Should You Outsource Your Customer Service?
Many businesses today, both big and small, are outsourcing their customer service and other parts of their company to third party service providers. Outsourcing customer service doesn’t only cut down manpower costs, it can also help improve products and services, end-user experience, and provide you with time advantage over your competitors.
The thought is very tempting but should you really be outsourcing your customer service? If you are unsure if it is the best solution for your company, here are some things to consider to help you decide.
Labor Cost in the Long Run
Always weigh in the possible costs of outsourcing your customer services versus hiring in-house call center agents. It would be wiser if you draw a plan and make some rough computations before deciding whether to outsource or not.
If your company has a large volume of customers calling in 24/7 and your customer service is not available all the time, maybe it’s time to go outsourcing. Some companies hire third party call center services because they are the experts when it comes to handling all types of calls and customer behaviors. There will no longer be a need to add office space, equipment, software and other office supplies to house a team of customer service agents, plus language and call training will never be a problem because it will be the responsibility of the third party service provider.
Outsourcing your customer service may not be a great idea if you only have a few calls coming in.
Consider Your Customers’ Needs
Once a customer has bought a product or service from you, caring for them should not stop there. Having a good customer service will add more smiles to your customers keeping them coming back for more.
If you want customers to keep talking about your great new product or the amazing service you offer, you should always be ready to answer all their questions all the time, but is your customer service ready for that? Are your call agents equipped with the latest technologies in call servicing? Because your customers are always equipped with the latest gadgets, you should be able to take clear calls all the time. Customers do not want choppy calls, buzzing sounds, low volume speakers or microphones, and they definitely do not want to wait while you Google the answer to their questions.
Outsourcing your customer service may provide you all the things needed to run a smooth call center and keeping your customers happy. So if you are having the aforementioned problems and can’t seem to find a solution, maybe outsourcing it is the right move.
Communication is Key
Some people and business owners will warn you about language barriers when planning to outsource your customer service, because many businesses today are opting for outsourcing call center services in Asia to save more on costs and to intensify manpower and call servicing. But did you know that even your own in-house customer service agents can mess up customer calls? Language accents and different nationalities have nothing to do with delivering a good or bad information over the phone, what’s important is the quality of communication.
It wouldn’t hurt to sample your own in-house customer service and then try a local call center and an offshore call center to see the differences. If you feel that outsourcing your customer service will provide better communication between you and your customers, you might just be right!
