Know the differences on how inbound and outbound call centers can help you reach and engage with your customers.

INBOUND CALL CENTER

Inbound call centers receive incoming calls from customers or prospects and most of those calls come with issues or questions with an urgent need to be solved.

The most well-known function is customer service, but inbound call centers can do more than that, including generating profit with cross-sells and upsells.

Look to the most common services inbound call centers provide, such as:

Tech Support

Updating account information, password changing, and responding to complaints; inbound call center agents help customers to solve tech-related issues.

Order Management and Payment

Many customers still place their orders over the phone; this is where inbound call agents support customers in completing their purchases through a phone call. By the same route, customers reach out contact centers to ask questions about the billing or payment issues they may have.

Upsells and Upgrades

Inbound call centers often receive calls from clients looking to improve their current service plan. These tasks require agents to be knowledgeable to update all account information properly and, when needed, transfer the call to a sales agent or supervisor who can monitor the whole process of plan upgrade.

OUTBOUND CALL CENTER

An outbound call center specializes only in making outgoing calls to customers or prospects. To make outbound calls, the agents will require to have the contact information of the customer.

Outbound agents contact potential customers thru multiple channels to tell them about a specific product or service and also reach current customer to notify something or offer additional services.

These are the most common services outbound call centers offer:

Lead generation

Call center agents can support a sales team to increase demand, generate qualified leads, and input leads into a CRM. In addition, cold calling can be helpful to identify sales opportunities and collecting information over the phone to determine if a prospect is interested in purchasing the product or service.

Telemarketing

This service has shown, over the past five years, solid growth. Think about it this way: telemarketers are like door-to-door vendors, but, in this case, instead of going house-to-house, they pitch their products or services phone-number-by-phone-number.

Surveys

Outbound call center agents call prospects who match a target profile to learn more about their needs and interests. Market research serves to develop a better understanding of customer purchase habits and competition. Market research findings can improve sales conversion rates since sales representatives will gain essential information to form compelling sales pitches.

THERE’S ALWAYS THE HYBRID OPTION

Your contact center can provide a broad range of customer services and benefits by using both inbound and outbound call centers. Your overall goals and budget will determine the type of call center you decide to implement.

If you wonder which type of contact center is more convenient for your business purposes, you do not have to worry about choosing one over the other; instead, you can look for a call center service provider that offers a hybrid model.

Agents in a hybrid center are responsible for both receiving calls and reaching out to customers. This centralized communication ensures a consistent and seamless customer experience. Because all communication is handled through one team, your company can easily change and improve call policies.

Now that you know the differences about inbound and outbound call centers, you may want to keep learning more about the terms related to the call center industry.

Call Center Services International is an Inbound Outbound Nearshore Contact Center in Mexico; if you would like to know more about it visit our website or contact us now!