personnel, so Malaysian businesses can skip these expenses.
3. Operational Costs: Maintaining a call center requires paying salaries, benefits, ongoing training, and management. Outsourced providers streamline operations, often leveraging economies of scale to offer lower costs.
4. Technology Upgrades: Companies must continuously invest in updating their software, implementing AI, maintaining security, etc. Outsourcing partners typically spread these costs across multiple clients, lowering the overall cost for each business.
5. Time and Focus: By outsourcing, companies save management time, allowing them to focus on their core business instead of spending resources on supervising call center operations.

Example

Let’s consider a medium-sized Malaysian e-commerce company, “ShopMelayu”, that operates across Southeast Asia. ShopMelayu has decided to manage customer service in-house, expecting to handle around 2,000 inquiries per month across multiple channels (phone, chat, email).

• In-house setup costs:
  • Infrastructure (office space, computers, phones): MYR 200,000 initial setup
  • Software licenses and telephony systems: MYR 50,000 annually
  • Salary for 10 agents: MYR 4,000 per agent per month (total MYR 40,000 monthly, or MYR 480,000 annually)
  • Training and management overheads: MYR 100,000 annually
  • Maintenance, upgrades, and utilities: MYR 50,000 annually

Total annual in-house cost: ~MYR 880,000 (not counting potential turnover, retraining, or expansion needs).

• Outsourcing costs:
  • Partnering with a call center outsourcing company offers services for MYR 150 per agent per hour. For 10 agents working 40 hours per week, the annual cost comes to:
  • MYR 150 per hour × 40 hours × 52 weeks × 10 agents = MYR 312,000 annually

Thus, by outsourcing, ShopMelayu reduces its annual cost to MYR 312,000 from MYR 880,000, a savings of MYR 568,000, without sacrificing service quality.

Case Study: AirAsia (Malaysian-based Airline)

Background:
AirAsia, one of Malaysia’s largest budget airlines, was facing increased demand for customer service due to its expanding routes and growing customer base. Managing customer inquiries in-house became increasingly costly as the company needed to hire more agents, maintain technology systems, and invest in infrastructure.

Solution:
AirAsia outsourced a significant portion of its customer service operations to BPO providers in the Philippines and India. The outsourcing partner provided multilingual support, leveraging advanced CRM systems and technologies like chatbots to handle routine inquiries while human agents dealt with complex issues.

Results:

1. Cost Reduction: AirAsia reduced its operational expenses by more than 40%, primarily due to lower labor costs in outsourced locations, the elimination of overheads associated with maintaining in-house infrastructure, and the cost-sharing of technology upgrades.
2. Scalability: During peak travel seasons, the outsourced call centers easily scaled up operations by adding temporary staff, reducing the need for AirAsia to recruit and train new agents.
3. Improved Efficiency: The outsourcing provider’s advanced systems helped reduce response times and handle increased volumes, ultimately improving customer satisfaction while allowing AirAsia to maintain competitive ticket prices.

By outsourcing, AirAsia gained significant cost efficiency, saved on operational overhead, and improved customer service without the need for substantial investments in infrastructure or personnel. The company used these savings to enhance its core services, like expanding flight routes and improving customer experience.

Call center outsourcing offers significant cost-saving opportunities for Malaysian businesses by reducing the expenses associated with infrastructure, staffing, training, and technology maintenance. As seen in the case of AirAsia, outsourcing allowed the company to achieve substantial operational savings while maintaining high-quality customer service, ultimately benefiting its business growth and market competitiveness.

2. Focus on Core Business

“Focus on core business” means that by outsourcing non-core tasks, such as customer service, companies can direct their attention and resources toward their main business activities. Core business activities are those that drive growth and competitive advantage, such as product development, marketing, sales, and innovation.

By outsourcing customer service functions to a specialized provider, businesses free up internal resources, reduce the complexity of operations, and shift their focus to strategic areas that contribute directly to revenue and business expansion. 

