Expert Guide to Customer Service Outsourcing Cost in 2024

When you serve the customer better, they always return on your investment.

Kara Parlin

Imagine you’re running a small e-commerce startup, and you are experiencing rapid growth.

As your customer base expands, you realize that your in-house customer service team is struggling to keep up with the increasing demand. You’re facing difficulty in that situation.

Should you hire and train more employees or explore the option of outsourcing? You don’t have any idea, right? Well, in that case, outsourcing could be your happy-to-go option.

Why? Because it helps you provide standardized customer service without an in-house team. And it allows you to focus on your core responsibilities.

Before jumping into outsourcing, you need to evaluate its cost and its benefits. By analyzing the cost of customer service outsourcing, you can weigh the financial impact of both options. 

Prices can vary depending on factors like location, language proficiency, and service level. Some popular options include offshore call centers, virtual assistants, and chatbots.

You can compare the expenses associated with hiring and training additional staff, including salaries, benefits, and infrastructure costs, against the potential cost savings and efficiency gains offered by outsourcing.

This analysis will enable you to make informed decisions that align with your business goals and budget.

Remember, it’s important to do your research and compare quotes from different providers. Don’t forget to consider the long-term benefits of outsourcing customer service and potential savings. Let’s explore the article further to discover the perfect harmony between quality and cost, enabling you to fully capitalize on the advantages of outsourcing customer service.

Factors to consider when outsourcing to customer service

Cost

Outsourcing has the advantage of reducing costs. Maintaining an in-house team is expensive, but outsourcing provides more affordable rates while maintaining the same level of service.

As a business person, it is important to have an ROI-oriented approach and evaluate how customer service impacts your bottom line. This assessment will help you decide which provider can offer long-term value for your company.

Different types of customer service can significantly impact your outsourcing expenses. For instance, if you opt for a comprehensive customer service package that includes 24/7 support, multilingual agents, and advanced technical assistance, your outsourcing expenses are likely to increase.

This is because providing such extensive services requires a higher level of expertise and resources, which in turn leads to higher costs.

On the other hand, if you choose a more basic customer service package with limited support options and fewer specialized agents, your outsourcing expenses may decrease.

However, it’s important to note that while reducing customer service capabilities can save costs in the short term, it may also result in lower customer satisfaction and potentially impact your business in the long run.

Therefore, it is crucial to carefully evaluate the specific needs and expectations of your customers before deciding on the type of customer service that best suits your outsourcing strategy.

Added services

When thinking about outsourcing to customer service, it is also important to think about the additional services it offers. Added services like technical assistance, and order processing will greatly benefit your business.

Think in this way your customers are facing troubleshooting or network problems all at the same time. By addressing these issues and resolving them, you can provide quick support and this leads to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty in a cost-effective way.

Service level agreement

A service-level agreement (SLA) is a contract between you and your outsourcing partner that outlines the services and standards you expect. It is important to ensure that the terms and conditions of the SLA are clear and specific before signing it. 

The SLA eliminates any uncertainty about the responsibilities and expectations of you and your partner, which helps prevent issues related to unfulfilled requirements, such as reducing customer complaints. If you are unsure about the contents of your preferred outsourcing partner’s SLA, it is advisable to seek it out from a legal professional.

Variables that can affect the cost

Here are the variables that drastically affect the cost of outsourcing and also those you need to consider when you are looking for the ideal outsourcing partner. 

Price may differ by time

In most cases, prices may differ according to the time of the day or the day of the entire week. For example, some provide services in festive holidays, evening times, weekend days, and midnight. This kind of time has been charged at various plans or premiums. Sometimes this will be added as an additional charge.

Onshore vs. offshore service

When it comes to outsourcing customer service, an important thing to remember is whether you prefer to hire call center services locally or internationally.

Onshore service, which involves hiring customer service reps within the same country as the business, tends to be more expensive due to higher labor costs. 

