Understanding the six benefits of chatbots

Here the six benefits of relying on the chatbots: 

1. The Company’s Internal Communication Gets Better 

A chatbot sure will lift the internal communication of the organization. Let’s suppose a new employee needs some information about the company. Or he has some questions about its people and operations. Conventionally to acquire that, he will need to talk to his colleagues or may wander for each in different departments. But with the company’s chatbot, he can get them all in a matter of a few seconds. All he needs is to type in the query and let the artificial intelligence do the magic. Chatbots are amazing, aren’t they? Hold on, as this is just one of the many benefits of chatbots. 

2. Cost saving

Chatbots are not only life saviors but also money savers for businesses. No doubt, to integrate them, you’ll have to invest some time and resources. But once they get rolling, you’ll no longer need to spend on salaries, training, and more. Let’s get to understand this with an example as well. Suppose you need to hire a few people to answer your customer questions, as you receive a lot of them on your website or social media platforms. One option you have is to go with hiring and then train people to carry out these tasks effectively, which is both daunting and costly.

On the contrary, you can spend on integrating chatbots into your website, which will take some investment initially. But in the long run, you’ll save periodical costs of salaries and more. So, you already love this chatbot thing, no? You certainly will as you move forward with reading this article.

3. 24/7 Availability

It is not certain when a customer will call. Plus, you cannot fully ensure the 24/7 availability of your customer support representatives. That’s where chatbots come to your rescue, as they are available to respond to the customer’s queries instantly. Suppose your customer has an issue with a product after purchase. And he needs to talk to customer support after office hours to sort it out. A representative will probably not be available to read the customer’s concerns at that time. But chatbots will be immediately interacting with customer support. Plus, AI-powered chatbots can also answer complex questions and store and convey information to the agents when they are available. See, chatbots are making things better and easy for you. Keep on reading as we have more for you on the benefits of chatbots in the coming paragraphs. 

4. Improves customer interaction 

Won’t your customer love it when a representative from a support department responds to him almost instantly? He sure will. But it might be difficult for employees to achieve that. Yes, delegating this responsibility to a call center or keeping teams for both shifts are the options a business owner can count on. But they may get too expensive for him. Now you expect us to say that chatbots are the answer, and we sure will say it. Because staying active and prompt answering is what the chatbots are passionate about. Now when you have chatbots active on your website, they will instantly greet and respond to the customer or visitor’s concerns or queries. Moreover, they won’t lose their temper even when someone’s throwing silly questions at them. As a result, customer interaction will improve, and you’ll get some good reviews about your excellent customer care to post on the website or social media platforms.

5. Dealing with multiple customers at the same time 

Not 2 or 3, but chatbots are capable of interacting with thousands of customers at the same time. You can imagine a huge number of visitors to a brand’s website. Most of them might need urgent support or have a technical query for the experts. But the customer care representatives can chat or hear one at a time, leaving others to wait, eventually frustrating them. This scenario gets very different when the website has chatbots rolling. Now, most visitors will get their answers in a few seconds, and some might want to talk to a representative, which the chatbot will ensure. That’s why chatbots are super cool! You sure have learned a lot of the benefits of chatbots. But we have one more for you in the next paragraph. 

6. Multilingual

You can also customize chatbots to answer customer questions in a language he picks. A website visitor may like his queries answered in the language he prefers, which the chatbots can ensure. Not only will it make the visitor feel valued, but it will also help improve the customer’s understanding of the company’s products and their proper application. Ultimately avoiding after-sales conflicts. Hence, opting for chat bots for customer service is the futuristic approach a business owner should think about.

Take Away 

Maybe you were unaware of how chatbots can help your business evolve. But you must have a good idea now about why an entrepreneur should integrate them into their systems. Not only do chatbots lift internal communication, but they offer a range of other benefits. The alternative to chatbots, of course, chat support services. All in all, we have tried our best to list most of the benefits of chatbots for you in this interesting blog post. In a nutshell, a chatbot benefits an organization in several ways.

We hope you won’t search ‘what are the benefits of chatbots’ again, as this write-up must have provided you with all the information you want to know. Plus, if you feel we have skipped including something, you are welcome to comment or write to us at our official email address.

4 Reasons A Company Would Go for Outsourcing – Outsourcing in business 

Here are the 4 reasons that would answer why do companies choose to outsource work: 

1. Cost Effective

Outsourcing sure is affordable! Suppose, as a business owner, you can either spend on hiring staff to deal with customer queries or delegate this responsibility to an offshore call center at half a cost. What would you rather choose? Certainly, the second option is a more rational decision. Because the call center already has experienced staff to take on this project effectively. Also, they can ensure their availability 24/7. We are only talking about the support activities as the company will take care of the main function itself. For example, if a company is a sports equipment manufacturer, it can outsource its accounting work to a firm instead of hiring a full-time accountant. So, you have thoroughly understood one benefit of outsourcing that will make the companies go for it. Hold on, as there are three more to come. 

