Customer’s expectations are all-time high, simultaneously stories of worst customer service are all-time high too. As unhappy customers aren’t shy about expressing their bad experiences on the internet.
Many the brands like Disney, Starbucks, Ikea, Shopify, etc have paved their name in customer mind with their expectational customer service. So why not your business?
Even If you are running a startup or managing and developing a small business, every organization is required to take incoming customer inquiries. As nearly 61% of customers state that they stopped doing business with companies due to their poor support services.
And in today’s digital world companies require more than just a simple helpline number to provide excellent customer service, improve good impressions among the audience about their brand and boost brands credibility and integrity.
From various causes of customers, nearly 27% is lack of effectiveness.
An inbound-call-center is a perfect solution for all your queries which will help you in customer service management and streamline the process of managing, monitoring, and attending to inbound inquiries more efficiently.
Now let’s discuss the inbound call center.
What is an inbound call center?
The inbound call center is a process by which an organization outsources its customer service to another company that generally handles incoming phone calls from customers.
Inbound call center services generally offer services like,
- Handling incoming calls from the client
- Handling customer issues and inquiries
- Providing customer support
- Order taking services
- Help desk services etc
Below are the various industries that highly benefited from inbound call center companies,
- IT
- Telecommunications
- Banking and Finance
- Marketing
- Hospitality
- Travel and tourism
- Insurance
Let’s check out the best practices for outsourcing inbound customer service.
10 best practices for implementing inbound call centers outsourcing service
Check out the facilities provided
The first thing to check when considering inbound call centers is the facilities provided by them.
Modern business requires that the inbound call center should be a complete package that provides a solution to manage the inbound service and help in sustaining the seamless customer experience.
You should explore the various services that should be provided by your outsourcing partner.
- Interactive voice response ( IVR)
- Call scripting
- Call recording
- Call reporting
- CRM integration
- Call routing
- Video chat
- Real-time wallboard
- Automatic call distribution
- Customized waiting experience
- Self-help option
Above are some must-have features for ideal inbound call centers.
Ideal inbound call centers should be able to build and retain higher standards of customer experience, so they should provide quality support services.
Focus on customer experience
Well in today’s competitive commercial arena, business survival depends on customer satisfaction.
Customer experience and satisfaction are a central part of any successful business, however, this is not an easy task.
As customer demand changes with market trends, one of the second things you should analyze while picking up an inbound call center is that the call inbound service should provide an end-to-end customer experience.
They should focus on the needs of modern customers and their preferences and thus personalize the calling experience to meet the needs of your buyer.
Customers are 2.4x more likely to keep doing business with companies that have prompt and quick responses.
In addition to that the inbound call center is well-versed in solving buyer issues or queries instantly.
Hence make sure that everything from standard greeting or training or concluding a call needs to be designed keeping customers in mind.
Focus on inbound call center metrics
It is essential for businesses looking up inbound call centers to study their call center metrics.
Inbound call center agent performance cannot be judged simply based on speed or the number of calls handled.
There are certain metrics which we have to draw our attention to as Around 42% of customers say that they prefer phone calls to handle customer service problems.
Communication Channel consumers prefer ( source – squaretalk )
Below are the various metrics or KPIs or should consider in getting fruitful insight into the service of inbound call centers.
- Average handling time
- Service level
- First, call resolution
- Cost per contact
- Churn out rate
- Customer satisfaction
- Schedule adherence
- Quality scores
- Average call transfer rate
Normally every inbound call center has its unique priorities but above are some examples of metrics that you can focus on.
Check on tools and technology used
Every business needs the latest tools and technology to support its customers in this interconnected digital world and a simple customer care number isn’t enough.
Your business needs a streamlined and productive method of handling incoming calls and thus this is a feature you should check on in your inbound call center.
As the world is moving forward with technology hence it is necessary to check that your inbound call center agent is able to quickly adapt to the latest updates, trends, and technologies easily and smoothly.
For this technological literacy is an important factor. Check that inbound call centers have various programs that would help to improve their technological marketing solutions to reach out to potential customers.
Like 90% of customers expect a seamless omnichannel experience from brands.
