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Many companies rely on BPO contact centers to handle customer support. In today’s environment, people don’t simply call for help; they also utilize digital channels such as Social media, SMS, chat, and email.
Contact centers provide a wide range of support services under one roof. In reality, the rewards are well worth it if you know what you’re searching for and pick the correct BPO call center for your company. However, it is not without drawbacks.
In this article, we discuss the advantages, downsides and solutions needed for BPO call centers.
6 Major Pain Points for BPO call centers
Call centers in the BPO industry are often confronted with various problems and challenges, including:
High employee attrition rate
This is due to low training and development opportunities for employees. Call center agents tend to have higher attrition rates and low productivity. The reason for this is that the BPO industry has a lot of competition, which means that many call centers are always trying to find ways to attract more customers with lower costs. This makes it difficult for companies to retain their employees because they can easily be replaced by another company who can offer them better pay.
Managing Call Peaks
Call peak management can easily turn into a nightmare for organizations. The flows exceed your processing capacity. Your current teams are insufficient to satisfy the demands. And your customers are quickly disappointed… Nonetheless, your main business necessitates that you give accessible service.
Product consumption patterns, technical flaws or malfunctions in the product or service, external events (strikes, weather events, etc.), or marketing efforts (TV advertisements) that allude to a phone number can all cause call peaks.
When call peaks can be predicted, they can be dealt with by increasing the number of operators or introducing call overflow protocols.
Data security
The risks of dishonest exploitation are not far away! In the process of outsourcing, the company and the service provider must make connections for the smooth running of the collaboration. As a result, the company shares sometimes sensitive data with information that can be stolen or exploited by a malicious provider.
Cost control
It sometimes happens that companies underestimate the amount of work to be entrusted to the provider, or that they simply do not think to calculate the costs beforehand. This can quickly result in a high cost compared to the initial estimate.
High Turnover
The annual turnover in BPO call centers implies heavy costs in recruitment and training, and makes it difficult for companies to maintain a quality customer service. The profession – which suffers from a rather “stereotypical” image evoking long working days, difficult customers and incessant phone calls – has difficulty in attracting people. Worse still, it is often not seen by employees as a job in which they would like to develop their career over the long term.
13 Questions to Ask Solution Providers as a Contact Center in the BPO Industry:
As a solution provider for call centers in the BPO industry, you know that choosing the right software solution provider is hard. You have to understand the needs of your customers and their clients, as well as your own needs as a business.
And yet, you know that no matter how much research you do or how many demos you attend, there’s no way for you to truly understand what it’s like to work with a company until it’s too late—and then all the contracts are signed and you’re locked in. That’s why we’ve put together this list of 6 questions that every contact center in the BPO industry should ask their potential solution providers before they sign on the dotted line.
1.What will our business relationship look like?
We know that every business has different needs and goals, but we also know that there are certain elements of any relationship with a software solution provider that will stay consistent: trust, communication, and transparency. We want our customers to feel comfortable asking us for help when they need it; if something goes wrong with their account or if there’s an issue with one of our features, we want them to feel confident knowing that we’ll be there for them—no matter what.
2. How can you help us reduce our costs?
Cost reduction is an important part of any business plan, but it can be difficult to know how to do this without hurting the quality of your product or service. When talking with solution providers, ask them how they can help you reduce cost while maintaining high-quality standards.
3. How do you ensure your product will be effective and efficient?
Efficiency is key to any successful business plan, so when choosing a solution provider, ask them how their solution has been proven effective in reducing costs and increasing productivity. Be sure to ask about their experience working with similar customers in similar industries as well.
4.What kind of support do you offer?
Support is another important part of any business plan because if something goes wrong with your system, there needs to be someone available who will be able to fix it quickly and effectively—and without costing too much money!
5.What happens if something goes wrong with our software after we’ve purchased it?
It’s important to know what kind of support and maintenance you’ll receive from your provider after purchasing their software. If there are any problems with the software after purchase, do they have adequate resources to resolve the issue? Do they offer 24/7 support via phone or email? Are there any fees associated with receiving this type of support?
6. How will we know if you’re delivering what we need?
In order to ensure that your contact center is getting exactly what they need from their software provider, they should ask what sort of metrics they will be able to track within their system—and also how often these metrics will be monitored.
7. What happens if things don’t work out?
Solution providers usually work hard to ensure that the solutions are a good fit for the call center, but if it turns out it is not a good fit after all, they will work with you to find a solution that does work well!
8. How much time will it take to get my first agent trained on your solution?
The amount of time varies depending on the complexity of the training required by each individual agent and the number of agents being trained at once. However, we typically see this process taking anywhere from two weeks (for new hires) up to six months (for existing employees).
9. What are your training options, and how long do they typically last?
Training options include remote training options via video conferencing software, classroom-based sessions or self-paced online courses; that typically last between one and several weeks in length.
10. Do you offer any kind of transition services or support after the initial implementation period?
This is a great question to ask, because it’s important for your contact center to have all of its ducks in a row before going live with a new solution. If a provider offers this service, it can help ensure that there are no issues during the initial setup phase, which will make the transition easier on you and your team.
11. How much experience do you have working with companies and call centers in my industry?
This is another key question that shouldn’t be overlooked when evaluating providers. If they have experience working with businesses like yours, then they’ll know exactly what to expect when it comes time to implement their solution, which makes it more likely that everything will go smoothly from beginning to end.
12. Can I see examples of how your software has transformed other call centers?
While the previous two questions focused more on the provider itself, this one focuses on the product—and why you should choose them over others when making your decision. Having examples of how other companies have benefited from using their software can help give you an idea as to how well it will work for your company’s needs as well.