2. Access to the Expertise When Required 

Small or new businesses usually don’t have enough capital to hire full-time experts. Also, they have no work in some departments for professionals to occupy seats full-time. Outsourcing allows them to make use of their expert skills and just pay for the time and effort utilized. That also cuts the cost of idle labor time while the task is carried out very efficiently. Hence, they don’t feel the need to hire a full-time employee. You can go with contracting an outbound call center for the acquisition of services on those days of the month and pay for the time and efforts accordingly. See, we have already learned a lot about why do companies choose to outsource work. But keep on reading as two more convincing reasons are yet to come to shed light on the benefits of outsourcing. 

3. Free up your resources to use on the main process

Outsourcing frees up resources for the owner to use on the main operations. You can imagine that a small company may have enough employees to work in a manufacturing unit. But with time, as its sales improve, it will have more customers calling for support, queries, or returns. These calls must be timely dealt with due to their significance for customer satisfaction. Hence, the owner can make an employee from the manufacturing unit sit by the phone or hire an expert to do the same. Now, if he shifts one of his employees from the manufacturing unit, the main process could get affected. Whereas hiring a full-time expert may be too costly and unnecessary at this stage. In such a scenario, a sane business owner will go straight to outsourcing. The expert team at the inbound call center will take care of customer queries or complaints professionally. Plus, the business owner can easily end the contract whenever he feels like the customer support service is no longer needed. This sums up another point on why do companies choose to outsource work. It means we still have one left, so let’s get to read it in the next paragraph. 

4. Competitive Advantage 

Yes, your competitors have specialized individuals for support processes, keeping them in a better position. Don’t worry, as you can still match them, thanks to the existence of outsourcing. Let’s say one of your rivals has a robust IT system and the latest gadgets automating many of their support activities. Allowing them to keep their focus squarely on their strength. Fear not, as you can match them with outsourcing your IT requirements to a suitable IT solutions provider. Yes, you still may not have that edge as you’ll get with keeping an in-house department. But it will keep you in the competition, which matters most. You can also think of this from your competitors’ perspective, who have no such systems yet. That’s your competitive advantage. So, we could now assume that you have enough knowledge to answer why do companies choose to outsource their work. 

Take Away 

There are several reasons why a company would go for outsourcing. Besides cost-cutting, it also offers a range of other benefits, particularly to new and small organizations. In fact, outsourcing is keeping many businesses in the run with well-established giants. Keeping the significance of outsourcing in mind, we have tried to answer why do companies choose to outsource work in every paragraph of this blog post. 

We hope that you have enjoyed reading this write-up. Plus, if you feel we still need to include something, please comment or write to us on our official email ID.

Five benefits that outsourcing brings to organizations

Here are the five reasons why a business owner should opt for outsourcing:

1. You get more time 

Delegating a support activity will spare your time and effort to use on the core. Let’s say you are a sports equipment manufacturer, and your business has just started to make a mark in the industry. It means customers are now demanding your products in great numbers. Therefore, you must use the maximum of your resources to produce these gizmos to meet the demand upsurge. Remember, you also need people at the office to field incoming calls from customers. They are calling to inquire about the use of a product, or they may want to return your product for any reason. Taking such calls is also important for the overall brand’s reputation. That’s where you can consider call center outsourcing. The inbound call center agents will take care of your customer calls professionally, while your employees will be free to work in the manufacturing unit. So you are already calling the call center a life savior, aren’t you? Read on, as you’ll love it even more. 

2. It is a cheaper alternative 

Keeping an in-house support department could be daunting and expensive for new businesses. Hence, outsourcing is the best substitute. It will be more feasible for a new organization to hire a call center than to invest in finding a full-time telemarketing expert. Recent studies show that outsourcing helps cut 40 to 70% of the organization’s costs. 

3. Improves productivity 

Suppose one of your manufacturing department employees also has the duty to make marketing calls. Of course, for product awareness and conversions. As he’s not the expert in doing that, you can expect him to make mistakes. Plus, his productivity in the manufacturing unit will also be affected. That’s why call center outsourcing is your way to go. It will keep other employees focused on their strengths and get you a professional to take care of your business marketing calls effectively. 

4. You get experts to work for you on the low 

Don’t have enough budget to hire full-time telesales experts or maintain a separate business function for these activities? You don’t have to, thanks to the call center outsourcing services for existing. An experienced outbound call center agent brings years of experience into play to lift your overall marketing efforts. Above all, the resource is available when you need it. That’s the beauty of outsourcing, which keeps small or new businesses on the run with well-established giants. So you are getting a good idea about why that renowned company has outsourced call centre services. 

5. Round-the-clock availability 

Your full-time specialists cannot ensure their availability 24/7. As soon as the official time is over, you can see vacant seats and uneasy silence haunting the scene a bit far. The exact opposite of what outsourcing brings! Let’s say you have considered call center outsourcing for customer support. The professional agent from such a company will sit by the phone waiting for your customers to call. At least you won’t hear an unsatisfied customer complaining that nobody picked up my midnight support call. By the way, who service call center? Of course call center agents or customer support representatives as we commonly call them. 

