Work-from-home CX delivery could be the biggest BPO story in 2020 but watch 2021 for providers to adjust this business model alongside conventional operations.

FREMONT, CA: The culmination of any year is generally full of predictions, whether in sports, politics, the economy, or even in reality tv. Customer Experience (CX) is no exception in this situation. Given that 2020 was extraordinary, it is only right that those close to front-line outsourcing offer their thoughts on 2021. Below is what third-party CX management should be looking for in the coming year.

Year of Medium-Sized BPO Providers.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that enterprise CX buyers increasingly prefer outsourcers in this segment for front-line support. This pattern's fundamental explanation is the higher degree of interaction that these mid-sized third-party companies will bring to a relationship. Equally, there is a great deal of concern among business clients about the process-heavy nature of larger BPOs. So, look out for mid-size operators in 2021 to exploit the opportunities that multinational players would have had in the past.

Virtual Working to Discover its Delivery Equilibrium

Work-from-home CX delivery could be the biggest BPO story in 2020 but watch 2021 for providers to adjust this business model alongside conventional operations. At the height of the pandemic, researchers discussed the entire contact center landscape transitioning to home-based agents at the detriment of brick-and-mortar operations. Over time, however, there have been indications that the virtual business model has faced rising human resource pressures. Besides, several latecomers to virtual distribution have faced significant challenges related to technology and enforcement.

With several outsourcers heavily invested in commercial real estate, there would be tremendous pressure to return to the facility in the post-vaccine scenario. Assuming that the bulk of the population is immunized in 2021, there will be a rebalancing between the number of BPOs deployed from home and those in brick-and-mortar facilities (And, though an exact number has yet to be calculated, it may not be as pronounced against virtual work as some would think).

Offshore Delivery will Experience a Major Rebalance

This trend would result from companies and their BPO partners concentrating more on business continuity. There has been significant discussion among outsourcing stakeholders over the past few months about the need to transfer capacity from traditional offshore locations to an extended series of international delivery points. As a result, expect expansion in new, developing parts of the world at the cost of tried and tested overseas destinations. This trend is also likely to benefit nearshore locations in Europe and the Americas, with executives in main growth markets almost certainly choosing to raise their CX footprints at locations closer to home.

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