8 reasons to outsource your call centre services
In today’s competitive world, it’s vital that you do everything you can to keep your customers happy. Disappoint or frustrate one of your clients, and they’ll head to one of your competitors without warning. And we all know that it’s much more difficult to acquire a new customer than it is to hold onto an existing one. In fact, data from Invesp suggests that investing in new customers is between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones.
Data from Newvoicemedia suggests consumers will wait for an average of 11 minutes on hold before hanging up. Fail to answer their call and respond to their enquires in a timely manner, and your reputation will suffer. That’s why outsourcing your call centre services could be an option to consider. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the benefits in doing so…
Save money
Perhaps one of the most obvious benefits of outsourcing call centre services is cutting your costs. Whether you’re looking for someone to handle enquires and complaints or deliver a simple switchboard-style service, paying an organisation to do it for you is much cheaper than opening up your own call centre or investing in permanent staff. If you only receive 10 calls a day, it doesn’t make sense to hire a full-time receptionist or customer service agent.
Scalability
As the coronavirus pandemic has taught us, the business world can change overnight. By outsourcing your customer service to a third party, you don’t have to worry about volumes. Whether you’re suddenly inundated with calls or your business goes through a quiet spell, you’ll only pay the company for the time they spend dealing with your calls. As you grow, the outsourced call centre’s staff can handle your increased demand without breaking a sweat.
Deliver round-the-clock support
Although email and social media are the preferred options for customer service nowadays, it is still vital that you offer telephone support for sales and customer service. Shoppers in both the B2C and B2B niches want to be able to speak to a company representative on their time, whether that’s 9 AM or 11 PM. For most SMEs, round-the-clock customer support isn’t a feasible option, but by outsourcing to a third party, you can take advantage of call centres and customer service representatives who work through the night to service their customers.
Collect and analyse data
Companies that offer call centre solutions also capture and analyse data and information given by callers to improve your service. This data can be used for marketing campaigns or to reshape your customer journey. Acquiring this data on your own would be time-consuming and costly, but outsourcers spread the cost amongst their many clients, offering useful insights and analytics that could change the way you run your business and deliver services.
Trained support staff
Though it’s unlikely that outsourced call centre solutions will offer the same level of personal service that you can offer in-house, outsourcers are specialists in their fields. From cold calls to call answering services to customer retention, representatives have the knowledge and expertise to ensure your customers’ enquiries are dealt with in the best way possible. And by utilising these trained, friendly customer service staff, you can hold onto more of your clients.
Quality control
When you outsource your call centre solutions, your agency will sign a service agreement that ensures calls are dealt with quickly and professionally. They’ll follow stricter protocols than in-house customer service representatives, ensuring calls are answered promptly and issues are resolved. Because these firms are accountable to you, they’re more likely to go above and beyond to ensure they deliver. Monitoring tools are often used and performance is assessed to ensure that objectives are met, and many record calls for training purposes.
Investments in the latest technology
Another reason to consider outsourcing call centre services is that such companies invest in the latest technologies. Most will rely on cloud-based platforms and VoIP so that calls can be recorded, transferred, and taken from anywhere in the country, and some will even integrate with other customer contact platforms like SMS, social media monitoring, live chat options on websites, and tickets via email. For small companies, investing in these technologies would be simply too expensive. Outsourcing means the costs are spread across multiple clients.
Specialist knowledge
Finally, some outsourcing companies specialise in particular industries and can become an extension of your company, without you having to take on the responsibility or the burden of hiring additional personnel. Some companies allow you to train staff to answer enquiries in a manner that suits you, and most ask for “scripts” written by your marketing and customer service teams to ensure that responses are consistent and on-brand. Over time, you’ll be able to lean on your outsourced contact centre for more complex tasks like sales.
At Precision FM, we offer a range of facility management services including call centre solutions. Our services are designed to reduce the need for unnecessary investments in call centre equipment and personnel, and ensure you’re able to service customers 24/7/365. To find out more, call us on 0843 289 9085 for a consultation or visit our contact centre page.