Call Center Services Outsourcing can be a great way to improve your customers’ experience while freeing up your internal resources to focus on other areas of your business.
However, ensuring the quality of your customer service operation is critical to the success of your outsourcing project. Find below our tips to fully get the expected quality of your Customer Services when outsourcing Call Center Services.
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Types of Call Centers
When you need help with your business, finding the right call center can be difficult. There are two primary types of centers: inbound and outbound; these determine what style will best suit your needs for performance based on how they operate and which services specifically those providers offer.
You should ensure that any chosen provider has all the necessary equipment or tools that customers need according to their specialization.
- Inbound Call Center: Call centers are there for the taking when you need help with your account or product. They’ll answer all those questions and even handle some technical issues too.
- Outbound Call Center: A call center is a great way to reach potential customers by making outbound calls. Some businesses use this service for sales or generating leads. In contrast, others may hire an outside agency as their primary means of communication to update databases and conduct surveys.
Call Center: Outsourcing vs In-house team
In-house team: The cost of in-house customer service can be more prohibitive than outsourcing. You pay more than just the employee’s hourly rate, and additional taxes & benefits bring that up even higher. Plus, you need space for them to work.
Call center services outsourcing: One of the best things about Call Center Services Outsourcing is that you can bundle all services into one convenient package. You get a dedicated team, including managers who will help keep everything running smoothly and take care of any miscellaneous costs like overhead or equipment needed for their work to meet standards. Call Center Services Outsourcing offer services through the standard channels, including phone and live chat. However, some providers also provide email or social media messaging to help increase customer engagement rates.
Pricing Factors of Outsourced Call Center Services
Inbound and Outbound Call Center
Inbound Call Center
- Shared: Shared services are providers with a pool of agents taking inbound calls for more than one client. These types get billed per minute, meaning they will be busy during high traffic periods but can still handle slow mornings with ease when it’s just you at the other end.
- Dedicated: Dedicated services are providers with a certain number of agents who solely take calls for one client. This type typically gets billing on an hourly basis, and companies with high call volumes commonly choose this option to ensure quality service without having any interruptions in their business operations due the availability/frequency (or volume) of work.
- Monthly: Monthly billing is not uncommon with offshore providers. This means that you will have to pay your monthly fee in advance and then use up all of the minutes on that particular plan before getting another bill at the month’s end.
Outbound Call Center
- Hourly: Outbound call centers commonly offer an hourly rate for their services. They have a team of individuals making outbound calls to set appointments, generate leads, or make sales.
- Commission: Commissions are the norm when hiring call centers. The percentage varies depending upon what you’re looking at, but 10% has been found most commonly used.
- Hourly plus commission: Unlike traditional commissions, which are based on a percentage of your sale price for each product or service, you sell and only pay out when a client hires them again after their first purchase is made from you. Hourly plus commission pays an employee more if they can sign up new customers because there’s no guarantee about how much money will come in at any given time as long as people keep buying in.
Location
The cost of hiring a call center should be considered an investment, as it can help businesses save money and time. Call centers in countries with lower labor costs often provide better service for customers because they do not have to pay extra fees related to their location, making them more profitable over the long term.
Offshore call centers are an excellent way for businesses of all sizes to save money. Companies turn towards these countries because they offer lower living costs, which means that payroll will be less expensive! That’s why you can find plenty of offshoring facilities in China or The Philippines – two popular choices among many other nations across Asia Pacific regions such as Australia & New Zealand.
Quality and Expertise
What is the best way to deliver customer service? Some call centers offer higher-quality agents trained in providing top-notch, white-glove services. They may pay these employees more to do their job satisfactorily and provide excellent work.
Some companies offer tech experts to help with any technical issues your clients have while using their service. Others provide bilingual services but keep in mind that quality always comes at a higher price.
Flexibility
Flexible call centers are a great way. They’ll often be able to put together an expert team specifically for your needs. A flexible center can help meet specific demands outside of typical offerings, but these specialized teams may also have higher prices than regular ones depending on individual requirements.
When choosing Call Center Services Outsourcing, don’t just look at which has the most competitive rates. Look also at their flexibility and match your company culture as well! The agents represent you, so they need to speak with customers in ways that emulate how people feel about working for or buying from your brand.
Some call centers offer back-office support, like data entry and order processing. Others may also be able to upsell or cross-sell existing customers while they are on the phone with you. Find a provider with the flexibility to meet your current and future needs.
