Why Work-from-home Contact Center Agents Are Better for Your Business

It’s been said many times before, but it bears repeating: Your customer service is only as good as the people who deliver it. No matter how sophisticated your contact center is, or how great your sales and marketing strategy may be, if the agents you use to deliver it are subpar—or understaffed—then the customer experience (CX) you offer will suffer for it.

And that’s a problem. Today, an enormous amount of data has been accumulated showing that the experience you offer your customers could be the make-or-break factor in whether your business achieves long-term success.

“Service is an increasingly important competitive advantage for companies, both large and small,” said American Express’ Raymond Joabar in an announcement of the company’s 2017 Customer Service Barometer. In addition, he adds, great customer care can simply bring in more revenue: Seven in 10 consumers “say they’ve spent more money to do business with a company that delivers great service.”

There are a few critical components to achieving that high level of customer service. You should ensure that people can access your customer care continuum quickly and easily. You should have technology in place to enable interactions across the entire spectrum of modern communications channels. Your CX strategy should be customized to meet the needs situation of your customers.

But even more importantly, offering great customer care means recruiting the highest-quality customer service agents possible—and then making sure they have everything they need to do their job, such as educational programs, a positive workplace culture and opportunities for career development and advancement.

But how can modest-sized businesses hope to not only recruit the best possible customer care reps their industry has to offer, but also set up an infrastructure that gives them all of these factors that are so essential for success? Thanks to the rise of virtual technology, all of this—and more—can be achieved with the use of work-from-home contact center agents.

5 Benefits of Using Work-from-home Contact Center Agents

#1: Access to Dedicated Professionals with Specialized Skills

Using work-from-home contact center agents means you can access a network of professionals who are specialized not only in the finer points of customer care, but also in your specific industry. These aren’t temp workers who are simply biding time until they land their dream jobs, but customer service experts fully dedicated to their profession and passionate about their work.

Using work-from-home contact center agents means you can access a network of professionals who are specialized in customer experience.
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They’re also equipped not only with the right general education and background but also specialized experience in your specific field. That lets you cast a much wider reach when finding your customer service reps, rather than relying on whatever talent is available in your immediate geographic region.

#2: Education and Ongoing Development

Beyond top-notch customer care skills and specialized industry knowledge, work-from-home contact center agents available via an on-demand service provider are educated to ensure t their skillsets are constantly improving. At Working Solutions, for example, we employ a team of professional educators to develop curricula to immerse agents in a client’s culture, products and services.

At Working Solutions we employ a team of educators to develop work-from-home agents.
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Read more about why ongoing education is essential for work-from-home contact center agents

And in an era when the technology used for customer communications is continuously evolving and consumers are becoming more demanding, that capacity for continuous development could be the key to ensuring that the CX you offer is always at the highest possible level.

“Agents came out of each class meeting our metrics and were better prepared than the class before,” explains Candy, an agent education specialist for Working Solutions, about the success of our agent education program. “I try to stay up to date on new trends to make our system the most robust learning environment for our agents.”

#3: Offering a Fulfilling Environment and Career Satisfaction

Because work-from-home contact center agents have control over the finer points of their jobs— such as the hours and shifts they work and the type of clients they work for—they have a higher level of career satisfaction. Because they can send more time with their families and eliminate stressful commutes from their daily schedules, they’re also more likely to enjoy a richer work/life balance.

Because of all the perks of working from home agents have a higher level of career satisfaction.
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“It’s been a juggling act with two special needs teens,” as Patti, a Working Solutions contact center agent, describes her work-from-home experience. “There are lots of doctors’ appointments among other events. With my contract at Working Solutions, I can accommodate their schedules and focus on their needs.”

Satisfied workers also yield better results in terms of productivity and are more likely to adapt the type of emotional intelligence needed to empathize with customers. And that shows itself in their interactions with their customers, heling to nurture higher levels of customer satisfaction.

#4: The Flexibility to Scale Up or Down as Needed

Perhaps the most advantageous aspect of using work-from-home agents is the power it gives businesses to scale their customer service efforts up or down as needed, without incurring any additional cost or sacrificing quality of their CX through the use of temps or untrained workers.

This advantageous aspect is particularly useful for meeting the surge in seasonal demand that comes with the retail holiday shopping season.
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This is particularly useful for meeting the surge in seasonal demand that comes with the retail holiday shopping season. For non-retail businesses, it can also be an important tool for launching a new product line or service, or accommodating unexpected surges in customer demand caused by severe weather events or travel delays.

#5: Avoid Investing in Infrastructure and Security

Maintaining your own customer care workforce means footing a considerable fill for all the necessary infrastructural components. This includes not just the latest technological tools—such as hardware, software and security considerations—but also recruitment costs, employee benefits, agent development and much more.

Using work-from-home contact center services means not only avoiding these expenses, but also the time and effort necessary to manage them all. The end result means you not only save considerable expense, but you’re also able to what you do best—running your core business operations.

Our Work-from-home Contact Center Agents Are Standing By.

With more than 20 years of experience helping businesses of all sizes, and across all industries, achieve their best possible customer experience, Working Solutions is the preferred choice for work-from-home contact center agents that help you achieve long-term growth strategies that get real results.