As many in the CX universe converge in the beautiful American southwest for CCW Las Vegas, the mettle of outsourcers and their representatives attending this global event is sure to be tested. At one of the world’s largest customer experience forums, BPO participants from near and afar will do their best to stand out in what promises to be an enormous crowd of colleagues, all eager to present themselves as the logical alternative to captive delivery (or their competitors).
To be clear, the buying community is actively searching for outsourcing partners. This was validated in the recently published Ryan Strategic Advisory 2025 CX Technology and Global Services Survey, which sounded the views of over 800 contact center leaders across 12 national demand markets. In this study, roughly 2-in-5 participants indicated their organizations planned to grow third-party service delivery over the coming 12 months.
Savvy LinkedIn watchers will note that as outsourcing executives post the requisite transportation selfie announcing their imminent arrival at CCW Las Vegas, many are heralding their presence as a great chance to vaunt their respective organization’s value proposition. In 2025, this is frequently framed around a specific area of expertise (perhaps a service-line, function or delivery location) followed by ‘… and our amazing AI capabilities’ at the end of the sentence, almost as a technological rite of passage.
Attending CCW Las Vegas (or any CX focused trade show for that matter) is a great step in winning new business and cementing existing relationships. But, the only way to do so is by speaking directly to the priorities of buyers, not by by trotting out hollow tropes nearing their expiry date, in an effort to appear as part of the in-crowd.
So what are those priorities of enterprise customer experience leaders that deserve BPO leaders’ attention? The 2025 CX Technology and Global Services Survey shows that these are many and varied. One that immediately jumps out is the need for enhanced levels of customer insight. With KYC analytics historically an area of under-investment within captive centers, more enterprises are turning to CX partners to help get a better handle of who is buying from them. And, with uncomfortably tight customer management budgets almost a certainty for the next 18 months, BPOs that aggressively promote consumer insight capabilities are well positioned to garner business.
Buyers are also anxious to work with outsourcing providers that have expertise when it comes to front-line delivery excellence. The 2025 CX Technology and Global Services Survey indicates that many firms are challenged when it comes to both voice and digital interactions; in the case of voice, only a third of respondents indicate their performance improved the previous 12 months. When it comes to non-voice, this number is shockingly not even a quarter. This aligns with worrying research by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which shows a continued slump in how US consumers feel they are being serviced by organizations. Wise leaders know that for this to continue means lost end-users, a poor reputation and commercial uncertainty. Outsourcers that can deliver value and stave off these problems will be in a strong position relative to competitors that focus needlessly on being part of vacuous hype cycles.
And the word value is truly an important part of the BPO CX competitive dynamic. As noted above, enterprise CX budgets are facing a great deal of uncertainty in 2025 and 2026, with a majority of captives expecting contraction or no growth in their front-line investment capacity during this period. Credible outsourcers have long avoided being associated with ‘cheap’ delivery and rightly concentrated on how to marry cost-effectiveness with efficient, human-led interactions alongside value-add services. This dynamic is more important than ever, as buyers seek reasonable, quality alternatives to in-house end-user management.
The above are but a few angles by which enterprises buyers are prioritizing their own CX needs, and within each there is clearly a role for outsourcers to play. The adage of ‘People, Processes and Technology’ has never been more important in the context of a service portfolio that is responsive to consumer needs, provides actionable end-user insights and that allows agents to do their jobs better. If AI can enable aspects of these initiatives, all the better, and specific use cases should be cited in that regard. But the bottom line is that BPO CX services are extremely competitive at the moment, and buyers want their most pressing needs addressed. Outsourcers seeking opportunities would be wise to prioritize this approach, as opposed to perpetuating tiresome white noise, simply for the sake of keeping up appearances. Enterprises (and their consumers) deserve better.
Image sourced from Rikki / Julius Reque under creative commons license
BPOs: Lead with Comprehensive CX Service Offerings, Not Just AI!
By Ryan Strategic Advisory
As many in the CX universe converge in the beautiful American southwest for CCW Las Vegas, the mettle of outsourcers and their representatives attending this global event is sure to be tested. At one of the world’s largest customer experience forums, BPO participants from near and afar will do their best to stand out in what promises to be an enormous crowd of colleagues, all eager to present themselves as the logical alternative to captive delivery (or their competitors).
To be clear, the buying community is actively searching for outsourcing partners. This was validated in the recently published Ryan Strategic Advisory 2025 CX Technology and Global Services Survey, which sounded the views of over 800 contact center leaders across 12 national demand markets. In this study, roughly 2-in-5 participants indicated their organizations planned to grow third-party service delivery over the coming 12 months.
Savvy LinkedIn watchers will note that as outsourcing executives post the requisite transportation selfie announcing their imminent arrival at CCW Las Vegas, many are heralding their presence as a great chance to vaunt their respective organization’s value proposition. In 2025, this is frequently framed around a specific area of expertise (perhaps a service-line, function or delivery location) followed by ‘… and our amazing AI capabilities’ at the end of the sentence, almost as a technological rite of passage.
Attending CCW Las Vegas (or any CX focused trade show for that matter) is a great step in winning new business and cementing existing relationships. But, the only way to do so is by speaking directly to the priorities of buyers, not by by trotting out hollow tropes nearing their expiry date, in an effort to appear as part of the in-crowd.
So what are those priorities of enterprise customer experience leaders that deserve BPO leaders’ attention? The 2025 CX Technology and Global Services Survey shows that these are many and varied. One that immediately jumps out is the need for enhanced levels of customer insight. With KYC analytics historically an area of under-investment within captive centers, more enterprises are turning to CX partners to help get a better handle of who is buying from them. And, with uncomfortably tight customer management budgets almost a certainty for the next 18 months, BPOs that aggressively promote consumer insight capabilities are well positioned to garner business.
Buyers are also anxious to work with outsourcing providers that have expertise when it comes to front-line delivery excellence. The 2025 CX Technology and Global Services Survey indicates that many firms are challenged when it comes to both voice and digital interactions; in the case of voice, only a third of respondents indicate their performance improved the previous 12 months. When it comes to non-voice, this number is shockingly not even a quarter. This aligns with worrying research by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which shows a continued slump in how US consumers feel they are being serviced by organizations. Wise leaders know that for this to continue means lost end-users, a poor reputation and commercial uncertainty. Outsourcers that can deliver value and stave off these problems will be in a strong position relative to competitors that focus needlessly on being part of vacuous hype cycles.
And the word value is truly an important part of the BPO CX competitive dynamic. As noted above, enterprise CX budgets are facing a great deal of uncertainty in 2025 and 2026, with a majority of captives expecting contraction or no growth in their front-line investment capacity during this period. Credible outsourcers have long avoided being associated with ‘cheap’ delivery and rightly concentrated on how to marry cost-effectiveness with efficient, human-led interactions alongside value-add services. This dynamic is more important than ever, as buyers seek reasonable, quality alternatives to in-house end-user management.
The above are but a few angles by which enterprises buyers are prioritizing their own CX needs, and within each there is clearly a role for outsourcers to play. The adage of ‘People, Processes and Technology’ has never been more important in the context of a service portfolio that is responsive to consumer needs, provides actionable end-user insights and that allows agents to do their jobs better. If AI can enable aspects of these initiatives, all the better, and specific use cases should be cited in that regard. But the bottom line is that BPO CX services are extremely competitive at the moment, and buyers want their most pressing needs addressed. Outsourcers seeking opportunities would be wise to prioritize this approach, as opposed to perpetuating tiresome white noise, simply for the sake of keeping up appearances. Enterprises (and their consumers) deserve better.
Image sourced from Rikki / Julius Reque under creative commons license