A concept to sell products over the phone that started in the 1950s has become one of the most-utilised mediums of brand-building and sales among businesses. Initially, companies took charge and hired people who would take numbers from directories and dial for their potential customers. This was only until the present concept of outsourcing telesales was introduced.
Present Situation: Outsourcing To Contact/Call Centres
Call centres have been quite in the spotlight since the early 2000s. Hundreds and thousands of businesses have outsourced to far-off countries over the years. You might be surprised that big names like Amazon, Microsoft, AT&T, HSBC and many others are presently using call centre services.
If you are looking forward to improving your customer service department, you need to consider hiring a call centre. But before you make the investment and pay off someone thousands of kilometres away from you, analyse what’s best for your business.
This article offers you a complete guide on things to consider before you make the decision of outsourcing your call centre.
Things To Consider Before Outsourcing Telesales
- Are you even ready for outsourcing to a call centre?
- Can you afford a call centre?
- What type of services you want to outsource?
- Is your selected call centre a right representation of your brand?
- Are they technologically upgraded and feasible?
Let’s talk about them in detail:
1- Are You Even Ready For Outsourcing To A Call Centre?
You need to be 100% sure that your need for a call centre is genuine and legitimate. Otherwise, this will just be another expense on your balance sheets by the end of the month. Here are a few indicators which might mean that your business is ready to outsource to a call centre:
- Calls are a lot more than what the present team can handle.
- Constant requirement of new staff to get behind the desks and manage that phone.
- A good budget to outsource easily.
- A requirement of sales staff and professional CSRs that will support and grow your business by telesales and telemarketing.
2- Can You Afford A Call Centre?
After performing extensive research, you need to be certain that the call centre you want to outsource to, falls in your budget. Even though cost matters a lot especially if your business is still growing but it does not mean that you should compromise over the quality.
- Onshore outsourcing is much expensive than offshore outsourcing.
- Get a quote from different call centres before you can finalise the decision.
- Compare the costs, quality and level of service.
3- What Type Of Services You Want To Outsource?
Think of the following factors:
- Do you want to outsource the entire thing or just a chunk of your operations?
- Have you considered outsourcing the inbound services as well or just outsourcing telesales?
- What about active webchat and email management services that many customers provide?
- Do you want to generate more leads or simply handle the existing client base?
Whatever you come up with, you need to discuss it with your selected call centre because more services mean more responsibilities and you need to be certain that a call centre will be able to handle all your needs. In any way, professional call centres can easily provide you with all these services and more.
4- Is Your Selected Call Centre A Right Representation Of Your Brand?
Your business is your personal brand – something that represents your point of view on the quality of service. You need to make sure that the call centre you choose is a perfect representation of your brand and it will help you retain customers and leads instead of driving them away.
Think of the following qualities:
- Effective communication and spoken skills
- Understanding of businesses
- Modern and latest technology
- Ability to sell a product/service
- Professional tone
- Organisational setup and capability
- Availability and flexibility
5- Are They Technologically Upgraded And Feasible?
Many people outsource to call centres is because these guys surely know their way around technology and constantly upgrade their systems to make the call centre modern and technologically advanced.
You can ask them different questions in regards to the technology that is being used in their call centre. For instance:
- What kind of systems do you use?
- Do you have a backup power supply?
- What kind of internet connection is being used in the call centre?
- Do the systems support various kinds of software?
- Is the staff aware of the type of gadgets you use?
- Do you train your staff to keep them updated with the changes?
- How often do you upgrade your systems?
- Is your call centre equipped with accessories like headsets, cables ports etc.?
- Do you have cameras?
- What kind of software you are aware of?
Once you are satisfied, you can outsource your operations to the call centre. Just make sure that everything about your outsourcing telesales agreement is mentioned clearly on the contract. Talk about all the above-mentioned points (and more if you have any) to be completely sure before penning your signature and stamp down on that document.
