Operating an in-house contact center can involve significant investment and daunting ongoing fixed and variable operating costs.
Additionally, operating a contact center can place intense demands on support organizations, such as, human resources, investment in complex technology, and can distract from focusing on what is core to your business.
Therefore, an increasing number of companies are realizing that keeping these operations in-house is not always the best decision.
Finding the right outsourcing partner can provide world-class expertise and comprehensive capabilities to help your organization succeed in a complex, continuously changing world.
Although expense reduction is still a major benefit of outsourcing, it is no longer the only reason for organizations to consider outsourcing as a potential solution.
Some of the advantages of outsourcing include:
- Focus on core competencies. Outsource partners have a specialized understanding of contact center services for a diverse set of industries. The executives and managers will have valuable insights and proven strategies developed from years and years of experience.
- Provide 24/7/365 customer support. Providing 24/7 customer support is usually very difficult (and expensive) to manage in-house. However, outsourcing partners typically operate 24/7 already. Hiring the right outsourcing partner will allow you to quickly and easily offer 24/7 coverage at a much lower cost compared to in-house operations.
- Access to latest technology. Outsourcing partners research and invest in the best technology for multi-channel customer contact. Acquiring the latest technology may be cost-prohibitive for some in-house contact centers. Outsourcing is a great way to get access to this technology more efficiently as your potential partner will be able to spread the costs of these platforms across multiple clients.
- Data analysis and business intelligence. Outsource partners understand the importance of capturing and analyzing call information to gain insights to improve clients’ processes. Outsource partners also have experience and access to best practices across multiple client portfolios.
- Cost reduction. The equipment and facilities necessary to run a call center operation can be very expensive. Operating expenses of an in-house call center can stack up quickly, but outsourcing that function reduces operating costs by eliminating hard to manage functions.
- Flexibility and scalability. Call volumes can often experience significant fluctuation. Outsource partners who operate contact centers benefit from multiple clients, which helps reduce the severity of call volume peaks and valleys. Agents can work more efficiently, and managers can schedule staff more effectively, helping reduce costs-per-call. Also, outsource partners have the size and staff to ramp up quickly if call volumes spike due to seasonal activity or major marketing campaigns.