Here’s how this works:

1. Reduces Operational Distractions: Customer service management, though essential, can be time-consuming and requires ongoing management and support. Outsourcing relieves businesses of this responsibility, allowing leadership and employees to focus on innovation, product enhancement, and market expansion.
2. Frees Up Resources: Financial and human resources that would otherwise be tied up in maintaining customer service operations can be redirected toward core areas like product development or expanding market reach. This reallocation often results in more significant growth opportunities.
3. Enhances Agility: Outsourcing allows businesses to be more agile, as they can quickly adapt to changes in market conditions or consumer behavior without being bogged down by internal processes related to customer service.
4. Leverages External Expertise: Outsourcing providers specialize in customer service, so they can handle customer inquiries efficiently while the company focuses on what it does best. This leads to better customer service outcomes and more effective business operations overall.

Example

Let’s take a growing Malaysian fintech company, “PayMalaysia,” as an example.

Core Business Focus: PayMalaysia’s core business is developing secure and innovative payment solutions for individuals and businesses. Their key focus is on product development, improving their payment gateway technology, and expanding partnerships with merchants.

Challenge: As the company expanded, its customer service operations grew as well. PayMalaysia started receiving thousands of inquiries every month related to account management, technical issues, and transaction disputes. Managing customer service in-house began consuming significant time and resources, pulling focus away from their core business of technology development.

Solution: PayMalaysia decided to outsource its customer service operations to a call center provider. This move allowed them to:

• Shift focus back to product innovation: The management and tech teams were no longer tied up with customer service problems, giving them more bandwidth to work on developing new features for their payment solutions.
• Reallocate resources: Instead of hiring, training, and managing customer service staff, PayMalaysia reinvested the saved resources into expanding their technical team and fast-tracking product releases.
• Maintain service quality: The outsourced call center was able to handle customer inquiries efficiently and professionally, ensuring that PayMalaysia’s customers received timely support without compromising on service quality.

Result: 

PayMalaysia experienced an improvement in product development timelines, enabling them to bring new features to the market faster, which helped them stay competitive in the fintech space. Customer satisfaction also improved due to the professional handling of inquiries by the outsourcing provider.

Case Study: Maxis (Malaysian Telecommunication Company)

Background:
Maxis, a leading telecom operator in Malaysia, provides a wide range of services, including mobile, broadband, and enterprise solutions. While Maxis is known for its core telecom services, customer service was an essential function for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, managing customer service operations in-house was diverting time and resources from their primary focus of expanding their network and improving product offerings.

Solution:
Maxis decided to outsource a significant portion of its customer service operations to external BPO providers. This allowed the company to concentrate more on its core activities, such as expanding its network infrastructure, innovating telecom solutions, and delivering better mobile and internet services to its customers.

Key Outcomes:

1. Faster Network Expansion: By outsourcing customer service, Maxis was able to reallocate resources towards network expansion, particularly in rural areas, where they had been slow to roll out infrastructure due to operational bottlenecks.
2. Improved Product Development: The company focused more on enhancing product offerings, such as introducing new broadband plans and improving mobile data services, as management could concentrate on strategic initiatives rather than operational concerns.
3. Operational Efficiency: The outsourced provider handled customer inquiries more efficiently, thanks to their specialized knowledge and processes. This led to reduced customer wait times and higher customer satisfaction scores, which further supported Maxis’s brand as a leading telecom provider.
4. Increased Market Share: By focusing on its core business, Maxis was able to stay ahead of competitors in terms of network coverage, technological innovations, and customer service quality, ultimately increasing its market share.

Outsourcing allowed Maxis to focus on its primary mission of delivering high-quality telecom services while ensuring that customer service was handled professionally. This shift resulted in faster product development, expanded network coverage, and improved customer satisfaction, reinforcing Maxis’s position as a market leader.

Outsourcing customer service allows Malaysian companies to focus on what they do best: innovating, growing their business, and driving competitive advantages. As seen in the example of PayMalaysia and the case of Maxis, outsourcing non-core tasks like customer service can free up valuable resources, boost operational efficiency, and support the growth of core business functions that directly impact profitability and success in the market.

3. Scalability

Scalability in call center outsourcing refers to the ability of a business to quickly adjust the size of its customer service operations based on current demand without the limitations or risks of managing this process internally. 

