The Main Reasons for Outsourcing Inbound Call Center Services
And The Industries That Benefit the Most
Despite facing many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of essential workers continued to fulfill their duties. Call center agents were among them, with nearly every private company and governmental agency deeming them “essential.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) listed call centers as “essential to continue critical […] operations.”
Most call centers operated by government agencies required agents to work onsite due to the nature of their work. As for most private organizations, the pandemic forced them to adopt telecommuting.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many organizations [sic] to adopt remote working arrangements as an emergency measure to continue operating.” — Deloitte
Fortunately, telecommunications systems dedicated to remote work have been around for several decades. In particular, remote agent management technology is well developed, cheap, and plentiful. Most importantly, it’s quick and simple for companies to set up, as well as easy for remote customer service employees to learn how to use. Many businesses also began outsourcing call center services if they needed extra agents or had none employed in the first place.
Call center agents, whether working remotely or not, played a vital role in the survival and, in some cases, the growth of numerous businesses in 2020 and 2021. They boosted the reputations of the organizations they represented by keeping consumers informed, solving their problems, and reconciling their complaints.
4 Reasons for Outsourcing Call Center Services
1. Cost-Effectiveness
Cost-effectiveness is the prevailing reason why businesses choose to outsource inbound call center services. Outsourcing means that owners and upper management don’t have to worry about onboarding additional employees. They also don’t have to invest thousands of dollars in remodeling their office space to accommodate the necessary equipment. At the bare minimum, one would need to purchase desks, computers, a call center phone system, and various other office supplies.
2. Access to Decades of Industry Experience and the Latest Technology
An outsourced call center specializing in Omnichannel Customer Support generally keeps up to date with the latest technology. It’s necessary when offering clients a consistent experience across multiple support channels (phone, text, email, social media, messaging apps, and live chat). In addition to that, outsourced call centers have the latest in data collection and analytics technology. This allows you to leverage the power of customer support data across various channels.
High Levels of Emotional Intelligence and People Skills
While having the latest technological tools at one’s disposal is great, its effectiveness depends on their industry experience. Unlike software development, IT, and other industries technological knowledge is superior, it’s merely an added bonus when it comes to customer service.
All the technology available today could never convert poor customer service practices into good customer service experiences.
At the end of the day — technology or no technology — providing good customer service is all about having “people” experience.
3. Reduce Operating Costs While Improving Productivity
Many small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) struggle to balance delivering valuable products and/or services while providing great customer service. Training your employees to answer phones and handle customer issues when they were hired for other reasons is costly and time-consuming. Not only that but it will likely cause disruptions in productivity.
One of the Most Ignored and Yet Vital Aspects of Proper Agent Recruiting and Training
When someone is hired for a position in which customer service isn’t mentioned in the job description, they generally don’t appreciate having the responsibility thrust upon them. Even if the employee(s) don’t openly show their displeasure, it will impact aspects of their performance. It’s also not a good idea to create and fill a low-paying customer service position to avoid the former. It will just lead to equally as bad or worse performance.
Outsourcing reliable 24/7 call center services is a cost-effective solution that integrates seamlessly with your organization’s operations. This includes customer support, inbound sales support, appointment-setting, data entry, and after-hours dispatching, among other things. Furthermore, an outsourced call center is the one responsible for training agents, providing them with the necessary technology, staying in compliance, et cetera. All things you won’t have to be bothered with.
4. Launch New Products and Services Fast and Efficiently
It takes a lot of work to launch a new product, service, or marketing campaign. Forego the burden that comes with training in-house staff on how to field questions by outsourcing professionals. The only thing required of you is to provide the details of your product, service, and/or marketing campaign. From there, highly trained inbound call center agents will handle everything for you. An additional advantage of outsourcing call center services is the amount of call data you will have at your disposal. Such valuable data can be used to improve your current products/services, develop new products/services, as well as create more informative campaigns.
