However, your plans post-sale, are a bit shady. If this is the situation you are in then that is where the improvement needs to start. You might have all the tools to get customers to your store or even get them to make an initial purchase, but do you have the structure to keep them after they have made a purchase?
It is general knowledge that part of post-sale services includes having a call center. Clients might need clarity on certain products before or after buying your product.Â
While having a call center is vital and a great idea as well, it is expensive, and resource-consuming to say the least. The alternative is to abandon the idea and focus on getting customers to buy your products.
The problem with such an approach is that it reduces the likelihood that customers will return to your store after an initial purchase. Â
So, what do you do if you want the benefits of a call center without the expenses of establishing one? You choose professional call center outsourcing services.Â
8 Reasons to Choose Professional Call Center Outsourcing Services
A call center is complex and can take a lot out of a business to establish. The good thing is that you don’t need to establish a call center for your business.Â
You can hire a company with an established call center infrastructure to interact with your customers while giving your feedback. This is what outsourcing will entail.
Outsourcing is the norm in today’s business landscape. 78% of companies in the United States outsource their services.Â
Below are 8 reasons why outsourcing call center services is a great idea for your business.Â
Costs
It might sound strange to think that hiring another company to provide a service on your behalf will reduce costs. Â
Sellers and merchants want the best customer experience for their customers. Being able to do that while cutting costs to achieve it sounds like a win-win situation.Â
Setting up a robust and professional call center can be difficult, time-consuming, and resource-draining. It will cost $2,000-$10,000 to set up a low-tier call center. Â
Hiring a company to handle it, however, will take away the cost of setting up a call center. The upfront costs of subscriptions will be nothing compared to the cost of having your infrastructure.Â
So, instead of having to set up a center and hire people for it, you can subscribe to a service provided by another company at a price that you can manage.Â
The payment plans for call center services can be flexible. This flexibility will be easier on your budget.Â
Flexibility
The flexibility of choosing a professional call center outsourcing service continues into scalability and volume response. The volume of customers that need help varies greatly.Â
For example, 80% of residential relocations in the United States happen in the summer meaning that the call centers for moving companies will be busiest at this time.Â
If the moving companies outsource their call center services, they can request a more robust service for the moving season which can be tapered down when the season passes.
Flexibility will help a seller pay for only the service they need at the volume they need.Â
Efficiency
Experience can bring about efficiency. Hiring a company that has experience providing call center services, to handle your customer experience services will make your whole business efficient.Â
You as the seller won’t have to go through the stressful process of setting up a call center and figuring out who to hire. A company that has done such a thing many times will be better at improving customer services than an inexperienced company.Â
The call center service provider you hire will have staff that has been well trained to offer the best services possible, satisfying your customers and you.Â
You can also measure their efficiency with various tools and hold the provider responsible for any mishaps or errors. When you outsource such a service you get the best because the call center provider’s first customer is you.Â
Brand Building
The provision of call center services is a form of brand building. It gives a voice to your brand. When a customer interacts with your call center, they are detecting the tone of the company.Â
A customer who contacts a call center that isn’t responsive about a defective product will be more offended by the response to the complaint than the defective product.Â
A call center is therefore a way to build a brand. You would want your customers to know that your organization cares about their satisfaction. Customers want to patronize a merchant that will always be reachable and helpful.Â
Hiring professionals to handle your call center services will be the right step in meeting these needs. If the customers’ needs are met consistently, they assign high-quality to your brand name. This is how you build a brand.
Focus
Providing efficient call center services requires a lot of work, resources, and time. These are things that might be in limited supply as you run your business.Â
If you, however, hire a call center service provider to handle your calls, it frees up time and resources that you can refocus on other parts of the business.Â
You can require high-quality services from the provider you have hired without focusing your attention on the details of what they are doing. Â
Monitoring Parameters
Knowing that your customers are in the right hands is very important in building and maintaining your brand. This is why monitoring the activities and results of your call center is important.
Professional call service providers make this easy by giving you regular reports on the results of their services. Things like waiting times, call resolutions, and time spent on calls will give you an idea of how well the service provider is performing.Â
The equipment to monitor communication with customers is available in most call serving providing companies.Â
Data
Data is vital in business. It is the reason many companies exist in the modern corporate world. Data can be revenue. It can also be insight, that is so accurate that it seems like cheat codes in a video game.
A study showed that companies who analyzed data and implemented their findings into their sale methods saw a 20% increase in sales.Â
Outsourcing your call center services to professionals gives you access to data on your customers you would’ve missed if you had handled the process yourself. The data collection tools are also high-quality and incorporated into your subscription.Â
Increased Sales
A customer that is satisfied after communicating with a call center is a customer that will most likely return. 30% of customers return on average.
Professional call center providers will have a higher customer-return rate than non-professionals. When the customer returns, another purchase is made.Â
That isn’t all. A satisfied customer will also make a referral. 61% of customers make 1 referral, while 34% make 2-10 referrals.Â
All these will add up to give great sales.Â
What to Look for When Outsourcing Call Center Services
You now know the benefits of outsourcing call center services, but what should you look out for when choosing one? Many companies offer call center services but not all will meet the exact requirements for your business.Â
Here are a few things to look out for:
1. A well-rounded Service Catalog: Check the list of services the outsourcing company has. Contact their consultants and ask questions. While call centers are primarily about voice calls, other channels of communication are important. Search for a company that offers email and chat support.Â
2. Inbound and Outbound Services: Do you want only inbound call center services where the customer contacts the call center, or do you also want outbound call services where the call center agents reach out to customers. You might want a blended approach where both services are offered. Putting scalability in mind, a blended approach is better.Â
3. 24-hour Services: You will want a company that gives a 24-hour call center service. Customers might call at any time from any time zone and they should be able to reach the call center agents.Â
Conclusion
Offering call center services to your customers are vital to the growth of your business. However, establishing such a department in a business might be out of reach for many merchants.Â
The best thing to do is to get professional call center outsourcing services. The advantages of doing this range from reducing costs and having time to focus on your primary business, to collecting valuable data and improving sales.Â
Vserve Solution is a call center service provider that offers eCommerce customer support, order processing support, and 24-hour call center services. We also provide chat and email support.