10 Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing Call Center Services.

Is your organization growing its customer base? Well, maybe it is high time you think about getting a call center department to handle the customer care queries. A call center is a department that handles all the telephone matters related to the organization. This kind of job requires to be managed by professionals who know how to deal with different clients and also provide the right information about the company. The good thing is that if you don’t have a call centre department in your company or, your staff members cannot be able to handle these services, you can always opt to outsource for them. But before you settle on the first call centre you find online, or you are referred to, here are top ten essential questions to ask before outsourcing for call centre services.

1. What is your area of specialization?

This is an essential question you need to ask first since it helps you measure the skills that the company has to handle your business. Keep in mind that you need a call centre that has knowledge and expertise in the type of business you run, therefore by knowing the kind of services they offer, you will be able to tell if they are reliable or not. Some companies offer multiple call services while other deal with one area of business. So, you will be the one to decide the call centre company to choose based on their skills and your company’s operations.

2. How long have you been in the business?

The customer cares are the ones who determine the kind of relationship you will establish and build with your customers. Thus you need to hire people who have been in the industry for a long time and knew how to relate to customers. Therefore, focus on finding a call centre company that has a good truck of successful relationship and has served several companies for the time they have been operating.

3. Who else do you work with?

When you ask this question, the call centre should provide you with a list of other companies that they serve or have served before. Get the contacts of those companies and call them for reference. If there are companies that the call centre still works with, ask them about the call centre’s services and how they handle their clients. If there are clients, who stopped working with the call centre company, ask them the reasons and if they had a healthy relationship with the company. This will help you determine if it is a good idea to work with that call centre or you will have to find another company.

4. What call volume can you handle in a day?

This will depend on the size of your business. If it is small and still growing, there is no need to look for a call centre that handles big calls since it will even cost you more. But if your business is large with a high number of customers, hire a company that can handle a large number of calls in a day. So, this question is essential to ask based on the size of your company.

5. How do you prove the quality of your services?

There has to be a process that the company uses to prove the quality of their services to their new customers. It could be through an audit that is performed maybe on a monthly basis or a record of the calls they handle on a daily basis. Ask for such documents so you can gauge how convenient their services will be to you.

6. What kind of calls services do you offer?

When it comes to calling centre services, every company has its needs depending on the kind of business is being run. Some may only need the essential call services of communicating with the customers when they call in. But some companies may need extra services aside from the standard calls. So, ask the call centre company if they do offer customised services just in case you will require them in the future.

7. What are your working hours?

Some call centres operate 24/7 which is quite convenient if your company offers services 24/7, while others work on hourly basis and close on the weekends and holidays. The choice based on this question will be determined by the nature of your business and work. If you provide products and services throughout the year, then you will need a company that offers services throughout the year to ensure convenience in your job.

8. How safe is my data and can you prove it?

The security of your company should be your number one priority when dealing with an outsourced call centre. You need to make sure that all the information shared between the customer care representatives and your customers are secure and not leaked to a third party. So, if the call centre company uses protective measures, let them show you what they use to protect the data of their clients. On the same question, make sure they show you the tactics they use when hiring their staff members and the bases they use to hire them to ensure the quality of services and reliability too. You need to work with a transparent and trustworthy company.

9. What are your charges?

Apart from finding reliable call centre services for your company, you also need a company that you will be comfortable to pay. The charging rates for the call centre duties vary depending on the kind of services you need, the type of company you are hiring and also the type of business you run. So, focus on finding a good company and also ensure that they charge you reasonable prices. Note that if you hire for long-term services, you may be charged much lower as opposed to hiring for short-term services. So, be cautious when choosing the package of services you need.

10. Where are your call centre managers?

A call centre that has managers in the same premises with the staff is quite reliable since you are assured that the services will be monitored and be delivered as per the agreement. Also, in case of any queries or if you need to confirm something, it would be much easier for you to reach out since everyone involved is in the same premise.

In Conclusion

If you are searching for a call centre that can offer the above services and more, well look no further than Global Travel Assistant. GTA has deep experience in offering� call centre services for a long time. Get a free quote on how cheap a inbound/outbound, full-time/fulltime,  monolingual/bilingual call center can be for your company! Whatever company you choose, make sure to ask yourselves the above questions to help you determine if the company is the right one to hire or not!