Over the last decade, the number of companies that use a call centre outsourcing vendor has increased considerably. Setting up a multi-channel call centre within a company is a well-known fact that may be costly and time-consuming. It does, however, come with a slew of responsibilities, including employing top staff, investing in technology and infrastructure, and so on.
With so much of work being outsourced to offshore vendors, it has become necessary for organizations to ensure that they are partnering with the right outsourcing vendor. The boom in the outsourcing industry has resulted in a huge rise in the number of call center service providers. Not all these vendors offer high quality services. You might end up outsourcing your services to someone who isn’t able to deliver expected results.
In the Middle of Lockdowns, Inbound Call Centre Services Are Critical
To succeed in the post-COVID-19 era, marketers will have to understand that phone communication must go to the next level. They’ll need to choose with one that’s very scalable, runs on sophisticated automation, has strong security, and cleanly supports human operators. This new technology, which was formerly, regarded a nice-to-have by many firms, is now a must-have. Prior to the pandemic, call centres functioned in a predictable environment, with seasonality playing a large influence in determining the amount of calls received each day. But now the stakes have been increased a notch higher.
It is, on the other hand, significantly easier to choose a trustworthy call centre outsourcing provider and receive the services you want while keeping your business operating smoothly. It’s vital to give your customers the best possible service while also delivering a product that fits their needs. In this article, we’ll go through the process of evaluating your call centre outsourcing provider in detail, as well as the most useful suggestions for hiring the best call centre outsourcing firm.
Things to Look for in Your Outsourcing Vendor
Below is a checklist that you should refer to before outsourcing inbound call centers services.
Years of Existence:
Organizations who have been in the industry from a very long time would have good experience of delivering such solutions. It is always better to choose a vendor who has ten or more years of experience. However, if you choose a vendor having fewer years of experience, it is likely that you might compromise with the quality of solutions. Nothing beats experience when it comes to delivering appropriate customer care services to your customers.
Industry Specific Experience:
Apart from overall industry experience, the vendor should also have some experience of serving clients from your industry domain. Bigger the experience better it is for you. If you are a telecom service provider then choose a vendor who has served clients from telecom industry. However, this factor can be neutralized if the service provider has overall good experience and has the ability to learn new processes and train its agents.
Technology Used:
If possible, you should visit the delivery center from where the services will be provided. Check the equipment and technology that they use for delivering services. In case of call center software and CRM, have a look at some of the prominent software solutions and check with your outsourcing vendor if it uses any one of them. Furthermore, you would have to gain some information in this matter so that you are able to properly evaluate the technologies being used at the contact center.
Quality of Agents:
The customer care agents would be speaking directly to your customers therefore the quality of these agents and their services will be viewed as your quality. Conduct a few agent interviews to check the quality of the agents. Focus on their communication skills; pressure handling skills and the level of customer experience that they can offer. Even after they have passed the initial test, it is best to look at their evaluation reports from time to time.
The Cost:
Perhaps, the most import factor in any business decision is the money factor. Outsourcing inbound call center services to an offshore vendor is highly cost effective but it does not mean that you should go for the vendor who offers minimum rates. You should weight in all the factors and then choose the one that offers best services at reasonable rates.
Hire a liaison manager:
When you offload your operations to a vendor located far and away, you cannot monitor their progress and the quality of work they are delivering. As you cannot be at their premises all the time, it is best to hire a liaison manager who acts as your eyes and years in the distant company.
So next time when you think of outsourcing inbound call center services or any other business process, remember to evaluate your option according to this checklist.
In the absence of call center services, an organization loses the opportunity to add a new customer to its existing customer base. Likewise, when an existing customer calls up your contact center, he looks for a feasible solution to his problem. If you fail to satisfy your customer as a service provider, then you might end up losing a valuable customer to a competitor who is always ready to grab such an opportunity.
