Call center outsourcing is where you leverage your work to a third-party organization. Many industry veterans are shifting to an outsourcing call center because of its huge advantages. It helps you save cost, manage the business effectively, focus on more important tasks, etc. These outsourcing companies are experts in their field; they would be able to handle your customer with more care.
Many businesses do not want to outsource their call center. They think that they will no longer be in control of their business. There is a lot of debate surrounding this issue. In this article, we will dive deep into the pros and cons of call center outsourcing.
Pros of call center outsourcing
- Lower costs
Outsourcing your call center significantly reduces your cost. Business is all about profits. You need to make a high amount of profit to be able to sustain your business. So you should not miss even a minute chance to cut cost. Many proponents of call center outsourcing believe that it is cheaper as compared to maintaining a dedicated customer support team. However, you should not think only about cost. Remember that customer satisfaction matters most in business. You should hire an outsourcing company that has a very good track record. It should have a large customer base and should be able to handle customers with ease.
- Eliminate staffing issues
When you have a dedicated customer support team, you have to look into a lot of things like hiring, training, managing as well as scheduling. You will have to spend a lot of time as well as money. All these staffing issues are eliminated if you outsource your customer support. The outsourcing companies have their staff who are trained and maintained by them. They are experts in their field and will be able to handle your customer to their satisfaction.
- 24 x 7 customer support
We live in a digitalized world. You may have customers around the globe. Moreover, different customers may want to reach out to you at different times. You should be able to provide 24 x 7 customer services. If you have a dedicated customer support team you will not be able to handle customers all the time because it will be very heavy on your pocket. However, a customer support outsourcing company will be able to provide you with round-the-clock customer service.
- Easily handle overflow call volume
There are peak times in every business where customers just flood in with their queries. For instance, some businesses have peak times during the holiday season, some businesses have peak times during night time. This way every business has to deal with overflow call volume. So how do you manage so many customers at once? Moreover, you cannot keep customers waiting in the queue, this decreases customer satisfaction. The best way to handle this issue is to outsource your customer service. These companies have well-qualified personnel who know how to deal with customers at peak times.
- Boosts productivity
When you are sure that there is a customer support team who are working round-the-clock to clarify all the queries of your customers, you will be able to use your workforce in more important tasks. You will be able to focus on business expansion and other important things that need immediate attention. Moreover, these outsourcing companies with their expertise will be able to deal with your customers in a much better way.
Cons of call center outsourcing
- Complexity
If your business is a technical one, you should not outsource your customer service, the reason being that the third party might not be able to deal with technical details. It may be that you are making something and something else is being communicated to your target group. This miscommunication can severely affect your business.
- Decreased control over customer service
When you outsource your customer service you virtually have no control over it. It is up to the third party how they deal with your customers. If you have not done your research properly, you might end up losing customers. This is one of the biggest drawbacks of customer service outsourcing that you will have to lose some control over your business. You will not be able to look after the quality of service provided to your customers.
- Lack of knowledge about your company
No one knows about your company more than the members of the company. When you are outsourcing customer support you will have to explain to them everything about your company. However, you may not be able to explain all the ins and outs. There is a possibility that the third party might not understand everything about your company. This communication gap can be disastrous.
- Focus of agent may be divided
Agents who are working for customer service outsourcing companies have to deal with a lot of clients. This may divide their focus. They might get confused between customers of different companies. This is the reason why a dedicated customer support team is much better than outsourcing customer service. These companies will never be able to give their 100% for one company.
- Hidden costs
When you are outsourcing your customer service there are a lot of hidden costs involved. You may overlook costs like unforeseen legal issues, hiring a lawyer who is well aware of all the international laws, losing customers because of bad service experience, and the cost of reacquiring customers. All these costs can put a dent on your balance sheet.
To sum up
So as you have seen there are both pros and cons to customer service outsourcing. You should do a thorough risk-benefit analysis before outsourcing your customer service. Even if you try outsourcing these things you should choose a firm that has a reputation in the market. You should go for a firm that has a proven track record. Always remember that customer is the king and if the king is not happy you will not be able to remain in business.