Managing Your Contact Center BPO: 4 Steps To Ensuring A Happy Work Environment

Managing Your Contact Center BPO: 4 Steps To Ensuring A Happy Work Environment

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Every CEO surely prefers an outstanding work culture, but it’s better if this also includes a pleasant Contact Center BPO environment. Ample space, good ambience and lighting, and ergonomic facilities are among the necessities. As statistics have shown, happy employees are also productive and successful in their jobs. However, it’s safe to assume that not every employee is happy or contented. Unsettled, (even disgruntled) employees are expected, for a variety of reasons. Whatever the case may be, a satisfactory, conducive workplace is high priority. Here are four reliable ways to achieve this:

1. Identify, then engage unhappy employees.

In ensuring a happy Contact Center BPO environment, you must first identify which employees are unhappy or discontented. However, you can’t just ask anyone and get the answer you expect. This requires discernment, a knack for reading between the lines, observing employees’ body language. Facial and eye expressions can convey more information than what is verbalized in conversation. Sharpen your instinct for social cues and focus on context.

2. Ask questions.

Once you have already found out who the unhappy employees are, get to the root of the concern with conversation: ask questions. You cannot jump to conclusions on why they are feeling such. You have to spend time with in-depth question-and-answer moments so that you can find out what is really going on. If they have problems with the office administration, you at least know where you can proceed in finding solutions.

3. Establish, maintain a peaceful work environment.

Employee conflicts are unavoidable when you have people with different personalities working together. Conflict resolution is still your reliable solution in Contact Center BPO, ensuring peaceful environment in the shared workspace.

4. Foster confidence for and within the workforce.

Employees who don’t have confidence in tasks might have internal doubts and anxieties, affecting the quality of output. To avoid this affecting your business, foster a positive work culture, with solid trust in your employees. Positive emotions are invigotating – if your employees are confident enough, your business will surely benefit.

Being a CEO is not an easy task – schedule is always busy and demands priorities; meeting with clients, business development, supervision. However, remember to always make time for your employees, consider their needs as crucial to the success of Contact Center BPO operations.

Outsourced Call Center Services: Market Research

Outsourced Call Center Services: Market Research

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Every entrepreneur knows starting a business can be an uphill climb. Outsourced call center services somehow ease the process. Nevertheless, you often hit the ground running; once you’re successful, sustaining momentum is also a challenge. Over the years, the business world has evolved so much with technology, most notably the emergence of internet and social media.

Competition amongst corporations became a close, even cutthroat, in a bid to cater to the general public’s taste and expectations. While it is true the evolution of modern technology has been a great breakthrough both for the consumers and business owners, its underlying effect (threat) to companies is also inevitable.

Keeping Up With Trends Is A Challenge

The question for big and small businesses alike: how are they supposed to keep up with fast-changing market trends? Outsourced call center services broadened possibilities, drastically changing the business landscape.

This is where market research comes in -a business strategy which allows corporations to gather and analyze updated information about consumers, and the current status of the market. This process provides business owners opportunity to study their target markets. Consumer needs, purchasing habits, characteristics, likes, and dislikes are good predictors of market behavior.

Outsourced Call Center Services

Outsourced call center services conduct market research by gathering, processing, and interpreting primary data. It involves conducting interviews, surveys, and feedback from existing and potential clients. Moreover, examining secondary data (published researches and reports by private and government agencies, media networks, etc.) also provides a more elaborate understanding of market trends.

In other words, it gives companies insight on how their current products/services stand or appeal to consumers. Potentially, conducting a market research allows businesses to adjust their marketing approach. The goal is to develop new services that would best suit the needs and preferences of their target buyers, to reach out to clients, and to understand the competition.

Outsourced call center services is crucial in business development. Market research serves as a how-to guide in ensuring the feasibility of the business. It indicates whether or not a product or service will reach and attract the attention of consumers. As an important business process, serving as a weighing scale that maintains corporal balance. It’s safe to say successful corporations that have strong marketing strategies rely on the function of effective research.

Outsourced Call Center Solutions: Directory Assistance

Outsourced Call Center Solutions: Directory Assistance

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Heads up for job seekers: do you love connecting people, making introductions? There’s a job that might interest you in outsourced call center solutions. This job comes with access to a directory listing; you’re tasked to verify and provide information upon request.

Directory assistance operators (also directory assistants) are in-demand in the BPO industry. The workflow can be described in a handful of steps. A call comes in, you identify your role and the business that you represent. The caller then makes multiple inquiries concerning directions. It’s often the number or address of a company, which can be a popular restaurant, a five-star hotel, or a historic theater. With access to online directory, you look up the requested details, forward this to the customer, and end the call.

