Whether to use outsourced call center services or do it yourself, is a difficult decision for any business. Hence, it is important to clearly define the business objective for call center outsourcing before embarking on this journey as agents of the outsourced call center that you hire will be the company's first line of communication and in some cases your company's only voice for all your customer interactions. This article discusses why you should use an outsourced call center, how to select the right provider and how the performance metrics may effect pricing.

Inbound Call Centers can field many types of customer service calls:

1.    Product or Service Inquiries

2.    Order Processing

3.    Inbound sales leads

4.    Answering Service

5.    Technical Support calls

6.    Appointment Setting

Virtual call centers can have an impact on the customers’ perception of the company. However, businesses should not invest in building their own call center operations based on fear of customer backlash as the benefits of call center outsourcing outweigh the massive infrastructure and overhead costs to setup an in-house call center.

The Benefits of Inbound Call Center Services are the following:

• Save on infrastructure and overhead costs as it eliminates need for additional office space, call center reps and equipment.
• Does not need to develop in-house customer service call center expertise and can focus on investing in the core business.
• Leverage best practices that have been established in the call center industry to increase customer loyalty and retention.
• Increase business revenues and profit margins by up-selling and cross-selling products and services to existing customers.
• Need to manage customer service calls after normal business hours, on weekends or 24/7 around the clock.

Here are a few things to consider while defining the overall business objectives for call center outsourcing:

• What is the business objective of call center outsourcing? Is it to save on customer support costs? Increase profit margins? build customer loyalty and retention? Repeat customer purchases? Positive word of mouth?
• What types of customer service calls will be managed by the inbound call center? Order Processing? Tech Support? Answering service?
• What is the expected customer service call volume? Forecast monthly minimum and maximum customer calls expected, you should consider seasonal spikes as well.
• Is integration with CRM system required so that call center reps can track and update customer account information?
• Can the call center reps respond to customer queries via web chats, instant messaging (IM) chat and emails?
• What are the hours of customer service that are needed? After normal business hours, 24x7 round the clock support, bilingual support etc.?
• What are the reporting and analysis tools that are available to track the performance of the inbound call center?
• Is off shore call centers an option for your business? Virtual call centers? At home call centers?

Here are the factors to consider while evaluating Inbound Call Center Services

• Price: Although, cheap call center prices are always desirable. Remember that hiring an inbound call center service that provides poor service at a bargain price may not be the right decision as it could result in loss of existing customers.
• Experience: If you are new to call center outsourcing, it makes sense to go with an experienced inbound call center service.
• Make sure that the inbound call center has good references from other businesses.
• Call center reps: Enthusiastic staff provide better customer service. Interview the inbound call center service about the turnover of customer service reps (CSRs). A high turnover rate could be a potential red flag.
• Call Center Reporting:  Inbound call centers should provide the business with weekly reports to track their performance.
• Call monitoring: Businesses should be able to monitor a few customer service calls from time to time, to measure the effectiveness of the inbound call center.
• Call volumes: select a call center where your business would account for at least 5% calls. Any less than that, the call center reps will not have the incentive to serve your customers.
• Additional services: If your business needs additional help in developing scripts, training, CSRs etc., make sure the inbound call center has adequate resources.
  

Inbound call center pricing

The Inbound call centers charge fees per minute or per hour for each call center agent. You must always compare price quotes from leading call center companies before you select the one that best fits your business needs. The call center pricing varies by the type of service and the location of the call center. Offshore call centers located in India, China and Asian countries are often cheaper than Western Europe, US and Canadian call centers. Furthermore, call center pricing is related to call center performance metrics. For example, hold times of less than 30 seconds costs more than less than one minute.

In addition, the following call center features may also affect the pricing:

·       Use of complex call center scripts may costs more.

·       Shared call center agents may cost less than hiring dedicated customer service call center reps for your business.

·       Large monthly call volumes can receive discounts. Many call centers enforce minimum call volumes. Actual cost per minute may be higher if your call volume is less than the minimum required.

·       There may be extra fees like setup charges, commissions, cost of additional training, reporting etc.

Call monitoring rights, non-competes, exclusivity of service, confidentiality, call center location(s) that would answer customer service calls, and right to cancel within 15 or 30 days should all be spelled out in the contract.

Additional Tips

You must always your own telephone number and direct the calls to the call center service provider. If call center owns the phone number it would become very difficult for you to switch if you decide to change the call center. Survey your customers regularly to determine if they are highly satisfied with the customer service provided by the inbound call center.