The question is not as simple as it sounds. In fact, a lot of analysis related to requirements of the business and budget is needed to reach the conclusion.

Let’s go through different factors that help you in identifying if outsourcing call center process is perfect for your business.

What to Outsource?

Usually, the startups are often confused on what processes to outsource. It is definitely feasible option to take support of third party vendor for the processes that are not core ones. For example, if startup is into online retail, it can take care of processes like inventory management, logistics and online marketing itself. It can outsource customer support process so that the core competencies are not affected due to division of attention. The vendors can handle the customer support at different levels through toll free phone support, live chat and social media monitoring. Setting up an infrastructure for all these activities is usually a cumbersome and costly process. Even human resource management can be handled by third parties for these types of businesses.

Understanding the Challenges and Risks

There is hardly any outsourcing process which is not linked to multiple risks. Very first challenge associated with outsourcing is difference in time zones. Usually, the firms situated offshore have time zone different from your region. Therefore, you must choose a company which operates round the clock.

Security of data of end customers is a major link that is tied to the outsourcing of this process. Companies must select a call center which uses strict measures to protect the data of the customers.

Several outsourcing vendors also lack contingency plans to ensure smooth running of process in an event of disaster. But some renowned vendors have more than one center spread in different areas of the world so that work is never affected even in the case of natural calamity.

Analyze if you Will Get Maximum ROI

To ensure that you will derive maximum return for investments, you must make a list of objectives related to outsourcing. Usually, cost cutting is the primary reason of outsourcing by most companies. But outsourcing just for this factor is never a wise decision. Other goals that are met through outsourcing include:

• Access to agents that are able to handle regular and difficult customers
• Access to technology which leads to finest form of communication
• Use of techniques like data analytics by vendor for improved customer experience
• Multilingual support if target audience consists of different groups of people
• Easy scaling up if you plan to expand your business in future

These and several other objectives will help you analyze if you will get benefits that surpass the amount of investment made from your end.

Finding the Appropriate Outsourcing Partner

A right partner surely turns the outsourcing project into an opportunity for your business. Let’s go through some points that will help you in selecting the best outsourcing partner for your project.

Pose as a Customer to Check the Quality of Service

Search some of the clients of the contact center and make a call at their customer care number by posing as an end-customer. This will give you an exact idea of quality offered by the vendor while handling the customers.

Create a Comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP)

Creating and sending an RFP to potential vendors are one of the most important steps which decide the fate of outsourcing process. Therefore, invest more time in writing it and include questions like:

• Will you provide recordings of interactions made with the customers?
• Can we switch from dedicated to shared agents if volume of calls changes in future?
• How will you offer the detailed reports related to agent performance?
• Can we participate in designing the training modules for the agents?

Ask for a Free Demo

After the potential vendor has passed the above two tests, ask for a demo for few days free of cost. That will be the final step where you can be sure that the Firm is suitable for outsourcing your process.

Conclusion

Going through each point discussed above will help you finalize if outsourcing is right for you or not. Also, these points will guide in selecting the suitable partner to ensure you reap maximum benefits if you finally choose to outsource the call center processes.