13. How does your pricing work, and what are my options for payment terms?
The best way to know whether a solution provider is right for you is to ask them about their pricing. Many solution providers have different price points based on the scope of the project, which makes it important to understand which option works best for you.
Asking about payment terms can also help you decide if a solution provider is right for you. Some solution providers may offer payment plans that give you some flexibility in how you pay for services rendered, while others might require lump sum payments up front.
7 questions to ask BPO providers
And now some questions your solution provider will ask you, as a call center in the BPO industry:
1.How many agents and managers does your project need to maintain a strong team?
Asking questions about your overall strength and capabilities will give insight into your internal structure. Once you have your answer, compare it to your goals and timeline. Does it have the ability to meet and exceed your expectations?
2.How often can we expect updates and reports?
Reporting is a major consideration when you allow other parties to do the work for you. If you want transparency throughout a project, you need to communicate regularly. Asking this question also gives you more insight into your company scope and level of experience. You must be a call center that sends reports on a predetermined schedule dictated by you and your company.
Even with a schedule, you need access to information whenever you need or request it.
3.Do you offer live listening options?
BPO providers offer recorded transmissions of calls before they are made. Some also offer the ability to listen in on a live call also known as call whispering, giving you the peace of mind that all calls are being handled accurately and represent your company in a professional manner.
4. Are your agents supervised in person, remotely or onsite?
A location question allows you to specify exactly where your call center agents and supervisors reside. Some companies prefer fluent English-speaking agents located in North America.
It is often better to hire agents who reside in your own time zone to better satisfy your customers. In addition, local agents enhance the customer experience with their knowledge of the area, its laws, and any other information relevant to the caller.
5.How will you ensure that your agents correctly convey my products or services?
Agents never get a second chance to make a first impression. When you use a BPO provider to communicate with customers on your behalf, their agents are representing you and your company.
Ask the provider about their internal culture and training. This will give you a better understanding of the call center’s processes and procedures, including how agents are monitored, graded and trained.
6.How do you monitor program results and incorporate necessary changes?
Asking questions about future system development and improvement will help you determine how proactive the vendor is. Also ask about staffing, such as whether you need to increase or decrease the number of positions during the project. Also get details on how the company handles script revisions and how long it takes to implement them.
7.What are your KPIs?
Is your call center more focus on specific inbound KPIs (NPS Score, Average waiting times, Customer Score etc. )? Or outbound call center KPIs ( for example, contact rates, conversion rates, Customer Loyalty Rate etc.)?
How can BPOs tackles these difficulties?
Optimization daily tasks for call center agents
BPO call centers can help their agents optimize their daily tasks and make them more pleasant and less time-consuming by, for example, providing them with a tool that easily gathers customer information from different applications (CRM and third-party systems) into a single screen, thus avoiding the need to open multiple windows and perform repetitive tasks. But also allowing them to easily and quickly reach experts in the company’s back office, warehouse, back office, branch office or a telecommuting colleague.
Artificial intelligence can also make agents’ daily lives easier by enabling them to anticipate customer needs, determine the most appropriate resource to solve a problem, verify the intent of the person on the phone, or flag complex interactions in real time to anticipate expert intervention. These are all technologies that can help contact centers optimize daily tasks, without forgetting to evolve the internal organization as well.
Opting for the hybrid call center model
The tasks of a contact center agent can be time-consuming and repetitive, which is why the company will benefit by implementing hybrid call center agent positions. What does it involve? It’s about giving agents the ability to make more decisions, even take on the role of manager, and managers taking on the role of agent in turn. It’s also a way to redistribute the mental pressure on everyone. An agent who knows that he or she will be able to evolve within the company and be entrusted with tasks with responsibilities will be more motivated to stay there and to plan for the long term. But to do this, they must also be equipped with flexible tools that allow them to change hats regularly, no matter where they are.
CCaaS software fortifies BPO call center service, productivity and communication
Whether we like it or not, customers or other contact center prospects are most often dissatisfied with the service they receive. They are even willing to share their complaints: long waiting times, call transfers from department to department, etc.
Contact centers, in the traditional sense of the word, are structured in such a way that communication between departments is inevitably problematic. In particular, the call center often lacks all the tools necessary to do a good job: various information, customer files, and more, are difficult to access. As a result, the customer representative may not be able to provide quality service. CCaaS software effectively solves these challenges. Bow?
Here is a list of benefits of a CCaaS solution:
- Any operator can access customer accounts to refine their communication strategy.
- Increased data security
- Ability to track communications in real time on each channel.
- Implementation of a multi-channel communication tool.
- Centralization in the cloud of all your call and software systems.
- Optimal deployment of your customers’ representative teams in the office or virtually (telecommuting).
- IT support costs are immediately reduced.
At NobelBiz we have 20 years of experience delivering comprehensive and tailored solutions for contact centers all around the world. Our telecommunication services and cloud contact center solution can meet the needs of all types of contact centers, regardless of industry, or activity (Inbound, Outbound, or Mixed). That is why we are known as the industry’s promise keepers.
NobelBiz Omni+ is a true Omnichannel Cloud Contact Center Solution built with fast, secure and easy installation with a browser-based, user-friendly platform that enables a seamless transition across the diversity of channels it supports.
NobelBiz is a Cloud Contact Center Solutions Provider focusing on building breakthrough call center software while also delivering a one-of-a-kind telecom carrier network meant to accelerate both inbound and outbound Call Centers worldwide.
Abdelmounim Benharouga has always had a strong passion for writing and digital marketing. He started as a Digital Content Writer part of marketing department then moved to being Customer Success Manager for the African Region within the Nobelbiz team.