Take Away 

Outsourcing is crucial, especially for new and small businesses, because it allows them to get the experts working for them in a cost-friendly manner. Yes, you hire them when you need them and pay only for their time and efforts invested. Plus, there are other benefits of outsourcing for companies which we have tried to cover in this very informative write-up. Moreover, you also get to read about the importance of call center outsourcing and how organizations are utilizing it for their betterment. 

We hope you have enjoyed reading this one. If you believe we still need to include something, please feel free to comment or write to us at our official email address.

Important Things You Should Know to Get Call Center Contracts 

We bet if you could do these basics right, you’ll soon get a client or two for your call center. 

Determine Your Purpose

Ascertain what type of call center services you would like to offer. Of course, you have the option to go with any of these: 

Inbound Call Center 

It will mostly need you to take responsibility for a company’s customer support. You’ll have to deal with all the incoming calls from their customers. Customers will call to ask for support, request guidance on the usage of a product, or may even want to return the product. Therefore, to effectively provide such services, you must have a good knowledge of the company and its products or services. It would be best if you also had experienced staff to take on customer calls professionally. 

Outbound Call Center

It will need you to take care of the company’s outbound calls. Your responsibilities would be to reach out to leads and turn them into customers. Running such a call center will need you to have expert staff that could convince the prospects. An outbound call center will most commonly be engaged in telemarketing and lead generation services. Hence, they are also known as telecommunications contractors. 

Contact Center 

Its functions are very similar to a call center, but a contact center doesn’t only rely on phone calls. Yes, they have experts who can also reach out to prospects on other channels. Such as social media and more. Of course, operating a contact center is a bit expensive. But compensation is good as well. Just know that most companies with call centers may need more staff who can use other means to reach out to potential customers or satisfy existing customers. Hence, they opt for contact center solutions providers. 

Take Your Marketing Very Seriously 

How would businesses know that you are also available for call center contracts? Definitely, you need to run a few advertising campaigns. Ensure to invest proper time and money into your marketing efforts and be patient with the outcomes. Make use of social media platforms for your business promotion and collect leads from various professional platforms or websites. You can also go with telemarketing calls for your call center. Important to stay very patient as a month-long effort may result in signing one client. 

Offer Your Services at Low in the Beginning 

You may have an idea about the lucrative monthly revenue of a renowned call center. Something that might have convinced you to start a call center business in the first place. But you should also know that these call centers have been in the business for quite a long period. Hence, if you offer any of the inbound or outbound calls outsourcing for the same price or above, you will have no attraction point. Therefore, keeping your margin just above the cost incurred when you are beginning with this call center thing is important. Yes, with time, as your name develops in the industry, you can increase your price. 

Don’t Be Too Rigid 

You should not insist on a year-long call center contracts when the businesses only want to keep it to six months or less. If you keep on insisting, you may lose a potential customer. Therefore, show flexibility, especially when it is your first client. Later on, if a client is happy with your work, you can ask for a long contract. 

Obviously, a business owner needs to figure out the quality of your service. And signing a lengthy contract will be a big risk. A short contract will clear his doubts, and thus he may opt for that. 

Work on Building Your Reputation 

Do your best when performing your part of the contract, even if you have one client. Satisfaction and positive reviews from this one will open up a door for many to come. Hence, ensure efficiency and effectiveness when you are entrusted with any call center responsibility for an organization. This way, your industry reputation will improve, and other businesses will consider you a suitable option for BPO call center contracts. 

Go For Your Expertise

Only accept a job that resonates with your expertise. Suppose you have an offer from a renowned company to take care of its customer support department. But your staff lacks the expertise to do it well. Because you are more focused on telemarketing and lead generation. So, it’s better here to turn down the offer as poor performance will harm your reputation. 

Take away

No doubt signing a call center client is not as easy as it sounds. A business owner would calculate so many things before handing over an inbound or outbound responsibility to your call center. This blog post discusses these important things in detail that can help you acquire call center contracts. 

Reading to this point, we hope you have also absorbed the knowledge on what is a call center and how it functions. 

We really hope that you have enjoyed reading the article. Please let us know via the comment box below if you have any questions or feel we need to include something.

Answering Services vs Call Center Services – Which Should You Opt For? 

Let’s expand our understanding of the two concepts. By doing so, we’ll also get an idea about which one you can prefer as a business owner. 

Understanding Business Answering Services 

Fundamentally, answering services provider contracts to handle phone calls of another company. Most commonly, these calls are from customers or sometimes from potential customers. An organization will use business answering services because: 

– The experts will take phone calls from new or existing customers professionally 

– It will help the business form a good relationship with the caller 

– As a result, lifting the brand’s image or reputation 

A Bit on The Call Center Services 

Organizations consider call centers for outsourcing the responsibilities of the inbound and outbound calls. Because a call center has trained staff to do that, and it is more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house team. Some call centers may choose to take the responsibilities of business inbound calls, known as inbound call centers. Some may be available for outbound calls outsourcing, termed as the outbound calls. Mostly, a call center will be available to handle both incoming and outgoing calls. Such call centers are known as blended call centers. 

