Month: December 2023

Call center executives are the frontline workers for carrying out the business essentials for any business process outsourcing organization. Industry experts believe that it is really important to follow a set of established standards in order to deliver the best services to the customer, over the preferred mode of communication i.e, phone call, messages, email, chatbot etc.

Some of the most commonly used call center metrics are:

Call Center Metrics:  Call Abandonment Rate First Call Resolution Average Handle Time Service Levels Adherence Rate Customer Satisfaction Rate Average Wait Time Occupancy Rate Cost Per Call Attrition Rate

CALL ABANDONMENT RATE:

Call abandonment rate decides the levels of productivity in the business niche. Usually, customer expects to get in touch with customer care executive in the least possible time. Delay to answer the call can result in abandoned calls, which can significantly drop the productivity level of call center services.

Formula for call abandonment rate is mentioned below:

Ar (%) = (Ac / n)*100

Where, Ar= Abandon Rate, Ac=Abandoned Calls, n=Total Number of Calls.

FIRST CALL RESOLUTION:

First call resolution means offering the complete resolution to the query raised by the customer, discarding any sort of need for follow-ups calls from the end of executive or customer.

Higher the percentage of first call resolution the better customer satisfaction rate!

First call resolution can be calculated by following the given formula-

FCR (%) = (Number of FCR Calls / Total Number of Calls)*100

Where, FCR= First Call Resolution.

AVERAGE HANDLE TIME:

Average Handle Time (AHT) is the sequence of Average Talk Time (ATT) and After Call Work (ACW). Call center service provider actively works on deflating the AHT, which further bolsters in extracting the cost related to the same, in the favour of an organization. Average talk time is the time required for creating the sales and raise a ticket for the required purpose and its subsidiaries.

Formula is mentioned below:

Avh = Avt + Afw

Where Avh=Average Handle Time, Avt=Average Talk Time, Afw=After Call Work.

SERVICE LEVELS:

The service level can be counted as a percentage of calls answered in the call center company, within the predefined time span.

The more number of calls answered in time, the better will be the service level, which is further responsible for driving successful business and its related benefits.

Several call center service provider affirm the factor that they tend to reach the service level standards to 80/20 i.e; 80% of calls to be attended in the first 20 seconds of a call’s ring.

80/20 Service Level Standard i.e; 80% of Calls to be Attended in First 20 Seconds of Call’s Ring

ADHERENCE RATE:

Adherence is one of the important call center metrics used to closely monitor the activities of agents, adhering to their targeted schedule.

The metrics are used to analyse the performance of call center executives by registering the paid hours and paid lunch hours.

Adherence: (AHT + AT) / (Paid Hours – Paid Lunch)

Where, AT= the amount of time an agent is willing to have a call.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATE:

Customer satisfaction is the most required agenda held by any call center company.

More satisfied customer results in more future sales opportunities. The call center service provider can lay its hand on statistics through conduction of  survey, feedback calls and many more…

Customer Satisfaction Rate (%)= (Number of Satisfied Customers/ Number of Survey Responses)*100

 

AVERAGE WAIT TIME:

Average wait time is the measures responsible for reducing the wait of the customer in the queue of getting in touch with the real-time executive. The call center service provider prepares to decrease the average wait time over the phone call by advocating the use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Automatic Dialer and Predictive Dialer.

The less the average wait time for a caller, the less will be call abandonment rate!

Average Wait Time = (The Total Time Your Customer Wait in Call Queues/ The Total Number of Calls Answered by Agents)

OCCUPANCY RATE:

Occupancy is one of the most important call center metrics used to monitor the productivity of an agent.

Occupancy rate helps in determining the time utilized by the executive and also identifies the depth of responsibility on the shoulder of the executive in the call center company. If the occupancy rate is less than 70%, the executive might not be delivering its best of the services to the organization.

But, if the occupancy rate is more than 80%, it signifies that the executives might be overburdened with the task allotted to him.

OcR = TcT/(TcT+Avt)

Where, OcR=Occupancy Rate, Tct=Total Call Time, Avt=Available Time.

COST PER CALL:

Cost per call can vary on the basis of the number of executives, holding the responsibility of inbound call centers.

Cost Per Call= Call Per Hour/ Executive’s Hourly Income

ATTRITION RATE:

It is prominent for the call center service provider to measure the percentage of attrition i.e; employees leaving the organization for voluntary or involuntary reasons.

Attrition Rate (%)= Number of People to Leave the Call Center/ Number of Positions in Call Center

Call center operations are very critical as they are related to two major objectives of “Customer Base Expansion” and “Sales Growth”. Running both outbound and inbound call center is extremely tough as one has to arrange required resources and then uses them effectively to ensure it runs successfully. Any shyness results in hassles in the later stage. Below are top 5 customer handling skills required to cultivate for running an in-house inbound call center seamlessly:-

1. PATIENCE

Handling frustrated customers is tough because they just want to speak and do not allow the support agent to speak & provide resolution. So an agents with good composure is required. Patience is a key skill with regards to customer service operations, because short-tempered service agents often get involved in a heated argument with customer, thereby resulting in poor customer service.

