Answering Centers: A Good Idea For Your Struggling Business?

One of the hottest trends in business these days is the call center. Outsourcing calls can raise profits, improve the quality of customer service, streamline business operations and save money. With virtual accessibility, call centers have become an option for any business, large or small.<br><br>What are the advantages to a business owner of using a call center?<br><br>(1) Staying Up-to-date. Call center agents are available 24/7 to handle calls and keep business owners advised about what's going on in their customer base. Some call centers even furnish statistics about customer calls.<br><br>(2) Fewer Personnel Problems. Agents are recruited and trained by the call center, which also handles payroll and other personnel responsibilities.<br><br>(3) Efficiency. Incoming calls are automatically transmitted to the applicable agent, making the best possible use of an agent's knowledge and expertise. If one agent cannot solve a problem, the call can be rerouted to a more informed agent. Calls are always answered despite the ebb and flow of business call volume.<br><br>(4) Accessibility. With 24/7 staffing, agents are always available to fill orders, tackle problems or complaints, offer technical support, answer questions and set appointments, all at the customer's leisure.<br><br>(5) Savings. Using a call center eliminates the need for office space, furnishings and equipment for customer service representatives. Also, it's less expensive to outsource calls than to hire agents on all three shifts.<br><br>(6) Increased Freedom. Call centers handle the customer base, freeing owners to develop their business.<br><br>On the other hand, there is liabilities to using call centers.<br><br>(1) Irregular Service. The quality of customer support depends upon the skill and expertise of a given agent and abilities can vary widely between agents.<br><br>(2) Communication Issues. Customers are frustrated by not being understood and not understanding agents from call centers in non-English speaking countries, with accents and/or insufficient ability with the English language. Some customers maintain that these agents are poorly trained, unable to solve problems, answer questions or take appropriate actions.<br><br>(3) Lack of Supervisory Personnel. Some call centers have insufficient supervisory personnel to rectify problems an individual agent cannot deal with. This can leave a customer's problem indefinitely in limbo.<br><br>(4) Discontented Agents. Some representatives report feeling dehumanized at call centers due to low wages, lack of privacy, inability to leave their work stations and the stress of continual incoming calls. This can produce unresponsive agents who are unfriendly to customers.<br><br>(5) Having to Call Repeatedly. Some customers complain that, due to the great variability of skill among agents, they must phone the call center more than once to connect with an agent who has the ability to solve a particular problem or to address a particular query.<br><br>Call centers are the wave of the future and most businesses are at least considering outsourcing their calls. Ultimately, the success of outsourcing will be a function of the caliber of customer service delivered by the call centers themselves.<br><br>

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