Outsourcing Solutions for Renewable Energy Companies: A Comprehensive Guide
Table of Contents
Introduction
The renewable energy market has grown exponentially over the past three decades; we have the data to prove it.
The immense growth of renewables since 2000:
- The solar energy market has grown by 17,979% since 2000, while wind has grown by 5,941% in the same period. – SelectUSA
- Renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source in the US, increasing by 42% from 2010 to 2020. – Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)
Power generation growth from renewable or clean energies, like wind and solar, in the last ten years:
- The net wind power generation in the US in 2023 was 425.24 terawatt-hours, compared to 167.84 terawatt-hours in 2013.
- Meanwhile, the solar power net generation in the US in 2023 was 164,502 gigawatt-hours, compared to 9,036 gigawatt-hours ten years prior.
- These numbers mean that from 2013 to 2023, wind power generation experienced a 153.36% increase, while solar power generation experienced a whopping 1,720.52% increase. – Statista
Renewable energy market share:
In 2023, renewable energy sources generated approximately 21% of all electricity in the US. This year also marks the first time renewable energy surpassed coal in electricity generation in US history. – US Energy Information Administration
Despite renewable energy’s immense growth in the last decade, the industry remains rife with challenges. Many renewable energy providers still experience problems with regulations, infrastructure, and high installation costs, among other things.
We’ve assembled this complete resource to discuss the most common problems for renewable energy providers and how BPOs can help solve those problems. With a combination of in-depth research and years of valuable field experience:
- We’ll teach you how to choose the best renewable energy BPO partner that can help you address the industry’s persistent challenges.
- We’ll also share customer service best practices, KPIs, and strategies we’ve extensively tested and found effective for the renewable energy industry.
- We’ll also discuss BPO technology considerations to help you decide what technologies to look for in an outsourcing partner.
Finally, we share some of our renewable energy clients’ success stories to show you the benefits that a renewable energy BPO partnership can bring.
Common Problems for Renewable Energy Providers
1. Talent Shortage
Renewable energy has experienced exponential growth in the last several years, which is a success for the industry and the future of clean energy. However, this success brings with it a significant challenge.
Renewable energy’s most significant challenge is its need for specialized talent and experience to succeed. The industry’s rapid growth has made it difficult for the global workforce to keep up.
McKinsey estimates that the global capacity of solar and wind energy projects will increase fourfold by 2030.
According to McKinsey, by 2030, global solar and wind energy projects will require approximately 5.232 million full-time qualified personnel annually. This figure is a 342% increase from 2021’s estimate of 1.183 million.Renewable energy will require these 5 million employees to develop, construct, operate, and maintain various projects.
There aren’t enough employees with the right technical qualifications to staff renewable energy projects today, and the situation will only worsen in the coming years.The renewable energy industry—particularly solar—needs people with strong science and engineering backgrounds and technical problem-solving skills, including (but not limited to):
- Solar Technicians
- Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Installers
- Solar Engineers
- Solar Engineering Technicians
- Solar Foremen
- Solar Fleet Managers
- Quality Assurance Engineers
- Thermal Engineers
- Software Engineers
- Process Chemist Engineers
- Materials Scientists
Renewable energy projects will need an additional 2.8 million technical personnel to develop, construct, and maintain solar and wind plants.Non-technical—but still essential—employees will also be hard to source.
Valuable for the industry are people with project management skills, specific customer service experience, and compliance expertise, including:
- Environmental Lawyers
- Solar Project Managers
- Solar Asset Managers
- Solar Energy Analysts
- Solar Operations Managers
- Energy Managers
- Solar Sales Representatives
- Solar Energy Consultants
- Solar Sales Consultants
- Solar PV Permit Designers
Data from McKinsey indicates that the global renewable energy industry will need an additional 1.3 million office-based or white-collar personnel.
The industry may solve its demand for a qualified workforce today, but it is still determining the future. There just aren’t enough people with the specific skills and experience that renewable energy companies need to thrive.
Nearshore and offshore outsourcing teams can solve your talent shortage problems, whether technical or non-technical.
Experienced renewable energy BPOs should have renewable energy experts in various technical, support, and compliance fields, including:
- Site Modeling
- Site Surveying
- PV Permit and Proposal Design
- Renewable Energy Operations and Maintenance
- Renewable Energy Consultancy
- Customer Support
- Sales Support
Look for an agile renewable energy BPO partner with the right mix of technical and non-technical teams. Doing so allows you to adapt quickly according to 1) your business needs and 2) the industry’s ever-evolving landscape.
The right BPO partner should be able to quickly and cost-efficiently adapt to your changing requirements.
If you are expanding and getting more projects, your BPO partner should be able to deploy technical personnel, like engineers and site surveyors.
If there is a sudden and significant influx of customer calls that your current team can no longer handle effectively, your BPO partner should be able to provide you with more customer support specialists.
