Why Inbound Call Centers Have Become An Integral Part Of Managing Customer Relationships?

Contact centers are built to receive incoming calls for many different reasons. It is common knowledge that businesses spend huge amounts of money on customer relations, and this is why they really pay close attention to what customers feel and say about how they are being served. In different business sectors, there is an increasing familiarity that customers generally dislike automated messaging systems. Answering machines, voice mails, and IVRs (interactive voice response) cause dissatisfaction among customers because these systems are too impersonal. Contact centers and professional answering services that involve live telephone representatives are far more appealing to callers, and enable organizations to portray an image that is more friendly, personal and sympathetic.

There are several purposes why customers place calls. These include:

-To gather information about a service or product
-To report discrepancies, problems, or errors
-To obtain assistance

This is unlike placing outbound calls with the purpose of prospecting or selling a service/product. Outbound calling (or cold calling) is better known as telemarketing, which involves different methodologies and standards to run successfully. Inbound contact centers can be a bit more expensive to operate, but they play a huge role in the current business environment.

The number of organizations outsourcing call center functions to big call center firms in the Philippines, India and Latin America have grown significantly because these countries have fluent English speakers not to mention that businesses are able to save on labor and operational costs.

Functions that used to be handled by in-house staff are now regularly outsourced to call centers across the globe. Call centers are providing more than just order taking, order processing, technical support, etc. BPO centers are increasing in number in order to satisfy the needs of restaurants, fast-food conglomerates and retail establishments. Telephone representatives are taking orders for food, flowers, catalog products, gadgets and more. In fact, there are large contact center firms that are expanding their offerings by providing complex solutions aimed at inexpensive service enhancements. This demonstrates that live inbound call centers will continue to grow in the coming years.

Read more...

Who Should You Listen To When Choosing an Outsourced Contact Center

We've heard it all. The claims a lot of outsourced contact centers are making, albeit dubious, on why their services is better than the rest. Who do you trust nowadays? What should you be looking for in an outsourcing company? Cost is by far, the greatest feature you might be tempted to consider, nothing wrong with it actually, but it really shouldn't mean you sacrifice everything else for an easy-to-reach cost. Deciding to outsource is already an act of faith, but you need not be completely blind in choosing. There are reputable organizations out there to assist you in making sure you do it for the right reasons.

The Association of Support Professionals (ASP) has clear standards in which they categorize top outsourcing companies:

Size matters
If a contact center given a short time was able to expand its services and become stable in its functions, then it is a clear sign that that company is heading in the right direction. Growth in this case is particularly crucial in an outsourcing company as growth always points to development and production. A good outsourcing company should be able to show its growth and accomplishments. They should show a steady increase in revenue, jobs, branches and countries served.

Customer References
Customer satisfaction, just like in any normal business, lies the strength of an outsourcing company. A good outsourcing company should have an excellent reputation with the customers. Customer trust can be destroyed at once by a major service problem, or it can be undermined one day at a time with a thousand small demonstrations of incompetence. A good contact center has a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customers' expectation.

The Accolades
Awards, certifications and recognitions for excellence, are the best proof an outsourcing company could possess as they need not rely on their spin doctors for additional hype. Published articles regarding an outsourced contact centers' accomplishments means that this company can be trusted and that its actions are magnified and publicized, something not-so-legitimate companies usually don't have. You know that there must be something fundamentally wrong if a company doesn't receive any form of public recognition.

Management: Reaping what you sow
A company that has good management capabilities ensures stability, not only promises but delivers results as well. An outsourced contact center investing in an excellent management system shows that they value time and effort. They don't waste money and costs with unnecessary things. Business leaders and their experience in the industry can also reflect their management capabilities or the lack of one.

Without giving it thought, anyone can say migrating your answering service for your hotel reservation and bookings or outsourcing your flower shop's order taking is good for your business. What should really matters now is who should you be listening to.

Read more...