5 Things You Need to Ask Before Hiring a Call Center

Evaluating the effectiveness of a call center strategy is one of the major challenges of every company. It is also a key factor in the development and improvement of a brand. Establishing a quality customer service profile is such a key part of a company’s reputation, trustworthiness, and ultimate success that choosing a professional call center ought to be done with careful care and consideration.

Here are 5 things to ask when you are considering which call center to hire:

What is the call capacity of the call center?

It is helpful to understand how large a call center is, how many phone agents they have, and how many calls they process in a given day. Assuring that a call center can handle the volume of calls your business will receive can have a large impact on hold times and overall customer satisfaction.

Do they provide 24/7/365 service?

This question will be more or less relevant to you based upon the nature of your business, but generally speaking, having customer support available 24 hours conveys a level of accessibility and willingness to serve that is greatly appreciated by customers. This questions is especially relevant if your client base is international and access to customer service needs to be provided around the clock.

Can they integrate with your current system?

It is important to know whether a call center’s system can interface with the database application you have in place. Whether through a separate dedicated data circuit or a secure internet connection, a call center’s ability to emulate or connect to your system can provide ease of communication and efficiency in operations.

Do they provide call recording services?

Call recording services are beneficial for many reasons. Call recordings can be used for training purposes to ensure that every employee’s service is being held to the highest standard and that improvements can be made based upon performance. Call recording services are also necessary should conversations be referenced in litigation. When a call center keeps a thorough record of calls, allowing your business as a partner to listen when appropriate, you remain a central part of your company’s customer service

How are call center agents compensated and incentivized?

A call center’s care for their employees has a strong link to quality of service. Does the call center provide opportunities for career development and advancement? Is the wage competitive? Are there monetary incentives? What are the 401K and health insurance plans like? Do they have paid sick leave and vacation available? When these steps are taken to help call agents to feel valued, employee turnover decreases and they in turn provide higher quality service.
Considering the answers to these questions will allow you to decide on the best quality care for your customers and the ideal partnership in growing your business. 

Photo By stockmonkeys.com /CC