If customers are allowed to explain issues without any interruption, better resolutions can be provided. When customers demand an explanation on the occurrence of technical issues, agent should put them at ease by giving an explanation calmly and patiently as that’s how splendid support experience can be delivered.

2. TIMELY DELIVERY

Timeliness/punctuality has always been a critical part of inbound call center operations because customers are always in a hurry to get one-stop resolutions, hence, they get annoyed when things move slowly. Established inbound call center service providers have always been appreciated for their habit of providing inimitable resolutions in a jiffy. Promptness is what can help in achieving high CSAT score.

3. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

An effective conversation always results in good customer service levels. So, it is important to cultivate support agent’s communication skills to operate an in-house call center perfectly. Better communication includes both amazing speaking skills & active listening skills. Therefore, it is imperative to train customer service associates so it helps in maintaining a balance between listening and speaking. They must know how to assist customers in a friendly manner, without disregarding a professional vocabulary. They should follow KISS rule- Keep it short and simple.

Customers generally seek human touch, so it would be great to add the introduction part in call scripts. However, the main goal should be keeping effective communication in sync with valuing customers’ time & providing swift resolution.

4. FOCUS ON EXTRA MILE

Support agents should never hesitate to go the extra mile while assisting customers because the more efforts are put in, the more delighted customer will be. Meaning of going the extra mile is providing personalized assistance. Customized resolutions result in satisfied customers & then they recommend the brand to others, which leads to winning customer loyalty to the brand. Therefore, the value of customer relationships should be drilled into the minds of call center agents during training.

5. ADAPTABILITY

Adaptability is a must as customer do not come back with same issue every time. There will be times when they demand first time resolution for intricate issues. Lack of knowledge or tardiness is not appreciated by customers. So an agent should be trained in such a way that any curve ball thrown by customer can be handled by them. If service agents aren’t able to adapt to changing situations, they will never succeed to get you high CSAT score. Adaptability is not only limited to handling a variety of issues but also concerns switching between multiple support channels/queries.

Apart from theses, attributes like product knowledge, positive attitude, empathy, confidence & time management also plays a pivotal role in creating wonderful customer experience. Customer service skills of inbound call center agents should be improved in a continuous manner for creating the best customer support experience. Combination of good training and motivation can pave the way for delivering best service experience. This will yield long-term brand loyalty.

Increasing call volumes can be indicator of dispute/disruption in the business service, which might eventually result in high complaints/call volumes. This is primary reason why call centers in India and BPOs around the world are trying to introduce some quick fixes to avoid increasing call volumes that deteriorate the business brand name.

In today’s pandemic COVID-19 time, when customers are already suffering, wherein call center companies can earn customer satisfaction for their clients with outstanding outsourcing services. Most companies outsource their customer support to a reliable call center firm because they want professionals to handle customer calls.

Every company wants reduced negative call volumes and increased positive inquiries. Below mentioned are few ways, which may help companies in doing the same:

 

SEGREGATION OF CALLS IN ACCORDANCE TO IMPORTANCE:

Call queue needs to be prioritized with IVR system in accordance with importance level of calls. Team can seek help from different departments of their organization, asking them to keep a check on activities that may be resulting in high call volumes.

A simple change in the marketing plan can help eliminate all disorders. Hence, use the IVR system to differentiate calls based on importance and handle the answering services accordingly.

OVERTIME:

High call volumes are alarming for any firm, so in order to ensure that company is able to meet call volume, bonus can be introduced to motivate employees to do overtime. Since rising call volumes can be monotonous for the agents, thus incentivizing them with bonuses can help them ease through those extra working hours.

When companies ask their staff to work extra hours and do not pay heed to their mental pressure, the agents might not be able to bring their best and may leave your company too.

ASK FOR HELP:

Call centers in India are famous among the BPO companies around the world for strategizing the marketing plan well. Increased call volumes lead to the most dissatisfied customers, which is why companies need to take the necessary steps on time. When employees from other departments come together for some time to handle the increased call volumes, it becomes easy to answer each customer with the same ease and the threat of rising customer dissatisfaction is reduced too. When call volume increases suddenly, hiring and training simultaneously will not bring adequate results. Thus, it is better to use the available resources and cater to customer satisfaction.

PROVIDE WORK FROM HOME OPTION

Companies using software to ease their call center services can help their employees work from home easily. With the help of a cloud-based call center service, companies can easily manage work from home and can simplify answering services.

For companies that still prefer on-premise systems, various cloud vendors can help in easing work-from-home facilities.

TRACK AFTER-CALL WORK (ACW) TIME

Directing agents to keep a check on their after-call-work tenure will be quite challenging and may make the agent pressurized resulting in negative results to customer satisfaction.