You must have a fair idea now about how the two are fundamentally different. Let’s get deep into this comparison.

Is a Call Center a Type of Business Answering Service? 

You bet it is! Because a business usually hires call centers to deal with customers’ calls or to reach out to potential customers. Both these are also in the scope of the call answering services provider. So technically, a call center services provider can also be addressed as a business answering services provider. Hence you can also term it as call centre answering service. Besides that, answering services also exist in the following forms: 

The Autoresponders

Can you recall your experience of calling on a company’s number and that pre-recorded voice trying to find out what you need? Making you press a few buttons before you could speak to a representative. That’s the auto responder in place, which will help you find the right answers or would direct your call to a suitable person. This is also an interactive voice response system that automates the answering services. 

Virtual Receptionist

It is the same as an on-site receptionist. The only difference is that a virtual receptionist works remotely. Different organizations these days hire a virtual receptionist to field incoming and outgoing calls for the organization. The most common duties of a virtual receptionist include taking messages, answering basic inquiries, and more. 

You have a good idea now about the answering and call center services. Let’s discuss which of the two a business owner should pick. 

Which of The Call Center Services or Answering Services is The Business Owner’s Best Bet?

There are several reasons that count when choosing call center services or answering services. They are as follows: 

What is Your Purpose?

Do you need someone to hear out your business phone calls, or would you also like them to find you more customers? For the latter, you have to go with acquiring call center services. Because, convincing a potential customer is mostly out of the scope of a representative from answering services. On the contrary, a call center has dedicated outbound and inbound departments that can look over telemarketing tasks and customer service. 

So, it is better to decide your purpose before going for either the answering services or call center services. 

How is Your Business Operating?

Suppose your business is well-established and has a lot of customers. They’ll often call to ask queries or to resolve problems incurred after the purchase. In such a case, you should use call center services instead of answering services. Because a call center has trained staff to deal with many calls on the go. Plus, they have complex scripts and the ability to customize calls per customer needs or concerns. 

What is Your Product Type?

A call center is your best bet if you are engaged in selling technical products because the experts of a call center can discuss the technical details of a product with your customer. An answering services provider may fail to answer technical queries about a product a customer has after the purchase. But it can forward a call to the concerned department to talk to the customer. But that, again, will need the availability of an expert in the department to take a call immediately. Hence, allowing a call center expert to do it is a better option. 

What is Your Budget?

Yes, hiring answering services will cost less than outsourcing to the call center because of the scope of work and the availability of expertise. So, if you are on a tight budget as businesses are in their initial stages of incorporation, hire the answering services. A representative there will be able to handle your business’s incoming and outgoing calls professionally. After your business is established, you can opt for hiring a call center to improve your customer experience or advance your telemarketing efforts. 

Take Away

You may find answering services and call center services confusing terms. Because they both are often used interchangeably. Yes, answering services is part of call center duties, but the call center is more than that. This blog post was all about getting you an idea of how answering services and call center services are different. Plus, we have discussed which of the two would be the best option for a business owner.

What is a BPO Call Center – The Nuts and Bolts 

No surprise, BPO call center is a slightly confusing concept. But you don’t have to worry because we have got you covered here.

Separating Business Process Outsourcing From the Call Center 

Yes, BPO (business process outsourcing) is a wider term than a call center. A BPO company can look to accept the responsibility of any business process. It might be accounting, human resources, or anything. On the contrary, a call center only deals with incoming and outgoing calls. Now when we say BPO call center, we mean customer support services, telemarketing, and more.

Opening Up on The Business Process Outsourcing Call Center with A Real-world Example 

A business normally opts for outsourcing because it lacks the resources or skillset to carry out that task. Let’s say a goods transporting company has no customer support department in the early stages of its incorporation. The owner can hire experts to maintain a fully-functional customer care department or delegate this responsibility to an outside expert firm. If he goes with hiring a firm to carry out these tasks, you can say that he has outsourced it to the call center services provider.

Why a Business Outsources to Contact centers 

Here are the most common reasons a business will want to outsource its call center responsibilities to a Business process outsourcing services provider:

Lacks The Resources

Customer support or telemarketing is a support activity. Therefore, a business would not want to spend capital on keeping a call center department. Particularly, when it is just setting up its feet in the industry. Hence outsourcing is its best bet.

The Task is of Occasional Nature 

Outsourcing will be a rational decision if a task is of such a nature that it occasionally occurs. Let’s say a new organization only makes a few marketing calls at the end of each month. Why would it hire a full-time employee to carry out this task? Instead, it can delegate it to the call center and pay only for the time invested.

Lacks the Skill Set Required 

At any stage of its incorporation, a company may need more skilled individuals to carry out a task. Plus, hiring one may be too costly for it. That’s when he can rely on the contact center and let the experts carry out this task professionally and on the low.

Don’t Have a Physical Location

An organization may not need to maintain a full-fledged office. Either because of the nature of the work or because the owner prefers a remote-based working model. In such a case, hiring a call center for any inbound or outbound call responsibilities will be the best option.

