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Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
YOUR CHECKLIST FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT OUTSOURCED CONTACT CENTER
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
YOUR CHECKLIST FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT OUTSOURCED CONTACT CENTER
You’ve weighed your options and chosen to outsource your contact center. The benefits to revenue, customer service, and brand loyalty alone merit the choice. Yet to maximize your ROI, you need to select the right outsourced provider from the start. In that pursuit, we aim to help. Below are criteria that every exceptional partner will meet. Follow this checklist as you choose an outsourced center.
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
End-to-End BPO Solutions
Every interaction, from customer care and support to inbound and outbound sales, impacts your bottom line. The right outsourced contact center works to deliver remarkable experiences across them all. Before you pick a vendor, assess their answers to these questions.
You can learn a great deal about the caliber of a vendor by who trusts them with what aspects of their business.
o What are their flagship services?
o Do they provide omnichannel services?
o How do they support the end-to-end customer journey?
o Which are their most popular services with brand name clients?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Contact Center Capacity
Size matters more than you think. A contact center should be able to accommodate and grow with your business.
Having a workforce sufficient enough to provide remarkable experiences inspires long-term success across contact center programs.
o How many employees do they have?
o Is there a minimum or maximum number of seats for an outsourced program?
o How many centers do they operate?
o Do they have procedures and plans in place to scale with your growing business?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Technology
Your contact center team should be looking forward, not backward. That’s why we recommend reviewing how an outsourced partner adapts to tech before making your choice.
If so, they’re primed to provide responsive solutions that improve with time and effort.
o Which technologies do they use?
o How often do they roll out updates?
o How do they leverage analytics platforms?
o Do they explore new technologies that enable them to forge deeper connections?
o How do they train their staff on new technologies?
o Most important, do they see technology as a tool to empower their people rather than replace them?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Employee Training
A contact center is only as good as their people. But hiring exceptional people is just the first step. How a contact center cultivates their own internal talent decides a program’s performance.
A vendor’s ongoing improvements will reveal if they’ll adapt to or flounder with your real-time challenges.
o Does an outsourced program have an official training program?
o How do they cater to different learning styles?
o Is there unique training around a client’s business, culture, and offerings?
o How often does one-on-one coaching occur?
o How do they measure the success of their training programs?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Culture
How a contact center treats their employees matter. A vendor’s agents are the bridge between you and your customers, so it’s worth researching their culture.
By identifying outsourced agents’ on-the-job satisfaction, you can predict their likelihood of delivering extraordinary experiences.
o What are their values?
o How do they convey the meaning of contact center work to their team?
o What is the work atmosphere like?
o Are agents rewarded for their performance?
o Do they have opportunities to grow?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Reputation
The reputation of a great contact center precedes it. Customers sing their praises and love their services. Here’s what you should be asking about to learn those stories:
If you’re hearing positive stories, you can tell that a contact center will walk the talk.
o Do they have case studies showcasing their strengths and tangible results?
o Do big name brands trust their services?
o Can they provide you with testimonials from a wide variety of clients?
o Are their customers willing to talk about first-hand experience?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Performance Benchmarking
Does a contact center even deliver results? That’s the multi-million-dollar question. A great contact center measures, tracks, and double-checks the impact of their performance. It’s that diligence which best predicts a vendor’s ability to fulfill their SLA and meet your goals.
The more detailed their response, the better you know your business is in good hands.
o What metrics do they monitor to define success?
o What is the process for communicating these metrics?
o How do they improve processes when they fall short of SLAs?
o How often do they achieve clients’ goals?
o How do they compare side-by-side against their competitors?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Data Security
Your customers’ sensitive data are a juicy prize for any enterprising hacker. Data breaches result in negative ramifications for your customers and your business. That’s why security should be of paramount importance to a contact center.
In all cases, a vendor’s response should prove they’ll treat your customers’ data as their own.
o Do they prioritize network security?
o Is the business compliant with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)?
o Do they take preventative action to avoid data theft (i.e. a no-cell-phones-or-cameras policy on-site)?
o How does data security play into their business continuity and contingency plans?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
Pricing
Cost is an important consideration, but should never sacrifice quality. Rather than pursuing the lowest rate, find out the extent and quality of services associated with a vendor’s price tag.
Focus on the relative bang you get for your buck and you’ll be better at selecting the right contact center partner.
o What are the upfront and ongoing costs?
o What are the featured services for your pricing model?
o Are there performance guarantees connected to the cost?
o How do their costs compare to in-house efforts or other competing outsourcers?
Your Checklist for Choosing the Right Outsourced Contact Center
WANT TO EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS?
Ask for an RFP from TLC Associates. We’ll not only prove our contact center solutions align with the above criteria, but are equipped to realize your business goals.
For more information, please contact [email protected]