Train your agents to take notes while on calls. Wasting time on re-asking any query to the customer and re-thinking over the same wastes time and even effects the customer satisfaction. Thus, take notes about the important things from the call. Encourage the agents to use acronyms as it helps to boost the speed of the advisors while typing, thus saving time on call.

ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS FOR HIGH CALL VOLUMES

When the business understands the faults in the service that led to increased call volumes, it helps in simplifying the same and controlling increasing calls. Every company wants customer satisfaction and wants to uplift the business processes. The same cannot be done without analyzing the pitfalls of the business and where the organization lacks in boosting customer experience.

Identify and address the shortcomings on the business webpage, check the IVR systems, and simplify the probable default that may be causing an increase in call volume.

QUEUE MANAGEMENT

Increased call volumes always result in long queue times. Customers do not appreciate providers who keep them in long queues to get the calls answered. Thus, to save customer satisfaction, companies need to work upon their queue management techniques so that gaining customers’ trust is not a dream.

Adding texts in IVR systems can help. With the help of a message, customers get the clue about the expected wait time and the message explains the client the reason why the queue time is stretched. Without a message, the customers might feel that the company is non-considerate about keeping the clients updated.

MOTIVATE THE STAFF

Call center service has a monotonous work environment mostly, which is why attrition disputes are higher here. Since at times of rising call volumes, an increase in attrition would not be good for business health, thus keeping the employees’ morale high is essential.

Help agents get some free time even at times of crisis, award the employees for extra hours so that they feel valued, engage the staff in exciting games while they work, etc. and you will easily uplift your employees’ morale.

DO NOT EMPHASIZE TOO MUCH ON CALLBACKS

Providers for call center services should not emphasize too much on callbacks. Yes, callbacks indeed have the potential to gain customer satisfaction; nevertheless, emphasizing too much on callbacks can strain the services at times of increased call volumes.

When there are multiple calls to be attended, it is important to not stress over callbacks for some time. Prolonging wait times of other agents is not a good idea, thus a check on callback service to be done at the right time is essential.

Rather than stressing over callbacks, it is vital to manage queues and stress upon resolving the cause of increased call volumes.

CANCEL LEAVES

Canceling the leaves of employees is the most common tactic most companies use. When the agents are called off unexpectedly, they tend to come to work without the will to work dedicatedly. To avoid deteriorating the business brand name, offer some incentives to the agents who are back to work. Motivate the agents with some games so that they do not feel frustrated working on a day on which they might have been resting.

Mood plays a crucial role in allowing the agents to give her/his best, thus, companies need to take care that canceling the leaves does not lead to employee attrition. Senior managers’ behavior with the employees plays a crucial role here thus needs to be considered.

CALL FORWARDING TO DIGITAL CHANNELS

There are call centers that handle inquiries well on digital channels. This is one more way companies can reduce their call volumes through digital call deflecting.

At times of rising call volumes, companies can deflect some calls to digital channels. How can companies do that?

Well, this can be done by adding messages on the IVR signaling and informing people that if they want to avoid the call queue, they can drop a text on any online channel and it will be answered as soon as possible.

Amid the hassle to simplify call center services and to manage high employee attrition, BPOs recently had to face challenge of a pandemic called COVID-19. The pandemic resulted in compelling companies to operate from home. The most affected industry at such times were call centers, as they had to shut their services due to the inability to work from home. As a result, many employees lost their jobs and many companies came to the verge of a high financial crisis.

Companies will use these lessons to be prepared for any adverse scenario in the next time. Attrition might increase due to the non-flexible and monotonous work environment, which demands businesses to take necessary steps to woo the customers’ interest in the business functions. Thus, companies need to work upon easing things for the employees and motivating them to stay back. After all, the employees make or break a business!

The call center agents are expected to be polite and take every call with the same ease. Thus, the organizations have to take care of the agents’ mental health too, so that it is easy for them to tackle monotonous situations and work hard for the company with dedication. Games that can be used to break this monotony are as follows:

KNOCKOUT

Knockout does not require great resources and is a short game with more prizes to help employees strengthen morale.

Well, to start the game, managers can make a grid-based on sales patterns and can make boxes depending on the team’s strength on board. Then when an agent makes a particular sale within the time limit, she/he can mark her/his name on the board, and this way the agent gains a competitive advantage.

Next, when an agent makes a big sale before the time limit, she/he can fill in the box and can lock the same claiming her/his first win on the particular prize allotted for the same.

This way the manager can easily award the winner and other agents are boosted to win the next sale for the company and win a hamper.

STEEL BALLS

This game can fill the agents with enthusiasm! In the game, the agents are given five balls at the starting of the day. Slowly, whoever makes a sale can ask for a ball from the opponent, and in the end, the agent having the highest number of balls wins!

Call center services can also use the same game based on the highest number of positive customer feedback. The person with the highest positive feedback will have the highest number of balls and will eventually win.

POD WARS

Everyone loves a game that attracts positive competition and Pod War is one such enthusiastic game.

