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In-House contact center
Hearing the term on-premise contact center might conjure images of a high-end corporate office or a customer service operation with thousands of employees. The truth is, it doesn’t have to be, either. On-premise contact centers can be as small as a team of 10 people in an office, providing customer service for your business from within your walls. The vast options of in the cloud contact center solutions softwares, allow every company with a little bit of research, planning, and elbow grease to set up an effective customer service department.
Now; there are quite a few challenges that you might encounter during your setup, for example; assuring a quality standard is a must! We need to understand that a repetitive task or job cycle can affect your team’s performance and overall operation. According to an article by the Oxford Review, job cycles can decrease productivity by up to 45%, that is why; counting on a quality assurance department is necessary to audit your contact center interactions and identify areas of improvement. Additionally, to ensure that the quality standards are consistent, you need to make sure that every agent stays focused & motivated. Now, this might sound simplistic; but the reality is that motivation is one of the hardest things to convey to a team. Learning what triggers performance and satisfaction to each agent is complicated since every one of us is driven by different reasons and passions. This is why creating a positive company culture is key to success. A study conducted in 2013 and mentioned by the Harvard Business Review illustrates this. Researchers asked “2,500 workers to analyze medical images for “objects of interest.” They told one group that the work would be discarded; they told the other group that the objects were “cancerous tumor cells.” The workers were paid per image analyzed. The latter group, or “meaning” group, spent more time on each image, earning 10% less, on average, than the “discard” group — but the quality of their work was higher. Reshaping the workers’ motive resulted in better performance.”
Once you have defined your quality standards and understand what drives your team, you can start working on developing key indicators that will guarantee a top-quality customer experience. For that your KPI’s will be your best frame of reference, however; you must understand that indicators work just as a point of reference for what must be normality. Taking into account all the different variables that might make your team not comply 100% all the time is part of the growth process, nonetheless; you must analyze and compare quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily every single point of KPI data to understand your areas of improvement and make the proper adjustments to your organization.
Is a Contact Center even an option?
Now as you might be thinking, an In-House contact center can get expensive. We are talking about an investment that will take hard work, dedication, and a constant payroll to generate a return on investment within 5 years. Another option for most small to medium-sized businesses is outsourcing the contact center needs to other companies, which not only saves you time and money but is also more convenient. Most projects take no more than 30 days to start running, but the question is, is a contact center even an option for your business? Here are a few pros and cons of outsourcing your customer service needs.
Cost Reduction: Outsourcing is on average 30% – 50% more affordable per agent than an In-house contact center, this is without including the monthly expenses of maintaining infrastructure, other departments’ labor, and overhead cost.
Immediate start: Most outsourcing companies are used to very high demand recruitment needs, this allows for a faster and more efficient recruitment process for your team; guaranteeing high-quality talent at a fraction of the cost.
Staff & Productivity Management: As previously mentioned, productivity and motivation are key factors for a successful customer experience, this is why contact center managers have vast experience in staff management; allowing them to comply with your business expectations.
Risk Mitigation: Risk management is a complex subject, specifically in the contact center industry. Delegating the responsibility of a continuous operation is one of the most important reasons why outsourcing can be a great tool.
But what about the cons? Here are some possible cons to consider when outsourcing your contact center needs.
Culture and language differences: This might be one of the main challenges, assuring that your outsourcing team aligns their language with your customers.
Brand Identification: Self Brand identification is key for a strong customer service department, this is what makes your team the next level. Having your partners identified with your products/services and brand will guarantee that every customer goes 100% satisfied.
Lack of Control: As a business manager or owner, the extent of control you can exercise on an outsourced call center is limited, supervision is complicated & if the communication with the outsourcing company is not adequate, it can be hard to get a daily overview of what is happening in your operation.
Most companies now opt for outsourcing their contact center services which are more cost-effective and efficient in time management. The use of technology allows employees to focus on certain types of calls, hence increasing the operation productivity and saving money at the same time. The reality is that every business is different and the type of customer experience is differs based on what the company culture is. The question is, is a Contact Center The Right Fit in 2022 for your business?
