Customer experience is increasingly becoming the factor that differentiates brands. In order to satisfy customers, brands need to answer their phone calls, otherwise consumers may simply give up and move on to companies that respond more quickly. Answering emails is important, but if a company ignores calls, it can hurt sales. Here are reasons why companies should outsource to a call center if their business gets too busy to answer the phone.
Reaching Out Through Telemarketing
The concept of a call center has been around for decades. Some people may assume that internet marketing has outdated telemarketing, but that’s a myth. While it’s true that email and social media have overshadowed telemarketing in recent years, the need to contact customers and prospects through the phone has not diminished. In fact, the phone continues to be a powerful medium for closing deals. Furthermore, the phone can be used to establish closer relationships with people than email can.
By 2013, over 60% of American organizations used a cloud-based contact center solution, according to DMG Consulting. This number is expected to keep growing, along with the fact that many call centers are working on integrating virtual assistants. Studies show that over half of consumers are willing to pay a little more for products and services if they get to deal with helpful customer service agents.
Another recent study by Anaya revealed that 80% of consumers prefer the phone as a method for resolving issues. Email and social media communication are not always in real-time, whereas live phone calls allow for instant interaction.
Inbound vs. Outbound Calling
Marketing can be divided into inbound and outbound categories. Inbound marketing involves responding to consumers who come to you through any communication channel. Outbound marketing is about trying to find customers through a medium such as the phone. Brands can use a call center for both inbound and outbound calls. The inbound calls may deal with existing customers or prospects who have questions about your products and services. Outbound calls may involving cold calling to generate new leads or to follow-up on existing leads. It can also be used to do market research.
A third party call center typically consists of a room full of trained customer service agents who answer calls for businesses using menus and scripts. These agents learn your business through the redundancy of handling the same type of problems over and over. The customer states an issue as the call center employee looks it up on a menu then clicks the issue and is taken to a series of scripts that provide solutions. When the issue is unique, the agent transfers the call to a specialist. Ultimately, this process resolves many issues and helps retain loyal customers.
How to Customize Call Centers
One of the keys that can make a call center stand out from others is if it offers customization. If a call center can base its activity on your business needs instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, it can help give your business a personal touch. These days personalization is one of the major practices that leads to customer loyalty.
It’s important to understand the difference between an onshore and offshore call center. Companies that try to cut costs at the expense of quality customer service turn to foreign call centers that pay workers extremely low wages. The risk of using these offshore firms is that there can be language barrier issues as well as lack of concern by the low paid workers. If an industry requires compliance with government regulations on security and privacy, a brand must be very cautious of who represents their business when interacting with customers.
When customizing a call center, it helps to work with a firm that offers multiple call centers to choose from for the sake of diversity. Ideally, they have call centers around the country or world so that you can choose which locations work best for your region. Some firms have call centers that specialize in certain types of businesses.
Conclusion
Brands can improve customer satisfaction through inbound and outbound telemarketing using an outsourced call center. It’s the fastest method for resolving customer issues quickly. Consider a call center for building better relationships with customers.
