A Call Centre Solution can provide your company with a competitive edge that you have not previously had. Expand the reach of your company, move into new markets, and increase your customer base.

The idea is that by outsourcing, organizations can minimize cost and focus on core business operations. However, this decision is not without controversy, with some experts advocating for its benefits while others questions its long term effects on customer service (Workforce).

WHAT IS CALL CENTRE OUTSOURCING?

Call centre outsourcing refers to handing over your customer support tasks to an external organization, which handles and staff your company calls, surveys and other customer service operations on your behalf. The third-party team might be in your locality or offshore.

The external organization is responsible for recruiting, training and supervising its employees to handle all customer inquiries, support, request and other telephone communication on behalf of the business (Workforce).

Call centre outsourcing allows businesses to focus their resources on the products and services for which they were set up. It avails you more time for product development, marketing, sales and other essential business operations.

Outsourcing call centre services to third-party service providers give the sense of relief to business owners, as the agents there are more trained in comparison to in-house agents in carrying out the task swiftly.

Call centre outsourcing is an excellent solution for businesses looking to manage their customer support needs efficiently.

WHAT DO CALL CENTRES DO EXACTLY?

Call centres serve as the hub for customer service. They allow customers to interact with companies without the need to travel to a store, branch or office. If a customer has a question, wants to pay a bill or make a complaint, they can do so at their own convenience (Lesley Harrison).

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CALL CENTER AND CONTACT CENTER

While the terms “call centre” and “contact centre” are often used interchangeably, they do have distinct differences in their scope and capabilities. Understanding these differences is essential for businesses seeking to optimize their customer support operations. Here are the key points:

Call Centre:

• Primarily focused on handling inbound and outbound phone calls.
• Provides customer support, issue resolution, and inquiries through telephone communication.

Contact Centre:

• Encompasses a broader range of communication channels, including phone support, email, live chat, social media, and self-service options.
• Takes a comprehensive approach to customer interactions, aiming for a seamless and integrated experience.
• Adapts to the growing preference for digital communication channels (Chimobi Benedict).

HOW DOES OUTSOURCING WORK?

Call centre outsourcing services work to minimize your organization’s costs but maximize profits, all while maintaining and often improving customer satisfaction. The outsourcing solution you choose will depend on your own business expectations, objectives, and goals. Before picking a service, assess your expectations and make sure you’re choosing an outsourcer that can cater to your unique business needs.

Say you’re looking to offload your company’s entire customer engagement departments. You’ll want to delegate customer calls in a flexible way to suit your personal workflow and SLA requirements.

Outsourcing works best when it can be tailored to your needs sswhile following the call centre trends that users have come to expect (Jen Jackson).

TYPES OF CALL CENTRE SERVICES YOU CAN OUTSOURCE

There are 2 primary call centres you can outsource and they are

• Outbound outsourcing services
• Inbound outsourcing services           

OUTBOUND OUTSOURCING SERVICES: Outbound call centre solutions traditionally include telemarketing, sales, surveys, and customer retention calls. In an outbound center, agents don’t take calls from customers. Instead, agents call the customer. Organizations typically use an outbound call center for promotional campaigns, sales or market research. However, these call centres are subject to government regulation in many parts of the world, with guidelines dictating how and when companies can call residential phone numbers.

INBOUND OUTSOURCING SERVICES: Inbound call centre services refer to communications initiated by the customer. This can be done through any channel, including voice, email, chat, SMS or social media. Customer care and technical support are some of the most common forms of inbound call center services. Inbound call centre agents answer incoming calls from customers and provide support services as needed by the customer.Outsourcing some or all of your inbound services can greatly reduce costs, and helps to ensure that you are prepared for fluctuations in demand caused by seasonality or new product launches.

Businesses can outsource both their outbound and inbound call center services when it comes to Call Centre Outsourcing, depending on your organization needs and objectives. 

BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING CALL CENTERS

If you outsource call centres, these are some of the improvements you’ll see:

1) Cost Savings

One of the primary reasons companies choose to outsource their call centre is cost savings. Building and maintaining an in-house call center can be a significant investment. It involves expenses related to infrastructure, technology, hiring, training, and ongoing operational costs. By outsourcing, companies can leverage the call centre provider’s existing infrastructure, technology, and expertise, saving considerable capital expenditures and operational costs.

2) It can improve your speed to answer and handle time

An in-house contact centre can never match the output of call center outsourcing services. Top call centre outsourcing companies will have huge talent pools of capable agents, ready to handle customer queries with a faster average speed of answering and handling time. Whether you’re looking for agents to assist with tech support or respond to social media queries, transferring these services to a more experienced team can improve engagement efficiency and increase the likelihood of customer retention.

3) Access to Specialized Skills and Expertise

Call centre operations demand specific skills and expertise. Outsourcing provides access to specialized teams trained in customer service, sales, technical support, or other domains. Professional call centre providers hire and train agents who possess the necessary skills to handle customer inquiries effectively. These agents often receive ongoing training to stay updated on the latest customer service techniques and industry trends, resulting in higher service quality and customer satisfaction.

4) It provides easier monitoring and analysis

Monitoring the quality of calls and collecting analytics are essential features for any contact centre. If you have outsourced agents, it’s especially helpful to have real-time metrics and call analytics so you can keep a close eye on how they’re performing and how you can help them. Monitoring on its own is fine, but using the info and metrics you’ve gleaned from monitoring for things like coaching is key. Set the right standard for agent coaching and process development by using features like call recording to monitor performance.

5) Better customer experiences

Agents that are exclusively dedicated to answering calls provide better experiences. But many times, in-house call centre agents are required to pull double duty with other vital functions. But outsourced call centers are dedicated to their work and have agents trained to handle anything that’s thrown at them. Their knowledge and skills provide top-tier service in the call center space

READY TO ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE NEVER BEFORE?

Outsource Nigeria, a leading provider of contact center outsourcing services, understands that a reliable team of customer service outsourcing agents is what a client needs to establish a strong bond with their customers. Every contact an agent makes can create a huge difference on a company’s relationship with their customers. With our deep domain expertise and highly skilled and experienced customer service outsourcing professionals, and strong focus on operational excellence, Outsource Nigeria will recruit, hire, train and manage your team of customer service agents and strengthen your contact center operations. We will adapt our operation to meet your unique business process requirements as well as your corporate culture. Your dedicated operating team will become a seamless extension of your organization.