2. Lack of Governmental Support
While there are differing perspectives within the US political landscape regarding renewable energy, data suggests that Democrats generally support its adoption and prioritize environmental protection. According to the Pew Research Center (2022), 92% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say developing alternative energy sources like wind and solar power should be a top priority for addressing America’s energy supply, compared to only 37% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
However, Republicans tend to express concerns about the potential economic impact of renewable energy and climate change policies. A Gallup poll (2022) found that 92% of Democrats believe protecting the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of curbing economic growth, while only 36% of Republicans share this view.
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2022) also highlights the divide, with 92% of liberal Democrats and 72% of moderate/conservative Democrats expressing worry about global warming.
On the other hand, some Republicans prioritize energy independence and economic considerations. The Pew Research Center data mentioned earlier shows that 57% of Republicans believe the US should never stop using oil, and 73% support offshore oil and gas drilling.
Despite these differing perspectives, progress in the renewable energy sector may require collaboration and a shared understanding of the need for a sustainable energy future among policymakers across the political spectrum.
3. Regulatory Challenges
The lack of governmental support for renewable energy also means a lack of regulatory standards, particularly for solar power. Although solar panel usage is technically legal in all 50 states, laws, policies, and regulations vary wildly from state to state.
No state has specific laws banning solar panel access, installation, or usage. However, some states make it impractical or downright impossible for homeowners to shift to renewable energy sources like solar. These laws also make it extremely difficult for solar power providers to enter the state’s market and profit from renewable energy services.
Some US states make it infeasible for the average American homeowner to use solar energy by increasing its financial burden through increased taxes, energy usage caps, and expensive solar energy bills and fees. For example, Kansas is the 8th sunniest US state but is 44th in the number of homes using solar energy.
In 2019, Kansas passed a law penalizing and levying fines against solar energy users. However, the Kansas Supreme Court struck down the law in 2020.
Nebraska, another sunny US state, ranks 46th in the number of solar-powered homes, with only approximately 7,900 homes using solar power.
The state has no program for Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which are regulatory policies encouraging states to increase their use of renewable energy for electricity generation. While many states have implemented RPS programs, Nebraska isn’t one of them.
The state has no RPS program because it favors fossil fuels over renewable energy sources. According to a 2022 National Wildlife Federation report, power companies in Nebraska want to increase energy generation from coal by over 46%.
These are just a few examples of the regulatory challenges that renewable energy companies face in many states. These issues will continue until all 50 states agree to establish policies encouraging renewable energy production and usage.
4. High Capital or Upfront Costs
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are inherently cheap to operate—sunlight and wind are free and require no maintenance. Furthermore, renewable energy costs have decreased significantly over the years.
Building new solar energy farms and wind turbines is another matter, however. Operating utility-scale renewable energy facilities are cheap in the long run, but initial installation costs remain high.
According to the latest data, building a utility-scale solar farm in 2024 will cost a minimum of $800,000 to over $1 million, not including the land. A solar farm can cost around $400,000 to $500,000 per acre.
Let’s put these costs into perspective. To be utility-scale, US power plants must have a minimum electricity-generating capacity of 1 megawatt or 1,000 kilowatts
Conservative research shows that building new solar farms needs a minimum of 5 to 10 acres of land (approximately 2 to 4 hectares) per megawatt of electricity-generating capacity, depending on the technology used.
Using only the minimum figures from the costs above, a 1-megawatt utility-scale solar farm could cost approximately $2.8 million to build. Here’s a rough breakdown of the costs involved
$800,000.00- Initial Cost
+ $2,000,000.00 – Land Cost ($400,000/acre x 5 acres)
$2,800,000.00
Meanwhile, the cost of building and installing a utility-scale wind turbine ranges from $1 million to $2 million per megawatt of electricity-generating capacity. Today, most utility-scale wind turbines have 2-megawatt capacities, bringing the cost up to around $3 million to $4 million per utility-scale wind turbine.
Building the wind turbine takes up approximately 90% to 95% of the total cost, and transportation and installation consume the remaining 5% to 10%.Like building solar farms, this cost doesn’t yet include land.Wind energy developers typically lease land from landowners to build and install wind turbines.
While lease agreements can vary widely, developers generally pay landowners based on the following options: have the following options when paying landowners:
- The number of acres leased
- The number of wind turbines
- The revenue generated from the wind turbines
When paying per-acre rates, wind developers pay around $200 to $2,000 per acre annually. A wind turbine can require up to 80 acres of land, meaning annual per-acre rates can add up to a hefty sum over time.
When paying according to the number of turbines, developers pay based on the electricity-generating capacity of each turbine. Typical rates for this option are $5,000 to $8,000 per megawatt per turbine annually.
With this option, developers pay landowners a “wind lease royalty” based on a predetermined percentage of the developer’s revenue from the wind turbines.
Royalty payment rates generally start small at around 4% and increase incrementally in the next several years. Even if revenue is lackluster, lease agreements often contain clauses stating developers must pay fixed annual lease payments (a.k.a. Minimum payments) regardless of profits.By contrast, fossil fuel power plants have low upfront costs but are much more costly to operate long-term.
