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Homes worldwide would remain pitch black without the energy industry. You would never see cars on the road if not for diesel fuel. You cannot roast your barbecue without a lighter and charcoal.
But what if various non-core tasks hold energy firms back?
Business process outsourcing (BPO) providers offer cost-effective solutions to ensure energy companies thrive. They optimize a flexible workforce and up-to-date technology to help energy companies achieve operational excellence.
Read until the end to learn about the importance of BPO in the energy sector.
BPO’s Role in the Energy Sector
You might be wondering what BPO’s main contribution to the energy sector is. Energy companies spend significant time and effort on core functions such as producing, distributing, and supplying energy resources. BPO vendors can assume responsibility for and accelerate secondary tasks at affordable fees, preventing critical disruptions in the core business.
Service providers offer cost-effective solutions to ease such concerns. They employ scalable professionals and advanced technologies to fast-track these repetitive, non-primary processes that burden many energy and utility companies:
- Customer service and marketing
- Data entry and analysis
- Customer billing, collection management, and payment processing
- Metering and field services
- Procurement and supply chain management
- Finance and accounting services
- Information technology (IT) support
- Human resources (HR) assistance
- Vendor management
- Sustainability and environmental certification support
- Energy trading and risk management
- Security and compliance support
5 Ways BPO Boosts Operations for Energy Companies
Outsourcing has become the go-to solution for businesses needing customer-facing or administrative support. Cost reduction, staff augmentation, and enhanced productivity drive the demand for third-party assistance. The need to optimize modern solutions also encourages multiple companies to seek a BPO partner.
Recent statistics from Market.Us prove how crucial the outsourcing sector’s role is for operational excellence. Due to growing demand, the global BPO market is expected to soar to $544.8 billion by 2032, an almost 50% increase from the recorded value of $245.9 billion in 2022.
How exactly does BPO assist in the energy sector’s growth? Let us discuss how providers can appease tiresome, repetitive functions for utility service vendors.
1. Streamline Customer Engagement and Support
As with any other business, energy companies require help streamlining customer interactions. They need a well-established team and strategy to address urgent concerns while maintaining high-quality products and services.
BPO vendors have the right resources to meet these conditions. They train and employ dedicated staff to effectively perform either voice or non-voice customer support—or both simultaneously, if necessary and applicable to the client’s budget.
These providers combine their workers’ expertise with an omnichannel solution to expedite processes. The cloud-based platform integrates multiple communication channels, ensuring customer service agents seamlessly answer power-related questions without missing confidential data.
Omnichannel solutions allow consumers to seek assistance via their preferred channels, personalizing their experience. This capability heightens customer satisfaction and expands the loyal customer base for energy companies.
A study confirmed that 90% of customers stay with a brand that customizes customer care. Another 89% confessed they are more likely to remain loyal to a business if it offers the following 24/7 self-service options:
- Chatbots
- Interactive voice response (IVR) systems
- Knowledge base platforms
- Automatically moderated online discussion forums
- Helpdesk software
- Automated email ticketing and response management solutions
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs) page
These solutions are either enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) or produced by content production units.
2. Maintain Critical IT Systems and Equipment
Keeping critical IT systems and equipment in good condition is a challenge for energy businesses, especially when they use such technology daily. Fortunately, some BPO providers specialize in this vital function in the energy sector. They deliver the following system maintenance and repair services at affordable costs:
- Troubleshoot technical issues
- Configure and monitor network systems
- Track and mitigate cybersecurity threats
- Maintain power generation and transmission equipment and other energy-related tools
- Create and execute preventive maintenance plans for various infrastructures.
- Manage the inventory of replacement parts and upgrades
- Facilitate software and firmware updates
- Implement disaster recovery and business continuity tactics
3. Enable Back-office Process Automation
Strategic outsourcing makes energy efficiency possible through automated back-office processes. They combine AI and ML with robotic process automation (RPA) to accelerate the completion of repetitive, rule-based tasks.
These emerging technologies simulate human action and intelligence. They help employees accomplish data categorization, report generation, and invoice processing tasks faster and more effectively. So, assigning these administrative functions to a third party lets in-house workers focus on the most pressing matters, such as innovating and producing renewable energy products.
4. Expand Online and Offline Footprint
Besides providing exemplary customer service, BPO vendors help organizations in the energy sector expand their online and offline footprint worldwide. In addition to having a physical presence in multiple regions, they execute these practices to boost their clients’ global reach:
- Conduct market studies on trends, customer preferences, and new energy innovations
- Facilitate digital marketing campaigns such as social media advertising
- Design and maintain company websites and e-commerce platforms
- Organize and host in-person product launches and related events
- Oversee lead generation and sales projects
- Initiate localized marketing efforts
- Simplify international logistics and supply chain management processes
- Form strategic partnerships with suppliers to target consumers globally
5. Speed Up Financial Processes
Expect accelerated financial and accounting services when signing BPO deals. Service providers optimize AI and ML-based systems to automate and speed up invoice processing and bookkeeping tasks.
Digitization allows providers to fully adopt paperless billing and payment collection every quarter. This advantage reduces the money, time, and effort spent on financial data entry and storage. Such solutions also enable real-time data collection, processing, and reporting, providing updated financial insights for energy process improvements.
The Bottom Line
Whether they handle alternative energy or primary power sources, energy businesses need third-party assistance to achieve operational excellence. Delegating front- and back-office functions to vendors lets in-house staff prioritize essential projects and processes.
Service providers help expand energy companies’ global reach by boosting customer service and marketing. They also deploy automation tools to streamline rule-based functions such as finance, customer-facing, and back-office tasks. Outsourcing is especially necessary to maintain key energy IT systems.
Let’s connect if your energy business requires cost-efficient consumer support, marketing, or back-office assistance. Unity Communications leverages highly skilled professionals and modernized solutions to free your internal team from the burden of non-core tasks.
