Have you ever tried to weigh the benefits of outsourcing call centers as well as their drawbacks? Over the last 10 years, several firms have outsourced their call center operations in order to boost efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

However, many firms are confused about whether outsourcing call center is more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house call center team.

In this article, we'll dispel several myths regarding the costs and benefits of call center outsourcing. Let’s start. 

Call center outsourcing

Outsourcing allows your organization to focus on its core competencies by contracting a third party to do some activities on your behalf. It also allows firms to utilize resources other than their own.

Call center outsourcing, according to the company's requirements, entails engaging outside personnel to handle non-essential areas of operations. As a result, balancing the cost of internal skills with outside expertise, outsourcing improves bottom-line performance. In other words, your business hires outside expertise to help with non-core duties. The ultimate result is a balance of internal and external resources, which improves your bottom line.

What call center is best for you is determined by the services you need. This may be used to calculate additional expenditures such as outsourcing fees. Again, depending on the service, each call center will require different tools and levels of experience.

2022 call center outsourcing demand: the rise

Since the pandemic, the way businesses operate has altered dramatically. First, enterprises were swamped with client inquiries as a result of the rapid spread of digitalization, which hindered communication. Customers then began contacting companies through numerous means, such as emails, chats, and social media, in order to resolve this issue. As a result, many businesses have begun to embrace digital transformation. At the time, the majority of businesses preferred to outsource their call centers. They were able to sell their goods and services while also responding to client questions thanks to outsourcing.

Even if you look at the numbers, according to Grand View Research's industry research, the call center outsourcing market size increased by 9.1 % in 2021 compared to 2020. So in 2022, call center outsourcing is thriving and growing in popularity among companies of all sizes.

Research by PWC has demonstrated the return on investment that improved customer experiences bring to organizations. According to 86% of customers, customers are prepared to spend more for superior support.

Call center outsourcing cost comparison: outbound vs inbound

Inbound and outbound call centers are the two main types of call centers. These can be managed from an internal call center, an external call center, or even a virtual call center where staff can work from home or elsewhere and receive calls over the internet.

Outbound call centers

Cold calling, lead generation, follow-up calls, client feedback collection, surveying, and other outbound operations are common at outbound call centers. If customers request a callback, these call centers may contact them to answer their questions. Outbound call centers have three price options: hourly rates, commission-based rates, and hourly rates with the commission.

Hourly rates

Outsourcing call centers to South Asian countries such as India should cost between $6 and $10 per hour. Call centers in Eastern Europe and Latin America, on the other hand, charge between $8 and $15 per hour. In Western Europe and North America, they face high surcharges ranging from $20 to $30. In these countries, highly specialized enterprises can charge up to $35 to $50 per hour.

Commission-based rates

Employing call centers that charge on a commission basis may result in expenditures that are 10% to 20% more than hourly rates.

Commission-based rates + hourly rates

In this case, the company must pay the call center supplier. This pay comprises the regular base pay plus a bonus for sales and leads, where the base pay is hourly rates and the bonus is commission.

Inbound call centers

People frequently phone in to inbound call centers that provide customer service or technical support. Order processing, chat assistance, help desk services, email answers, and tech support are all examples of inbound services. When a company outsources the call center to an inbound call center company, expenditures might be divided, dedicated, or monthly.

Shared

Shared case charges for outsourcing organizations range from $0.27 to $0.45 per minute. If the organization is situated in the United States or Canada, the rate may rise from $0.75 to $1.25 per minute.

Dedicated

Offshore corporations will charge between $8 and $10 for a specialized case. Regular adviser fees for US or Canadian organizations, on the other hand, rise from $20 to $30.

Monthly:

If you want to know the monthly charges, please check out AM2PM Support outsourcing plans.

Why is the cost of call center outsourcing cheaper?

Businesses increasingly outsource numerous company processes, mostly customer support tasks, to serve their customers better. Hiring a BPO agency is substantially less expensive than maintaining an internal customer care workforce.

India is without a doubt the most economical destination in terms of call center services. The workforce in the country is incredibly talented and well qualified, and they deliver excellent services. This is possible in the most important call center outsourcing country.

Let's glance at the pros of outsourcing call centers in terms of cost.

• If a company outsources a service to a specialized organization, it simply needs to pay for the call center executives' working hours. There will be no need to pay for anything, including office rent, coffee runs, lunch breaks, and workers' monthly salaries.

• The ease of not being concerned about maintaining infrastructure is among the most significant advantages of outsourcing a call center.

• Outsourcing call center services may drastically minimize the cost and time associated with training customer support employees. However, for the staff to perform successfully, the BPO business must provide experienced personnel.

• By employing outsourcing companies, you may shield yourself from the danger of numerous conditions that are required for maintaining an in-house call center team. Outsourcing companies, for example, may protect your company from a variety of hazards, including data breaches, restructuring, and natural disasters.

Will outsourcing call center be the right move for your organization?

Inbound customer call centers are often expensive to maintain due to the need for wages, benefits, insurance, administrative expenditures, technology, and training. When outsourcing customer support, these fees will be included. You are unconcerned about payroll taxes, absenteeism, downtime, or employees.

If a small company just needs one or two call center representatives, outsourcing is less expensive than recruiting/hiring and paying two full-time employees. Similar to how a larger company may save money and increase production by utilizing more outsourced personnel who solve issues promptly or identify patterns in customer complaints.

You may save much money in the long run by outsourcing your customer care assistance. In addition, you are free to concentrate on other business objectives when you have a committed workforce ready to manage all your client’s demands and equipped with the skills necessary to address problems fast. Similarly like this, University Living was able to grow with AM2PM Support and improve their conversion rates.

Start saving costs and headaches with call center outsourcing

Finding an excellent outsourcing firm that’s the right fit for you is tough because there are lots of factors to consider in selecting an outsourcing partner other than just cost. To get the finest BPO partner for call center services, undertake rigorous research because if it does not operate successfully, the brand's reputation and customer satisfaction will suffer.

Don't outsource solely based on what others are doing or not doing. Instead, investigate the benefits of outsourcing for your organization by interacting with experts in the sector. Once you select the right outsourcing company, you will save a lot of costs and headaches and will actually have time to focus on the core activities of your business to grow faster and better.