Data from the US Energy Information System shows that building natural gas power plants costs around $920 per kilowatt. This rate means a 1-megawatt utility-scale natural gas power plant would cost $920,000 (not including the land), significantly cheaper than the costs of solar or wind farms, which can reach $1 million to over $2 million.
Renewable energy’s high upfront costs tend to give investors and lenders pause the impression that renewables are high-risk, low-reward investments. Thus, lenders and financial institutions tend to lend capital for renewable energy projects with exorbitant interest rates or avoid lending money altogether.
On the other hand, investors prefer investing in natural gas because fossil fuels are still the most common energy source in the US, making it a tried-and-true investment.
5. Limited Infrastructure
Approximately 21% of US electricity comes from renewable sources, with only 3.9% from solar power.
Despite the exponential increase in renewable energy consumption in the last several years, the US still has significant growth opportunities in renewable energy infrastructure.
The US renewable energy infrastructure remains limited in 2024, especially utility-scale solar farms or power plants.
As of 2023, there are over 5,000 solar power plants in the US, a 100% increase from the 2,500 power plants in 2019. However, most of these power plants are small, generating only a minute portion of the country’s solar power.
Moreover, large solar power plants are concentrated in only a few states. Most are in California, while others are in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas.
Meanwhile, the US has over 3,400 fossil fuel power plants. Unlike solar power plants, there are fossil fuel power plants in most, if not all, US states.
These fossil fuel power plants are extensive, utility-scale facilities that provide the most electricity for the US power grid (Western Interconnection, Eastern Interconnection, and Texas Interconnection).
Natural gas, petroleum, shale oil, coal, and other fossil fuels are still the US’s most common and widely used energy sources. Combined, they generate approximately 60% of the country’s electricity.
Renewable energy infrastructure also raises many questions about land usage.
A 2022 study by the Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that the US power grid can achieve 100% clean energy (net zero carbon emissions) by 2035.
However, one of the biggest challenges in reaching the goal of net zero emissions is acquiring enough land to build the necessary renewable energy infrastructure and arrive at even 90% clean energy.
The NREL’s Senior Energy Analyst and the study’s co-lead author, Paul Denholm, said that the US’s current clean energy technologies could help the country achieve an approximately 90% reduction in carbon emissions due to the reduced costs and the country’s improved understanding of renewables.
However, Paul Denholm qualified that statement by saying that 90% is only an estimate or a “best guess” because they don’t yet know the resources needed to produce safe and reliable power, including the land and siting for renewable energy facilities.
As we stated, building a new utility-scale, 1-megawatt solar farm would require at least five acres of land. Meanwhile, building one 2-megawatt wind turbine would require up to 80 acres of land.
The US government and the renewable energy industry are still determining how or where to acquire such large swathes of land for new projects.
A Brief Summary
In a nutshell, the renewable energy industry is rife with significant challenges, including:
- A severe shortage of technical and non-technical talent
- Opposition from the government, primarily from officials who favor fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources
- Restrictive regulations and confusing bureaucratic hurdles or red tape
- Exorbitant initial costs
- Lack of infrastructure, including siting issues
These problems are where outsourcing comes in. The right partner can help you solve most, if not all, of the issues mentioned above.
An outsourcing partner can help you find the right technical and non-technical talent to fit your business needs. They can provide you with skilled engineers to work with your in-house engineers, freeing up their time to do more high-level onsite work.
While an outsourcing partner can’t encourage government support or influence policy and regulatory changes, they have compliance experts who can help you navigate the complex maze of renewable energy regulations. You no longer have to worry about all the red tape if you partner with a reliable outsourcing provider.
An outsourcing partner also can’t lower the cost of land and other necessary renewable energy infrastructure. However, outsourcing several essential business functions can significantly reduce your operating expenses, offsetting the costs of acquiring land or building infrastructure.
The following section explains all the benefits of partnering with a trustworthy, experienced renewable energy BPO, so read on.
How Partnering With the Right Renewable Energy BPO Can Help Solve Your Problems
The renewable energy industry can overcome many hurdles by working with BPOs. Here are ways the right outsourcing partner can help solve specific problems for your renewable energy company.
1. Giving You Access to Teams With Valuable Technical Skills
You can fill your specialized renewable energy talent shortage by tapping into the BPO sector.
Renewable energy BPOs with global operations can give you access to an extensive, highly specialized talent pool.
At ClearSource, we work with agile, experienced, and highly skilled individuals, including:
- Site Modeling Specialists
- Array Builders
- Civil Engineers
- PV Permit Designers and Coordinators
- PV Proposal Designers
- PV Electrical Diagram Designers
- PV Site Surveyors
- Solar Project Managers
- Solar Consultants
- Customer Service Specialists
- Sales Specialists
When you partner with a reputable and experienced BPO partner, you gain access to all these services (and more), depending on your business needs.
The right BPO partner will work with you and craft solutions according to your needs and budget, ensuring you maximize the benefits and avoid paying for staffing you don’t need.
2. Navigating Renewable Energy Regulations
The renewable energy industry has complex rules and regulations that can and do change often. These regulations can make it even harder for the industry to keep up, especially new or small providers that don’t have extensive compliance and legal teams.