Simple Task, Invaluable Service

The task seems simple, but the service is invaluable to customers and users. It’s a job you’ll enjoy, but it can be challenging. For starters, being a directory assistant for an outsourced call center solutions firm means that you will take calls from people located in different parts of the world. If your customers are US-based, you’re expected to be familiar with all 50 states. You’re also required to know landmarks, and the local numbers (area codes, zip codes) through which these places can be contacted. At the core of your service, there’s the basic requirement that you provide accurate information to the customer at all times.

Going The Extra Mile In Outsourced Call Center Solutions

In some cases, contact details of private individuals are also requested. The task isn’t be limited to identifying commercial establishments, but in locating residences as well. In both instances, providing excellent customer service is paramount, especially when you’re giving directions to someone on a carphone driving down a busy street.

Forwarding Directions, Leading The Way

These days, the job of a directory assistant has become somewhat easier. Modern technology has allowed automation to be set up whenever a call comes in. A common feature involves an automatic read-back of the requested details to the customer once the operator locates this in the directory listing. This allows the operator to accept more calls in a brief handling times. Outsourced call center solutions satisfies customers through prompt and fast customer service delivery, especially when parts of the process are automated.

The Building Block Of Outsourced Call Center Services: What Makes a Good Contact Center Agent?

The Building Block Of Outsourced Call Center Services: What Makes a Good Contact Center Agent?

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In this technology-dependent BPO industry, outsourced call center services have instrumental role in business marketing strategy. This is especially true in expanding and progressing businesses. With today’s highly competitive business set-up, it’s safe to say having an effective, profit-generating contact center is a sure way companies stay on track.

Outsourced Call Center Services, In A Nutshell

Contact centers are part of company operations, dealing with customer relations or communications. It is essentially a branch of the overall customer relationship management (CRM), with specialized, dedicated agents. Contact centers handle all forms of communication—call centers, e-mails, faxes, phone calls, text and web chats.

Nuts And Bolts

However, operating a contact center is one thing, but running it efficiently is another. As the phrase goes, “What use is a sword if it’s lost its sharpness?” The same goes for contact centers. In order for a business to continue converting customers to their side, it must have great customer relations operation. A functional contact center that is reliable and efficient is a must-have in business. Which brings us to the question, “What makes outsourced call center services any good?”

Agents At The Core

In order to have a profit-making contact center, a company ensures they have the right employees. What makes a good contact agent, then? Well, first off is having the experience required of the job. In order to engage customers, agents must be a great communicators, knowing how and when to conversation cards. Inexperienced agents lack the ability to communicate confidently and persuasively, which in many ways could affect the overall operation of the company. To avoid such problems, sufficient training is required.

A good agent, of course, doesn’t stop in being an experienced communicator. Attracting and maintaining customers is easier if a company portrays a good reputation, and the contact center’s performance can either make or break that. Hence, it is crucial to keep good relationship with clients.

One way to do that is by creating a more personal connection with the clients. It is easier to confide to a friend than to a stranger, and the relationship must be emulated in correspondence between customers and companies. Customers are more likely to engage with sincere, instead of passive agents. Clients receive great service, agents receive great customer feedback, and companies profit with improved revenue and reputation – the definition of a win-win-win scenario.

Key To Good Outbound Call Center Operations: The Script

Key To Good Outbound Call Center Operations: The Script

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Outbound collections is a difficult division of any call center operations. Agents deal with irate and rude people on the other end of the line; they’re also likely to come across excuses to prolong payment of outstanding debt. Some calls are easier to handle than others, but everything must be dealt with calmly and professionally. It’s up to the agent to complete the call and make sure the debtor commits to payment.

Outbound collections call scripts come in handy. A good call script, drafted and implemented properly, is the agent’s guidemap in navigating collection calls. It’s a comprehensive outline of do’s and don’ts, also a playbook that helps keeps debtors from hanging up. This tool, while not the be-all and end-all of every call, ensures agents don’t drop the phone without assurance of payment to the other party.

Proper Introduction

A good outbound collections call script starts with proper introduction of the agent, and the reason for the call. It must also verify that the respondent is the actually the debtor. This is not just for formality’s sake; it is imposed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (or any local equivalent). Good call center operations require debt collectors to identify themselves and the entity they are representing. Starting off with a prompt introduction lends a professional vibe and assures that the agent is on the right track.