In the game, the agents compete against one another by shifting the competitor to another pod after successfully making a sale. The game uplifts the call center environment and urges agents to make a better sale and thereafter earn incentives.

Companies can leverage Pod Wars to engross all agents and award them with free spa sessions, online shopping cards, or free food coupons. This way companies can keep their employees happy and thereafter earn better results for the business.

SNAKE AND LADDERS

Several call centers in India are positively using this game to boost their agents’ morale. In the game, agents can roll the dice and can move up and down the board like normal once they receive positive feedback from the customer.

Agents are allowed to roll the dice only when they receive positive feedback through an IVR survey. The survey asks the customer to rank the agent on a scale from one to nine, where the customer gives nine to the best agent.

This way call centers can boost their service performance and can keep the agents busy in the game along with boosting results for the business. It is truly an easy way to augment customer satisfaction!

ENVELOPE CHASING

The game’s name itself is interesting.

In the game, the agents are shown an envelope containing a prize. At the starting of the day, whoever makes the first sale gets the envelope. Later, the person who makes another sale has handled the envelope and the rhythm goes on.

Lastly, at the EOD, the person who makes the last sale earns the envelope and grabs the prize. The game aims to keep the service results boosted and the agent’s performance up even by the EOD.

The envelope can include prize money, or a pass for a spa session or a pass to leave a half-hour early. All call centers need to have enthusiastic game sessions like these, so that the agents are happy even in the monotonous work environment and the business results are up-to-the-mark every time.

JENGA PULLING

Jenga pulling game for a call center is where the agents get to pull a piece from a grid of Jenga once a sale is complete or after receiving positive customer feedback.

The piece pulled has a number below named as per the total number of each piece like 1 to 54.

The Jenga pulled by the agents has certain numbers beneath, and the agent gets those numbers as pointers. Therefore, the highest number Jenga gives the highest pointer to the agent. At the EOD, the agent who collected the highest number wins.

It a great enthusiastic game that compels agents to earn a sale or earn positive replies from customers so that they can collect most of the pieces. Moreover, its enthusiastic to be lucky enough to pull the highest-numbered Jenga.

Work-Related Stress is very common now a days. Call center jobs require a great deal of endurance and patience while delivering the services to the customer over a phone call. Role is both challenging as well as hectic intermixed with call center stress, making a tough atmosphere for carrying the chores with calm.

CALL CENTER STRESS SYNDROME– CAUSES:

Agents dealing with call center stress syndrome can be usually seen holding the packet of emotions at the bottleneck, ready to burst at any moment. And if taken out on customer then it causes poor name & reputation both for company & product. Below-mentioned are few common causes:

Incapability to match the call center metrics.

Unable to generate positive customer feedback for offered support.

Personal and work-life imbalance.

Job role ambiguity.

Lack of resources.

Surplus of tasks and pressure etc…

HANDLING CALL CENTER STRESS:

Continuous exposure to stress can lead to the formulation of crankiness, fluctuation in blood pressure, heart rate, tensed muscles, less blood supply to the brain and many more. To avoid deadly circumstances, it is vital to keep personal and work-life untwined of each other.

Following are few call center stress relief tips that can be taken under consideration if you are looking forward to avoid stress-like situation at the work:

· Optimistic Approach: 

Workplace is where we live most of our day falling around 8-9 hours/day. Keeping an optimistic approach to work helps in descaling the stress cycle of your mind. Organizing your work station with small indoor plants such as snake plant, chamomile plant and bonsai plant makes an easy deal as call center stress relievers. Try to give a positive outlook to your working space. The more you will create an aura, the more will be the chances of having a stress-free working atmosphere. Also, sort the stuff on your work desk by making it clutter-free and life easier.

· Exercise and Yoga Daily:

Agents deals with a stressful job and daunting tasks by balancing out their dialled, connected and answered calls along with successful delivery of resolutions. Bringing the healthy practices in daily life routine will set up your mood acting as an antidote for stress-free working surrounding. Therefore, it is highly recommended to adopt a healthy lifestyle by practicing exercise and yoga along with good dietary food habits. Human Resource department can conduct activities related to stress management for employees.

· Keep Work at Work and Home at Home:

The moment when you begin to mix up the duo altogether, it will simultaneously gift you unwanted stress only, nothing else. Bringing the chores of home to the office can disrupt the office operations, which will also affect the problem-solving attitude toward the customer in the call center job. Similarly, fetching the office tensions to home can be a reason for dis-harmonious behaviour for residers at home rooting the seed of stress, contagious-mentally in nature.

· Schedule the Day:

All sort of perks and benefits falls around the successful delivery of calls to customers as per standard call center metrics. Managing call center metrics such as first call resolution, call abandonment rate, average handling time etc. can help you in tracking the record of daily in and out at the workplace. It is highly advisable to wrap up your daily life task rather than keeping it for the next day. Closing up daily task bolster in reducing the gap between work to be done and goals to be achieved. Therefore, making a schedule and a quick calendar for office chores can help in diminishing the effect of stress on your mental health.

