How outsourced customer service teams can complement your existing operations
Contrary to what some may believe, using an outsourcing company for your customer service does not necessarily mean you are hiring them to completely takeover.
They can instead act as an addition to your existing team, ensuring your staff have the extra help needed to address customers - while also working closely with your business to ensure they’re aligning with your goals and values.
So, as a leading outsourced contact centre, we’ve taken a look at how outsourced customer service works - and how your business’ existing customer service operations can benefit from outsourcing…
How does outsourcing customer service work?
Outsourcing customer service involves hiring a third-party company or service provider to handle customer interactions on behalf of your business. This can include phone support, email correspondence, live chat and more.
When using an outsourced company that provides customer services – like us here at OpenContact – you gain access to a team of fully-trained agents that can seamlessly integrate with your business.
Acting as an extension of your team, outsourced customer service offers friendly and flexible assistance that can be scaled up or down whenever you need a helping hand.
How can outsourced customer service complement my operations?
Many assume that using outsourced solutions means a department within your business will be entirely managed by an external company, without much input from you.
Of course, if this is what you need, then that can be the case.
However, it is standard practice for outsourced customer service agents to work alongside an existing team.
When utilising an outsourced customer service team that works beside an existing team, your business can expand operations, providing exceptional service to a great number of customers, while still keeping brand identity and messaging consistent across the board.
With more than 20 years of delivering high-quality outsourced customer support, we’ve established strong relationships with our clients' teams. By assisting with overflow call management and helping to boost staff productivity, we have contributed to their overall business growth and success.
Our outsourced services have helped businesses with…
Overflow and seasonal variances
Contact hours and company productivity can dramatically vary depending on a range of factors, including the time of year, the lead up to holidays, the release of a new product or service, an expansion into a new market and more.
With an ever-changing volume of customer contact creating challenges for existing resources, many businesses seek to employ our outsourced services for assistance during their busiest times of the year.
By utilising outsourcing during seasonal variances, businesses can give their existing team the extra help they need with on-hand and fully-trained contact centre professionals.
With our overflow service, any calling or contacting customers that cannot be connected to a member of your team will instead be forwarded to an OpenContact representative – guaranteeing that no customer contact opportunity is wasted during your busiest times of year.
Not only does this help to keep customers happy, but it helps ensure businesses capitalise on peak sales opportunities too.
Out-of-hours
Businesses may not always have the resources to employ a full customer service team that works after-hours and on weekends.
Furthermore, if businesses have a dynamic team that can only manage customer contact at certain hours in the day, they may experience staff getting burned out during busy days or surges caused by seasonal variances.
Outsourcing customer service can be an effective way to extend your contact hours beyond regular office staff's availability. Plus, outsourcing additional staff that can work with your team helps ensure that your company’s operations are running efficiently and your staff are stress-free.
With OpenContact’s out-of-hours customer support team working in line with your existing operations, we can help your business successfully support customers during more hours in the day, while reducing stress for your staff.
Resourcing
Failing to meet the demands of calling customers can lead to a decline in service or brand reputation. And, hiring permanent or temporary staff to meet these customer service demands can create even more challenges due to extra cost and training.
Outsourcing customer service negates the need for onboarding and training new staff, meaning you can instantly benefit from skilled individuals who are ready to represent you.
Plus, under OpenContact’s service model, you only pay for the minutes you use!
Using a charge-per-minute model, our clients only pay when we are servicing their customers’ needs. With this model, we can scale our services to meet your customers’ demands, so you can optimise costs and your existing resources.
Providing extra support as a trusted outsourced customer service provider
If your team are facing customer support challenges, OpenContact is here to help.
We can be an extension of your team, providing a multitude of customer support services with a hands-on collaborative attitude.
With our tailored contact centre solutions, our team of professionals are fully trained, here for assistance and able to seamlessly work alongside your business and complement your existing operations.
Get in touch today to find out more.
by Fiona Brown on 23rd September 2024