By outsourcing, Malaysian companies gain the flexibility to scale their call center operations up or down based on factors like seasonal spikes, new product launches, or market expansions. The external service provider typically has the resources, infrastructure, and expertise to handle sudden changes in call volumes, providing businesses with the following benefits:

1. Rapid Adjustment to Demand: Outsourcing providers can quickly hire and train additional agents during peak periods or reduce capacity during slow periods without the business having to bear the costs or management burden of hiring or laying off employees.
2. Cost-Efficient Growth: Instead of making heavy investments in expanding in-house facilities, companies can rely on outsourcing partners to accommodate growth, saving money on infrastructure, technology, and staffing.
3. No Long-Term Commitments: Outsourcing offers flexible contracts, allowing companies to scale up temporarily for specific projects or seasons without being locked into long-term commitments.
4. Access to Global Talent Pools: Outsourcing providers often operate across different geographies, enabling them to pull from a larger pool of agents and provide 24/7 support to handle growing customer needs.

Example

Let’s look at a scenario involving a Malaysian online retail company, “KualaMart.”

Scenario: KualaMart operates a popular e-commerce platform in Malaysia. During most months, they handle around 10,000 customer inquiries per month, but during the annual Hari Raya festive season and year-end sales events, their customer inquiries jump to over 50,000. Managing these spikes in demand while maintaining high service quality became challenging for their in-house call center.

Challenge: KualaMart would need to hire and train temporary staff each year just to handle these seasonal spikes, which involved significant costs and effort. After the peak seasons, they would need to scale back, leading to layoffs, resource management challenges, and a waste of time and money.

Solution: KualaMart decided to outsource its call center operations to a BPO provider with expertise in e-commerce customer service. The outsourcing partner provided flexible staffing arrangements, allowing KualaMart to:

• Scale up from 20 to 100 agents during peak periods like the Hari Raya sales season, without the hassle of recruitment and training.
• Maintain a smaller team of 20 agents during regular months, ensuring that operations run efficiently year-round.
• Handle unexpected surges, such as flash sales or special promotions, with ease by adjusting the number of agents at short notice.

Result: By outsourcing, KualaMart was able to scale up or down quickly, depending on demand, without bearing operational costs or complexities. This helped them maintain high customer satisfaction during peak periods while minimizing costs during slower months.

Case Study: Lazada Malaysia

Background:
Lazada is one of Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce platforms, and its operations in Malaysia handle millions of transactions and inquiries each year. While the company’s core focus is on providing a seamless e-commerce experience, handling customer service for a business of this scale presents challenges, particularly during peak seasons like 11.11 (Singles’ Day), Black Friday, and Hari Raya sales.

Challenge:
Lazada’s customer service needs varied dramatically throughout the year. During major sales events, they experienced massive spikes in customer inquiries, ranging from order tracking to product inquiries and returns. Maintaining a large enough in-house team to manage these spikes was not feasible, as it would lead to high overhead costs during non-peak times.

Solution:
Lazada outsourced its customer service operations to a global BPO provider with experience in e-commerce support. The outsourcing partner provided Lazada with a highly scalable customer service solution, including the ability to:

1. Quickly Increase Support Staff: During peak events like 11.11, Lazada could instantly scale their customer service teams from 100 agents to 1,000 or more, depending on demand. These agents were trained in advance to handle e-commerce-related inquiries efficiently.
2. Multilingual Support: Since Lazada operates across multiple countries, the outsourcing partner provided multilingual agents, enabling Lazada to handle customer inquiries in different languages (e.g., Bahasa Malaysia, English, and Chinese) without needing to recruit and manage a large in-house multilingual team.
3. Cost Control: Lazada only paid for the services they needed during peak times, helping them control costs while maintaining the flexibility to provide high-quality service during periods of high demand.

Key Outcomes:

1. Efficient Scaling During Peak Sales: During the 11.11 sales event in Malaysia, Lazada managed millions of customer inquiries without a significant drop in service quality. The outsourcing provider handled the rapid increase in call and chat volumes seamlessly.
2. Optimized Staffing Levels: By outsourcing, Lazada avoided the overhead of maintaining a large full-time customer service staff. Instead, they scaled their operations dynamically, depending on business needs.
3. Improved Customer Satisfaction: Even during peak periods, customers received timely responses to their inquiries, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty during critical sales events.