· Combat with Call Center Stress Triggers:

Stress is nothing but the twisted tail of anxiety and fear, mostly resultant due to unusual happenstance of triggers. Thus, avoiding the occurrence of triggers and some like situation can bolster in combat the stress like situation harnessing the regular flow of daily life chores.These triggers can be boldly faced through the strategies of call center stress management witnessing the successful statistics via laughing more and worrying less.

Also, can discuss out bothering issues with their loved and trusted ones, as it may help in having the apt resolution for getting the clearance over stress and anxiety related to work at call centers.

Business owners need to be available round-the-clock to respond to customer calls/queries. If businesses avail call answering service from established vendors, the chances of delivering impeccable solutions all day and night are likely to increase. Here are the top 4 reasons why 24/7 call answering service is essential for businesses:

1. Flawless call handling 

Ensuring seamless call handling isn’t possible, until you have indispensable resources and vast industrial experience. Call center support agents have amazing speaking & listening skills, which are imperative to ensure a meaningful dialogue with customers by using well-written scripts, speech training programs(to tackle high speech rate, different accent, etc),repository of resolutions to agents by providing customers with stupendous customer service experience.

2. Ramp up/ramp down of resources

Bringing excess resources at the disposal leads to hampered business, while a lack of resources guarantees the delivery of inferior support service. Here, if your business is covered by a well-known call answering service provider, you are likely to witness smooth customer service operations as they can easily scale up or down their resources in accordance with the situation.

3. Attention to core competencies

Well, if you are running a business, you must be good at managing your time. This is so because if you dedicate your precious time to one thing, other crucial ones may suffer, and this isn’t good for your company’s growth. In general, SMEs fail to give proper attention to core competencies because they carry the responsibility of non-core business functions on their shoulders.

Besides struggling while attaining business objectives, they face a hard time while handling customer calls. Whenever they miss a call to respond, their brand image has to take a lot of heat. Plus, both call abandonment and customer turnover rate share a directly proportional relationship with each other.

To keep the fate of their business in their own hands, multinationals tie-up with established call answering service providers. Thanks to this sagacious move, they find themselves able to give undivided attention to core competencies without losing invaluable customer loyalty.

Renowned call answering service providers make sure every customer call ends on a positive note and as per set SLs (service levels) so that their clients don’t have to worry about anything. This ends up in long-lasting client relationships, consequently.

4. Sky-high customer satisfaction

High customer satisfaction is what you should be aiming for if you are running a business. This is significant because if customers are gratified with your products and services, they are likely to continue association with your brand. It, needless to mention, buttressed customer base paves the way for astounding business growth.

At one point in time, furthermore, happy and loyal customers turn into brand promoters, which as a repercussion, makes the customer acquisition process easier. It’s a no brainer that the business will progress with the expansion of the customer base.

Now, the most important question that you may already be asking to yourself is ‘How to take the CSAT score to the next level while rendering customer service.’ Answering customer calls with perfection is what needs to be done.

After placing a call to the company with regard to support service, customers want to describe issues first so that inimitable solutions can be delivered from the other end. On the off chance that customers are interrupted while speaking, they may feel disvalued, which consequently, ends up in the poor support experience. You shouldn’t be surprised by knowing this because unnecessary interruptions always have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the call, and that dwindle the CSAT score significantly.

Call centre is the support of biggest organizations in the world, customers who try to reach businesses typically end up calling to a call center agent. It doesn’t matter what business you are in, the essentiality of a call center becomes inevitable. There is one debate that ignites every time and market experts hurl in to present their perspectives, to confirm if inhouse call centre is better or outsourced call center.

IN HOUSE VS OUTSOURCING PROS AND CONS

Interestingly, business owners across the world are more inclined towards outsourced call centers than an in-house call center. Contrarily, there is an increasing concern regarding the descending level in the quality of customer support services delivered by the offshore call centers.

OUTSOURCING CALL CENTER PROS AND CONS

The best part of outsourcing is that it helps an organization despite the sector, lifecycle or the future it holds. For instance, if your business is new, you will look to tap more customers. This means more sales, which in turn means more inquiries. For this, you require a strong support team that is affordable, well-trained, extensively experienced, and easily accessible.

Training new agents, keeping them updated with the latest tech, installing new tools, setting up the infrastructure, etc, will demand time, money, and effort from your end. Why would you do that when you want your whole attention to be on the core tasks of your business? Similarly, if you own an established organization, you might have the requirement to expand your business to a new territory. For this, you need proficient telemarketers who can penetrate the targeted geography and grow your profit.

Outsourcing not just saves your cost but also offers you direct access to an already trained and proficient team that can streamline your vision with competent efforts yielding the expected results in a timely manner. Additionally, global companies that are entertaining audience across international borders need a support team that could offer superior assistance around-the-clock. Hiring extra resources for the same would again put the monetary load on the business owners.