Renewable energy regulations consist of extensive laws, standards, and policies that help implement the safe and efficient adoption and usage of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro. These regulations help ensure companies do business and provide renewable energy sustainably, safely, and cost-effectively.
Renewable energy regulations, particularly for solar, can include the following:
- Installation Rules – Various installation rules cover electrical wiring, the roof’s size, angle, direction, fire safety, city and municipal permits, and inspections.
- Safety Standards – Your solar PV panels must meet the performance, safety, and testing certifications of nationally recognized third-party organizations, including (but not limited to) the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC), Intertek, and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
- Incentive Programs – Many federal, state, and local governments implement financial incentive programs to encourage the building, installation, and use of renewable energy technologies like solar PV systems.
- Tariffs – Government tariffs and taxes affect the cost of solar PV installation and usage, which has slowed the country’s progress in adopting renewable sources like solar energy.
These are just a few examples of the regulations you must track and understand as a renewable energy provider. They are complex, vary by state, and change from year to year.
Even established companies can find keeping up with these regulations challenging, so it is ideal to partner with a renewable energy BPO.An experienced renewable energy BPO helps you navigate renewable energy regulations’ intricate and ever-shifting maze.
BPOs specializing in serving renewable energy companies have the expertise and in-depth understanding of regulations and their impact on your business.
Your BPO partner can ensure you meet all regulatory standards and provide a streamlined regulatory compliance process. They can conduct many specific services on your behalf, including regulatory research and analysis, compliance documentation, and reporting.
Every renewable energy business is unique, and your partner can develop and tailor compliance strategies to suit your specific needs.
3. Reducing Your Business Expenses
Outsourcing specific business functions can help yousave up to 70% in operational expense
Many renewable energy companies prefer outsourcing tasks, especially to offshore BPO partners, and it’s easy to see why
Here are a few ways partnering with a BPO can help reduce your business expenses
Lower Salary and Benefits Packages
Offshore BPO companies operate in regions with lower labor and living costs.Partnering with a BPO company in countries like the Philippines or India lets you save a significant amount on your team’s salary packages, even if you take into account benefits like bonuses and health insurance.
Reduced Data Security Costs
Data security is critical for any renewable energy business, but investing in cybersecurity infrastructure can be costly.You can remedy this problem by partnering with reputable BPO partners and taking advantage of the security infrastructure they’ve already established. Depending on your partner’s capabilities, you can integrate your system into their current infrastructure. This lets you reap the benefits of high-standard security protocols without investing in the complete infrastructure. Minimal Overhead Hiring in-house teams means paying overhead expenses like:- Rent for office space
- Utilities (ex., electricity, water, internet)
- Office furniture (ex., desks, chairs, filing cabinets)
- Equipment and supplies (ex., computers, printers, scanners, shredders, paper)
4. Quickly Scaling Up or Down According to Your needs
Since the renewable energy industry depends on natural power sources, the changing seasons can negatively impact energy production.
For example, extended periods of limited sunlight decrease the energy production of PV systems.
Such seasonal changes naturally affect your renewable energy operations, and there can be periods when you need to scale down to maintain your business.
An agile and flexible BPO partner can help you scale up or down quickly
They can establish scaling strategies to help you adjust your operations rapidly when necessary. These strategies also help ensure your operations don’t suffer and your customers don’t feel its effects, even when scaling down means working with fewer BPO staff.
Your BPO partner’s ability to help you rapidly scale down without losing operational efficiency increases your business’s longevity, especially in an industry as volatile as renewable energy.
However, it’s not just about scaling down operations and saving on expenses.
The ideal BPO partner also has the flexibility to help you scale up quickly as your business grows. With the right BPO partner, you can quickly add as many personnel or as many new lines of business as you need.
Experienced renewable energy BPOs know how to read the industry’s signs and ride its waves with you. They can advise you when to adjust, scaling up or down accordingly without sudden market shakeups hurting your operations and your pockets.
5. Solving Your Siting Issues
Regulatory complexities and limited infrastructure combine to make solar siting a significant hassle for many renewable energy companies, particularly solar providers.
Renewable energy providers offer services to help you solve your siting issues and simplify the process.
These services include solar site surveying and site modeling.
Solar Site Modeling
Your BPO partner uses specific design tools to create a three-dimensional model of a prospective PV system. Solar design engineers use advanced design software to create accurate 3D representations of PV systems. They base the 3D model on solar site data, such as elevation, latitude, and longitude.
Next, design engineers enter the solar PV systems specifications into the software, including its dimensions and orientation. Based on the design engineer’s input, the design software generates data on the PV system’s performance, including its expected power output.
Solar Site Surveying
When you close a sale, your BPO partner can dispatch survey specialists or surveyors to the residential installation site. The site survey ensures the initial PV design is feasible so your BPO can draft a PV permit-ready plan.
