If operating a contact centre is not your company’s main specialized area, why are you wasting the resources needed to run it when outsourcing is a viable option? This is a discussion many big organisations have been having for years. But outsourcing is no longer the domain of large global companies. More and more freelancers and small & medium-sized companies are turning to contact centre outsourcing as an alternative to in-house customer service and telesales teams.
If you’re still unsure about the benefits of outsourcing your customer service or sales needs, it’s time you considered the critical benefits you could be missing out on:
Cost Savings
The first thing you’re likely to ask is, “How much is it going to cost me?”. A common misconception is that outsourcing comes with a hefty price tag. We can understand how hiring a team of professionals to manage your customer service calls or generate sales leads for you might sound expensive. Outsourcing means you will spend less hiring your staff, training them initially and then re-skilling them when needed. Furthermore, you won’t need to invest in all the latest technology, pay the fees to set it up, or fork out for regular product upgrades. (We’ll focus more on the tech benefits later.)
Risk Limitation
We know that every day in business is different – some days can be uneventful, problem-free, with sales ticking over nicely. Other days, all hell can break loose. Outsourcing mitigates possible risks through inefficiencies in your organisation, from small issues like a critical employee calling in sick to bigger things like power failure or network security breach. An external contact centre can also protect you from risk found with excessive roaming bills – making a saving through implementing specific controls.
Staff Flexibility
Perhaps you need extra support staff for one telephone campaign, but for another, it’s easy to manage in-house? Having a contact centre in your hand is a great card to play when you need a little extra help.
Moreover, your organisation could have a rapid staff turnover, with employees coming and going or moving to different roles. Outsourcing offers consistency and a team of contact centre staff that can adapt to your needs, scaling up or down.
Leveraging Expert Knowledge
Using techniques proven to get the results you want, external contact centre staff represent the front line of your business. They’ll be specially trained in telemarketing, so you only have the most skilled industry professionals on your side. Their previous experiences in a range of scenarios mean their expertise can be tailored to fit your organisation’s and your brand’s requirements.
Effective Lead Generation
It’s not just about cold calling. Sales are an integral part of your company’s existence, without which it would be tough to continue. Outsourcing your communications gives you a resource to quickly follow up and qualify a large number of leads. Building relationships with new customers can be challenging if you’re a technical or professional organisation with a niche market. Contact centre staff can touch base with all customers, prospective, current and previous, and help to lower your organisation’s overall churn rate.
Technological Advancement
Keeping on top of the latest trends in tech can be burdensome and costly for a business, especially if you’re just starting. Channelling your communications through a contact centre will ensure that the most up-to-date devices are used, so your customers get the excellent customer service they deserve. You won’t have to worry about updating your equipment to the next season’s latest technology, which can be quite a significant investment for such short-term use.
Data Analysis and Feedback
Gain an insight into what happens during a customer service call or potential sale. Your in-house employees might be juggling multiple tasks simultaneously and might not have the time or resources to record the contents of every call. Using a standardised procedure via a contact centre, you can capture critical call information, track trends in customer response or reactions to marketing campaigns, and much more.
Improved Productivity
In an ideal world, customers can pick up the phone and contact you 24/7, instantly finding an answer to their query. With contact centres available worldwide, this seems significantly more achievable, so your service doesn’t have to come to a halt outside of office hours. Outsourcing your communications also frees up precious time during office hours, giving you more time to handle other things.