On the other hand, outsourcing call centers would assure a 24*7*365 support to the customers at a global level. Outsourced call centers are known to hold up a massive workforce that not just eliminates the scaling issue faced by businesses but also offers frictionless service to corporations that are working day & night.

BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING:

Cost-effectiveness

Eradication of scaling issue

High efficiency due to focus on core competencies

Good assistance to the customers

Direct access to a diligent staff

Mitigated business risks

In fact, in recent times (from the last decade or so) there have been instances where customers have complained of lousy service deliverance. Along with this, a few scams came up where the outsourcing contact center have cheated businesses. Moreover, the rising labor price in the developing nations like India, Philippines, Malaysia, etc is slowly diminishing the cost benefit that is the crux of outsourcing.

In house call center pros and cons

When you are planning to set up and handle an in-house facility to offer assistance to your business, you have to take care of a few aspects: hiring and training the agents in adherence with call center requirements. Adopting and maintaining the latest technology to deliver uninterrupted support to customers. Business is working 24*7*365 to avoid missing even a single customer inquiry, complaint or grievance. Competent enough to solve the seasonal requirement that pops up. These are some of the basic requirements that businesses look forward to meeting while managing call centers internally.

Clearly, it requires a lump sum of money to the above-stated tasks. Also, it would consume a lot of your and your team’s time that should be invested in the core competencies of your business. The risks of handling an in-house call center overshadow the little benefits that it offers.

Call center outsourcing is a business tactic, a strategy that is needed to lift the company’s profit level by offering value in the delivered services. So, before you opt to run in-house or outsource your business functions, be clear about your objective & end goal.

BPO success factors depend on many things, some of which have direct influence while some have indirect effect on its success. In this post, we have summarized 8 basic rules to ensure your business process outsourcing venture is feasible and a success for both the parties involved.

1. Shift focus gradually

Before a company decides to outsource, it has to divide its attention to all activities. Some of these activities are productive while some are not. For outsourcing your services, you need to gradually shift focus to your core business and leave the routine humdrum to your outsourcing partner. This shift needs to be a gradual one as it takes time for both the company as well as the BPO to acclimatize to the new change.

2. Redirect resources from non-core to core business

Once the outsourcing firm understands the process and procedures, the objectives of your company, the protocols that your company follows, etc. you can start reallocating your resources. Before that you need to ensure that a key person from your organization is available for the BPO at all times for resolving their queries quickly, which will help your business process outsourcing partner learn the ropes quickly. Once everything is settled, you can re-allocate the resources to other core areas.

3. Get your priorities straight

Most companies lose focus on their priorities once they hire a BPO. To ensure outsourcing success, it is very important to set your priorities. For instance, your first priority could be improving operative performance, or ensure timely completion of projects or save time of key personnel through outsourcing. However, most companies want all these things simultaneously and feel that outsourcing is a bad idea. It is important to sketch a map of things that allow you to set your priorities and lay a road map to achieve things. This will ensure outsourcing success for both you and the BPO.

4. Adopt newer technologies

In today’s time, technology is one of the most important BPO success factors. With the help of BPOs, you can obtain technologies which will not be otherwise available. Many BPO companies use the latest technologies to manage tasks and data. These technologies are not only expensive but also require a steep learning curve. BPOs have the right kind of technology, tools as well as expertise for making the best use of it. So companies can get the best of technology through BPOs.

5. Sort legalities earlier in the process

When you are going to outsource your services to another country, it is wise to anticipate common delays in obtaining permissions, registrations, sanctions and other legalities. These delays can impact the whole process. So it is advisable to sort the legalities earlier in the process, as you are dealing with government and political bodies, and delays are inevitable.

6. Think beyond savings

It is natural to go for outsourcing to save costs but in today’s time it is imperative to think beyond savings. A well-known BPO firm may not provide you as much savings but it can surely provide you lots of indirect savings and benefits like improved efficiencies and productivity. So always consider other direct and indirect benefits when calculating ROI.

7. Mutually beneficial environment

Consider the BPO Company as an extension of your own company. Only then you can get better results. Co-exist in a mutually beneficial environment, help each other at every turn and ensure a feeling of togetherness not because you are a client or a service provider but because you are working towards a common goal.

8. Communicate effectively

Communication is a key factor for BPO success. Always keep a responsible person who can act as a medium to communicate with the BPO firm. Extend your know-how about the processes, share your views openly and demand if any changes are required. If you have good communication strategy, all these can be done and ideas can be exchanged without fostering relationship problems.