To draft a permit-ready plan, site surveyors must gather the following information:
- Roof measurements (roof size dimensions, roof angle or pitch, roof azimuth)
- Shading analysis to determine sunlight exposure
- Roof conditions, including possible obstructions (ex., a chimney, vents, skylights)
- The residence’s electrical wiring system to assess possible interconnection methods
- Potential hazards (ex., inaccessible terrain, proximity to possible toxic materials, proximity to wildlife)
Once the site surveyors acquire the necessary information, they’ll transform the preliminary design into a PV permit-ready plan.
How To Choose the Right Renewable Energy BPO Partner
Choosing a renewable energy BPO partner can be daunting, and your decision won’t come quickly. You must consider many factors, not the least of which is the type of outsourcing that best suits your business needs.
Nearshore vs. Offshore Outsourcing
There are two primary types of outsourcing, and here’s a brief rundown of how they differ:
1. Nearshore Outsourcing
Nearshore outsourcing partners are service providers in neighboring countries. An example of nearshore outsourcing is if you outsource your customer service to countries like Costa Rica or Mexico.
Outsourcing to Costa Rica’s most significant advantage is the easy cultural and communication fit, primarily if you serve many Latin American customers.
Spanish is the second-most common language in the US, with over 42 million speakers as of 2022. Spanish is the official language in Costa Rica and Mexico. Over 5 million Costa Ricans (90% of the population) speak Costa Rican Spanish. Meanwhile, over 125 million Mexicans (approximately 98% of the population) speak Mexican Spanish (or Latin American Spanish).
Thus, outsourcing your teams to Costa Rica or Mexico makes plenty of sense if you have a sizeable Latin-American customer base and want customer service personnel who naturally and fluently speak Spanish.
While Spanish varies depending on the speaker’s country, the similarities will simplify training processes since they already speak the language natively.
The downside of nearshore outsourcing is the cost involved. Nearshore outsourcing partners are more expensive to hire primarily due to regional labor costs.
For example, the median monthly salary for Call Center Customer Service Representatives in Costa Rica can be over CRC500,000.00 or around US$954.
Meanwhile, the median monthly salary for similar jobs in the Philippines is PHP29,000.00, approximately US$500.
Based on the figures above, nearshore outsourcing can be 90% to 100% more expensive than its offshore counterpart.
It may be in your company’s financial interest to hire offshore instead of nearshore partners, especially if you don’t need multilingual teams or teams that speak languages other than English.
2. Offshore Outsourcing
Offshore outsourcing partners are service providers in far-flung countries.An example of offshore outsourcing is if you outsource tasks to countries like the Philippines and India.
Working with an offshore outsourcing partner can save you a significant sum.As we’ve discussed, labor costs in offshore regions are much lower than in the US, so partnering with teams in the Philippines or India allows you to reduce your business expenses significantly.
Furthermore, these regions have a technically skilled workforce that is expensive and hard to find locally, meaning you can get talented and qualified people at a fraction of the cost.
On the other hand, cultural and communication barriers are huge drawbacks when working with offshore teams.You and your offshore personnel have a broader cultural divide, so achieving clear communication and understanding may take more effort.
There will also be a significant time zone difference between you and your offshore outsourcing partner, which could lead to potential project management and alignment challenges.
Nearshore and offshore outsourcing have pros and cons, and choosing between the two depends on your business needs, goals, and budget.
Once you determine which outsourcing is best for your business, consider these six factors when looking for a renewable energy BPO partner.
1. Industry-Specific Knowledge
As discussed, the renewable energy industry has challenges, complexities, and ultra-specific requirements.
Thus, choosing a BPO partner specializing in renewable energy is critical to your success. Not all BPOs have the capacity and capability to serve renewable energy, so you must find one that does.
The right renewable energy BPO partner understands the industry’s intricacies, allowing them to provide tailored and efficient solutions to your unique business needs.
A renewable energy BPO has the expertise you need to overcome common industry hurdles, including regulatory issues and a lack of technically skilled workforce.
2. Proven Track Record and Experience in Renewable Energy
Any potential BPO partner can say they have the expertise or knowledge you need.
But the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. Look for a BPO partner with a successful history of serving renewable energy clients. This history or track record indicates the BPO partner’s understanding of and reliability in the industry.
One sign that you’ve found a reputable BPO partner is that you don’t have to ask for their history. A potential partner with a strong track record in renewable energy will gladly share this information with you immediately. They’ll likely share testimonials, success stories, and case studies from past and current clients.
Studying this information can help you determine a potential partner’s capabilities in several key areas, including:
- Their process or workflow for providing solutions to complex problems common in renewable energy.
- Their protocols for ensuring the delivery of the timely, high-quality, and cost-effective results you need to succeed and remain profitable
- Their responsiveness to unforeseen circumstances, like the rapid need to scale up or down depending on business needs
- Their customer service and after-sales practices, including how they ensure the satisfaction of your customers, ergo their customers
- Their consistency in delivering results according to their client’s targets, goals, and brand standards
Experienced renewable energy BPOs also possess strategic wisdom that you won’t find in any case study or client testimonial they provide. They’ve gained this wisdom through years working in the cutthroat and ever-shifting renewable energy industry.
