It is easy for call centers to forget the importance of ROI (Return on Investment) to prospective clients. Many centers fail to realize that their services are not limited to answering calls and offering customer support. In fact, despite the significance of call center metrics, this alone does not tell the entire story.
In order to sustain client relationships, call centers need to think beyond call center metrics. They must strive to understand their clients’ exact needs. Besides inquiring about call volume and hours of operation, centers should ask questions such as:
• What are your outsourcing objectives?
• Do you have any sales targets/goals for us?
• Who are your competitors?
• What are your current sales/support targets?
• What can we do to create the best ROI?
While utilizing call centers calls for new thinking on the client’s part, the call center must also understand each client’s unique needs. Here are some practical steps for success:
• Stay abreast of new marketing strategies
• Attend tradeshows and develop contacts with other vendors
• Provide business consulting, especially for clients new to using call centers
• Provide current data on the client’s competitors
• Offer a clear picture of what the client can expect
• Help each client understand their goals and how to achieve them
Not every business is looking for the lowest cost option. Many clients are willing to invest in a call center that fully understands their business needs and creates profit. They need a call center with a track record of producing great ROI. More importantly, they need a center that is fully committed to their success and strives to exceed their expectations on all levels.
It is the call center’s responsibility to frequently update clients on its progress. The center should devise incentive programs to reward customer loyalty and attract new customers. Surprisingly, clients often fail to inform the call center of their concerns. If call centers do not communicate with clients regularly, they may lose their client base. So every call center must take the initiative to communicate with clients regularly, even if things are going well.
The call center can also use service calls to gauge customer satisfaction. This can mean asking:
• What can we do to make things better?
• Are you interested in any other product of ours?
• Was the infomercial interesting?
When this information is passed on, clients can make improvements and be more competitive.
Choosing the right call center can be confusing for any client. So it is very important that call centers be prepared to go the extra mile for their clients. Any good call center understands the importance of call center metrics. But not many are willing, or even able to go the extra mile.
It’s the call center’s responsibility to be committed to its clients’ success and increase their bottom line. For any call center that fully understands this commitment, it means going beyond call center metrics. This ensures the most coveted prize – success.
InSO Blog
Beyond Call Center Metrics
Global Media Desk Signs Strategic Partnership with InSO International Call Center
New York, March 3, 2010: In a strategic move to strengthen its service offerings, France-based Global Media Desk has signed a partnership with call-center outsourcing service provider InSO International Call Center. This synergies offered by this partnership will have multi-faceted implications, Global Media Desk (GMD) said.
The primary challenge faced by businesses based in France is that although there is a reservoir of skill at one’s disposal, the cost of labor is extremely high. This, in turn, raises the cost of running a business to incredibly high levels. For a business to sustain its success in France, it must therefore maximize efficiency to compensate for the high cost. This is where InSO will be of immense help. With a cost-effective labor solution, InSO is well positioned to give GMD quality support.
What also gives InSO an edge over any other partner is that the company has a global presence, with offices in India, France, Canada and the United States. This international exposure has helped InSO develop unparalleled cultural sensitivity. In addition, the team at InSO has vast experience not only in terms of the number of years they have spent in the customer servicing arena but also in terms of the width of domains that it has worked with.
Global Media Desk also believes that InSO International Call Center offers the advantage of comprehensive services, where GMD can get support not only for in the execution stage, but InSO can offer its help right from the initial planning stages, working closely with clients to customize the solution according to individual requirements. InSO also offers documentation and training services at no extra cost for the client.
InSO’s strength is its ability to formulate processes to ensure smooth transition of services to the client. GMD, in fact, adds that the way InSO provides services makes it feel more like an extension of the client’s own services rather than being an external vendor.
About InSO International Call Center: InSO offers inbound and outbound call center services through a skilled team of professionals. The expert team at InSO is skilled at providing turn-key solutions, which makes the services more than just that of a call center. The diversified activities offered by InSO include media planning, merchant account setup, online advice and website development services, apart from services and support as an outsourcing and offshore call center.
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Top Reasons To Choose a Live Answering Service
Running a business is a tricky job. You need to manage your expenditure in such a way that your profit margins swell. So, why would you ever think of making use of a live answering service? After all, an electronic answering system is more cost effective, right? That may be so. But, in the long run, a live answering service gives you the winning edge over your competitors. Here’s why.
What happens if a prospective customer tries to reach you but gets the answering service instead? They will likely check out your competitors and use a service that is available round the clock. Thanks to the Internet, businesses these days are expected to work 24/7/365. If your business prides itself on the high quality of service you offer, why must your answering service be left behind? By making use of a high quality live answering service, you can resolve all issues immediately and ensure brand loyalty from your clients.
The business climate these days is highly competitive. With the arrival of the internet, it is no longer difficult to get the service or product you desire. So, most customers depend on their experience with the brand when it comes to choosing one seller over the other. Customers like it when they deal with a live person on the phone even though a recorded message can provide the same information. When customers feel that they are being taken care of in the proper manner, they will return to you for each of their needs. In this way, these small but invaluable details ensure that your business expands even when the competition is stiff.
