Front Office vs. Back Office In Outsourcing

In a business firm, three parts make it as a whole. They are the front office, middle office, and back office. But only the front office and back office are frequently heard, especially in online outsourcing.

From their respective root words, “front” and “back,” we can conclude the difference between the front office and back office.

Front office refers to the staff and kind of jobs, and the primary function is to work with clients and customers upfront. They are the “face” of the company, and they handle customer-related assistance. While the back office refers to the staff and kind of jobs, and the main duty is to provide support. It is a part of the company that is responsible for providing administrative business functions. And on the contrary, the support staff is not client-facing.

As it continues to expand, the Business Process Outsourcing industry offers a variety of jobs for front and back offices. The number of companies that apply outsourcing strategies for their e-commerce businesses is favorably increasing. The reason, they discovered the benefits the companies could earn in outsourcing of customer service, such as great cost reduction, able to hire experts and highly-skilled workers from different countries, outsourcing customer service 24/7, achieve flexibility and efficacy by transferring some non-core business tasks but essential to the growth of the company, and many more.

Make sure to outsource customer service and that the team at the front office must consist of individuals with strong communication and expertise in handling different types of customers. They will be the ones who will directly deal with customers and assist with a variety of services, such as answering customers’ queries and concerns, resolving their problems and issues, marketing products and services, and establishing a harmonious connection between brands and the customers.

Meanwhile, the back office consists of administrative work. The back-office staff doesn’t have direct interaction with the clients. Their primary role is to ensure that all operations will have a smooth, coherent, and consistent operation. It helps in daily administrative works, and with the development and manufacturing of the products and services.

Though people who work for back-office positions are not directly in contact with customers, they are an essential part of the company because of their big role in handling daily activities. Data entry, content management, human resources, IT services, and digital marketing are some of the back-office services that are important in business.

Front and back offices are both essential parts of the business. One cannot perform without the other. Take an instance of outsourcing customer service, which considers front office service. It can’t perform well without the help of digital marketing that is considered a back-office job. While the front office has direct interactions with the clients, the back office is in charge of the daily administration tasks. While the front office helps in strategy development, the back office is responsible for HR functions and compliance management. And while the front office helps to increase sales and revenues, the back office helps in the manufacturing of products and services.

The front office and back office work collaboratively, as they are both essential in business organizations. And they are expected to give more job opportunities as the outsourcing industry continues to grow.