How to Develop a Career Path as a Business Process Associate

Are you ok with doing routine tasks every day and don’t mind the monotony if you are well paid and enjoy the office environment? Or maybe you need to start earning as soon as you can after school or after your graduation before enrolling yourself for a higher qualification. You want to chill out for a few years, enjoy independence and then plan what you can do next. Or you want to finance your own higher education. Working as a Business Process Associate can fulfill your requirement as above if you have any.

Business Process Associates either work in voice-based office work or non-voice-based office work. Voice-based office work may include making calls to customers, selling products or services over the phone, receiving calls from customers and solving their problems or grievances, making calls to get feedback, etc. Non-voice-based office work may include answering emails from customers, chatting (through text chat) with customers, making Facebook posts, chatting with customers over Facebook messenger, processing office documents, data entry, etc. Typically, you will work with BPM (Business Process Management) companies which assist other client companies to carry out routine and repetitive business process tasks.

Why become a Business Process Associate?

As a Business Process Associate, you will have to handle, monitor, and manage numerous tasks simultaneously in the back office including helping customers or clients with billing/purchasing, creating new customer accounts, etc. Your ultimate goal is to optimize customer satisfaction. 

You may either get a job role of a voice process associate or you may be given the role of a non-voice process associate. Essentially, the task of a voice process associate is to attend calls/make calls for sales purposes making sales or to offer customer support, and also for customer retention/collection of dues. Non-voice process associates, on the other hand, handle other back-office tasks such as chatting with the customer, answering emails, communicating with potential customers/clients over social media, and so on for sales/customer support/customer retention/technical support.

Popular specialization in Business Process Associate Career

1. Business Support Operations Management: Operations management deals with the administration of business practices in order to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. Business support operations managers oversee the day-to-day operations of a business to ensure goals are achieved with maximum profit. They participate in personnel matters, general administration, and business planning to minimize overhead.
2. Customer Support Process Management: Customer Support Process refers to the front-facing supply chain management process which represents the organization’s face to the customer. The process is the key point of contact for administering product and service agreements (PSAs) developed by customer teams as part of the customer relationship management process. The process associate strives to eliminate bottlenecks from the service and support chains and maintain consumer satisfaction with the organization’s products and services.

What does a Business Process Associate do?

• To handle calls from customers/clients and offer practical solutions to their queries/problems.
• To handle different types of customers/clients on a daily basis and communicate with them effectively while maintaining good telephone etiquette.
• To carry out a host of other professional services like Business Research, Legal Services, Financial Analysis, etc.
• To listen to the grievances of the customers/clients with full attention and speak to them with a neutral and clear accent. 
• To actively contribute to process improvement initiatives in the department.
• To consistently meet and strive to exceed productivity and quality standards in the workplace.
• To maintain courteous, prompt, and professional communication (both written and verbal) with internal and external clients.
• To discuss internal matters with Team Lead/Supervisor and sort workplace issues without hassle.
• To track, manage, and resolve software deficiencies on the customer/client’s behalf. 
• To chat with customers and understand their pain points.
• To respond to emails in a timely and prompt manner.
• To create reports, prepare spreadsheets, process paperwork, etc.

How to become a Business Process Associate – Eligibility Criteria 

School

Both in secondary and higher secondary level school studies, there is no specific subject requirement. You can complete your school-level studies in any subject or any stream of your choice. However, you must have English as your core subject as most jobs in this field demand excellent communication skills in English.

Undergraduate

After completing your school-level studies, you can either get a Diploma or a Certificate in BPO/BPM or you can choose to complete your graduation with a B.A/B.Com/B.Sc/B.Tech/BCA/BBA/LL.B/B.Pharm/MBBS/BDS/BHMS degree in any subject or your choice. This is enough to bag a job as a Business Process Associate.

Educational Fees

The cost of studying Business Process Associate in India can vary depending on various factors such as the type of institution, location, program duration, and other associated expenses.

If you are looking to pursue a diploma or certification course in Business Process Associate, the fees can range from INR 10,000 to INR 50,000 depending on the institution and duration of the course.

For a bachelor’s degree program in Business Process Management, the cost can range from INR 2 lakhs to INR 8 lakhs for the entire course duration, again depending on the institution.

MBA programs in Business Process Management can cost between INR 5 lakhs to INR 15 lakhs depending on the institution, location, and program duration.

Additional expenses such as accommodation, transportation, textbooks, and other materials should also be taken into account.

It’s always a good idea to research and compare the costs of different institutions and programs to find the best option that fits your budget and educational goals.

Job Opportunities

If you are a fresher, you can bag entry-level Business Process Associate roles such as Service Representatives, Technical Support Executive/Associate, Hardware Support Executive/Associate, Software Support Executive/Associate, Network Support Executive/Associate, Customer Support Associate, etc. with a BPO (Business Process Associate) or BPM (Business Process Management) firm. There is no difference as such between the two. While many entry-level roles do not demand extremely high qualifications, if you possess a Bachelor’s degree or you have enough industry experience, you can also aim for senior management roles like Team Lead or Quality Manager.

Salary of a Business Process Associate 

In entry-level careers in the field such as Trainee Business Process Associate or Junior Business Process Associate, you can expect to earn an average monthly salary of around Rs. 8,000 – 20,000.

In mid-level job positions (with over 6 years of industry experience), your average monthly salary will range anywhere between Rs. 15,000 – 75,000.

In senior-level job roles that demand more than 10-12 years of experience, your average monthly salary can range anywhere between Rs. 35,000 – 200,000 or even more.

Career Progression in Business Process Associate Profession 

Nowadays, BPO/BPM jobs promise rapid career growth as most companies have started to promote employees from within the ranks. Once you enter the field as a Trainee/Junior Business Process Associate, in about 3-4 years’ time, you can gain enough industry experience to be promoted to mid-level roles such as Lead Associate/Assistant Manager/Deputy Manager/Assistant Quality Manager, to name a few. After you’ve gained more than ten years of industry experience, there’s scope to get promoted to senior-level job roles like Senior Manager/Senior Consultant/Senior Group Manager, and so on.

What do industry trends say – Future Prospects

According to Statista, in 2018, the market size of BPO peaked at 23.6 billion U.S. dollars. And India has long been a hub of outsourcing companies, thereby garnering a massive chunk of the global BPO market. As per the latest IBEF report, India has emerged as the leading sourcing destination in the world, grabbing hold of nearly 55% of the market share of the US $185-190 billion global services sourcing business in 2017-18. Going by these statistics, it is safe to assume that the future of the BPO/BPM industry in India looks bright and promising.

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