NEWS - Call Center Insights
The latest industry insights & news from CCSI, Specialists in Establishing Contact Centers in Mexico for Debt Collection, Customer Service, Sales, BPO and more.
The latest industry insights & news from CCSI, Specialists in Establishing Contact Centers in Mexico for Debt Collection, Customer Service, Sales, BPO and more.
Outsourcing relationships help businesses to stay competitive in the market, help them focus on their primary functions and allows them to keep the growth coming, just to mention some of the benefits.
But, taking the decision of outsourcing a service and maintaining a successful relationship needs attention, trust, continuous communication and improvement.
When it comes to a contact center provider is even more important because they will communicate with your customers, they will become part of your customer experience. Sadly, sometimes these relationships can fail, and we might think it is because of the outsourcing service provider, but remember it is a partnership and both sides need to do their part to make the relationship successful. Here are 7 reasons why contact center outsourcing relationships can fail.
Unclear expectations
The problem starts when companies don’t have clear objectives, for example, they might ask why they need a contact center, many can be thinking just about cost, about speed, growth probably, but there is much more. The basic key questions are, what do you want to accomplish? What service quality you want to provide? What metrics do you need to keep or put in place? And, later, when they choose a company, it is also needed to establish common goals, KPIs and responsibilities.
Poor knowledge transfer
Another problem arises when companies don’t have a knowledge transfer process or plan. When processes aren’t defined, or inherent knowledge isn’t documented the learning process of the outsourced contact center can be slower and more difficult. It is also important to get involved in the training and remember that it isn’t a just one-time thing, continuous training is essential. When you ensure they know what your in-house team knows they can perform as good.
No cultural fit
Sometimes culture, values and attitudes are ignored when thinking in business and money, but they are as or more important than those things. Remember that an outsourced contact center will be an extension of your operation and that it would be a team which you will work with and sometimes will take decisions for your business. For that reason, look for a contact center that share values with your business, that have organizational culture that aligns with yours and that have a similar work culture. This will allow to run your project with more harmony.
Lack of communication
Communication is key in every aspect of our lives, no wonder it is important for outsourcing relationships. Both parts should understand what the expectations are, many can make the mistake of not following up after contract sign or implementation, every new process, system or practice should be informed, and every question should be answered.
Unforeseen costs
Unforeseen costs can appear when an outsourcing project doesn’t plan well or when outsourcing companies are unethical and try to charge hidden costs they didn’t mention you from the beginning. For that, we always recommend thinking not only in the price of the service, but all the costs can occur during the relationship, it is critical to review carefully the price structure the service provider offer you before signing a contract, that way you can negotiate something that can be good for both parts.
Lack of involvement
As we mentioned in knowledge transfer, involvement is meaningful. Train-the-trainer sessions, we suggest you get in charge of training the first generations, participate actively on the implementation of the project. Keep in mind that your outsourced team is still your team, don’t forget to include your team in special events of your company like theme days, incentive programs, celebrations and achievements.
Over-management
In the other hand, over management can also hurt outsourcing relationships. Companies need to trust their partners, and trust that each part has the expertise to do their respective job in the best way possible. Find the balance between getting involved and empower your partner to make wise decisions.
At Call Center Services International we like to build successful nearshore contact center relationships, we aren’t in the business of keeping unhappy clients, we believe in putting all our effort and work with our partners to reach a win-win situation and grow together. If you are looking for a long-term successful contact center partnership contact us to discuss your needs.