For a call center to function at its best, there are several factors to administer – Overall Productivity, Resource Allocation, Customer Expectation and Satisfaction, Quality Assurance. QA is a broader term that implies improving and monitoring metrics related to consistency in customer satisfaction rate, agent’s efficiency, meeting compliance guidelines, and more. When you are opting for call center outsourcing, you have to administer these and several other factors.
There are several ways to administer these factors and ensure the call center you have outsourced meet quality expectation and agents’ performance is at par. In this blog, we will discuss the factors to administer when choosing to outsource call center services to a third party.
- Measuring existing quality and define objectives
If you choose a call center to outsource your services, you first should check the existing quality of the call center. A US-based call center, for example, delivers cost-effective services and measurable results. They can cater to US customers and worldwide where cultural gaps won’t act as a barrier. There are very few MBE-certified call centers like Ameridial that provide added benefits to their partners – from tax relaxation to trade sustainability. It will also help you find out your strengths and weaknesses. You can understand KPIs and which are the areas that need improvement. So, checking out existing call center quality and performance is an important factor to consider if you are planning for call center outsourcing in 2022.
- Defining SLAs and action plan
After you find out the present performance and figure out areas of improvement, you should define the SLAs (Service Level Agreement) and objectives. Charting down the objectives is the initial step, followed by an action plan. For instance, if the agents suffer from low productivity, then the action plan can include using better software and CRMs to support the agents, improving the call script, and leverage call routing technology to improve the performance of the agent. Hence, what action plan the call center takes after you define and decide upon the Service Level Agreement is crucial to administer.
- Educating yourself to check call center quality assurance
Aside from the call center outsourcing team, it is your responsibility to understand what do you want from your call center partner. The agents and managers of the call center may have a better understanding of your target segment, or existing customers. But if you can set an external quality assurance team to measure their QA standard, it will ensure improved and consistent customer service. This process will help identify malfunctions, improvement areas, customer experience, and how to provide better assistance.
- Checking if agents have access to the right tools and technology
If the call center still uses traditional systems and operational tools, you cannot meet up to customer expectations standing today. You need to embrace new technologies like analytics and reporting, omnichannel solutions, AI integrated chat support, digital scorecard, automated ticketing solutions, and so on. You should make sure that the call center you choose to outsource leverages new-age technologies and solutions to cater to the present needs of customers and businesses.
Conclusion
The global outsourcing market has skyrocketed since the year 2020. The need for remote operations and work-from-home solutions have contributed to this growth. Today, an increasing number of call centers are offering business support to various industries. If you choose call center outsourcing, make sure you administer all the factors that will determine success.