A live answering service is highly recommended in a situation where certain choices are to be made and immediate results are desirable. A recorded message can have the harried customer bouncing between departments, waiting impatiently for a solution. A highly trained live service provider can impress clients with the speedy service they provide. In this way, such a service can save valuable time for your customers and the company.
Another important factor to consider is cost. It is true that live services cost more. However, if you compare the cost of both these services over the long run, it would become obvious that the cost difference is not as much as you though. Besides, when you consider higher customer retention, greater return for your investment and immediate results, you might actually find that you are paying less for more by making use of a live answering service to add to the value you bring to your customers!
Choosing Quality Call Center Services
Effective customer service and complete customer support are invaluable for any company. Customer service is often the ‘face’ that your clients see. Therefore, it is vital that you put your best foot forward. But, even though there is no doubt about the usefulness of call centers, not all companies can afford to have in-house Call Center services. The reasons are many and range from the cost of hiring staff to training service operators and even the lack of business space. In such cases, outsourcing call center services is an excellent way to provide the necessary customer support services.
It is important to pay sufficient attention to selecting the right call center company because the quality of the services they provide directly impacts the success of the company that is hiring them. Poor service can jeopardize any and all the benefits reaped by the company’s sales and marketing strategies completely.
Objective: The first thing that businesses must ascertain is what they want from the service provider. Your objective could be full fledged customer support services, gathering pertinent customer specific data or gaining a realistic perspective of the customer’s needs. The type of services you avail of will depend on your objectives.
Types of call centers: Call centers are of different types. Contact centers use a variety of media and basically act as interaction centers with customers and clients. Inbound call centers respond to customers by providing them with the information they seek. Outbound call center services are mainly for marketing purposes as these are used to reach out to prospective customers. Blended call centers combine the services of inbound and outbound call centers. What kind of service do you want? Choose the right partner accordingly.
Criteria: Cost is important but cannot be the decisive factor because services that are cheap might perform below expectations. Before choosing the services of any particular service provider, it is necessary to research the background of the company and verify their expertise. Choose a company that has sufficient experience and has an excellent track record with their clients. Highly skilled operators are a definite asset. Credibility is extremely important because you are virtually placing your company in the hands of the service provider. The service provider you choose must have the bandwidth, both in terms of technology and staff capacity, to provide state of the art services.
There is no doubt that providing efficient customer services is a surefire way of ensuring continued growth for the company. Although outsourcing has its benefits, everything depends on the quality of talent you choose. By identifying your objectives clearly and doing a bit of due diligence, it is possible to choose an excellent call center service provider. Such a service provider will no doubt be an asset to your company.
International Call Centers: How to Pick a Winner
| In the last few years, call centers have mushroomed in the different parts of the world. A few companies have full fledged in-house call centers. But, for smaller companies or those that are really large scale, this is not an option because of several factors like added cost, training personnel, staff availability and so on. So, most of these companies make use of international call centers to cater to customer service. |
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| International call centers use the services of people outside their countries and rely on outsourcing for getting the job done. Generally, these service providers have their physical location or office in one place. But their staff has access to telephone, email and other media to interact with customers, clients and partners located in one particular country or anywhere else in the world. |
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| Companies and businesses make use of the services of international call centers because it can save them a lot of time, money and energy. For instance, an employee in the US would charge $30,000 or more per year for the same work that an employee in Brazil will do for $4,000 per year. Over and above the salary, the employer also has to pay for insurance and other costs. Even so, the employer may not be able to assure round-the-clock services to their clients and customers. |
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| There is also the question of training personnel. If the company has to hire and train their own personnel, it impacts their bottom lines in a huge way. Instead, when they sub-contract the work to an international call center, they can easily make use of an existing pool of trained staff for the job without undergoing the hassle of training them. |
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| However, due to the large scale proliferation of call centers, it is not uncommon for some companies to hire service providers carelessly. The service provider you choose must understand and appreciate the need to take their job seriously. Here are some of the things you must look out for while choosing an international call center: |
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| Quick response: Customers generally do not like to wait for long before their call is answered. If the call is picked up promptly, then, few customers are worried about the location of the call center or the nationality of the person talking to them. This applies to all kinds of communication media including email. |
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| Easy communication: Make sure that the service provider has highly qualified, trained personnel. They must be able to handle the English language proficiently and must possess a clean accent. This is important because most native speakers do not have the patience to decipher what is being said at the other end. |
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| Quick resolution: When clients or potential clients contact the call center, they are looking for a quick resolution of their problems. They want to speak with trained, qualified people who know what they are talking about. Proficiency has to be balanced with technical expertise and hands on experience. |
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| Follow up: In case there is a need to follow up, customers want the service providers to act on it. This kind of service will win the parent company more dedicated customers. |
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| Only a highly trained and experienced call center can provide you with this quality of customer service. The services of such international call centers may not be cheap, but, in the long run, excellent service will win over more customers and boost your profit figures. |
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| If you feel InSO is the right call center for your needs, call us at 1 800 788 8299 or click here to get a free customized quote. |