Most of our clients and visitors to our website support our generally restrictive recommendations on outsourcing. We have consistently been less in favor of outsourcing customer service (that is typically a call center, and more often than not, considered as a cost center by most businesses) because we believe that customers are your #1 asset and you don't want to hand over your current or potential customers to someone else who will never appreciate their value the way you do. We typically support outsourcing of only non-core functions that have no direct interaction with the customer.
Unfortunately, the issue of outsourcing is never so black and white, particularly when all of your competitors have already outsourced their call centers and you have lost your ability to compete effectively. Here is what a vice president of a marketer of antique watches writes, "We have embraced the Internet but most of our customers tend to be folks who don't surf to find what they want. They want to talk to a live person so that they can talk of other options that they have. Thus, our call volume tends to be high and not all these callers turn into customers. But we know that they are valuable leads and sooner or later they will come back to us and become our customers. That is why, our call center is staffed by various courteous staff and we train them extremely well and pay them higher than most other call center employees. While we are reluctant to outsource our call center, we now have no choice. What can we do to get it right?"
Best practices fro outsourcing call centers
Unfortunately, the issue of outsourcing is never so black and white, particularly when all of your competitors have already outsourced their call centers and you have lost your ability to compete effectively. Here is what a vice president of a marketer of antique watches writes, "We have embraced the Internet but most of our customers tend to be folks who don't surf to find what they want. They want to talk to a live person so that they can talk of other options that they have. Thus, our call volume tends to be high and not all these callers turn into customers. But we know that they are valuable leads and sooner or later they will come back to us and become our customers. That is why, our call center is staffed by various courteous staff and we train them extremely well and pay them higher than most other call center employees. While we are reluctant to outsource our call center, we now have no choice. What can we do to get it right?"
Best practices fro outsourcing call centers
- Work with the leaders. While these might be more expensive than others, you would be better off in the long run. Sign a confidentiality agreement with them if they do not disclose their client list to the general public, so that you can see who is using them. If they serve companies that sell luxury products, then their call center staff will know how to deal with them.
- Interview the call center staff. If you are outsourcing your critical communication with the customer, you should be able to interview the staff that is going to handle the calls. Both in-person and telephone interviews should be conducted. Since call center business is so cost-driven these companies often pay the bare minimum and turnover is extremely high.
- Get a dedicated team for your account. Very likely, it would mean higher cost to you but this way you will have better quality control, you can train them according to your own standards, and develop a group of individuals who are more committed to your organization.
- Do it in phases. For instance, you can start by outsourcing a certain geographic region or certain types of calls (technical, billing, etc.). Work out the bugs in the system first, and only when you are satisfied that everything is seamless, roll out the complete plan. If you are not happy, then you will either need to find another provider or think of a different business model.
- Outsource, but don't forget. Many companies think that once they have outsourced something, it is no longer their headache. Call center outsourcing is different. You must monitor the provider frequently and have regular performance reviews. Make sure that you talk to some of your key customers directly so that you can catch the problems before they become nightmares.
Related article: A framework for outsourcing options