What Types of Services Do Outsourced Call Centers Offer?

Call centers, or contact centers, transform your business in several ways, not just by taking over customer service phone calls. The services offered by call centers vary, but each allows customers direct contact with your business. The benefits of outsourcing call centers include solving staffing issues, budget concerns, and helping you prioritize customer service interactions.

Consumers Value Customer Service

Outsourcing call center services provides simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and open communication with your business’ most important audience: your customers. Interestingly, one in three consumers state they would leave a brand they love after one negative experience. 70% of that same group said helpful employees, friendly service, speed, and convenience matter most when it comes to customer support services. Put your customers first by tailoring your call center services to your business needs.

Types of Call Center Outsourcing Services

Let’s breakdown the type of services available:

1. Inbound
   • Inbound call center service is used to manage incoming customer inquiries, including those that have difficulty resolving a problem, requiring technical assistance, or requiring payment and order processing. Additionally, this service provides crisis/disaster management, help with contact center fluctuations during high-traffic times, after-hours support, and custom solutions.
2. Outbound
   • Outbound call center services cover outgoing calls to customers for reasons including sales, surveys, proactive assistance, fundraising, collections, customer retention, event registration, quality assurance, or membership renewals.
3. Automated
   • Automated call center services include interactive voice response, call forwarding, calendar appointment reminders, and texting services.
4. Omnichannel
   • Omnichannel call center service that manages customers from every available point of access, including phone calls, chat, social media channels, SMS, and website inquiries.
5. Blended
   • Blended services integrate inbound, outbound and omnichannel programs.
6. BPO
   • Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies encapsulate everything from payment processing and inventory management to customer care and social media monitoring. BPOs offer a comprehensive suite of services.

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Call Center Services

Every service has an upside and a downside. Keep your business objectives and budget in mind as you weigh call center services for your business. Let’s look at the pros and cons of call center services.

Pros

• Cost savings on staff, equipment, and training
• Multilingual support offers access to fluent speakers of any number of languages your customers need
• Gain access to data analytics and insights on contracted services
• Customer satisfaction is the sole focus of our services
• Allows internal teams to focus on other priorities
• Appropriate staffing already in place allows quick response to customer service fluctuations throughout the year
• Highly-trained call center staff protect your brand reputation when helping customers

Cons

• Communication issues can occur, particularly if a call center is located offshore, in another country
• Shared vs. dedicated agents – shared agents handle customer service tasks for multiple businesses at once
• For small businesses, the cost of call center services may not be equal to the value
• It may take some time to find the right call center that meets your company’s standards for quality service

Which Call Center Services are Best for Your Business

Now that you are armed with detailed information on your options, you can choose the model that makes the most sense for the ongoing success of your business. Exceptional customer service truly makes all the difference in customer retention and growth. You have an opportunity to transform your company, so don’t wait another minute to get started.

Which call center program makes the most sense for your business goals? Are you in need of a team to handle inbound customer inquiries? Perhaps your business experiences high traffic times where more staff may be required. Are you looking for a BPO to handle outbound marketing campaigns and lead generation?