The Spiel

Another point that a good call script must possess is a set of answers for the common excuses of not paying the debt. The list of excuses is long and varied, and each can be obvious or creative. It can escalate quickly from “We haven’t received the statement,” to “Our dog ate the statement.” The call script must be ready and creative enough to hold its own, or at least help the agent think on his feet when a more bizarre reason comes up. As the saying goes, “if there is a will, there is a way”, and if the one in debt can worm his way out of the call with words, the one collecting can also put a tight grip on that conversation with effective spiels.

The Pause

One more asset of good outbound call center operations is the pause. Indeed, debt collecting by phone isn’t a one-way conversation. The agent with the script sometimes falls for the trick of reading it religiously, word for word, that the debtor cannot butt in and state his side. The call script must be sprinkled with pauses, placed at the appropriate moments for the debtor’s convenience. A script with pauses allows room for the two parties to breathe, adjust, and keep the call engaging and transparent.

A Guarantee Of Commitment

Lastly, the good call script must secure commitment. It may not be actual payment; for instance, he can promise to be contacted again another time. And after that, the agent can confirm the deal made to prevent misunderstanding. Having this outlined in the script ensures that despite not being able to pay, business relations with this person will still continue. All it takes is firm phrasing to wrap a call, whether it’s successful or otherwise.

Despite these seemingly rigid points, the script does not need to be spoken to the last letter. The best ones are actually just guides for the agent to make a successful outbound collection. Spontaneity still works outbound call center operations, and is always encouraged when it comes with a formidable outline on the side.

An outbound collection call script helps lighten one of the harder tasks of a voice campaign. Irate, rude debtors will be better handled, and excuses will be better countered. It falls on the agent to make the most out of it, but good scripts are always guaranteed to make the most out of every call.

Outbound Call Center Services: 4 Tips For Better Collection Call Results

Outbound Call Center Services: 4 Tips For Better Collection Call Results

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Improving collection call returns take time and patience. Outbound call center services handle the outreach, follow-ups, and demands for payment. The process sounds simple, yet it involves challenges in every step. How can your agents consistently pull off successful collection calls? Here are four important tips to consider and implement:

Always Be Prepared

Your agents need to make calls with essential information in hand. Learn to equip them with all the facts and facts needed.

In preparation, remember that it isn’t simply presenting all the concerns in one blow. Know who you are calling so you can pick the right approach for the specific customer type. Outbound call center services anticipate excuses. Be patient and listen intently. Write down specific concerns so you can address them later. You may even try compiling a list of common excuses and match those with effective rebuttals, so you won’t be caught surprised during the actual call.

Keep It Positive And Professional

Tact and discretion are important in handling collection calls. Your agents need to be firm but polite, use statements that are phrased in a positive and professional manner. This establishes good rapport with the customer.

Keep the conversation positive, so you don’t get stuck in a back-and-forth discussion with the client. However, even if you present yourself as polite and professional, don’t forget to sound authoritative as well. Practice the right tone, pitch, and even pacing in speaking. Sometimes, something written on paper may sound antagonistic over the phone, caused by improper delivery.

Identify Specific Goals

Outbound call center services have scripts that address specific concerns. These serve as guide maps in carefully navigating through the collection.

Form a simple outline of the conversation in this manner: Catch up with the customer, talk about any current business, establish that the payment is late, learn why the payment is late, and make the customer commit. With these in mind, construct a script that is going to get the customer’s attention while maintaining a good relationship, at the same time show that you care. Preparing a good outline for the script, and you won’t be manipulated by the person on the other line during the call.

Adapt To The Situation

There may be a guide in collection call, but simply following a routine won’t help you in getting better results. Learn to leave yourself some room to entertain a possible offer from the customer to receive the right payment.

There is no one shot practice for a surefire collection. Once you listen to the debtor, you can learn about new or even better ways to handle each situation. With every unique case that you receive, you are going to gradually remember picking up essential clues from the other line. Take note of these and use them as references for future calls.

Collection calls are no easy task. But by following these tips, you’ll maximize performance of outbound call center services. Chase after the accounts with knowledge and skill on hand.

Companies Use Call Centers To Streamline The Process; How To Make The Most Of BPO For Your Business

Companies Use Call Centers To Streamline The Process; How To Make The Most Of BPO For Your Business

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Most companies use call centers to handle external processes, and for good reason. Doing everything in-house may not always be feasible. In some cases, it can even be unproductive. Often you’ll look for specialized teams to handle dedicated, short-term tasks. Call centers fill this need by leasing their adaptable, capable agents at your service.

