Employing an external call centre or virtual assistant can be a very good way of increasing the efficiency of your business, reducing costs and freeing your staff to concentrate on generating profits. There are plenty of great call centre providers out there, but there are some dodgy ones as well. It is important therefore to be able to recognise the difference between the two. Here are a few of the warning signs to look out for when choosing your call centre.
Insufficient experience
Does the company have sufficient experience operating call centres for companies of similar size and complexity, and in a similar industry to yours? If your company's experience and level of expertise in its field is one of its major attributes then any organisation acting on its behalf needs to be able to live up to these standards. If the company is inexperienced, do they understand the way that your business operates? Can they demonstrate that they will be able give your business and your customers the level of professional service you require? In this situation you should proceed with caution.
Lack of flexibility
The needs of your business right now are only part of the story. Businesses change rapidly and your call centre needs to adapt to these changes, quickly and efficiently, as soon as they come along. Does the organisation that will operate your call centre demonstrate the capability to do this? If you have any doubts about this, then it is probably not the right company for you, Even if you get an efficient call centre now, you will only be storing up problems for the future.
Not scalable
If your business is expecting to grow, you need to know that your call centre can grow with it. This means that the technology must be in place to allow you to adapt and increase the service levels you offer, as well increasing the number of agents, without interrupting the efficiency of the business. A company that is unable to demonstrate its ability to grow with you is unlikely to be anything other than a short-term solution.
Lack of good references
Theory is all well and good, but it is no guarantee that all will run smoothly in practice. Good companies in all sectors proudly display their success stories as evidence of their capabilities. If the company you are considering dealing with is unable to show you good references and testimonials, then alarm bells should start to ring. At the very least you should question why not and wherever possible try to speak to existing and former clients and quiz them about their experiences.
Limited service offering
A good answering service or call centre should be able to answer and route calls, but it should be able to do more than that. Look for signs that the organisation offers a wider and more proactive service. If they are not demonstrating their ability to offer a complete customer management system, to forecast demand and to schedule staff, you should ask yourself why not.
----------------------------------------------------
In this industry call center customer satisfaction (Csat) is king. If you are not focused on customer satisfaction then you're dropping the ball. Call center benchmarking is the first step towards improving your Csat. http://ezinearticles.com/?First-Call-Resolution-and-Call-Center-Improvement&id=4521176
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=278773
No comments:
Post a Comment