The catch is that’s often tough to know which of those solutions will have the biggest impact on your business goals! When choosing a call center partner, you have to think through questions like:
We know that outsourcing can feel daunting. So we’ve put together this in-depth guide to cover everything you need to know about call center outsourcing, using infographics, data, research, and industry expertise.
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Skip ahead and connect with a call center outsourcing consultant right away.
Our goal here is to navigate you through all the different services, options, and benefits of outsourcing your customer service – as well as a step-by-step guide to finding the right call center for your brand.
We hope that after reading this, you’ll be well-equipped to start or continue your call center outsourcing journey. You’ll be able to engage with contact center outsourcing partners knowing what their language is and how they can help you achieve your customer experience goals.
In today’s digital marketplace and changing economy, call centers should never be a drain on a company’s budget. Rather, call centers should be a valuable support channel that drives sales and helps boost revenue. We encourage you from the start: Don’t think outsourcing is always a cost. Outsourcing can often be a profitable solution and help lift the bottom line for businesses that are aiming to cut costs and improve customer service.
With that in mind, let’s learn about some services call centers offer.
You want your staff to be able to focus on high-impact strategies rather than Tier 1 support issues. Through a call center solution, you can free up your personnel with outsourced help desk support that fulfills Tier-1 issues all in a centralized program.
A well-designed loyalty program can directly impact sales and revenue. Loyalty program support will help increase customer lifetime value, increase retention, and keep a steady and consistent flow of sales. A BPO call center is usually the missing link to help make the most of custom loyalty programs.
When your customers need help, do they have a positive experience, or do they wait for a long time to get lackluster support? When customers need to talk to someone about a product or service, that exchange should be seen as an opportunity to win that customer’s brand loyalty all over again. The benefits of providing a positive CX can last for decades.
Does your company serve customers in other countries with many different languages? If so, multilingual support is a must in creating a positive customer experience. Speak to your customers in their language, and ensure they feel seen, heard, and valued.
Field support is a unique need that requires expertise in situations that aren’t as common in call center programs like a help desk. A call center focuses on improving CSAT and building new efficiencies in your workflows.
Customer calls with support needs are the perfect opportunity to cross- or upsell. Sales-trained call center partners can also make outbound calls to your current customers with offers that they want or need. An effective sales call center program can help turn the cost of the call center into a profitable addition to support revenue.
Omnichannel support has increased a lot in the last few years due to the increase in channels customers want to communicate on. Whether it’s on chat, phone, SMS, email, or in-store, an Omnichannel solution will merge all the channels into one central back-and-forth solution so agents can interact with customers however they prefer.
Onshore, nearshore, or offshore solutions all come with pros and cons. Look for a call center that offers a Smartshoring solution. Smartshoring is the practice where call centers can design the best of all location options based on a company’s needs and goals.
Using call center services in addition to in-store support creates an optimum customer experience. Stores might be in locations across the country or even the globe. Having a central support team to help in-store staff when they need it is the best track to happy in-store customers.
When things get technical, a trained team of call center agents can help customers work through it. Following instructions on certain products or software might not be sufficient. When customers want to talk to someone, a call center provides human, empathetic support with technical expertise.
Smartshoring leverages technology to take customer engagement global so you can get the best customer service representatives from around the world – or right at home. It means you get service wherever you want it, whether it’s domestic, international, or virtual. Smartshoring allows you to control costs and quality with a hybrid of onshore, offshore, and nearshore. Here’s how each of those work:
Almost 65% of a company’s business comes from repeat customers.
82% of companies agree that retention is cheaper than acquisition.
Companies that provide a great experience have a 16% price premium on products and services.
By partnering with a call center firm with proven expertise, businesses benefit from their expertise, experience, technology, leading processes, personnel, and resources – without having to build and bankroll their own customer experience department.
Call center partners work with you as a consultant to create the best call center program. To achieve all this in-house is often more expensive and takes a lot more time and resources, which could otherwise be used to focus on your business.
Omnichannel contact centers meet your customers wherever they are – from in-person to social media, websites, email, search, phone calls, chat, and more. We use technology and robust customer data to ensure they feel known and cared for across each touchpoint. Omnichannel is all about seamless, convenient customer success.
FILA is an internationally renowned brand known as a pillar of excellence in the athleticwear industry – but in early 2020, they were losing customers due to negative customer service experiences. Their brand and reputation were taking a hit. FILA needed a solution – and they found it with Global Response.
In 2021 alone, online sales went up 25%, and customer queries for orders and refunds decreased by 28%, thanks to the Global Response difference.
You’ve worked hard to create a reputable brand with a loyal base of customers. You need a partner that will work just as hard to deliver the experiences your customers are looking for. Global Response knows how to immerse ourselves in the culture of the brands we represent. From staffing and training to fielding the most complex inquiries, Global Response is committed to providing omnichannel experiences that build customer loyalty in every interaction.
By implementing an Omnichannel approach to support programs, companies can increase positive customer experiences that support growth. Channels include:
Inbound handles calls coming in from customers or other interested in your services
Outbound functions with more of a focus on sales and marketing than on customer service, with calls going out from highly trained representatives to help drive growth and product adoption.