Outsourcing enabled Lazada to be agile and responsive to fluctuations in customer service demand. It helped them save costs while maintaining the high level of service expected during critical sales periods, thus ensuring a positive customer experience and supporting their growth in the competitive e-commerce market.

Scalability through outsourcing provides businesses with the ability to efficiently manage fluctuating customer service demands without the complexities of in-house staffing and infrastructure. As shown in the case of KualaMart and Lazada, outsourcing allowed these companies to respond to seasonal or event-driven spikes in demand while maintaining high service quality, managing costs, and focusing on their core business activities.

4. Improved Customer Experience

Improved customer experience through call center outsourcing refers to delivering enhanced customer service by leveraging the expertise, technology, and specialized skills of third-party providers. 

Customer experience is a critical factor in retaining clients, building brand loyalty, and driving business growth. 

Outsourcing helps Malaysian companies elevate their customer service in several ways:

1. Access to Specialized Expertise: Outsourced call centers have well-trained agents who specialize in customer service. These agents are experienced in handling a variety of customer issues, ranging from simple inquiries to complex problem-solving, ensuring professional and courteous service.
2. 24/7 Availability: Outsourcing enables companies to offer round-the-clock customer service without the costs and logistical challenges of maintaining in-house, after-hours teams. This ensures that customers receive support whenever they need it, improving satisfaction and trust.
3. Multichannel Support: Outsourced providers typically offer multichannel solutions, including phone, email, chat, and social media support. This enables customers to communicate using their preferred method, enhancing their experience.
4. Faster Response Times: Outsourcing providers often employ sophisticated call management systems, routing inquiries to the right agent quickly and efficiently. This reduces wait times and ensures that customers receive timely assistance, leading to better service experiences.
5. Advanced Technology: Outsourced call centers use cutting-edge tools like AI-powered chatbots, CRM systems, and analytics platforms to personalize interactions, track customer history, and resolve issues faster. This results in a more seamless and pleasant customer experience.

Example

Let’s take the case of a Malaysian telecommunications company, “TeleMalaysia.”

Scenario: TeleMalaysia provides mobile, internet, and digital services to millions of customers across the country. While their core business is telecom, they recognized that customer service was an essential part of their overall brand experience. However, managing customer service in-house proved challenging as customer complaints about long wait times, inconsistent service, and unresponsive agents increased.

Challenge: With customer dissatisfaction rising due to slow response times and inconsistent service quality, TeleMalaysia knew they needed to improve customer experience to retain customers and prevent churn.

Solution: TeleMalaysia outsourced its customer service to a specialized BPO provider with expertise in telecom support. The provider offered 24/7 multilingual support, advanced CRM systems, and a team of highly trained agents who specialized in resolving telecom-related issues.

Result:

• Enhanced Service Quality: The outsourced provider’s expertise ensured that customers received quick and accurate responses to their queries, resulting in higher satisfaction scores.
• 24/7 Support: With round-the-clock availability, customers can contact TeleMalaysia at any time, reducing frustration and improving the overall customer experience.
• Omnichannel Support: Customers could interact with TeleMalaysia through various channels, including phone, chat, email, and social media, improving their convenience and satisfaction.

Impact: 

TeleMalaysia saw a significant increase in customer satisfaction ratings, and customer retention improved by 15% over six months. The company’s brand reputation also strengthened as a result of their enhanced service delivery.

Case Study: AirAsia

Background:
AirAsia, one of the leading low-cost airlines in Malaysia, is known for its competitive pricing and extensive flight routes. However, managing customer inquiries, especially during flight disruptions or promotions, became increasingly challenging as the airline expanded. The in-house customer service team struggled to keep up with demand, leading to long wait times, unresolved issues, and customer dissatisfaction.

Challenge:
AirAsia’s customer satisfaction scores began to decline as more passengers experienced delays in getting assistance with bookings, flight changes, cancellations, and refunds. The company recognized that enhancing customer service was essential to maintaining its competitive edge in the low-cost airline market.

