Are you in the process of selecting a call center outsourcing company? Before making a decision, make sure that you know all you need to be aware of about that provider, from what they offer to how they will manage your project.
Selecting a partner to manage your contact center is a task that requires a lot of research and evaluation. This company will speak your brand to your customers. That is why it is essential to ask the right questions. If we don't, we can risk choosing the wrong call center provider for our company, which can hurt our customer satisfaction and customer experience. But don't worry, here are several questions you should ask an outsourcing company to make a wiser decision.
Questions to Ask Before Selecting an Outsourcing Call Center:
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What level of experience can I expect from your personnel?
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What type of infrastructure and technology do you use?
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What are the security measures that you have in place?
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How will you help me boost my performance?
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Ask for references
What level of experience can I expect from your personnel?
If you are going to delegate part of your business to another company, you should be worried about who will manage it and how prepared they are to do it. Do their personnel have the knowledge and experience to manage your business processes?
In a contact center, you would like to know if the call center agents have a good level of English, their accent, customer service experience, and if they have good negotiation skills. You would like to know if the heads of the departments have the expertise and what they do, and if managers know about the processes and systems your company has.
It's okay to ask the outsourcer about the career background and skills of the people who will manage and work in your contact center. You can request the management team's resumes to see their experience, skills, and achievements. Ask about their personnel selection process, tests, and requirements for each call center position.
It would be insightful if you could visit their site and talk with some contact center agents, supervisors, and company managers.
What type of infrastructure and technology do you use?
Nowadays, our businesses rely on technology. That is why it's crucial to know what technology our outsourcers have or can implement. You would like to see if they have the technology requirements your call center operation requires to perform the assigned task and if it will support your phone call volume and systems.
You can ask about what systems and computer equipment they use. See if those are your call center’s requirements; if not, you can ask if they can provide you with what you need and if it would cost extra.
Ask about the infrastructure redundancy. What internet provider do they use, how do they protect their data centers, and if they have a power generator. You can include your IT team in a call to ask the specifics about your technology and infrastructure requirements.
And again, we recommend making a site visit to see the facilities and the physical infrastructure with your own eyes.
What are the security measures that you have in place?
If you share privileged data with your outsourced team like customer sensitive information, credit cards, or business processes, you need to know what security measures they have, from firewalls to cameras, to keep your call center secure.
There are several aspects you can consider when asking about security. On one hand, you would like to know how they protect the computers and systems with firewalls, VPNs, restrictions, user control, etc. On the other hand, is physical security, where you might like to know about access control, video surveillance, security policies, etc. Another topic to consider in this area is what insurances they have if an issue of this matter arises.
Luckily, information security certifications and quality standards can help answer this question. If the contact center outsourcing provider has certifications like ISO 20000, SOC, and/or PCI, you can know some of the measures they have in place for your operation.
How will you help me boost my performance?
As we have mentioned several times before, an outsourcing company should not only help you reduce your operational cost but also boost performance. We recommend looking for a company with experience that will work shoulder-to-shoulder with you and help you grow.
Ask about how they are going to manage your project. Will they set it up and forget about it, or are they going to give you reports, track KPIs, and provide feedback and improvements? Look for a cost-effective partner that will also provide value to your contact center. That is why you are looking for an experienced outsourcing provider.
You can ask for case studies to see how they have helped other companies or ask them directly about a time they have helped a client boost their performance.
Ask for references
Outsourcing companies can promise us many things and say great things about what they offer, but a way to have a better perspective of who they are and what kind of service they offer is by speaking with their clients.
They are the ones who can tell you if they are satisfied with the results they have gotten with that provider, how the outsourcing vendor has solved problems, the achievements the company has had thanks to this call center solution, and the strongest or weakest points of the outsourcing call center service. It also helps to know if the company has experience with similar clients as you and if those partnerships have been successful.
Are you looking for an outsourcing contact center?
We invite you to discover Call Center Services International's model. Our core business is to help you establish a high-performance yet cost-effective Nearshore Contact Center in Mexico. We became an extension of your current contact center operation by mirroring your processes and best practices. If you are interested and willing to ask us those questions, contact us at (877) 399-3419. We would be delighted to discuss your business needs.