Some Industries That Benefit from Outsourcing
Having a dedicated call center benefits any business or organization when applied correctly with solid objectives. However, some types of businesses gain a bigger advantage from outsourcing a call center than others. Continue reading below to learn more about how and why the following four industries benefit the most from outsourcing call center services.
1. Healthcare
Healthcare providers with busy medical records and/or pharmaceutical support departments often experience administrative slowdowns that hamper profitable operations. Outsourcing cost-effective call center services augment human resource allocation, improves efficacy, and bolsters financial performance as a result. More reasons for outsourcing call center services in healthcare operations:
- Prompt and professional responses to inbound calls, voicemails, and emails regarding medical record requests.
- Pharmaceutical support for inbound calls from patients who want to redeem coupon codes for various prescriptions.
- Scalable healthcare industry support to meet your healthcare facility’s varying needs.
- US-based, English-fluent call center agents committed to delivering professional, cordial call center support for healthcare providers.
2. Insurance
Despite providing their customers with things such as mobile and web applications, insurance companies still struggle to handle the persistently large volume of calls. It takes them longer to process claims, handle inquiries, and funnel prospective policyholders than it should. Outsourcing call center services can help speed these processes along.
More reasons for outsourcing call center services in insurance provider operations:
- Insurance agents have extensive experience with insurance affiliates.
- Agents have experience with the insurance policy binding process.
- Increase their claims handling staff quickly.
- supplement your existing insurance contact center with agents who can conduct marketing or retention follow-ups, as well as transactional or administrative follow-ups.
3. e-Commerce
While more conventional “big-box” retail chains are floundering, small to medium-sized retail companies that invested in e-commerce are expanding. Outsourcing call center services allows these growing retail brands to provide customers with a convenient and friendly first point of contact. An outsourced call center should be capable of helping your e-commerce business grow larger while retaining the customers you already have.
More reasons for outsourcing call center services in e-commerce and retail operations:
- Call center agents have ample experience working with e-commerce companies and their customers.
- One-on-one personalized support significantly increases the success of e-commerce and retail businesses.
- E-commerce and retail support specialists that are knowledgeable about a variety of major shopping cart platforms and will train to operate on specific processes and technology.
- Agents are available 24/7 to assist customers with the support protocols dictated by your brand.
4. Small Businesses and Tech Startups
Small businesses already have enough on their plate in terms of operations. The last thing a small business owner needs is to spread their team thin, trying to provide solid customer support. The same thing goes for startups that often can’t afford to bring on a dedicated team of customer service specialists. Not everyone is a natural at dealing with current or potential customers over the phone. However, outsourced call center agents do have such skills — it’s why they’re in the business in the first place.
More reasons for outsourcing call center services in new business and startup operations:
- Friendly, efficient call center agents answer inbound calls or emails, ensuring beneficial and productive communications.
- Provides a vital human connection between your brand and consumers to keep them interested.
- Agents have comprehensive marketing experience and are proficient in marketing programs involving travel, real estate, automotive, and finance, among others.
- Managers ensure that each agent sticks closely to your policies, procedures, and performance expectations.
Don't Ignore Your Reasons for Outsourcing Inbound Call Center Services
Most owners and upper management might find it hard to entrust their business to an outsourced third party. This is especially true when it comes to entrusting that third party with your most valuable asset: your customers. At least with other types of BPOs such as data recording, analytics, website management, and others, you can correct mistakes before too much damage is done. Mending relationships with customers who experienced bad customer service, however, is more difficult, whether it involves a third party or not.
At Millennial Services, we are empathetic to our client’s concerns. We understand that you’ve worked hard to get your business to where it is today; few people in your circle appreciate the sacrifices you and your team have made. With Millennial Services as a part of your team, you will have people who care as much about you, your business, and your customers as much as you expect a partner should. That’s what we’re in business to do. To learn more about the reasons for outsourcing call center services, please contact us today!