Solution:
AirAsia outsourced its customer service operations to an experienced call center provider in the Philippines, which specialized in airline customer support. The BPO provider implemented several improvements, including:

1. Multilingual Support: The outsourcing partner provided support in multiple languages (including English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, and Thai), ensuring that customers from different regions could communicate effectively.
2. Faster Response Times: The outsourcing provider implemented advanced call management systems and utilized AI-powered chatbots to handle routine queries, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues. This significantly reduced wait times and improved resolution rates.
3. Proactive Customer Communication: The outsourced team used automated systems to send real-time notifications about flight delays, cancellations, or changes, keeping customers informed and reducing the need for reactive calls.

Key Outcomes:

1. Significant Improvement in Customer Satisfaction: AirAsia’s customer satisfaction scores rose sharply after outsourcing, as customers began experiencing quicker resolutions and better communication. In particular, wait times decreased by over 50%, and complaints about unresponsive service dropped significantly.
2. Higher Efficiency: The outsourced provider used data analytics to track and measure performance metrics, helping AirAsia continuously improve service quality. This led to more efficient processes and better overall customer experiences.
3. Brand Loyalty: By delivering faster, more responsive service, AirAsia was able to improve customer loyalty, reducing churn and increasing repeat business, even in a highly competitive market.

Improved customer experience through call center outsourcing helps Malaysian companies retain customers, boost satisfaction, and enhance brand reputation. In the examples of TeleMalaysia and AirAsia, outsourcing led to better service quality, faster response times, and more satisfied customers. With the right outsourcing partner, businesses can offer a superior customer experience without the operational headaches and costs of managing customer service in-house. This not only improves customer retention but also contributes to long-term business growth and success.

5. Access to Advanced Technology

When Malaysian companies outsource their call center operations, they gain access to cutting-edge technologies without needing to invest in these systems themselves. 

Outsourced call centers often leverage state-of-the-art technology to provide efficient and effective customer service. This advanced technology helps improve customer experience, optimize operations, and offer detailed analytics that can drive business decisions. 

The key benefits include:

1. AI-Powered Tools: Outsourced providers use AI-driven solutions like chatbots, virtual assistants, and predictive analytics to manage routine customer queries, automate responses, and predict customer needs, resulting in faster and more efficient service.
2. CRM and Omnichannel Integration: Call centers use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that integrate all customer interactions across various channels—such as phone, email, live chat, and social media—into a single platform. This provides a unified view of the customer journey, making it easier to deliver personalized service.
3. Call Analytics and Reporting: With advanced reporting tools, outsourcing providers can analyze call data to identify trends, measure performance, and provide actionable insights. This allows companies to refine their strategies based on real-time data.
4. Cloud-Based Systems: Cloud-based call center solutions offer enhanced flexibility, scalability, and data security. Companies can ensure their customer data is secure and accessible anytime, anywhere.
5. Quality Assurance Tools: Outsourcing providers often use sophisticated monitoring and quality assurance tools to evaluate agent performance in real time, helping maintain consistent service quality.

Example

Let’s look at a scenario involving a Malaysian fintech company, “FinPay Solutions.”

Scenario: FinPay Solutions offers digital payment services to businesses and individuals. As the company grew, its customer service needs became more complex, including issues with transaction tracking, account management, and security inquiries. The in-house customer support team struggled to keep up with the volume, and their outdated systems could not handle complex queries or analyze customer behavior effectively.

Challenge: FinPay’s in-house call center relied on traditional phone systems and manual reporting, leading to delays in resolving customer issues and poor insights into customer behavior. They realized that upgrading their technology would be expensive and time-consuming, diverting focus from their core fintech solutions.

Solution: FinPay outsourced its customer service operations to a BPO provider that specialized in fintech services and used advanced technology, including AI-powered chatbots, CRM systems, and cloud-based contact center platforms. This allowed FinPay to:

• Implement AI chatbots to handle routine inquiries, reducing the volume of calls that need to be managed by human agents.
• Use omnichannel CRM systems to track customer interactions across phone, email, chat, and social media, providing a seamless customer experience.
• Leverage cloud-based systems to securely manage customer data and ensure easy access for remote agents.

Result: 

The outsourcing partner’s advanced technology led to faster response times, improved issue resolution, and better insights into customer preferences. This helped FinPay improve customer satisfaction and allowed them to focus on enhancing their core fintech products.