Looking to Cut The Cost

Of course, the owner would want to operate on low costs, and outsourcing is the ideal choice for it, even better when a company delegates different functions to the off-shore call center. Such contact center solutions providers have low running costs because of the cheap labor.

There are more reasons for hiring a contact center. But these 5 most commonly induce a business owner to opt for one. 

Types of Business Process Outsourcing Call centers 

Not one or two, but there are six types of business process outsourcing contact centers, namely:

• Inbound Call Center
• Outbound call center
• Contact Center services provider 
• Omnichannel Contact Centers
• Blended Call Centers
• Automated Call Centers

Read the different types of call centers in detail to get a good idea of how they function. 

Common BPO Call Center Outsourcing Services

Following are some of the services the best call centers commonly provide to the business around the globe:

Inside and Outside Sales 

A call center has trained staff to take care of the organization’s inside and outside sales. Inside Sales means remote selling of products or services. Outside sales is a traditional way of selling stuff through meetings or visitations. Read the inside vs outside sales comparison to get comfortable with both.

Customer Support 

As a business grows, it will have more customers. And, not all customers are fully satisfied with the item they have bought from you. Especially when your product is a bit technical to use; hence, they’ll call either to ask queries, request returns, or more. Therefore, a business must maintain a customer support department. Usually, it doesn’t and thus outsources this function to a Contact Center.

Telemarketing 

You will want your product to get noticed as a business owner, won’t you? The first step to getting there is to let people know about it. Telemarketing is one of the best ways to do it. And to carry out these responsibilities, a business may trust the expert telemarketing agents of a call center.

Take Away

A layperson may find it difficult to understand what the BPO call center means. Some may even confuse the two terms, BPO and call center. Others might need to be sure how it brings advantages to the business. That’s where we felt to give you a fair idea of the Business process outsourcing call center and it’s working. Plus we have also discussed its types. Not to forget our efforts on jotting down the common outsourcing responsibilities for a business process outsourcing call center. Overall, this a perfect write-up to inform and clear your misconception about BPO Contact Centers.

So how was it? If you feel we have missed including something, please comment or write to us on our official email address.

Different types of call centers

Not one or two, but there are six different types of call centers, each one of which has its own purpose.

Inbound call centers

These call centers take care of the customers’ calls for an organization. Why are customers calling? Usually, to request support after the purchase. You are allowed to think that why isn’t the company taking care of these customer calls itself? Since an employee has a better knowledge of the product, he could do it better. Therefore, what’s the point of outsourcing this responsibility to an inbound call center?

A company outsources because it lacks the skills and expertise to handle inbound calls professionally. Secondly, dealing with a call or two is not an issue, but a large organization receives thousands of calls daily, so they need to manage them properly. Yes, maintaining a dedicated inbound calls department is an option, but that could be costly compared to call center outsourcing. Hence, hiring a call center services provider is sometimes the company’s most feasible option.

Let’s now discuss what an inbound call center primarily looks into.

Technical Support: A customer may call the company to request a bit of technical advice on the product they have recently bought. It may range from a simple inquiry about a password change to personal account updating and more. 

Order processing: Since online shopping is the new trend, most people prefer to purchase over the phone. The agent receiving such a call is requested to provide more information about the purchase. Plus he is also expected to record information and obtain payment details.

Appointment scheduling: Customers also call to request an appointment with the CSR. Usually, to discuss an issue or to acquire some information. The agent knows that it can greatly influence customer’s loyalty and satisfaction. Hence, he keeps it simple and smooth. 

Inquiries: An inbound call center services provider also receives inquiry calls from potential customers. Such calls are also a brilliant opportunity for an agent to enhance the customer’s interest in the company’s new products. 

Complaints: Keeping your customer satisfied is the most important factor that builds a brand reputation. Hence if a customer has a complaint about your product after purchase, he’ll call the support department. A representative in that department must look into this matter very closely and try to resolve it. Accepting return is the last option, but businesses should also look to accept that for customer satisfaction. Hence, a company needs trained professionals to deal with customer complaints. So, they go looking for the best call centers. 

Outbound call centers

In simple words, an outbound call center services provider reaches out to potential customers over a phone for sales or for conveying information. The purpose is to make them buy or to let them know about a product or service. An agent in the outbound call center is most commonly required to deal with the following.

– Lead Generation

– Telemarketing

– Sales Calls

– Fundraising Calls

Can you think of a phone call greeting you warmly and then telling you about a product or service? That was the outbound call. Most probably from an agent working with an outbound call center services provider. 

Contact Center Solutions vs Multichannel Call Center Services

A traditional call center services provider uses a phone to hear out a customer or to reach out to a potential customer. Whereas, a contact center has more options for communications, such as emails, faxes, and more. Thanks to the advancement of technology.  

The contact center’s agents can thus engage people on their favorite platforms. Such as social media or sometimes an email works better than a phone call. Hence, contact centers are more effective than call centers.