Also, there are numerous inbound call centers out there, so be sure to pick the one that provides all the tools and services that your business needs like,
- Integration with another business app
- Omnichannel support
- CRM integration
Additionally, remember to choose among the best chat support companies in the market to ensure 24/7 availability to your audience for effective engagement.
Thus not to forget tools and technologies are the driving wheels for any successful business.
Also, around 89% of senior executives believe that customers are constantly resetting their experience to find their best omnichannel experience.
So if you are moving up with inbound call center outsourcing service, it is important to evaluate the tools getting used in the call center to optimize the level of customer support service.
Look at the agent’s training process and knowledge base.
When you are driving the inbound call center outsourcing service one of the winning features you should consider is the training and experience of the inbound agent on whose shoulder you are putting the responsibility of customer satisfaction.
Considering inbound call center training is essential as supervision is the road to ensure that your inbound outsourcing partner is doing their function independently otherwise this can disrupt the performance of others as well.
Proper training sessions for new employees and updating program sessions for existing employees should be checked on to churn out the best from inbound agents by turning their potential customers into final buyers.
Evaluate customer reviews beforehand
When you are looking for an inbound call center service provider, it is important to research their organization and read their reviews before making a selection.
Doing research and development about your outsourcing partner will help you to get a perspective on them.
This is one of the good ways to check out the level of customer service provided by them.
You can also do a competitive analysis between various shortlisted inbound call centers to evaluate which organization suits your business best.
Evaluate automation features
The automation feature provided by the inbound call center service helps to simplify and streamline the business process.
It’s one of the great ways to reduce unnecessary costs and optimize the resources available.
Various call center automation services that are in trend are,
- Chatbot services
- Robotic process automation
- Virtual reps
- Forecasting analysis
23% of customers prefer interactions through chat or DM when asking a quick question.
Generally, all inbound call center solutions provide some sort of automation service.
Thus it is vital to check that the important automation features are provided by the inbound call center provider you are about to sign.
These auto features are mandatory because they boost productivity and enhance the performance of the organization. Around 85% of business leaders agrees that automation will help them to focus on the core functions of the company.
Considering the pricing model
This is one of the sound features that have to be considered, cost is one of the reasons you should adopt outsourcing.
There are many factors that are considered in inbound call center pricing.
Below are some common pricing methods,
- Per minute billing
- Per call billing
- Monthly subscription
- Hourly billing
- Share billing
Another important variable factor is a location which has a huge impact on pricing.
Hence you should consider your budget and cost post that you should decide what pricing model will suit best for your business.
Know your business needs
Before pitching an outdoor inbound call center, there are a few things that need to be clear.First of all, you should be clear about your needs and expectations from your outsourcing partner. Inbound call center services are ideal for businesses that receive high volumes of calls.
Below are the various services which are included in the inbound call center strategy.
- Customer care service
- Order taking services
- Phone answering services
- Help desk services
- Appointment scheduling
- Dispatch service
- Multilingual support
- Technical support
Above are some of the basic services which are included but no doubt some inbound calls provide more services than above.
The point is you should be on the same road with your outsourcing partner, if any extra service is required then you should be clear about it.
Flexibility and accuracy
One of the main reasons to pick outsourcing services are that it helps businesses to focus on their core competitive area. Outsourcing helps to bridge the gap between a brand and its end user, Around 54% of companies says that one of the biggest challenges faced by businesses is to manage complex workflow pressure.
Hence while choosing the inbound outsourcing call center service you need to check out that they are flexible and accurate in generating maximum value to them. The inbound call center must be flexible in handling its task and time. the process does not stop after taking calls from customers but they also have to carry out after-call tasks such as sending emails to customers or doing appropriate follow up etc.
In addition to that you need to be sure that your outsourcing partner software is highly accurate and scalable to meet your business growth bandwidth.
As in the beginning you start with limited agent seats but when your business grows to 10x times in the future, then your inbound call center service provider must be flexible, adequate, and scalable enough to support your growth.
Final thoughts
In today’s era, every business needs a way out to support their customer and also manage their operations smoothly to stay in the competition.
Thus looking at the above features of inbound call center services is the best solution to increase sales and improve client retention.
And for this, you need a top-quality inbound call center partner who can help and guide you through creating a smooth and consistent business process and improving customer experience.