Now-a-days, companies of all sizes avail call center outsourcing services from recognized vendors. Inbound & outbound call centerx services are availed so that businesses can grow at a better pace. Traditionally, inbound call centers are generally focused on customer support whereas outbound ones are sales-focused. To ensure better sales, outbound call centers use an automatic dialer system & aim to avail desired results. Below mentioned are top 3 reasons that would explain why automatic dialer system is so important for outbound call centers:-

1. Improving efficiency of telemarketers

Automatic dialer system plays a prime role in increasing the average talk time per hour. This is hugely contributing factor because if telemarketers communicate with maximum prospects in a day, the sales conversion rate is more likely to amplify. Specialty of the automatic dialer system is that it can predict when the current call would be disconnected. In addition, this system searches the next best possible number until telesales agents are busy on the calls. It places a call as soon as agents conclude the conversation with prospects. As a positive result of all of this, agents succeed in conversing with maximum prospects without making any dialing errors, which consequently, leads to better sales results.

Manual dialling system on other hand only secures 10 to 15 minutes of talk time per hour whereas an automatic dialer system guarantees 40 to 50 minutes talk time per hour. It proves that automatic dialling system is far better than manual dialling system.

Also it mitigates the chance of human error, along with reaching a throng of potential customers on daily basis & perfectly timed call backs.

So, if you really want to secure better sales growth without taking any external help, bring an automatic dialer system in your in-house outbound call center.

2. Prevents legal issues

To get the desired sales results, it is understandable that maximum calls should be placed in a day, but it doesn’t mean that rules and regulations can be ignored. Sometimes telemarketers breach Government policies unintentionally because of the manual dialing system; thereby legal issues take place and results in mammoth financial losses.

One major policy is we cannot place calls related to telemarketing to those people who have already availed DNC (Do Not Call) service. Breaching policies simply means giving an invitation to legal issues, and this could be harmful to the business’s overall productivity. The best way to stay away from legal issues is making use of the automatic dialer system as it automatically filters out DNC registered numbers and connects telemarketers to those prospects who are open to answering sales-related calls. This not only prevents legal issues but also leads to better sales conversion rate.

3. Makes agents’ life easier 

Generally, businesses that prefer to handle the telemarketing campaign using manual dialling system, do so because they think that it puts unnecessary pressure, which leads to a high agent attrition rate. However, this isn’t true.

An automatic dialer system gives less time to prepare for the next call as it connects telemarketers to prospects within a short time span. However, the important thing to know is that an automatic dialer system can be integrated with the CRM, and that means telemarketers automatically get all the information on their system screen before being connected to prospects. So they are equipped to handle prospects in efficient manner.

In today’s volatile and highly complex business environment, substantial change is being witnessed in the insurance sector. The main reason behind this is the changing market drivers and stringent regulatory norms. The cut throat competition in the insurance sector has given rise to various operational challenges such as improving turnover ratios and their activity along with establishing a pricing model that remains competitive. In the past decade or so, enterprises engaged in the insurance sector have been appreciating the importance of flexible and agile outsourcing models. By leveraging the potential of business process outsourcing (BPO), insurance companies have drastically minimized operating expenditures along with streamlining back-office operations. Furthermore, outsourcing also facilitates the insurance company to carry out its daily functions by forming a robust foundation of profitability and growth.

BPO represents an efficient and strategic option for insurance companies that are trying to flourish in these tumultuous times. If implemented properly, it helps them in reducing costs, survive any economic uncertainty and most importantly set a concrete stage for future expansion and growth. Insurance companies frequently use outsourcing for different aspects of their operations ranging from business processes which include claims handling and underwriting to various other systems that reinforce those functions. Policy servicing is another area where immediate business benefits can be achieved. Advantages of a robust BPO model include rationalized delivery model, standardized business processes and a commercialized approach to customer retention and operations.

Having an Open Mind to Approach Outsourcing :

A large number of business enterprises have derived the benefits of outsourcing which has helped them to completely transform their business model to be successful operationally, financially and offer exemplary services to their customers. Initially only the banking and financial industry were the frontrunners in leveraging outsourcing but now even insurance companies are slowly cashing in on the huge influx of outsourcing opportunities. The insurance industry has seen a renaissance of sorts with various companies adopting strategic initiatives that enable information technology across different processes and functions.

For companies that find it hard to find or hire experienced staff, outsourcing can be a valuable and viable option that can stimulate productivity and facilitate growth. But for insurance companies that already possess employees with valuable skill sets and experience, outsourcing can maximize the impact of their employees by exporting routine tasks that allow them to focus on expertise and high-value components of their tasks.

Here are various aspects of BPO that are helping insurance companies boost their performance and productivity:

Call Center Services: 

A dependable call center outsourcing service provider that offers best-in-class inbound and outbound solutions can help insurance companies meet regulatory requirements, enter new markets by proving superior services and maintain customer loyalty. Insurance companies can leverage contact centers to manage customer queries and concerns through multiple channels including email, voice and chat on a round the clock basis 365 days in a year. Customer queries and concerns could vary from questions regarding pending claims, endorsements to a request for their policy statement. A survey conducted by Accenture found that 91% of insures believed that providing exemplary customer experience is the stepping stone to future growth.

