In our always-connected world, it’s daunting — and expensive — to operate a multichannel call center. That’s why more companies are turning to call-center outsourcing to communicate with customers through digital channels, as well as traditional voice interaction.
A trusted call center outsourcing partner manages the costs including human resources, facilities, and technology, so you don’t have to. Here’s a look at 10 reasons you should consider call center outsourcing to manage your customer engagement strategy:
1. Reduced Staffing Cost: You pay only for the call center staff time you use. The call center outsourcing partner is responsible for hiring, training, and managing people. Then several clients may share the overhead cost, reducing the cost for each client.
2. Scalability: Your outsourced call center can ramp up and down based on your business needs. The agents can serve other clients, so you’re not paying for downtime. The call center can plan for peak times, staffing up for advertising campaigns, product launches and other activities known to boost call volumes.
3. Specialized Knowledge: The staff at an outsourced call center are experts in the field, and develop strategies based on working with many clients over the years. You’ll get the benefit of their consultative knowledge that’s impossible to gain from working in only one industry.
4. Represent Your Brand: Agents at call centers are adaptable and focused — they will represent your brand to your customers. They are trained to handle various scenarios while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction that leads to loyal customers. If your customers require special needs, such as bilingual agents, they can be added to your team.
5. Expert Management: Outsourced call center providers employ specialists in workforce planning and training, quality assurance and technology. They have a breadth and depth of experience that’s impossible to achieve working in an in-house call center. You’ll get the benefit of their backgrounds, ensuring that you have top specialists working for you.
6. Data Analytics: With each call, you can learn something about your customers and your business. Use a call center partner that invests in the tools to capture and unlock actionable insights from the flow of raw data streaming into the call center. These insights can help transform your processes and customer relationships.
7. Cost Management: For most outsourced call center providers, their business model is based on costs per transaction. That means they are very skilled at managing the cost per call. This data is the basis of the relationship with their clients, and the cost information is shared freely to evaluate the effectiveness of the relationship. In-house centers may have other metrics that make it difficult to measure and manage for profitability.
8. Service Levels: Your outsourced call center partner can staff 24×7 so your customers are always able to reach you, whether it’s by phone, or web chat or texting. Today’s digital consumers expect to interact with a live representative at any time. Look for a partner with call center locations that allow you to serve your primary audiences using staff who are working at their time of peak effectiveness.
9. Tech Savvy: An outsourced call center provider can afford to invest in the latest technology to serve the growing number of platforms. Look for a partner that offers multiple channels including VoIP, email, SMS text, web chat, and social media engagement. It’s more practical for a service provider with multiple clients to keep pace with the rapid technological change than an in-house operation.
10. Quality Control: Your call center partner should offer common KPIs such as Average Handle Time and First-Call Resolution. These standards are part of the service level agreements that call centers use to monitor and manage performance for their clients. It may be more difficult for in-house centers to track these critical measures of call center quality. Work with an outsourced partner that prioritizes high-quality performance.
If you’ve read this far, you’re interested in working with a call-center outsourcing partner that will deliver a world-class level of customer service at lower cost. We would love to help you make the right decision for your company. Please contact me at nick.tubis@tdsglobal.com at your convenience.
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