Inbound call centers are a crucial component of modern-day business operations. They perform the most important task i.e., keep customers on your side by being available to them at the time of their need. As an entrepreneur, you need to be vigilant about customer behavior and take necessary actions whenever there is a new situation emerging. In today’s highly competitive world, any mistake in your call center strategy can be detrimental to your business.
Nowadays, customers have way too many options to choose from and they will drop you as your supplier at the first glimpse of inefficiency or dishonesty or lack of support. Whether you are heading an ecommerce portal or managing a manufacturing process or healthcare institution, there is an urgent need to utilize competent inbound call centre outsourcing solutions.
The Most Important Tenets of Call Center Outsourcing
For a very long time, businesses that used to outsource call center companies relied on the track record of vendors i.e., their past experience and successfully completed projects. Although this is a very good way to gauge the quality of a prospective vendor, the current situation (due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2021) demands you to analyze and scour the competency of call center outsourcing company with a fine-toothed comb.
But it is also important to look at the most important part of their credentials and what makes them click and an asset for your organization. An easy way to analyze a vendor is by seeing if it fits the bill in terms of these 5 tenets of call center outsourcing that are still very much relevant in 2021:
Rapport Building
One would want his call center to be an epitome of quality, highly consistent and dedicated solely to the customers. Building strong relationships is also considered to be part of good customer service. But in today’s world, you cannot waste too much time on a single customer. The most important thing that you can do on a call is let a customer know that you actually care for him. Top call centers train their agents to build rapport and create an affinity. When the customer feels that you actually care, he stays with your brand for a long time. There is no point in going out of the way every time. It is all about treating your customers consistently and with utmost respect and care.
Homogeneity in Customer Support
Continuing from the last point, it is very important that your call center manages customer expectations in a mature way. Many call centers fall into the trap of trying to supersede customer expectations. But when you have a roster of agents with different level of base skill and knowledge – which is normally the case in all call center operations – you are likely to set wrong expectations.
Suppose a very experienced call center agent working in a network support process goes out of his way in trying to help a customer and troubleshoots his computer for half an hour. He somehow resolves the problem and enables the customer to go online. Now, a few days later, the customer experiences a similar computer issue and asks for help. A new agent who understands that the problem is not with the network device would ask the customer to contact computer vendor. In this case, even though there is nothing wrong done by the agent; but due to the fact that the expectations are set wrong might dissuade the customer from buying from the same company again.
Synchronization Of Call Center Process with The Latest Technology
In the past, the roles of humans participating in a call center process was paramount. But with a rise in the quality of technology available, the role of software can be considered on par with human resources. Improved voice-recognition in IVR tech allows for self-service. Better CRM allows for improved integration with multiple databases and knowledgebases for quick information retrieval. CTI and ACD are some other software solutions that are enhancing the quality of both inbound and outbound call center processes. To avail the advantage of technology, it is vital that your call center outsourcing vendor stays abreast of the latest innovations.
Multi-Channel Support
This has to be the most important tenet in 2021. Complement your voice-based services with text-based services such as Live Chat, email support and social media support; and you are surely going to get into the good books of your customers. Modern-day buyers and subscribers are open to other communication platforms and like your initiative of providing them different options.
Scalable Services as per Dynamic Needs
This tenet is not something that comes to mind instantly, but is vital for the success of a long-term outsourcing venture. An outbound or inbound call centre outsourcing vendor with ample workforce can allot the required resources at just about any time to meet the suddenly-rising requirements. Scalability is essential for maintaining quality and preventing call abandonment.
Summary
Finding a quality inbound call centre outsourcing vendor can be the difference between the success and failure of a business operation. It is important that you are thorough with your search for a vendor. Choosing a vendor that is completely scalable, stays in sync with technology and builds a good rapport with customers can help you succeed with your call center strategy.