Call Centre Outsourcing
Outsourcing has become a hot topic in today’s contact centre business given the rise in popularity in offshoring UK operations overseas - to India, the Far East and into the new members states of the European Union. This exodus of UK work has been prompted by the potential of significant cost reductions due to lower labour costs.
However, staffing costs is certainly not the only factor that you need to consider, so asking and answering the following three questions is critical to build up your understanding of what outsourcing can do and to ensure that you get the right decision for your organisation.
1. What can outsourcing do for you as a business?
Outsourcing has a role to play in helping you to effectively balance the caller demand for services – by allowing you to share your peak call loads or certain call types with a third party specialist company who can manage the calls on your behalf. Outsourcers can provide both inbound response and outbound campaign services across a range of call types – telemarketing, customer service, technical helpdesk, debt management and many more. Outsourcing is ideal for running ad hoc campaigns especially where there is a specific need or a very defined piece of work.
2. What do you need to consider when outsourcing?
Is the contact centre a core competency of your business and critical to your success? There are many common reasons why you should be considering outsourcing. Clearly defining what you need from an outsourced centre, why you are doing it and getting the right people onboard are things to do even before you start to look for an outsourcer. This will save you time and money in the long run.
3. What are the common pitfalls that an organisation may face?
Defining your real business requirements up front is essential. There are many challenges to overcome. Then getting the right contract and service level management process in place is critical. When closing an existing centre you need to be aware of the legal employment rights of your staff and the transfer arrangements that need to be considered.
If you currently outsource, we can help you to effectively manage the relationship in order to get real value for your business. We undertake audits of existing contracts to ensure you the client is getting the service you deserve.
How qualified are RXP to support you in outsourcing?
RXP are independent and not linked to any one outsourcer whether in the UK or offshore. This independence ensures the client gets impartial advice and support which they need during one of the most challenging business decisions they will make regarding their contact centre. We have worked with a number of the key outsourcers in the UK and oversseas, so we know the issues and challenges that they face. This gives us as a consultancy a unique perspective.
