Call center outsourcing has been popular for decades now. But as companies grow more extensive and global, it’s become an even more viable strategy to optimize customer service operations. From cost savings, to expanding to more countries and time zones and delivering high-quality interactions, outsourcing can be a massive boon to your business.
In this article, we’ll cover what you should consider when choosing an outsourcing vendor, the biggest contact center outsourcing companies in the US, some best practices for managing communications with your vendor, and what to look for in the future.
Naturally, choosing a vendor for your contact center outsourcing requires a lot of research. Some of the most important aspects that you should look for include:
We’ve compiled a list of the top four call center outsourcing companies you can start working with today. While this is not an exhaustive list, it should give you plenty of information to make an educated decision for your outsourcing needs.
Founded in 2015, Helpware has seen rapid expansion across the globe, working alongside clients such as Google, Microsoft, and Zendesk. They specialize in the digital customer experience, offering a wide range of omnichannel support options from email support to contact center outsourcing.
Their “People as a Service” model helps emphasize a positive work culture reflected in their high-quality customer service. With a revenue of $3.4 million as of 2019 and a global presence, Helpware's adaptability and client-centric approach make it a standout in the outsourcing industry.
Based out of Orlando, XACT has been a part of the call center industry since 1998. With over two decades of experience, XACT provides tailored customer support solutions across various channels, including phone, chat, email, and web support. Their services are marked by a commitment to creating a seamless customer experience through extensive training and advanced technology.
Wing Assistant, another newcomer to the industry, was founded in 2018. Specializing in providing virtual assistant services, they’ve expanded to include call center outsourcing as a core part of their offering. They cater to a diverse range of needs, including administrative support and customer service, enabling them to tackle almost any industry. Whether you need a single agent or a fleet of them, Wing Assistant can help you deliver a strong customer experience.
Supporting over 50 languages and offering a global presence spanning the US, Philippines, and India, Triniter has a solid foothold in the contact center outsourcing industry. Offering services like customer and tech support, back office teams, and automation tools, they’re equipped to handle any issues your customers may have. Their broad reach across multiple industries gives them the strength and flexibility to adapt to any new business and deliver top-quality customer experiences. Triniter works with many high-profile companies, including HBO, PayPal, and Nike.
Finding the best call center outsourcing providers is already challenging, but ensuring you’re going to benefit from outsourcing is critical, which means you’ll need to figure out your company’s return on investment (ROI). To evaluate effectively, consider dividing it into four critical segments:
Setting clear and measurable KPIs is crucial when you start looking into outsourcing. These KPIs should make up your idea of success. These can include first call resolution rates, average call handling time, and customer satisfaction scores.
Monitoring these data points can provide reliable indicators of how successfully your chosen outsourcing partner is performing against your set expectations.
While KPIs provide qualitative aspects, it’s equally important to consider a more direct cost-benefit analysis. Call center outsourcing can result in significant savings, reducing overheads like salaries, training, and infrastructural expenses.
Compare these projected savings with your current costs to evaluate the immediate financial ROI. Just remember—the appeal of lower costs shouldn't overshadow the quality of service.
Success in today's business environment often comes down to focusing on core operations and maximizing efficiency. Outsourcing partners usually possess extensive industry knowledge and experience. They can deliver service on par with (or even surpassing) in-house teams, freeing them up to focus on other aspects of your business.
Evaluating the services your chosen vendor offers—and how it can affect your company once passed off to another team—is crucial when assessing whether the outsourcing ROI is worth it.
Finally, listening to feedback can dramatically impact your call center. Gathering feedback from your customers, agents, and employees can help you accurately gauge the impact of your outsourcing.
Use customer reviews, social media, surveys, and other means of communication to see how people are responding to your new call center, and make swift changes to ensure it continues to improve and boost your ROI. Collaborating with your outsourcing vendor on these issues can help lead to continuous improvement for you and your call center.
Developing a trusting, productive relationship between you and your call center outsourcing provider is critical. It requires active involvement and effective communication between both parties, which can be difficult to maintain. Here are some practical ways to manage and grow your relationship with your outsourcing vendor:
While contact center outsourcing can offer plenty of advantages, it’s important to be aware of the challenges that might come with it. Identifying potential problems before they happen can help mitigate them and ensure a productive—and profitable—partnership.
One of the most common concerns with contact center outsourcing is a drop in quality control, making it more difficult to track once it’s been outsourced. This can be dealt with by setting vital performance targets, establishing regular review processes, and using a robust quality assurance program, which can make a massive difference in the overall quality of your customer service.
Outsourced agents may lack detailed knowledge about your products or services, leading to a lower customer service standard. If they continue to underperform and aren’t trained properly, it can result in a poor quality experience, which may lead to customers churning and a loss of revenue. To overcome this, create detailed knowledge bases and provide ongoing training.
Connecting your databases with any third party can be a risk, even more so when you outsource customer interactions and information. You must evaluate and ensure your chosen outsourcing partner has robust data security protections and follows all relevant regulations. Without it, you put you and your customers at risk of data breaches and privacy issues.
Establishing smooth communications between you and your business is crucial because you’ll never know how your customers feel without it. Adding a third party to the mix can be difficult if they don’t speak the same languages as your customers or if cultures clash.
Working with outsourcing vendors that have agents familiar with cultural norms and fluent in your customer’s native languages can prevent these issues from ever arising, which is easy to do when you’re looking at US-based call center outsourcing companies.
Misunderstandings can arise due to misaligned expectations between businesses and call center providers. From the beginning, clearly define your expectations, deliverables, and KPIs. Regular communication and progress reviews can keep both parties aligned and proactively address concerns.
Technology is constantly advancing, and its impact on the call center industry moves just as fast. With so many new trends coming, it can be difficult to focus on what’s working and what isn’t.
Automation and AI integrations are massive parts of these new trends beyond just the applications of tools like ChatGPT. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI technologies help boost efficiency and productivity. They can handle simple queries, freeing up agents to focus on complex customer issues requiring a human touch and critical thinking.
Keeping your eyes on the horizon with evolving customer trends is important, too. Over the last few years, we’ve seen an increase in the need for an omnichannel approach, as customers want a seamless experience regardless of what platform they contact you on. Offering personalized customer experiences is also a growing trend, which makes using predictive analytics even more impactful.
Finally, one of the biggest trends is outsourcing responsibly by focusing on sustainability and the social responsibility of outsourcing. Ethical operations, fair employment practices, and a commitment to environmental care factors are all growing trends in companies. With it, we can all shape equal opportunities and optimize the future for everyone.
Outsourcing isn’t easy, even when looking at the biggest contact center outsourcing companies in the US. Understanding the factors to consider when picking an outsourcing partner, evaluating your ROI once you’ve selected a vendor, and maintaining healthy communications is critical to a thriving call center.
Maximizing the effectiveness of your call center doesn’t stop there, though. Using powerful quality assurance software can help your agents turn average customer interactions into amazing ones. Scorebuddy can support agent monitoring and coaching, and give you clear, up-to-date information on how your call center is running. Start a free trial today.