Omnichannel call centers

Like the contact center services provider, these call centers also use multichannel to deal with both the inbound and outbound responsibilities. But omnichannel call center services providers let customers or prospects seamlessly switch between different communication channels. To achieve that, they use cloud-based contact center software. 

Automated Call Centers 

This call center uses a computer-based system to handle various calling responsibilities. Compared to live-operator call centers, automated call centers have a few people to handle tasks that automation cannot. An automated call center deals with the following:

– Automated voice mail management 

– Assisting customers in finding a location of a nearby store

– Understanding caller words and navigating them through a menu or connecting them with a representative available

Virtual Call Centers

These days, most call center services providers are operating virtually. The staff of such call centers is not required to gather and work on-premises. Instead, they can work from anywhere worldwide. For as long as they can connect with the call center system using a laptop and internet connection. Most new businesses prefer such call centers for outbound and inbound responsibilities. Because they cost less. 

Can one call center take on multiple responsibilities?

It depends on the structure of a call center and the number of trained employees they have. Large call centers mostly have dedicated teams to deal with inbound and outbound calls. Medium and small-sized call centers generally like to deal with either inbound or outbound responsibilities for large companies with thousands of customers. For smaller companies, however, they may choose to go with providing both the inbound and outbound calls services. 

Conclusion

Call centers are more than places full of people engaged in telemarketing calls. There are various types of call centers, and each one deals with different calling responsibilities of an organization. This informative blog post was all about letting you understand the six types of call centers and how they are helping businesses. 

We really hope you like the write-up. If you have any questions or something that we could add here, please comment or reach out via email.

Putting it together, an inbound call center takes care of incoming calls, while the outbound call center is responsible for making outgoing calls. A company can either maintain a call center within the organization or completely outsource this function to a service provider. Also known as the call center outsourcing! 

Just keep reading to absorb useful and interesting information on call centers coming up in the next paragraphs. 

Types of call centers

You’ll often hear the terms what are outbound and inbound calls, so you can easily say that call centers are of two types. It means you have no idea yet about the third type, known as the blended call centers. Let’s get comfortable with all three types before we move forward. 

1. Inbound call centers: They receive calls from existing customers. Those customers call to: 

• Ask for support when they have an issue with the product after purchase 
• Inquire more information about the product or service 
• Renew their subscriptions or contracts 
• Register complaints and more 

Customers expect the company to timely answer their calls when required. Hence a fully functional inbound department becomes an indispensable thing, particularly for large organizations with millions of customers. 

Most of these inbound calls are managed by the interactive voice response system deployed to deal with common customer queries using an automated message. If the customer still needs to talk to an agent, this system routes his/her call to the most appropriate one available.

2. Outbound call centers: The agents here call people for:

• Telemarketing (Marketing goods or services over a phone)
• Lead Generation
• Debt Collection 
• Appointment scheduling or rescheduling 
• Fundraising 
• Surveying 

Most commonly, the agents use an automated dialer to initiate calls which are then transferred to the available agent upon response. 

3. Blended call center

When a call center is equipped to deal with both inbound and outbound calls, it is considered a blended call center.

Why are call centers important?

An inbound call center is important because it will allow the company to satisfy existing customers. Since a dedicated team will be available to take the queries or resolve an issue when required. 

An outbound call center is important because it brings more customers to a business. A new business will need an outbound call center to reach out to potential customers for sales and to impart information about the new product or service. 

Call Centers Vs. Contact Centers 

A contact center and a call center are often considered the same, but the two are slightly different. The call center relies on the telephone for both inbound and outbound calls. A customer will reach out to the company’s support department using a telephone number, while the sales agents will call on a customer’s mobile. That’s what the traditional call center environment looks like. But the emergence of technology has introduced several other options that call centers can trust as the mode of communication between agents and customers. Social media and emails are the two best examples. Therefore, when a call center relies on any or all other ways to communicate with existing customers or reach out to potential customers, it is regarded as a Contact Center. 

Teams and Structure of a Call Center 

The best call centers often follow this structure: 

The Agents

In inbound calls, an agent is the one who connects with a customer. Similarly, in outbound calls, they represent the organization when speaking to potential customers. Hence, we can rightly say that agents are the main point of connection in call centers, and they have a good knowledge of the company. 

The Team Leaders

Often in large call centers, the agents are split into smaller teams for easy management. Each of these teams has a team leader responsible for the guidance and work performed by his subordinates. 

The Directors

Call center directors focus on running the overall operations of the call center. They ensure that everything is running smoothly and that the teams make the best use of their time. 

Quality assurance

They check the quality of phone calls between customers and agents to ensure they adhere to the call center’s quality standards. 

An organization can opt to acquire call center services in any of these forms: 

• An internal call center department: A company can maintain a fully functional department internally. It will allow them the freedom to hire agents of their choice and set the standards for working.
• Outsourcing: Usually, a company outsources call center functions to expert call center service providers. Because those call centers have more experienced staff to take on these tasks. An organization can even choose to acquire call center services from offshore companies to save cost on wages. 

What technology does a call center use?

