Questions to Ask When Hiring a Customer Service Call Center
Are you looking to hire a phone answering service for your business? It’s important to know the right questions to ask to help you choose the best one. Click here to learn about what you should ask when hiring a customer service call center.
Are you finally making the decision to hire a call center?
Looking for a great answering service to offer customer support?
When you’re looking for an answering service that will serve as the front line for helping customers, you need to make sure you choose right. Not every inbound call center will provide what you’re looking for.
Below we’ll look at exactly what questions you should ask before hiring a customer service call center.
1. What is Your Schedule?
1. What is Your Schedule?Before doing anything else, you need to make sure you know what the schedule of the call center will be. If you’re looking for great customer support you’ll probably want to find a call center that is available 24/7 to help handle your customer’s needs.
Some call centers may only operate during typical business hours, so you’ll need to keep this in mind. If it’s important that your customers can get help any time of day, you may want to go with a customer service center that has the extra availability you need.
2. How Many Calls Can You Handle?
In addition to the hours that they’re available, you also need to find out if the customer service center can handle the volume of calls you’ll be expecting to receive.
Many call centers out there will require a business to have a minimum amount of calls that they’ll be expecting to receive. If you have a lower volume of calls, you still may be able to find a call center to use, but you may have to work a little harder to find them.
It’s a good idea to ask first whether they’ll be able to handle the number of callers you’re expecting, whether the number is big or small.
3. What Outcomes Can Be Expected?
Aside from the other important factors surrounding your call center choice, it’s also a good idea to understand how the call center will operate and how they’ll interact with your customers.
If you’ve made the choice to outsource customer service, you want to know that it will be handled professionally. It’s important to ask a call center what goals and outcomes that you can expect when they speak with a customer.
What is their overall demeanor when interacting with a customer? What is the ideal end result?
Anybody can answer a phone, but a great answering service will ensure that their services help move your business forward. Find out exactly what they believe they offer your business.
4. Which Industries Are You Experienced In?
4. Which Industries Are You Experienced In?If you have a specific industry that may require specialized expertise when assisting customers, you may want to ask beforehand whether the call center you’re evaluating can handle the calls for your industry.
A healthcare company, for example, will have very different needs than a property management company.
Find out if the call center has any specialized expertise or previous experience working within your industry. A call center that knows your industry inside and out will be able to offer your customers the best assistance possible and will serve your business well.
5. What Are Your Rates?
You also need to find out how much the call center is going to charge you. Keep in mind that call centers can vary quite a bit in price.
Chances are that if you want the best services and results you’re going to need to pay a little bit extra for it. However, you also don’t want to pay more than you have to.
Businesses vary in size and the best call centers will recognize this. Look for a call center that offers good packages and pricing options that work for your specific business size and needs rather than charging the same rate for everyone.
6. Where is Your Answering Service Located?
It may also be important to you to ask about where the customer service call center is located. Many customers become frustrated when dealing with an offshore call center when seeking customer support, so you may want to choose an option that is located in your own country instead.
Additionally, it can be a lot of help to have a call center that is located in the same time zone and geographic region. This will make things more convenient for your business when interacting with the call center as well.
7. Will There Be Extensive Reporting?
You’ll also want to ask what kind of reporting the call center will provide. Call center data and thorough records can be very valuable for your business.
Great records can help you find out what pain points you have and what problems your customers are facing. You’ll get a good idea of any common needs and concerns they have. Great records can provide you a lot of insight into what you should be working on in your business and if there are any changes you should make.
Additionally, data on the volume of calls you’re receiving and recorded calls can help you ensure that you’re getting what you paid for and that you hired the right call center for the job.
Finding the Right Customer Service Call Center
There are a lot of call centers out there that each promise a lot to businesses. However, not every single one of them will truly be able to deliver the customer support that you need.
The customer service your business provides can either negatively or positively impact your customers’ overall view of your business, so it’s important that you do everything you can to get it right. By asking the questions above before you make your final decision you’ll have the best chance of being happy with your choice.
Ready to find the right customer service call center for your business? Click here to get multiple free answering service quotes now.
