In this article, we’ll help you answer the following question: How do you identify the best outsourced contact centre for you before you start working with them?
In fact, just as you would with a new recruit or a full-time employee, it’s important to take the time to get to know all your options before choosing one. When you’re interviewing and checking out the services offered by different outsourced contact centres, here are a few recommendations to keep in mind:
- Study the reviews and references
- Check the history and results
- Visit the premises
Outsourced contact centre: study reviews and references
When you start talking to an outsourced contact centre, always ask for references.
In fact, you should hire a contact center that has experience with companies similar to yours in terms of services, objectives or sector. If an outsourced contact center is able to provide solid references, then it will also be able to give you better results.
In addition, you can browse the outsourced contact centre’s website to see if there are any white papers, case studies or articles detailing experiences and results achieved for other clients. Reading these can give you a clearer picture of the types of customers this company works with, the KPIs and metrics it focuses on and the services it can offer you.
In addition, reviews published by people who have already used the service can also help you find out whether or not the outsourced contact center in question will be a good fit for your business. Take note of what customers have written about the services and briefly analyse whether the company can meet your expectations. Don’t just explore the first company you come across and study all the options available by reading customer reviews to choose the most consistent option.
Outsourced contact centre: check history and results
It’s always a good idea to familiarise yourself with the track record of the outsourced contact center you want to partner with.
Here are a few questions to ask during the first meeting:
- How long has the contact center been in business?
- What do old and new customers have to say about the company?
- Is it possible to present the initiatives and services put in place for other accounts to achieve the desired results?
- What sets this contact center apart from the competition?
It is essential that you are convinced that the outsourced contact center you have chosen will be able to help you achieve the results you expect.
At this stage, consider the information you’ve received so far and compare it with the problems you’re looking to solve: does this outsourced contact center offer the services and experience you need to achieve these results?
On the other hand,analysis and reporting capabilities play an important role in understanding the results we’ve just discussed. Your outsourced contact center needs to have plenty of analytics and data dashboards to allow you to track the health and growth of your customer experience. Therefore, outsourced contact center managers need to be able to answer the following questions:
What KPIs does this contact center track? And which metrics does it consider more important than the rest?
- What reporting capabilities does it have?
- What reports and data will be shared with you?
- Does the contact center offer configurable dashboards?
- How is the data collected used to optimise the customer experience?
Outsourced contact centre: visit the premises
Before taking the plunge, don’t hesitate to take the time to visit the premises of your new outsourced contact centre. If you’re thinking of hiring an offshore contact centre, this can be difficult. Nevertheless, if possible, try to visit the contact cener in person to get a better idea of the company and its culture.
This visit will also be an opportunity to discover the motivation and energy of the contact center agents, to see how the offices and teams are organised and to get an idea of the day-to-day operations and all the services provided.
The visit will allow you to take the time to talk to management and immerse yourself in the processes, systems and technologies used in this partnership.
Finally, before you take the plunge, consider publishing an invitation to tender where you can describe exactly what you’re looking for in an outsourced contact centre. This will enable you to obtain competitive bids and choose from several options.
If you still have any doubts about choosing your new outsourced contact centre, don’t hesitate to contact us. Advancia Teleservices is here to guide you and answer all your questions. We are one of the most important contact centres in Tunisia, because we place performance and excellence in customer relations at the center of our concerns.
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