With this wisdom, veteran BPO partners can offer strategic insights that newer renewable energy may not possess. These veterans have the industry-savvy to introduce innovations that significantly enhance operational efficiency.
3. Technological Infrastructure
Renewable energy is a highly tech-forward industry, and the technologies companies use advance rapidly. In conjunction with their knowledge and expertise, your BPO partner should have an advanced technological infrastructure that helps them with the following tasks:
- Manage your company’s services or lines of business.
- Handle sensitive data.
- Streamline and automate workflows.
- Ensure the timely resolution of your customer’s issues for consistent customer satisfaction.
- Ensure high service quality and maximum operational efficiency while keeping things within your budget.
Look for a BPO partner who can keep up, adapt, and innovate with the industry’s technology. The right BPO partner is proactive and ready to use new tools and technologies to help you increase your operational efficiency and maintain a significant competitive edge. Here are some tools and innovations that can help your renewable energy business:
- AI, including generative AI
- Cloud storage and computing tools.
- Automation software
- Cybersecurity solutions
4. High Data Security Standards
Cyberattacks and data breaches in renewable energy are now more common as the industry’s power systems have become increasingly interconnected.
Your renewable energy business can be the target of things like ransomware, which can force you to pay an excessive ransom lest the attackers make your data publicly available or sell it to the highest bidder.
You can also be the target of state-sponsored cyber spies who want to steal your confidential data and industry secrets for the benefit of another country or organization.
The possibilities of cyberattacks in the renewable energy industry are endless, so choosing a BPO partner with high data security standards is paramount. To protect your company’s data, your partner should follow national and international data security standards and laws, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Your BPO partner should also have an advanced data security infrastructure to safeguard your data. Cybersecurity tools like AI can mitigate the risk of data breaches and automate the process of preventing attackers from accessing your systems.
However, data security infrastructure doesn’t just mean your BPO partner’s tools. It also includes the people who use these tools and involves data handling practices, security training protocols, and good, old-fashioned human judgment.
While AI is increasingly becoming the norm when dealing with business issues, human judgment will always be critical to cybersecurity.
A BPO partner with the proper mix of human and technological tools can ensure your data security by working with you to regularly assess risks and develop practical solutions to address those risks.
5. Cultural Fit
As an American renewable energy provider, most of your potential BPO partner’s customers will be American (including you and your customers).
Look for a BPO partner with training practices that teach American culture, social norms, expressions of speech, and communication standards.
Your BPO staff’s English proficiency is crucial because effectively communicating with and understanding your customers allows them to respond to issues promptly and appropriately, resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction.
Finding such a partner is more critical if you’re interested in offshore outsourcing, where the cultural and communication differences are more prominent than nearshore outsourcing.
Cultural fit involves more than your BPO staff’s communication skills and English proficiency. Cultural fit also means looking for a BPO partner that shares your core values, ethics, philosophies, and business practices.
Your BPO partner is an extension of your company, so finding one that identifies with your corporate culture and practices makes sense and ensures the parties are aligned.
Choosing a BPO partner with the best cultural fit makes for easy, effective, and clear communication between you, your BPO partner, and your customers. It also allows you to uphold your quality standards, leading to a fruitful and reliable long-term partnership.
6. Cost-Effectiveness
Cost is a significant factor when looking for a renewable energy outsourcing partner. However, we believe it isn’t the most critical, so we put it last on this list.
Choose a BPO partner that gives you access to skilled people, advanced infrastructures, and sophisticated tech at a fraction of the cost of hiring and training an in-house team.
Calculate the total compensation cost of hiring a BPO partner, which includes:
- Salaries
- Bonuses
- Training expenses
- Healthcare and insurance
- Benefits
- Miscellaneous perks (travel, entertainment, etc.)
The total should still be lower than the cost of hiring internally, especially if you plan on partnering with an offshore outsourcing provider. If the expenses between outsourcing and hiring in-house are similar, reconsider the financial implications of working with a potential outsourcing partner and look for other options.
Outsourcing’s cost-effectiveness also allows you to grow your business steadily without breaking the bank.
Depending on your revenue and your BPO partner’s performance, you can expand your teams and outsource more business functions while maintaining your budget.
Renewable Customer Service Outsourcing: Best Practices, Requirements, and KPIs
Customer service is one of the foundations of the BPO industry. It’s the most common business function companies outsource and one of the biggest reasons they seek an outsourcing partner. If you want your outsourcing teams to provide exceptional customer service, follow these outsourcing best practices.
1. Establish a Clear Motive
Ask yourself why you want to outsource this business function.
Do you want to reduce business expenses?
Do you want to expand your operations on a budget?
Do you lack an in-house customer service team and prefer outsourcing to hiring internally?
Perhaps you have an in-house team, but they’re not performing according to your standards, so you’re looking into outsourcing options to provide your customers with better service.
While cost reduction is often the most common motivation for outsourcing, it’s not the only one.
Establishing an apparent reason for outsourcing will help you find the best customer service team for your needs, regardless of cost.