A call center agent needs a computer with an uninterrupted internet connection and a good headset for a clear voice. Moreover, call center agents can also opt to invest in the latest software for:

• Call Managing 
• Call Monitoring 
• Speech Analytics 
• Customer Relationship Management 
• Outbound Dialers 
• IVR

Measuring the success of a call center

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are mostly defined to evaluate call centers’ and agents’ effectiveness and efficiencies. They are generally different for the inbound call center and outbound call center. The KPI of the outbound call center includes: 

• Total Calls Made 
• Cost Per Call 
• Revenue Earned 
• Completed Tasks 

• The KPI of the Inbound call center includes: 
• First Call Resolution 
• Abandoned Call Costs 
• Average waiting time 

Call centers across different industries 

Any business that commonly interacts with customers over the phone can use call center services. Read on to know some of these businesses that are most commonly using call center services: 

– Inbound call center services of airlines: A customer will usually call an airline company for: 

• Flight details 
• Flight statuses check 
• Flight delays and cancellation inquires 

– Inbound call center services for healthcare: Customers make calls to healthcare service providers for: 

• Confirmation of Appointment 
• Cancellation of Appointment 
• Requesting to speak with a physician 

Take Away 

A call center deals with incoming and outgoing calls for a business. The incoming calls are usually from their customers when they have a query or need to resolve an issue with the purchase. The outgoing calls are directed to potential customers to persuade them to buy the company’s product or service. These are also termed inbound and outbound calls. 

Furthermore, there’s a difference between call centers and contact centers. The latter is an evolution to the traditional call center as the agents here can also use other modes of communication, such as social media and emails, to interact with customers. An organization can hire an inbound call center if it is already established and have many customers. On the other hand, a business can hire an outbound call center if it’s new and needs to find more customers for its products or service.

Inside vs Outside Sales – Under the Microscope 

Let’s discuss the two concepts in some details

What is ‘Outside Sales?’

As the name indicates, outside sales mean when an agent physically goes out to meet a potential customer. 

What is ‘Inside Sales?’

When an agent remotely handles the sales, it is termed inside sales. 

Expanding on The Outside vs Inside Sales

Now you are comfortable with the fundamental difference between inside and outside sales. We can rightly say that ‘inside sales‘ is a modern way of selling. A business will probably rely on it to sell contemporary products like software and others. Comparatively, outside sales use traditional means like face-to-face meetings and more. As you can guess, a large percentage of businesses rely on this. It seems like your curiosity is accumulating as you read more about the inside vs outside sales tactics. Hence, it is the right time to let you know which one should you prefer. 

Which of The Inside Sales and Outside Sales is a Better Option? 

Well, it depends on the nature and circumstances in which your business operates. Plus, other factors will also influence your decision to go for one of the two. Don’t worry; we are listing them all for you below:

What are You Selling? 

Is it the physical product or the digital product you are selling? ‘Inside sales’ suits the selling of digital products more. Because an agent can quickly email its features to thousands of prospects almost instantly compared to visiting them all. He can also provide a quick demo of the product if required. We can say the same for services, as clear information and reviews will be sufficient for a potential customer to decide. On the other hand, companies are better off selling physical products using outside sales strategies. This one allows a potential customer to get the real feel of a product, so he’s more likely to buy. 

It doesn’t mean we can’t use outside sales strategies for selling digital products or services. Similarly, we can apply inside sales methodologies to sell a physical product. In fact, large businesses are relying on a blend of both inside and outside sales tactics for a better outcome. And yes, this blend works more often than not! 

What is Your Budget? 

You can argue that the traditional outside sales approach is always the best option. Because the agent can actually meet a prospect, gets to know his interests better, and pitch to him in the way he likes. No doubt, it will work but do you have enough budget to hire and train people to carry out these responsibilities? Maybe you can’t afford to do it now since your business is finding its feet in the industry. Comparatively, using inside sales strategies will cost less. All it requires of an agent is his time in front of a laptop from anywhere he likes. 

Yes, a call center can provide both inside and outside sales solutions. Of course, they’ll charge more for employing outside sales tactics because this will need specialized agents who have strong interpersonal skills, can physically visit the customers, and can convince them in a face-to-face conversation. 

What are Your Business Goals?

Do you want to base your sales team efforts on the overall conversation or sales? Then you should go for inside sales. The sales rep here must have targets on display that’ll also evaluate their overall performance. On the other hand, if you can invest in an excellent system to schedule tasks for your team, which will record their meetings, territories, and more. Then you can go with implementing a whole outside sales strategy. 

Are You Willing to Adapt?

Both the inside and outside sales have their own challenges. Hence, very few organizations have successfully implemented a full inside sales or outside sales model. Therefore as a business owner, you should also take advantage of both these strategies. Keep a remote inside sales representative team for some time and evaluate their overall outcome. Then hire an outside sales agent and check what good they bring to your revenues. Hence, you should use both tactics for your business growth. 

Best call centers have skilled staff to handle an organization’s inside and outside sales. Check this blog if you are on the hunt for finding the top call center USA has. 

