Selecting an Outsource Call Center   by Glotfelty Zeches

in Marketing    (submitted 2012-02-08)

Selecting a telemarketing center is a decision that many companies in the United States must make in order to remain competitive or to handle increased phone call volume.

A call center provides a variety of services and reside in almost every country. Just like any other industry they have specializations and exist in different sizes such as startups, boutique centers, and large multi-country call centers that will compete for your business.

Whether choosing a telemarketing partner is the result of cost considerations, improvements in customer service or some other reason, there are a number of factors that need to be considered before finally selecting your outsource partner. If your establishment needs more services such as clerical, back office or accounting services, then you should to consider if your outsource partner can handle all of the tasks you need.

First you need to decide, based on the rationale for moving the specific functions to a contact center, where you want the call center to be based. You have three options; onshore (in the United States), near shore (Canada, Central or South America and the Caribbean) and offshore (everywhere else but most are in India or the Philippines).

Each area has its pluses and minuses which need to be carefully matched to the process you want to outsource. If neutral accents and familiarity of U.S. society is needed then those considerations may target specific countries or call centers that specialize in calls to and from the us.

If you are selecting a call center to make outbound sales phone calls to consumers then it needs to supply different agent skills then selling business to business and also must follow different federal compliance guidelines. The agents should not have accents that interfer with the process and some cultural understanding of the country in which you distribute your goods and services. When choosing a call center for outbound sales keep in mind who will furnish the calling list and, if calls are made to consumers (other than survey, nonprofit or political calls), the data list must be opt-in or DNC compliant.

If the telemarketing company receives customer payment by credit card then the telemarketing companyneeds to either be PCI compliant or adhere to your company's PCI compliance plan.

If the remittance is made through the telephone company either land line or mobile, then there are a number of phone company rules and FTC regulations along with specific rules and proceedures for refunds and conflict resolution.

If your chief interest is customer service, then you need to ask how the telephone calls are distributed to the agents and does the center have 24/7/365 capabilities if necessary and can they supply the required services levels at all times of the day.

When picking an outsource telemarketing company, training is crucial since they will become a very visible arm of your establishment. How they train their agents including product knowledge, script adherence and accent neutralization affects your customer experience. Does the outsource call center have their own quality assurance plan and should you spot check? What is the management to agent relationship? These concerns are just a few that need to fit within the service levels that you insist on from an outsource partner.

Don't forget to match your reporting requirements with the call center capabilities. You will want specific metrics regarding the calling lists used and dispositions of outbound and inbound phone calls. If you need phone call recordings, the dialer software used by the telemarketing centermust be able to handle this seamlessly.

This is a general overview of just some of the factors that must be included an any evaluation of outsource call centers or the construction of an RFP.

When selecting a call center, independent consultants are often engaged to assist companies develop the strategy and design that is consistent with their needs.

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