Developed countries have higher living standards, which means employees require higher wages to cover their expenses. Additionally, labor laws and regulations in developed countries may require you to provide certain benefits and protections to your employees, further increasing the cost of onshore service.

On the other hand, offshore service involves outsourcing customer service to a different country with lower labor costs.

Developing countries often have lower wages and fewer labor regulations, allowing you to hire customer service reps at a fraction of the cost compared to onshore service.

This can result in significant savings in your cost. By taking advantage of lower labor costs, you can allocate your resources more efficiently and potentially increase your profit margins.

However, the decision between onshore and offshore services is not solely based on cost considerations. Other factors such as language proficiency, cultural compatibility, and customer preferences also play a crucial role in the decision-making process.

Effective customer service requires language proficiency, and if the primary language of the business differs from that of the offshore service provider, communication barriers may arise, which leads to customer dissatisfaction.

Multiple channels

Every customer has different preferences while you go through interactions and it’s your job to provide personalized customer service. You can do that by considering your customer’s preferred channel.

According to Odondo, phone and live chat are equally popular, with 36% and 33% of customers preferring them, respectively. Email is preferred by 25% of customers, 2% prefer an online support portal and  2% prefer social media.

It shows that customers prefer speaking to a human rather than receiving automated responses during phone calls. Therefore, you need to select the appropriate channels based on your customers’ demographics and requirements.

Let’s see an example of a brand that provides customer support in different channels with a great picture.

Here you can see how Ajio provides customer support via different channels. By providing services through different channels will increase the probability of cost.

The number of agents

The number of agents hired for customer service can greatly impact the cost. If you hire more agents, the cost will increase. This is because more agents mean more salary, and training expenses.

However, having more agents can also improve customer service by reducing wait times and increasing availability.

On the other hand, if you hire less agents, the cost will decrease, but customer service quality may suffer due to longer wait times and limited availability.

Therefore, you need to find a balance between the number of agents and the cost of outsourcing customer service.

Save big and provide great customer service by outsourcing

It is essential for every business to have exceptional customer service. However, it is even more crucial to identify the most suitable customer service for your customers. Let’s delve into the different outsourced customer service options that can provide a delightful experience for your customers.

Call center support

A call center is a centralized office where customer service representatives handle incoming and outgoing telephone calls for your company. By outsourcing call centers you can utilize numerous benefits such as increased customer satisfaction, improved efficiency, and cost savings.

By having a dedicated team to handle customer inquiries and concerns, you can ensure that your customer receives professional and prompt services.

Furthermore, outsourced call centers can help you streamline your operations by providing a standardized location for customer communication and data collection.

This can lead to improved efficiency and cost savings, as you can track customer interactions and identify areas for improvement. Talking about cost in general, the average cost of call center outsourcing runs from $25 to $65 per hour. 

There where AM2PM Support enters the chat it has a team of experienced professionals. It handles all your inbound calls, resolves customer complaints, provides round-the-clock assistance, helps to convert leads into a customer, gives help desk support, and grants order-taking services.

Moreover, outsourcing call centers can help you focus on other important aspects of your business, such as product development and marketing. Overall, utilizing AM2PM Support’s call center outsourcing services can help your business grow and succeed.

Live chat support

Live chat is a valuable tool for improving customer support. By streamlining the customer purchase and onboarding process you can offer faster response times that lead to increased customer satisfaction, improved efficiency and reduced wait times.

Moreover, live chat outsourcing boosts sales and provides a personalized and interactive communication channel, allowing you to engage with customers on a more personal level.

According to a Econsultancy survey, 79% of people favor live chat because they receive quick responses to their inquiries. Additionally, 46% consider that to be the most efficient means of communication.

For example, here you can see how HubSpot gives live chat support to their customers instantly. In the same way, you can also do that by addressing your customers’ needs in real-time and offering tailored solutions. By doing that you can build a stronger rapport with your customers.

This personalized approach not only helps in resolving issues but also creates a positive impression, leading to increased customer loyalty and advocacy.