Outsourcing can be the best solution in business processing. Are you struggling which aspect of your business to outsource, and to what extent? Are you anxious to test the waters, anxious to enlist agents to handle part your business? Here are three basic guidelines to ensure you’ll get a good head start:

1. Prioritize the essentials.

This will depend on the nature and scale of your business. Some companies use call centers to handle customer support, others hire staff for back-office tasks. Anything that picks up the pace of operations is considered a viable task to outsource. However, your resources may determine which processes are best done in-house, and which are best outsourced.

Consider your company’s mission in choosing which tasks to outsource. If your mission is to have an engaging, responsive brand, it makes sense to invest in website development. If your current priority is to create a solid product, you may need more hands on deck in software development.

2. Companies use call centers to handle support; nothing beats good referrals when looking for providers.

Referrals spare you the hassle of screening and testing a long list of providers. If you’re well-networked in the industry, then referrals should be your first sourcing option. This shouldn’t discredit old-fashioned shortlisting, though. To be fair, there are plenty of new and small providers who can handle complex tasks, who can hold their own against big competition.

Trade conventions, colleague socials, even golfing buddies are good sources for referrals. You can never underestimate a good recommendation, especially if it comes from someone you trust.

3. Maximize the specializations of the provider you choose.

Companies use call centers for various tasks. This is common practice, because providers prefer to hire staff skilled and able to multitask. Unfortunately, you’ll never know the extent of your provider’s capabilities if you never ask. Inquire about the scope of your prospect’s services, the nature of its clientele. There’s bound to be a new specialization you can leverage to further enhance your processes.

Providers typically cater to various industries. Foundational processes are often shared among these industries (with custom tweaks). Take advantage of your providers’ versatility and hire a staff who can deliver beyond the job description.

Increase Response With Better Follow Up Methods, Hire Companies That Outsource Support

Increase Response With Better Follow Up Methods, Hire Companies That Outsource Support

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Cold calls or follow-up, which is more difficult? Companies that outsource support are familiar with the difficulty of establishing a good connection with prospects. However, in practice, trying to get establish an effective follow-up campaign can even be more challenging.

If you’re operating a call center, you’ve likely experienced the frustration. It’s easier if you’re aware of different practices that improve follow-up campaigns:

1. Don’t be annoying, be engaging.

Add value to your calls with prospects. Right from the initial call, agents should inquire clients ways to stay in touch. Clients know the most effective ways they can be reached for follow-up. Have a strategy to implement throughout the conversation. Engage upon contact, offer specific information that might interest each type of customer. For better results, pay closer attention to common customer concerns, preferences.

After finding out essential information and building rapport, ask prospects about their preferred form of communication. In this step, you are also securing their commitment, as well as any possible level of responsiveness to the interaction.

2. Get commitment for a follow-up.

Representatives make the biggest mistake of not properly establishing a specific date and time for the follow-up at the end of the first call. Hire companies that outsource support so you’re able to hurdle these pitfalls. You may even have encountered such scenario and simply agreed to a prospect’s “Call me next week” responses, or you may have even delivered a resounding “Alright. I’ll send you the proposal and follow up in a couple of days.”

This is crucial in establishing trust and catching the prospect’s attention. Understand the necessity of asking for a follow-up date and time. Vague answers and schedules are not going to help you in keeping in touch with any possible client. The process is similar to setting and receiving deadlines at work. It’s a powerful tactic so learn to use it properly. You don’t want to have a lot of missed calls or a longer sales cycle.

3. Send a reminder, set an agenda.

After you have successfully set a desirable date and time for the follow-up call, email your prospects a day before the appointment. Remember to carefully place the reminder on the subject line to catch the attention of the client. Try using this example: “Phone appointment for September 12th and article of interest.” Then, the content of the email must confirm the date and time of your appointment as well as the agenda for the call. Also, don’t forget to reduce the pressure of such follow-up, by opening a possible consideration for the prospect to discuss any concerns regarding the steps to take after the call.

4. Spare customers the template introductions.

Avoid starting the conversation with the common telesales agent opening statements such as “I was calling to follow-up on the proposal.” Also “I’m calling to see if you had any questions, and the reason for the follow-up was to see if you had come to a decision.” These are not poor statements, however, they are all obviously routine phrases that you simply had to use. Picking one of these will not establish your difference with other center representatives. Try working on a more intimate approach, one that builds better connection with the prospect.