Insurance companies can use call centers to follow up until the claim is over by reaching out to the customer when the claim is filed. A single customer service representative (CSR) can be tasked to follow it up regularly and see through the whole process until the end. During the sales process, CSRs can explain various coverages to the customer so that they become familiar with what aspects the insurance policy covers. Call centers can also provide emotional support as insurance claims at times can be quite upsetting and emotional for the customers. Call centers can also be instrumental in boosting trust of the customer with the insurance company when a claim is being filed by providing professional as well as emotional support.

Data Processing Services: 

Data processing is perhaps the most critical function that insurance companies must carry out throughout their operations. Ever since data processing engines were the norm, insurance companies have been the chief employers of computing. But as insurance companies grew, so did the data processing requirements of those companies resulting in them purchasing more computers and other technology related equipment thereby increasing the technology and administrative costs.

This is where professional back office BPO service providers came to the rescue of the insurance industry. The various data processing services that insurance companies could benefit from include accurate data entry tasks from paperwork that is received from the customers, data entry from business transactions such as sales of insurance policies, receipts and bills.

Role of Data Mining Services: 

Data mining has changed the way how various businesses function. For insurance companies, it has helped in discovering various useful patterns from customer database. The primary goal of data mining is to find useful patterns from previously unknown data. The technique produces great results and it enhances the decision making capabilities of the insurance company. The traditional methods of handling huge volumes of insurance transnational data are too complex and time consuming. Data mining service providers helps insurance companies to effectively manage customer data.

Outsourcing data mining allows insurance companies to identify risk factors that can predict profits, losses, and claims apart from providing customer-level analysis, sales, and marketing analysis, reinsurance, insights on developing new product lines, financial analysis, estimating outstanding claims provision and predicting fraudulent claims. Insurance companies can outsource data mining to support administrative and management tasks, control policies and efficiently manage organizational and financial data.

Role of IT Services in Insurance: 

The use of technology in the insurance sector has improved every aspect of the company’s processes and data management system. Outsourcing various IT aspects of an insurance company can be beneficial in various ways. Using state of the art technology can help insurance agents to quickly respond to customer’s needs and provide accurate information to customers concerning insurance issues. Professional IT outsourcing service providers can help insurance companies to drastically reduce the volume of paperwork dealing with proposals and policies by making available to the customers various web based applications that automate most of the processes and tasks. This enables the insurance company to meet the needs of their customers in much lesser time than traditionally expected. It even eliminates the need for paper handling and travel costs.

Service processes, that were once time consuming and exhausting, are automated through the implementation of the latest technologies which greatly increase the revenue of insurance companies. Outsourcing allows insurance companies to now generate more insurance proposals, policies and applications for their new customers thereby creating multiple opportunities for swift purchasing. Customers too are benefited as web-based applications allows customers to receive quotes, the complete application process, sign proposals and policies without even having to visit the insurance company in person.

Underwriting Services: 

The process of underwriting allows insurance companies to determine how much premium should be charged for a particular policy. Insurance underwriters, as they are called, thoroughly evaluate insurance proposals to determine its feasibility and the amount of risk involved. It enables insurance companies to gain a competitive edge over their competitors by bringing about process excellence, including catastrophe modeling, renewals and underwriting support. Underwriters also balance all the losses that insurance companies may incur from the probable risk of potential claims. Various aspects are considered by underwriting such as claims experience and credit ratings where lower claims experience or credit rating corresponds to low premiums.

The full spectrum of underwriting services is covered in the insurance sector by underwriting outsourcing service providers which range from advanced analytics to business process management. Other underwriting services include submission and clearance where documentation on liability coverage, application processing eligibility checks, account verification and data scrubbing is done. In property data management, outsourcing providers use rating tools and automated underwriting engines so that the underwriting team can effectively price risk. Services of auditing exposures and risk during the policy’s tenure are also carried out.

Finance and Accounting Services: 

Insurance companies assume and manage risks of their customers in return for a premium. Aggregated historical data from various similar policies is used to calculate the premium for each policy and the premium is paid well in advance of the service delivery. With increasing customer base, the volume of financial transactions also increases. For insurance industry which has a fiduciary responsibility to the public, special accounting rules have evolved. Solvency was monitored by the state to protect insurance company policy holders and therefore statutory accounting principles were developed.

Insurance companies can closely work with expert finance and accounting service providers to design, transform and run finance, billing and accounting associated functions to improve cash flow and increase customer satisfaction by bringing about improvements in the end-to-end processes that integrates and streamlines enterprise wide billing and collections, reconciliation and application.

Apart from financial gains, insurance companies can also get other benefits from outsourcing such as improved ease of increasing the operational capacity by documenting workflow and placing the burden of other non-core activities on the outsourcing service provider thereby improving the efficiency of the in-house staff. Insurance companies are leveraging the potential of business process outsourcing (BPO) to streamline their backend operations effectively, maximize revenues and sales while drastically trimming down their overall capital expenditures. The insurance business is continuously evolving and for insurance companies to remain relevant and competitive, they must keep adapting and strive hard for excellence.