2. Set Specific Requirements
Every BPO is different, and some may not provide the services you need, so setting specific requirements for your outsourced customer service team is crucial.
Giving this information to potential BPO partners makes it easier to find the right one. You can determine which can and can’t meet your needs.
Renewable energy customer service requirements will differ from company to company, but the most common ones are as follows.
Nearshore vs. Offshore Outsourcing
Determine whether you want to work with teams in nearby or faraway regions. Both options have pros and cons, so be aware and make the best possible decision based on your needs and budget.
English Proficiency
High-level English proficiency is crucial in outsourcing, especially when hiring teams who may not be native English speakers.
Customer Service Experience
You can state that you want your team to consist only of members with specific years of experience in customer service (ex., a minimum of one year).
Hiring such a team will be more costly than hiring new or inexperienced members. Still, the investment can be worth it because an experienced team is likelier to deliver better customer service.
Tools and Technologies
Decide if you want your teams to use specific tools for:
- Customer service
- Call management and monitoring
- Timekeeping
- Case tracking and resolution
- Payments
- and other systems you need.
Personnel Availability
Evaluate whether you need customer service personnel available 24/7 or only during business hours.
A 24/7 customer service team is more expensive because you must hire more people to work those hours. Most countries also have labor laws dictating that you must pay night-shift employees a premium, known as night-differential pay.
3. Emphasize Training and Quality Assurance
After considering the factors outlined in Section IV and choosing your BPO partner, prioritize your team’s training to ensure they consistently provide high-quality customer service.
BPOs and contact centers often have trainers handling customer service teams. Find a partner with the agility and adaptability to let you train their trainers for your specific customer service processes and tools.
You can stipulate in your contract that your company will handle all training and quality assurance matters. Doing so ensures you and your BPO partner’s trainers are on the same page and working to uphold your customer service quality standards.
4. Track and Measure Your Team’s Customer Service Performance
Establish your customer service KPIs and set baseline values for what you consider successful.
Customer Service KPIs Here are some common customer service KPIs to help you develop metrics, including monitoring and reporting practices.
1. Average Speed of Answer (ASA) – ASA refers to the speed in seconds with which your agents answer inbound calls.ASA is also known as Average Answer Time or Average Time To Answer.The baseline for this metric varies, but the multi-industry ASA standard is 28 seconds.
2. Average Handling Time (AHT)– AHT is the entire length of a customer service call, from when your agents answer until they disconnect. AHT varies by industry, but HubSpot data indicates the AHT across several industries is approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Average Hold Time– This metric refers to the average time your agents put customers on hold during the cold.The measurement of Average Hold Time is part of AHT, so a longer Average Hold Time will naturally increase AHT.
This metric strongly indicates customer satisfaction and service efficiency. If agents return with ideal solutions, customers may accept and be happy with a one- to two-minute hold time.
On the other hand, if agents keep customers on hold for 10 to 15 minutes and return with no solutions, customers will likely leave the call dissatisfied at best and angry at worst.
4. After-Call Work (ACW) Time
This metric measures agents’ time to complete the work for a customer’s call after their conversation ends.Customer service agents must often enter relevant notes into their tools after customers disconnect.
These notes help supervisors, managers, and other departments resolve the customer’s concerns if necessary. They also serve as case trackers since they include unique IDs or codes identifying the specific agents or personnel who entered them.
5. Adherence
Adherence refers to how much your agents follow your prescribed rules and standards for handling customer calls.Common standards include:
- A set script or spiel that agents must follow strictly from beginning to end
- Specific greetings and ways to end calls
- Ways to address customers (calling them by their first name or addressing them as Mr. or Ms. + their last name)
- De-escalating calls from angry customers
BPOs tend to agree that a 100% adherence rate is unrealistic and that 90% is excellent. Depending on the industry, 80% adherence is good enough for some BPOs.
A high adherence rate means you have a well-trained customer service that values and understands the importance of following procedures.
6. First Call Resolution (FCR) – FCR measures your agents’ capability to provide solutions on the customer’s first call without needing a callback or follow-up.
Also known as First Contact Resolution, high FCR rates among your agents mean they do their best to serve your customers on the first call, naturally leading to improved customer satisfaction.
7. Service Level (SL)– SL is the percentage of all calls your agents answer within a set threshold during their hours of availability.Most BPOs follow the 80/20 rule when setting SL standards: Agents answer 80% of calls in 20 seconds.
A high service level can indicate that your customers are satisfied with your agents’ response times. It also signifies that you’ve implemented effective customer service practices
5. Meet With Your Teams Regularly
Once you’ve gathered sufficient performance data, meet with your customer service teams regularly.
These meetings are the perfect avenue to discuss your team’s successes and strengths, areas for improvement, and roadblocks or challenges preventing certain members from achieving their goals.
Remember, your customer service teams are more than just numbers. They’re people working towards meeting your goals and helping your business succeed, so talk to them like people.
Praise your teams for their hard work. Be open and honest with them about how they can improve. Listen to their problems sincerely and work together to find solutions and make their jobs easier.