The expense of outsourcing customer support chat greatly relies on the country chosen for outsourcing. When incorporating this support into your business, expect a monthly payment of $15-$60 per agent.

Coming to outsourcing customer service, AM2PM Support stands out among the best outsourcing live chat companies, offering 24/7 support to handle multiple queries simultaneously. Why waste your time? Outsource your business to benefit from AM2PM Support’s top-notch live chat service.

Email support

Email support offers a cost-effective solution for your business. Compared to phone support, which requires dedicated phone lines and equipment, email support can be managed with existing resources such as computers and internet connections.

By outsourcing customer support through email you can grant well-informed responses, eliminate communication barriers, provide a written record of interactions, enable personalized support, and offer flexibility across time, making it cost-effective for your business.

With these advantages, it is clear why email is a reliable choice for outsourcing customer support. Let’s take an example to understand this better.

For instance, here you can see how Amazon gave email support to their customers by sending a frequent response about the situation and encouraging them to take further steps.

By giving this type of customer support to your customer you can also increase the probability of customer engagement and loyalty.

Automated customer service

Automated customer service refers to the use of technology to provide customer support without the need for human interaction. This technology can include chatbots, voice assistants, and automated phone systems or IVR.

The benefits of automated customer service include 24/7 customer service, faster response times, and cost savings for your business.

From the above picture, you can see how chatbots work. With automated systems like chatbots, you can solve your customer’s queries or concerns instantly. 

Chatbots also provide quick answers to your customer’s questions and save your customers time and effort of waiting for a human agent to respond. This not only improves customer experience but also increases efficiency by reducing the workload on customer service teams.

Prices for automated customer service solutions vary depending on the specific technology and level of customization required.

Social media support

Social media offers a strong way to connect with your desired customers. It provides faster customer support, better trend tracking, and increased marketing opportunities. Stats say customers spend 20-40% more with companies engaging and responding to customers via social media.

However, it is important to note that using and handling social media for your business can be time-consuming and demanding. Managing multiple social media accounts, responding to customer complaints, and staying updated with the latest trends and algorithms can be overwhelming for your business, especially if you are a startup or with limited resources.

By outsourcing customer service roles, you can free up valuable time and effort and focus on your main growth goals, such as product development, market expansion, and strategic planning. The average cost of outsourcing social media services is up to $900 to $20,000 per month. Let’s discuss this scene with an example of how brands provide social media support flawlessly.

To stand out from the rest, you should go beyond the traditional one-way customer service approach. Here you can see Starbucks signified this by using social media monitoring tools to be in tune with a customer’s need for their signature pink drink and earning praise for their efforts.

Average cost of outsourcing customer service in 2024

The average cost of outsourcing customer service varies depending on the type of service required and location. Different regions have different costs associated with running a call center. Factors such as labor, infrastructure, and overhead expenses contribute to the overall pricing.

It is important to consider these variations when determining the cost of customer services. Basic services such as answering calls and responding to emails can cost around $20 per hour, while more complex services like technical support can cost up to $50 per hour.

However, this cost can be influenced by factors such as the complexity of the service, the level of expertise required, and the location of the outsourcing company.

Save cost and provide splendid customer service with AM2PM Support

Outsourcing customer service business support allows you to focus on brand development and growth without the hassle of hiring and training support staff. Additionally, outsourced customer service is more cost-effective than building an in-house team.

By leveraging the expertise of specialized service providers, you can enhance your brand image, increase customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive edge in the market.

It is essential to choose the right customer service and outsource it but at the same time you should be very mindful whether this outsourcing cost doesn’t impact your business financially. 

Do you want to know who could be your best cost effective outsourcing partner? 

No wonder AM2PM Support. Why? because it supplies tremendous round-the-clock customer service. It has experts in handling customer inquiries, resolving issues, and providing a positive experience throughout the customer journey.

Their well-trained and skilled agents possess the necessary knowledge and expertise to handle various customer concerns effectively.

Are you still unsure? Reach out to AM2PM Support and improve your brand’s trustworthiness with your customers.