Receive inbound calls from customers, often focusing on technical support or customer service
Focus on brand alignment, relationship building, empathy, and support
Can take orders and generate sales
Make outbound calls to current or prospective customers, often focusing on sales or upgrades
Focus on sales, lead generation, and market research
Can take orders and generate sales
Questions to ask when conducting research:
Important questions to ask during the second step:
FAQs you can expect from the call center firm to ask:
During this step, your potential partner will detail the following:
Some of the key elements in this step include:
Impactful KPIs that can be improved by outsourcing include:
Customer satisfaction is one of the most important goals for a call center and an important metric to track. A good contact center will have a strategy to boost CSAT.
First contact resolution (sometimes called first call resolution) is a KPI that measures how frequently a customer’s question or concern is resolved the very first time they contact you. Your contact center should have a track record of excellent FCR and improvement for their customers.
Average speed of answer (ASA) is critical to customer satisfaction and retention. Did you know that 56% of customers won’t wait on hold for more than two minutes? A contact center should have a plan for continually controlling for a low ASA.
Average handle time measures the amount of time from when the agent picks up a customer’s call to the end of the call—how long it took to handle the concern or issue that was called about.
NPS (or net promoter score) is another critical call center KPI. This measures customer satisfaction alongside how likely your customers are to promote your business either online or via word-of-mouth to others. Your contact center should have a track record of improving NPS.
Average abandonment rate measures the number of customers who hung up or disconnected the call before their call was answered by a call center associate. It can also include things like abandoning a cart before purchase. A contact center should be able to show you how they reduce abandonment rates across channels.
Agent turnover rate measures the rate at which your call center agents leave for other forms of employment. This metric, while not directly tied to customer experience, is a critical one to track for your call center. Lower turnover rate often means higher job satisfaction and higher quality work from the call center representatives, as well as a deeper understanding of your customers and brand due to length of experience.
Average transfer rate – or call transfer rate – measures the percentage of calls an agent had to transfer to someone else for a resolution. More transfers can eventually lead to lower customer satisfaction.
An important advanced call center KPI involves the quality of an agent’s assistance and etiquette during a call. Ask your call center partner what they do to ensure high quality calls and excellent people skills among representatives. Ask how they track and maintain it.
The average after-call work time, also sometimes called average idle time, measures the amount of time after a call has ended that an agent spends doing follow-up tasks related to the call.
Now that you’re tracking KPIs and gathering useful data from your call center, what should you do with it?
Of course, call center KPIs and contact center metrics are only helpful once they are used to implement meaningful change. When you choose your KPIs to track, make sure you understand what data to gather and that the data can be shared with stakeholders and analyzed properly to implement change.
By creating a baseline of your overall call center performance based on KPIs, you’ll understand which functions to optimize and deploy solutions for.
For each KPI, you should ask your outsourcing partner how they track it, and how they have performed over time. Ask them what strategies they have in place to improve KPIs for their clients and what successes they have had. Ask them what KPIs they believe are the most critical to overall customer retention and growth.
The right call center outsourced firm will create a call center program for a businesses specific goals and needs. By selecting the right services and solutions, utilizing impactful KPIs, data, and analytics, using access to technology tools and passionate people, a call center can be profitable.
Easier said then done, right?
That’s what we’re here for.
Our collaborative, four-pronged approach to implementing your call center solution maps out every aspect of integration. Global Response will walk you step-by-step to a successful and on-time launch. Our process is standardized, but our solutions are all customized to provide you with the systems and workflow that are best suited to your business needs.
Our experts and stakeholders meet to understand the objectives of your business and create a roadmap to success.
Each client receives a customized training program that fits their needs and budget.
We are prepared to help you leverage our tools or support your existing systems for a seamless customer experience.
Your talent profiles and operations procedures are combined with our specialized hiring and training practices.
Quality assurance, KPIs, and customer feedback drive actionable insights for your team’s improvement.
Your brand will be in the best care. Certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs) will lead your integration, while a dedicated high quality management team trains Brand Specialists to be immersed in your culture.
A Project Manager will be hand-selected to ensure optimal operations for your Brand.
Your team will be invested in representing your Brand and delivering an exceptional customer experience.
Implementation and Training will meet with you to learn the ins-and-outs of your business and create custom materials just for your onboarding.
Our executive leadership is engaged, aligned, and dedicated to your business interests and goals. Your success is our success—we’re on your team! Whenever you need us, we’re just a phone call away.
Global Response’s upbeat culture fosters innovative problem-solvers who are committed to the greater good of their team.
Our success stories span nearly every industry with solutions custom-tailored to each unique brand. Learn more about a few of our focus areas.
Talk to a customer experience management expert today to learn how we can drive results for your business.
Put our customer experience solutions to work for you. Put our customer experience solutions to work for you. A full-service contact center can deliver outstanding return on investment – and accomplish so much more than a basic plug-and-play service. To increase sales and conversions, we use the best human-centric, data-driven methods to improve customer experience, reduce customer effort, and deliver high customer satisfaction. We provide actionable insights into our partners’ communication strategies, hone the process, and build intensely targeted engagement that converts.