Some Tips for The Inside and Outside Sales Representatives Working in Contact Center Services 

Enough is now said about inside vs outside sales; let’s now read some tips the agents can use to get the most out of each. 

• An Inside sales agent must be a good researcher, while the Outside sales agent must have excellent problem-solving abilities. 
• Outside sales agents should focus on improving their interpersonal skills. 
• An outside sales agent has to meet the prospects in person; therefore, he must be well-dressed. The inside sales agent should ensure the availability of a fast internet connection. 
• Inside salesperson must be able to write proficiently 

Take Away

‘Outside sales’ focus on traditional means of selling a product or service. Whereas ‘Inside Sales’ representatives sell a product or service remotely. An organization can either incorporate one of the two strategies. Or, you could even go for the blend of both for a better outcome. Since there is some confusion about both terms, therefore we felt the need to discuss them in this very interesting blog. 

We hope this 5-minute write-up about ‘inside vs outside sales’ was worth your time. Furthermore, if you think we have skipped including something here, please comment or write to us at our official email address.

Make sure you read this one till the end to get the most out of this exciting write-up.

4 Reasons Why Effective Call Center Communication Is Important 

These are the four reasons that tell you why a call center should look for achieving effective communication.

Customer’s Satisfaction

Effective communication allows a call center agent to clearly address a customer’s concerns. He answers all the queries and quickly acts on the customer’s requests. Convey the reasons for the occurrence of something the customer doesn’t like or expect. Make it clear why he can’t follow the caller’s advice right now. By doing so, the customer feels valued by the entity. Hence, he begins to develop a good relationship with the company. See, we already love the first reason, but remember, there are more to come. 

Creates An Opportunity 

A call center agent with telemarketing responsibility has only a few seconds to hook a receiver’s attention. Plus, he has to clearly explain a product’s or service’s benefits in such a short span. Hence, if he’s struggling with his communication skills, he will lose the opportunity of converting a receiver into a customer. On the other hand, if the agent’s communication skills are good, he can keep the potential customer engaged on the phone for a long and ultimately creates an opportunity for sale. 

You can also tell this from your own experience. How do you react to a sales call? You will probably hang it up very quickly because you are under no obligation to listen to this caller. Therefore, an agent only gets a few seconds to hook the receiver’s attention. Then he needs good communication skills to ensure the other party stays on the phone while he markets the product or service.

Customer-specific Solutions 

A customer support representative with good communication skills can tailor his conversations with each customer. Instead of relying on the call center script, he could talk to a receiver in a more direct and natural tone. Just think of a time when you were on a call with a very polite and well-spoken call center agent. You could still recall how courteously he addressed you, aren’t you? You remember him calling your name multiple times to affirm that this call only focuses on your benefits. That’s what good communication brings!

Furthermore, tailored phone calls also provide an opportunity to know the receiver better. Therefore, it creates a better chance of converting a potential customer into a customer. Call centers are fantastic, aren’t they? 

Avoids Conflicts 

Suppose you make everything clear to the customer before he makes the purchase. Why will he open up a dispute with you after the purchase? That’s another luxury of effective call center communication. An agent working with a telemarketing services provider ensures that a customer fully understands the features and limitations of a particular product. Plus, he also conveys the policies and practices of the company very clearly. Therefore, there’s little chance of conflict afterward. 

This is one of the significant issues that companies are facing these days. Most of their customers’ register complains that the product is missing a feature or two that the marketing call has indicated. Maybe it was indicated to a receiver by mistake, or the agent failed to convey all the features clearly. Hence, disputes are now inevitable. That’s where effective call center communication gets essential, especially for call centers who are also providing chat support services.

So, you have read the four compelling reasons that stress both outbound and inbound call center to focus on effective communication. Let’s now read a few valuable tips a call center agent can consider. 

Skill Set For Call Center Agents To Achieve The Effectiveness of Communication

These are some tried and tested tips a call center agent can use to improve his communication skills. Yes, there is a long list of such tips and tricks for effective communication. We have only highlighted the top three of them for you below. 

Speak Clearly And Effectively

One of the fundamental call center skills! An agent must clearly explain the company’s policies and procedures to avoid disputes in the future. Speaking clearly and effectively also makes a good impression. It creates a sort of understanding between a company and a customer that results in a long-term relationship. 

Speak Politely And Efficiently 

As a customer calls, he expects to be answered quickly and politely. An agent must speak in a way to show that he has a complete understanding of a customer’s problems and can address them quickly. This implies respect for the customer and improves the company’s reputation. It is also one of the very commonly practiced call center representative skills. 

Try To Listen Empathetically

An agent must think from the caller’s perspective. Ascertain how the issue raised is affecting the customer. This way, a customer support representative will also get a few points to ponder when working to resolve the problem later. 

Take Away

It is correct to say that effective communication shapes a call center’s success. Because all a call center does is communicate with customers and potential customers regularly. Concerning the importance of the same, this blog post focuses on different reasons to emphasize why a call center must look for effective communication. 

We hope you have enjoyed reading this one. If you feel we need to include something about call center communication, please feel free to comment. Or, write to us at our official email address.