When you simplify your agents’ jobs, you make it easier for them to keep your customers happy. It’s a win-win!
Technological Considerations
The ideal outsourcing partner should provide qualified technical and non-technical teams fitting your needs. However, skilled personnel isn’t the only element that makes a BPO provider effective.In addition to qualified and experienced teams, your potential BPO partner should have the tools and technological platforms you need to succeed in renewable energy.A reliable and experienced renewable energy BPO should have the following technology platforms in place, mainly if they serve solar energy companies:
Solar Panel Management Software (SPMS)
A company designs a Solar Panel Management Software (SPMS) system to help you monitor and maximize the performance of your solar panels and automate many of your processes.
Here are specific features of SPMS systems that are beneficial for your business.
1. Monitoring and Control
An SPMS system can help you monitor your solar panels, including their real-time energy production, voltage, current, and temperature.
This solar energy tool provides insight into your solar panels’ overall performance and health, making it much easier to identify problems early before they worsen.
2. Streamlined Diagnostics
An SPMS system has built-in diagnostics tools that minimize downtime when troubleshooting issues. It also collects data to help you determine historical patterns or specific components that may be the root cause of the problem.
3. Remote Access
Your SPMS can provide specific users with remote access, making it easy to monitor solar panels from anywhere as long as users have an internet connection.
Users can schedule tasks, check solar panel performance, and receive alerts for problems, ensuring quick response times and improved customer service.
4. Integration
SPMS systems can integrate seamlessly with smart grids, building automation, and other solar management systems, optimizing the energy usage of all your infrastructure’s components.
Solar Resource Assessment Tools
Solar resource assessment tools gather data to provide the insight necessary to improve your solar panel installations. They aid in site selection, system design, and optimization processes. Here are specific assessments these tools can help with:
1. Solar Irradiance
This tool accurately measures the solar irradiance at a potential installation site by determining the latitude, longitude, altitude, and even weather patterns. With this tool, you can accurately evaluate a potential site’s solar energy output and the ideal solar panel placement for maximum solar exposure.
2. Shading Analysis
This tool helps you assess the impact of objects or obstructions surrounding a potential installation site, including nearby trees, terrain, and buildings. It allows you to adjust your designs to minimize shading and maximize energy output.
3. Financial Analysis
This tool helps you determine the feasibility of solar panels by calculating upfront costs, incentives, tax credits, and aspects that affect the cost of your installations. It lets you weigh and compare your solar investments’ long-term rewards and risks.
4. System Design and Optimization
A comprehensive solar resource assessment solution is one crucial tool for maximizing the energy production and efficiency of your solar panels.
This advanced technology accounts for various factors, including panel orientation, tilt angles, shading patterns, other design specifics, and external conditions like weather and climate. By leveraging such a tool, you can ensure optimal performance and returns on your solar investments.
Moreover, partnering with a BPO provider that utilizes cutting-edge technologies can propel your renewable energy operations to the forefront of the industry, consistently keeping you several steps ahead of the competition.
Client Testimonials and Success Stories
We’ve served the renewable energy sector for many years, and we’ve helped several companies succeed financially by:
- Streamlining their design, installation, and siting processes
- Growing their teams with the right mix of technical and non-technical personnel
- Improving their customer service and sales processes
If we’ve served you and helped your renewable energy business, please contact ClearSource to let us know. We’d love to hear from you!
Summary
The renewable energy industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom. However, it still faces many issues, from a shortage of specialized talent to regulatory challenges and high initial installation costs.
If renewable energy providers want to solve these problems, BPOs aren’t optional. We believe partnering with skilled and experienced BPOs is crucial and even mandatory.The right BPO can:
- Give you access to a global pool of specialized renewable energy talent.
- Help you navigate the maze of renewable energy regulations.
- Reduce your business expenses.
- Solve your siting and infrastructure problems.
However, you must conduct due diligence and consider various factors to choose the right BPO partner. You need to decide whether nearshore or offshore outsourcing is best, and you need to find a BPO partner with the following qualifications:
- Industry-specific knowledge
- Proven track record in renewable energy
- Advanced technological infrastructure
- High Data Security Standards
- Cultural fit
- Cost-efficiency
Once you find a BPO partner, maximize your partnership by following the best practices, setting specific requirements, prioritizing training and quality assurance, and developing and measuring the right KPIs.
Are you looking for a BPO partner and want to know more about our renewable energy services?
Contact ClearSource today! We’d love to hear from you!
ClearSource Experience
- Customizable turn times and pricing
- We can build a team that works exclusively with your design processes
- 24-hour 7 days a week service
- Onsite consulting offered at no extra cost
- Ability to scale quickly to help you meet growing needs
Isn’t it time for your solar company to gain a competitive advantage by working with ClearSource?
Find out how we can improve your business’ strategy.
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For a free consult with our Head of CX Design, fill out the form, call us at 385-508-4015 or email CXsuperhero@clearsourcebpo.com.
For Human Resources, call 801-989-5550.