Good call centers have the potential to take your business to the next level. Likewise, a badly run call center can take your business to an early grave. But due to the many dynamics of modern-day businesses, it has been seen that companies are left with no time to focus on their call center work. This is an alarming sign and does not augur well for such enterprises.
Mismanaged call centers can be a major pain point for business owners and hence, there is a need to check on their operations timely. One lesser known fact about call center operations is the leeway taken by agents, which generally goes unnoticed and can be really harmful. In their effort to pacify the customers, agents sometimes make promises, which on the surface do not look like a big deal. However, when left unfulfilled these promises can be fateful and may become the cause of your customers leaving you in a hurry.
Promises: Why They Are Bad for Business?
Unlike the promises made by a brand about its product quality or delivery time, all other promises are nothing more than a liability. Especially in this day and age, where customers are smarter than ever before and have access to social media for venting out their anger, unwarranted assurances by agents can be highlighted in the worst way imaginable. The example below will make it clear for you:
Let’s say an agent is unable to complete the call within a stipulated time limit and assures a callback to the customer by a supervisor at a specific time. But he does not check the availability of the supervisor at that particular time and the callback promised never materializes. In this case, the customer will feel aggrieved and hard done. Firstly, because the product-related brand promise was never fulfilled; and secondly because your agent also gave a false assurance. It is likely that he will highlight this issue on a social media platform and your whole business will be affected.
Such incidents happen because an in-house call center often has inexperienced agents and managers that are too preoccupied in meeting SLA-related stats. They are never able to see the true picture of the whole business operation and make critical mistakes. Hence, it is a lot better to find competent call center outsourcing services that deal with complex cases on a regular basis and know the importance of promises.
Which Call Center Outsourcing Solutions Should I Choose?
The widespread growth of call centers across the globe has made the task of finding good call centers difficult. But this task can be made simple by understanding what is required by your business as far as call center outsourcing solutions are concerned. The first and the most basic thing you should look for is good managers. Most reputed call centers have the necessary infrastructure, CRM, phones, agents etc., but not all have good managers that can identify what is wrong and what is right for your business.
To ensure that you make the right decision as far as call center outsourcing is concerned; it won’t be a bad idea to check profiles of managers working in the company that you will be outsourcing your work to. Platforms like LinkedIn can give you a good idea about the experience, strengths and weakness of your outsourced managers. Also, if you are able to find a cost-efficient call center vendor, you can use the saved money in hiring a liaison manager that will serve as your eyes and ears in the outsourced call center. He will ensure that promises are never made at a personal level by the agents, and if they are (somehow) made then they are always fulfilled.