An enterprise should prepare for the process of submitting an RFP. Here are the basics:
1. Engage internal stakeholders for strategy.
2. Define the business need. Be prepared to share data.
3. Emphasize what is most important in the response.
Here are some topics to consider:
Experience with Key Services
Does your outsourced call center have experience with the services most important to your business? Customer service? Sales? Technical support? Can they execute across channels?
Technology Fit
Your organization has invested in systems. Does the partner have integration experience with these systems or similar configurations? Are they able to offer recommendations for solutions not currently deployed?
Quality of Service
Does your outsourced call center have evidence of service excellence? You can ask about the 3 pillars of quality. 1. Internal Quality Assurance. 2. Voice of the customer using CSAT, NPS or other measures. 3. External validation from 3rd party services.
Governance
You will want to understand the attention your account will receive. Who are the key executives? How are they engaged on your program? Is there a formal Quarterly Business Review (QBR) process in place?
Continuous Improvement
Does your outsourced call center have a path to make improvements? How will they use data and analytics to inform you of opportunities? How are these opportunities tracked and quantified?
Evidence
You will want your outsourced call center to share evidence of success. This may be delivered in a number of formats, but it is essential to contact references. When you have narrowed the list of qualified partners to less than 5, this is the time to reach out to references.
Unsure on how to proceed? Collectively we have responded to over 1,000 RFPs. We know what we’re doing and we are here to help.
Our RFP response support can provide you with the answers you seek.
We can provide templates that help you establish the structure for your program. You will want to include:
- A Brand centric, business overview with key details about your products, services and program
- A schedule of events so that the participants can deliver against your timelines
- An overview of current technology and partner requirements
- A partner response section that establishes the questions you most want answered
Some final tips on structuring your RFP to select the right Outsourced Call Center Partner.
Carefully consider the format. A spreadsheet (like MS Excel or Google sheets) is a great tool for yes or no questions and basic scoring. If you seek quantitative answers to specific questions, a word processing application (such as MS Word or Google Docs) works much better as a method to display graphical information or provide detailed descriptions. In many instances, the best RFPs use both formats.
