Customer service outsourcing is being used by more businesses than ever before. From smaller businesses and start-ups to larger, well-established companies, outsourced customer service can be an effective method for growing the business, increasing revenue, attracting new customers, and fostering business-customer relationships.
Of course, customer care outsourcing isn’t about simply choosing any old call center. In fact, a lot of care and consideration has to go into selecting a call center service. The right call center services can help your business achieve more success, while poorly chosen outsourced customer support may not fit the needs of your company.
When you are looking for the right call center services for your business, here are some steps you can take to make the right selection.
If you’re considering outsourcing your customer service, then there should be a problem that you are trying to address. Every business decision you make should be based on an existing issue or need. Customer outsourcing can solve many problems for companies. For instance, smaller companies may have difficulty handling a large volume of calls or hiring their own customer service staff, while larger businesses may want to cut down on their expenses or improve their branding. If you want to know if call center outsourcing is right for you, consider whether you have a need for it.
Once you have determined your needs, find a call center that matches them. Today’s call centers offer a wide range of services for all types of clients. If you’re looking to provide more accessible customer service, then you may want to choose a call center that can provide service through a variety of channels, including the phone, email, and live chat. If your business serves certain demographics, then multi-lingual support may be needed. Ensure call centers can provide the service that meets your needs.
Since there’s a huge degree of diversity in call center services, it’s important that you select the ones that fit your company. For instance, call centers can take a more passive approach with inbound services, answering calls that your customers initiate, or they can directly contact customers with outbound services. As well, call centers can provide either shared or direct agents for different levels of service. Choosing the right type of services will ensure that you get the best results for the best rates.
One of the most important considerations when choosing a call center is that you select one that knows how to effectively handle your clientele. As a business, your customers trend towards specific demographics, which can include sex, ethnicity, age, occupation, income level, and other similar factors. The service you provide to one group of customers may not be suited the other. One of the easiest ways to ensure that your call center can provide effective service to your customers is by choosing one that is local and/or handles similar clients to your own.
Finally, when you are ready to choose a call center, ensure that you are getting the service that you need. For a high volume of calls, shared agents may not be the right choice for your business, although they are often the most cost-effective selection for new or smaller businesses. Whenever you hire a contact center, you should perform a careful assessment of what your business needs, to ensure you are making the right choice. Look for call centers that can handle varying levels of service, which will allow you to adjust your service level at later dates.
When you are looking for a customer call center in North America, there are many factors to consider to best determine which company you should outsource your customer service to. Look carefully at each area in order to find the right customer call center who can provide excellent service in every area.
Leading customer service call centers must have either direct experience in selling similar products, or the kind of high-level training that can be readily applied to your business. Remember that outsourcing to a professional call center can allow you to tap into new insight about how to improve or ameliorate your current practices.
Word-of-mouth, social media reviews, and company testimonials will all give you a small piece of the puzzle when learning about a particular call center’s reputation. Be sure to do your own research to avoid being swayed in either direction by partial or incomplete information.
What is the call center’s record when it comes to improving or excelling at the services provided? If you find a call center that has superior performance in several areas that are critical to you, then they are likely a good match for your business. The call center’s management team should consist of highly-professional, dedicated, and intelligent managers whose goals in operating the call center will dovetail with your own. An exemplary attitude always trickles down and improves results that can be measured with numbers, and in an overall positive feeling generated from doing business.
A solid call center has a workplace culture that actively cultivates enthusiasm for the job, attention to detail, and sharpness with product knowledge. There need to be regular incentives for delivering superior performance, as well as the regular reinforcement of how to use the best practices to deliver customer service. Furthermore, the conditions of the office housing the call center are also very important. A good operation is spic-and-span, well-lit, and has special amenities. This all ensures that employee satisfaction is high, which in turn, improves the quality of calls.
There is a huge and remarkable difference between using a call center that resides within North America versus outsourcing overseas. Using a customer service call center in the USA has many advantages that you would expect from hiring native English speakers. You can also get the same benefits from using a call center located in Toronto, Canada, which include: crystal clear call quality, superior English language comprehension, and a higher degree of understanding customer issues or requests. Companies also have the option of using both onshore and offshore call centers, utilizing a North American call center for their highest customer service priorities. With a clear understanding of your customer base, as well as your goals for expansion and branding in the marketplace, you can select the right option that works for you.
This is a major point that deserves special attention. The way that your customers have their needs attended to will make or break your brand. An ideal call center will always have attentive agents, as well as demanding managers who place emphasis on low wait times and the timely resolution of customer issues.
Decide on the basic minimum standards that you want set for your customer service needs. This could include call recording, virtual queues, private client monitoring, etc. Consider the CTI—computer-telephony integration—being used. Also make sure you know what IVR (interactive voice response) is best suited for your businesses’ needs. The ultimate goal of the technology used is to continually promote accountability and excellent quality control for the call center’s agents.
A superior call center will have invested in security measures, which include encryption of customer data, as well as other measures designed to prevent theft or fraud. There is also a big advantage in using a North American call center in being able to place more trust in the systems and people being used. There should be multiple safeguards in place against online threats, including antivirus and malware protection. In the event of a disaster, power outage, or other unforeseen circumstances, data redundancy and disaster back-ups need to be available to provide seamless customer service.
Finding the best employees is just the start. A leading call center also provides regular and ongoing training to give support and guidance to call center agents. There must be a common mandate that is understood by the entire team to provide the best customer service possible, as well as an understanding of the company’s guiding principles.
Remember that not all call centers are created equally. You may get quoted an extremely low rate only to discover that you don’t get the full service that your brand or product demands. Select excellent service, and avoid trading off quality assurance that will cost your brand money down the line. When you ask for estimates, be sure to factor in taxes, as well as exchange rates, whenever required.
The right company will be able to evolve and grow with your needs. They will be able to handle new demands by your business, while still maintaining stringent quality control. Look for a call center that can readily hire new employees, and provide those same employees with regular training, motivation, and keep work as a fun environment.
3C Contact Services is a leading Toronto-based customer service call center that provides scalable services for small- to mid-size businesses. We provide a variety of services including customer retention services, inbound and outbound call center services, and shared agent services.
All of our services include:
Looking for ways to grow your business? As the leading provider of outsourced call center solutions, 3C Contact Services teaches its partners the necessary customer service skills needed to engage and retain customers and clients. Call us today at 1-888-353-2335.
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