Key Benefits of Outsourcing Your Call Center Services
Businesses of all sizes are outsourcing their call center services after finding out about all the awesome benefits it offers. Large organizations to small ecommerce businesses are hiring third-party call centers to tackle the tough job of servicing prospects and customers.
Decades ago, outsourcing wasn’t as popular as it is today as business leaders were hesitant to send off their essential functions to a third party. Now, outsourcing tasks such as call center services is the latest trend.
Why? Because it works and provides great benefits. Let’s dive in and look at the key benefits of outsourcing your call center services so you can determine if it’s right for your business.
Call Center Services
There are many objectives for call centers, and it varies by the service providers and what they’re looking to accomplish. Some call centers strictly take inbound calls, while others only make outbound calls, and others do inbound and outbound calls.
A majority of companies use call center outsourcing primarily to handle their customer service needs. Some companies outsource to outbound call centers for lead generation and sales. Conducting surveys is another motive of a call center.
Typically, call centers are flexible and adjust their services and staffing to fit their clients’ needs. The scripts the call center agents use are customized for each business they serve. Most call centers welcome changes to the scripts and A/B testing to improve results.
Benefits of Outsourcing Call Center Services
If you are looking to take drastic steps to improve and scale your business, outsourcing your call center services may be the answer. Here are some of the advantages of outsourcing call center services:
1. Cost Savings
Starting and managing a call center in-house is pretty costly. A call center needs many workstations, including technology, supplies, and programs to get the job done successfully. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) means you dodge the high investment it takes to get the customer support resources and infrastructure set up and started.
There’s no denying that headhunting to find quality workers is a full-time job posting ads, sifting through applications, interviews, onboarding, and training. Then, there’s employee turnover, and you need to do it all over again. It’s all time-consuming and costly.
When you outsource call center services, you avoid the entire HR process saving a lot of money, effort, and focus. The call center is responsible for ensuring they have the qualified staff needed to fulfill the needs of its clients and ensure customer satisfaction.
Also, if you outsource to a call center overseas, their cost of living and overhead costs are less, which the savings get passed on to its clients by offering lower rates.
Many large organizations outsource their call center services overseas to take advantage of this sweet benefit.
2. Increase Productivity
Bogging down internal staff with call center duties takes away from their productivity and creativity on more critical business functions. Also, company leaders who are pulled out to handle call center issues take away from their limited time to focus on more pressing tasks and strategic planning business growth.
When you outsource your call center services, you have to worry about one less thing as it’s all handled for you by experienced professionals, including a management team. Saving time and energy by not running a call center in-house is an excellent way to increase productivity.
3. Deliver Exceptional service
Consumers today have higher expectations when it comes to customer service than ever before. There are only so many product or service features and benefits that can separate a business from its competitor. Savvy business leaders know to survive and dominate their competition, they must provide exceptional service.
By outsourcing your call center services, you have a team of experts who are pros at satisfying customers’ needs. Your call center agents solely focus on providing excellent personalized care, which customers expect and appreciate.
The truth is, delivering first-class customer service is a great way to grow your business organically. One happy, loyal customer does wonders for a business through repeat orders, word of mouth, referral, and positive online reviews.
4. Multi-Channel Service 24/7
The days of using a phone to contact a business have passed. Millennials especially don’t like to make phone calls. When you outsource your call center operations, your customers can contact your company through the channel they prefer making a more pleasant customer experience.
Today, most call centers offer multi-channel services, including phone, email, SMS, online or in-app chat, and social media. These services are available 24/7, so your customers are not left waiting for service, even if it’s after standard business hours.
Making a customer wait is a great way to lose their business. There’s just too much competition out there; if you don’t provide service when they want it, they may turn to an available competitor.
5. Scalability and Flexibility
A great benefit to outsourcing your call center service is when your business grows, you already have a team on your side ready to scale with you. You don’t have to put a halt on growth strategies to bulk up your workforce to meet the demands.
The company you outsource your call center services to handles all the hiring and training needed to meet your needs. All while you are focused on implementing your strategies. Pretty awesome, huh?
6. Access to Innovative Technology
Technology platforms make our world go round but at a high cost. Staying up-to-date with the latest technology is not cheap, but it’s necessary to be competitive.
Consumers want access to the latest inventions in communication, and they want technical support quickly. Call centers make high investments in the newest technology to offer competitive advantages to their clients and provide top-notch service.
Before Outsourcing Your Call Center Services
You see, there are a ton of benefits of outsourcing your call center services. Before you take the leap and partner with a call center, you want to ensure they’re the right fit for your needs. Not all call centers are created equal.
You’ll want to interview the company and get some answers to ensure they can handle the job successfully. Many relationships have gone sour by not choosing the right provider. You want to be sure they handle the call center services you need and have the processes, procedures, and technology in place for optimum results.
The company you choose should be easy to communicate with, friendly and professional. Ideally, you want to have a long-term relationship with them, so you must like and trust them. They should show genuine interest in your business, needs, goals, and culture.
Here are some questions to ask before choosing a company to outsource your call center services:
- What hours do you provide services?
- Do you offer inbound and outbound services?
- How do you monitor your agents' performance?
- What software and programs do you use?
- What communication channels options do you offer?
- How do you provide reports? How often is this done?
- Will there be a dedicated manager to oversee the operations? How would I contact them?
- What are your fees?
- Do your agents mimic our company culture?
- How are issues or upset customers handled?
- What type of training do you provide your agents?
- Do you match my company's culture?
- Do you have call stats that you could provide?
- What are the key benefits of working with your organization?
To Sum Up
There are many awesome benefits of outsourcing your call center services, from reduced cost, increased productivity, and company growth. Customers get excellent personalized care from experienced agents who solely focus on delivering excellent service.
Having the latest technology without forking out large investments is a huge benefit of outsourcing your call center services. You must choose an organization that fits your needs, culture, work ethic, and has excellent communication for a successful business relationship long-term.
Are you ready to jump on the bandwagon to reap the sweet benefits of outsourcing your call center services? If so, contact Awesome CX today, and we’ll show you how awesome we are.
Sources:
Millennials are the 'mute generation' according to this study | Entrepreneur