Availability
When you need the Call Center Services Outsourcing, availability may affect pricing. For example, if your business is open during standard operating hours, it would be reasonable to assume that these are also when customers should expect help from an agent.
However, some companies require 24/7 service 365 days a year which could increase costs significantly due to having more staff on hand at all times of day (even taking into account overtime). Most centers nowadays provide options like online chat or email responses.
Monitoring your Customer Service Quality
The customer experience is king, and as you know, it can be tough to keep up with all the changes in technology. One poor service interaction could cost your company valuable customers who go elsewhere because they were unhappy about how their needs weren’t met or what was explained clearly during an initial phone call. This applies even more, when these people share stories online via social media.
What is the best way to monitor the quality of work your call center provides? Ask customers themselves.
When you take the time to hear what your customers think, it can only help in improving their experience. You may want to make sure that everything was done right by them or maybe ask for some advice on how things could work better next time around- either way, hearing from people who have already been through this process is invaluable.
Top tips to successfully outsource your Call Center Services
Clear Communication
The essential thing in a Call Center Services Outsourcing relationship is clear communication. This means you should be able to receive feedback on any issues and provide them with the best service possible.
You must inform your manager about any company changes, such as product or service offerings. In addition, this information is beneficial for them when managing agents at their call center. It also allows a better customer care experience.
The difference in time zones can make for some interesting challenges when working together. Make sure you pick a schedule that works well with your offshore call center employee’s scheduling needs, especially if they are on-site remotely.
Knowledge Transfer
With all the many questions that customers may have, you’ll want to list common ones and any unique inquiries they might submit. You also need information on your products/services, including how they work & what features there are. Provide this info for representatives working at customer service desks (or call centers) to answer their queries and get everything right away when someone reaches out.
The more precise details given about aspects like pricing or shipping times will lead to faster responses, which always leaves an excellent first impression.
Provide Scripts
Scripts ensure that your agents deliver the same high-quality service every time. But what if you want them to be more personable with customers? Or maybe provide some extra detail about how they can help someone using their product, like an audio script does in voice calls and email attachments (since this is also something millennials tend towards). Scripting will give people exactly what’s expected.
Defined task areas and clear KPIs
You must have clear goals and expectations to ensure a thriving Call Center Services Outsourcing. You could offer additional incentives for reaching specific performance benchmarks or exceptional outcomes to keep people motivated.
Choosing your Call Center Services Provider
Quality and performance
If you’re looking for a new Call Center Services Outsourcing, the quality and performance of its employees should be at least as important to your business when considering this option as anything else.
Reliability and availability
Reliability and availability are two key factors you need to consider when hiring a Call Center Services Outsourcing company. You want them available at all times, so look into their schedule carefully before making any final decisions about whom will do the job well for your customers.
Culture
The call center needs to understand the importance of customer relationships and model your business’s culture. They should work with customers as if they are in an office, having attitudes like yours or branding for themselves just as much so that people feel at home on their phone calls.
Size
It’s essential to make sure there are enough call center staff available when you need them, even if an organization has an extensive customer database or visits from customers at certain times. They still might be able to handle all their incoming requests.
Price
Price shouldn’t be your only consideration when choosing a service provider. You need to look at the quality and price together because if you decide based on prices alone, it may not meet customer expectations, resulting in poor business practices from that company in future interactions with clients or even lost opportunities altogether.
Experience and expertise
It is crucial to find a company that has experience in customer service because it will take more than just providing good work for customers. You want someone dedicated and caring enough about their job and knowledgeable on what they need to do best so you can get the most out of your experience with them.
Language
If you want your call center staff to be able to communicate with customers in English, it is essential that they speak and understand the language fluently. Communication between agents and clients can occur both verbally and written down, so an international presence needs only one person who speaks perfectly through every medium available.
At Innovature BPO: How do we control Call Center’s quality?
Call Center Services Outsourcing can be a great way to improve customer service while reducing costs. However, choosing a reputable provider that can deliver quality results is essential.
At Innovature BPO, we take quality control seriously. We create the right service models for each clients, controlled by strict talent recruitment process as well as well-prepared Service Level Agreement (SLA), scorecards for operation metrics and backup solutions.
Our service models make the handling of your outsourced business processes simpler and cost-effective, when at the same time, increasing your efficiency, scalability and security.