5. Be polite, be persistent, and be professional.

There may not be a single formula for success, but with these final tips your agents may improve on closing sales. In every statement you give, remember how you would wish to be treated as a client but don’t go over the top even if you only have to leave a voice mail. Then, if you are not successful with the first call because the client’s not there, call in the next 10 minutes. In this manner, you are being persistent without being intrusive.

Should you have further trouble in reaching the prospects, consider hiring companies that outsource customer support. Otherwise, a good rule is to wait half a day. If you have been calling, leave a final voice mail, leave impression you’re available for the client by giving your number. Finally, be professional; if you still pursue the lead, space your follow-ups three business days apart.

Consider Companies That Outsource Support

This is actually your first and best solution. BPO companies can handle the brunt of the work with team and facilities dedicated for the task.

These are only some of the essential steps that can help you in improving your chances of getting replies from follow-up calls. Remember you have to understand the customer’s type and needs first to fully balance the specific actions to take. Learning these additional strategies gives you an edge over the competition.

Five Steps in Choosing Contact Center Providers

Five Steps in Choosing Contact Center Providers

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In the competitive field of contact center providers, finding the right one for a specific type of business is a tough job. Even though more and more businesses outsource their customer service to third-party call centers, you should ensure your partner delivers your company’s needs. What looks great on paper sometimes lead to unmet expectations.This is the reason why you should take time to define needs, beyond the immediate fix. Below are some starter tips to help you assess contact center vendors, before you sign any contracts and agreements.

1. Clarify the goals and support you need.

Identifying the type of services the business needs is the first step to classifying or trimming down the list of prospective call center providers. Decide whether your company wants 24-hour service, online chat representatives, or appointment scheduling. Aside from these, you should also set goals, develop a detailed roadmap which shows what the company wants to achieve within a given period.

2. Conduct background checks on contact center providers.

How does the business operate? What are the values they uphold? Who are their customers? These are just some of the many questions you should consider during the process of selecting the right call center vendor. And the best way to find answers is to ask their current clients. Aside from client recommendations, the competency and reliability of a call center vendor can also be assessed through proven track record, in your industry or with your type of clientele.

3. Choose the right people and available resources.

After listing your goals and learning more about the outsourcing company’s reputation, it’s time to know whether they have the right professionals to handle your customer service and support. Since their staff becomes ambassadors of your brand, their skill set should meet your standards. These requirements may include language proficiency, relative work experience, certifications, and the outsourcing company’s training and programs for employees.

4. Can the contact center manage your customer database?

This tip is one of the most valuable criteria you should consider when choosing contact center providers. The provider must seamlessly integrate customer support data into your customer relationship management (CRM). Through them, you would gain further understanding of your customers’ preferences and requirements, in effort to improve your brand’s performance.

5. Clearly communicate expectations.

In order to meet your company’s specific needs, you have to clearly state your expectations, as well as the procedures to be implemented. Explain the purposes of policy, security, and privacy measures. The goal is to develop a lasting relationship between your company and the outsource provider. In addition, you can also discuss your budget and consider asking the outsourcer to suggest changes that can save you from overspending.

The best contact center providers are dedicated to successful delivery of message and service, mirroring the ethics of their clients. Keep in mind the priorities are customer retention and brand value.

3 Skills Required Of A BPO Contact Center Agent

3 Soft Skills Required Of A BPO Contact Center Agent

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The contact center industry has grown, almost exponentially so. Today, a BPO contact center is part of everyday society, offering job opportunities to young and driven people looking for promising careers.

As easy as it may seem to be a contact center agent, there are some essential skills you should consider requirements. These skills can be learned, but honing these early on, as well as preparing to use them is sure to make the entire experience run smoother.

1. Calm and Collectedness

First of all, your agents should have calm disposition, in order to take in information and retain it. This can be expanded by helping customers, by taking notes of conversations, and giving an appropriate response. Agents also need to learn about their client inside and out, in order to help customers in need of assistance.

2. Patience

This is best complemented by flexibility. Customers come from various demographics, and not everyone is the same. A diverse group of people is bound to call for support, and agents need to know how to handle everyone. Some may be pleasurable, others not so much, but each customer is still to be given the best service possible. It can be rough, but that’s why clients hire a BPO contact center to handle this work.

3. Communication

Communication is key, and not in the sense of speaking eloquently and having a good hold of the English language. It’s in the way that a customer can be sure that the person on the other end of the line is giving their best service. Clear instructions, digesting information, and responding accordingly are integral for the customer’s satisfaction.

It can be challenging and tiring, operating a BPO contact center, but your agents can thrive in that environment if they’re trained and developed by these essential skills.