Case Study: Maybank

Background:
Maybank is one of the largest banks in Malaysia, offering a wide range of financial products and services. With millions of customers, handling customer inquiries about accounts, loans, and digital services became increasingly complex. Maybank needed a solution that could provide better service to customers while also improving operational efficiency.

Challenge:
Maybank’s in-house customer service center was struggling to keep up with customer demands, especially as more clients started using digital banking services. Their existing systems were not integrated, leading to disjointed customer experiences. Additionally, the bank needed advanced technology to analyze customer interactions and improve service.

Solution:
Maybank outsourced its customer service operations to a BPO provider with expertise in the banking sector. The outsourcing provider implemented advanced technology to streamline Maybank’s customer service, including:

1. AI-Powered Chatbots: The outsourced call center implemented AI chatbots to handle frequently asked questions and provide instant answers to common inquiries, such as balance checks or branch locations. This reduced the load on human agents and sped up response times.
2. Omnichannel CRM: The BPO provider integrated Maybank’s customer interactions across various channels, ensuring that customers received consistent service whether they contacted the bank via phone, email, live chat, or social media. This also allowed Maybank’s agents to have a complete view of customer history during interactions.
3. Advanced Analytics: The outsourcing partner used advanced call analytics tools to monitor customer interactions in real-time. This helped identify common pain points and allowed Maybank to proactively address issues before they escalated.
4. Cloud-Based Systems: By shifting to cloud-based customer service systems, the BPO provider ensured that Maybank’s data was securely stored and accessible to customer service teams from any location. This provided greater flexibility and allowed Maybank to scale operations quickly.

Key Outcomes:

1. Improved Customer Satisfaction: Maybank saw an improvement in customer satisfaction scores due to faster response times, seamless omnichannel service, and more personalized customer interactions. Customers appreciated the quick resolutions, especially for routine inquiries.
2. Operational Efficiency: AI-powered chatbots handled a significant portion of the bank’s inquiries, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex tasks. This led to reduced costs and higher efficiency within Maybank’s customer service operations.
3. Enhanced Insights: Maybank used the call analytics provided by the outsourcing partner to identify trends in customer inquiries, helping them refine their service strategies and improve customer experience over time.
4. Increased Flexibility and Scalability: With cloud-based systems, Maybank could scale its customer service operations during peak periods without the need for significant capital investment in infrastructure. This ensured that customer service remained responsive even during busy times.

By outsourcing customer service, Malaysian companies like FinPay Solutions and Maybank gain access to advanced technologies that help them deliver superior customer experiences, optimize their operations, and enhance decision-making through data-driven insights. These technologies—ranging from AI-powered chatbots to omnichannel CRM and cloud-based systems—allow companies to offer better, more responsive service while remaining cost-effective and scalable. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also contributes to the overall growth and competitiveness of the business.

6. Multilingual Support

Multilingual support in call center outsourcing allows Malaysian companies to provide customer service in multiple languages, enhancing their ability to cater to diverse customer bases. 

This is particularly important in Malaysia, where a multicultural society speaks several languages, including Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, and others. 

By offering customer support in a customer’s native language, companies can create a more comfortable and personalized experience, reducing misunderstandings and improving satisfaction.

The key benefits of multilingual support in call center outsourcing include:

1. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Customers are more likely to feel valued and understood when they can communicate in their preferred language, leading to higher satisfaction rates.
2. Broader Market Reach: Multilingual support allows companies to serve a wider range of customers, including expatriates and international markets, expanding their reach beyond local borders.
3. Improved Communication: Language barriers can often lead to misunderstandings, incorrect resolutions, or frustration. Multilingual agents ensure clear communication, reducing the chances of errors and improving the overall customer experience.
4. Efficient Issue Resolution: By communicating in the customer’s language, agents can understand issues more clearly and provide faster, more accurate solutions, improving first-call resolution rates.

Example

Consider a Malaysian healthcare services provider, “HealthAssist.”

Scenario: HealthAssist offers a range of healthcare services and medical products to customers throughout Malaysia. Their customer base is diverse, including Malay-speaking locals, English-speaking expatriates, and Chinese-speaking communities. HealthAssist faced challenges with their in-house customer support team, which was limited to serving customers only in Bahasa Malaysia and English. This created frustration for Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking customers, resulting in complaints about language barriers and service delays.

