Contact Centre Outsourcing: The Smart Way to Improve Service Levels
Whatever the product or service, every business needs to manage the demands of customers who want the lowest possible price and the best possible service. And in a competitive and challenging market, customers are willing to go elsewhere if they think there is a better deal available. Added to this, businesses have to make a profit. Whether it’s to satisfy investors or please shareholders, no business can last long if they can’t secure a margin. A common option for businesses looking to meet these competing demands is to use contact centre outsourcing.
“For most businesses, the biggest advantage of call centre outsourcing are the lower costs. And the savings can be significant, starting at around 10-15% less than the equivalent in-house operation when using an onshore call centre,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning contact centre outsourcing provider. Several factors contribute to how an external provider can offer these savings.
First are the capital expenditure costs. Using a contact centre outsourcing provider in Australia means that someone else is taking care of the building and physical infrastructure costs. And while they will still need premises, the costs of these will be shared between multiple clients.
Staffing costs are also lower. Part of these savings is likely the result of the location being in an area with a lower cost of living leading to savings on salary costs. However, a large part of the savings will be due to the benefits of economies of scale. A specialist contact centre outsourcing provider is able to save on many of the staffing overhead costs. Supervision and management can be shared between clients, while support services like HR and finance, as well as being shared, benefit from only needing to offer a streamlined service for one industry. And, because third-party vendors can offer better training and development, they frequently save by having a lower staff turnover than smaller in-house operations.
Another major benefit of contact centre outsourcing is that such centres frequently improve the service level offered to customers. Like any specialist service, they are set up to focus on their core product or service. This means that everything is focused around the customer experience. From the buildings agents work in, to the equipment and software they use, they benefit from a level of investment that in-house operations cannot compete with. Providers frequently have the latest technologies such as AI, offering benefits not just in customer routing, but also providing a live assistant to agents. And staff benefit from a training budget dedicated to them, not one that many other departments are trying to claim.
“Using contact centre outsourcing is, for a business that’s concerned about customer service, a no-brainer. The savings are significant. Using a domestic provider is around 10-15% cheaper. For those looking for bigger savings, offshore options are available. The Philippines have become a world leader because of the exceptional standard of English premier providers offer, with saving of 40-50% over in-house services. And these savings are made while still offering an improved service to customers, making the contact centre outsourcing decision an easy one to make,” says Ellspermann.