Challenge: HealthAssist needed to improve its ability to serve a multilingual customer base, especially since many of its elderly Chinese-speaking customers found it difficult to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia or English.

Solution: HealthAssist outsourced its call center operations to a BPO provider specializing in multilingual customer support. The provider offered agents who were fluent in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, ensuring that HealthAssist’s customers could communicate in their preferred language.

Result:

• Improved Customer Satisfaction: The availability of multilingual support improved communication and ensured that all customer inquiries were handled smoothly, leading to higher satisfaction ratings.
• Increased Retention Rates: HealthAssist saw an improvement in customer retention, particularly among its Chinese-speaking clientele, who felt more comfortable and confident when speaking to agents in their native language.
• Expanded Market Reach: HealthAssist was able to market its services more effectively to Chinese-speaking communities and expatriates, driving growth and expanding its market share.

Case Study: CIMB Bank

Background:
CIMB Bank, one of Malaysia’s largest banks, provides a range of financial products and services to customers across Southeast Asia. Given the diverse linguistic landscape of the region, CIMB recognized the need to offer multilingual customer support, especially in markets like Malaysia and Singapore, where multiple languages are spoken.

Challenge:
CIMB Bank’s in-house customer service team was equipped to handle inquiries in English and Bahasa Malaysia but struggled to effectively serve customers who spoke other languages, such as Mandarin, Tamil, or regional dialects. This language gap resulted in slower resolution times, higher frustration levels, and an overall decline in customer satisfaction among non-English and non-Malay-speaking customers.

Solution:
CIMB Bank outsourced its customer service operations to a BPO provider with expertise in providing multilingual support across various languages, including English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, and Thai. The outsourcing partner offered a team of multilingual agents trained specifically for financial services inquiries, ensuring they could provide personalized and accurate assistance to customers in their preferred language.

Key Outcomes:

1. Broader Market Appeal: By offering customer service in multiple languages, CIMB Bank could cater to its diverse customer base more effectively, leading to improved customer satisfaction. The bank also strengthened its position in markets with significant Chinese-speaking populations, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
2. Faster Issue Resolution: Multilingual agents could resolve customer issues more efficiently by eliminating language barriers. This led to shorter call times, higher first-call resolution rates, and fewer escalations, saving time and resources for CIMB.
3. Increased Customer Loyalty: Customers who previously felt alienated due to language issues became more engaged and loyal to CIMB Bank, resulting in better retention rates and a stronger reputation for customer service.
4. Regional Expansion: With robust multilingual support, CIMB Bank was able to expand its services more confidently into neighboring countries like Thailand and Indonesia, where it required local language support to provide seamless service.

Impact:
After outsourcing its multilingual customer service, CIMB Bank saw a marked improvement in customer satisfaction scores, particularly among Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tamil-speaking customers. Additionally, the bank gained a competitive edge in regional markets by offering more comprehensive customer support than some of its competitors.

Multilingual support in call center outsourcing enables Malaysian companies to serve a diverse customer base more effectively. By providing service in multiple languages, companies like HealthAssist and CIMB Bank can improve customer satisfaction, enhance communication, and expand their market reach. Outsourcing multilingual support offers these businesses the flexibility to cater to different language speakers without the costs and complexities of building an in-house multilingual team, leading to a stronger brand reputation and better overall customer experience.

Looking to Outsource Your Call Center Operations? Partner with Antasis Today!

Are you a Malaysian company seeking to streamline your customer service operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction? 

Look no further! Antasis, an ISO-certified BPO company with over 22 years of experience, is here to support your business growth. 

With our headquarters in Singapore and offices across Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, we offer comprehensive call center outsourcing services tailored to meet your unique needs.

Whether you need multilingual support, advanced technology solutions, or a scalable service to handle fluctuating demand, Antasis has the expertise to help you deliver exceptional customer service while focusing on your core business.

Take the next step in transforming your customer service. 

Contact Antasis today to discuss your call center requirements and find out how we can help you achieve success.

Get in touch now and let us handle your call center operations!