Developing a successful call center outsourcing plan

According to the Frost & Sullivan research firm, the 1996 U.S. market for call center services generated revenues of $15.4 billion, and the compound annual growth rate for such services is forecast at 15.8 percent. The research firm also discerned a trend toward outsourcing call center services.

So if you haven't already investigated whether to outsource some or all of your company's call center functions, the odds are you will be soon. The purpose of this article is to help you develop an outsourcing strategy that will help ensure a successful experience. Outsourcing can be an emotional decision for a company, particularly when it involves something as mission-critical as managing customer relationships. While the decision to outsource should not be taken lightly, it doesn't have to be something to fear.

Step 1

Examine your current infrastructure. The first step is determining whether outsourcing makes sense for your call center, and the best way to figure this out is to look at your current infrastructure. The following items will help you identify which functions you can reasonably outsource and will also give you an idea of what to look for from the dozens of available service providers.

Examine where the call center fits in your company's overall vision. Is it a corollary service of a single division or department, or is it absolutely vital to your company's success?

Evaluate your current internal resources. This step applies to people and technology. Are you able to hire and keep skilled agents in your area(s) of expertise? Is your technology current? Perhaps more important, are you willing to pay to keep it current? Don't just consider the initial capital outlay, but the ongoing expense to keep up with the most recent technology. You'll want to weigh options such as the cost of a new IVR unit against the cost of outsourcing automated voice response services.

Evaluate current performance levels. Measurement of current performance is a critical step because it will allow you to determine project management benchmarks should you choose to outsource any of your callcenter functions.

Examine which functions can be outsourced. You may have a variety of call center functions including sales, customer support such as billing, or technical support. Basic order- taking and order-status functions may be ideal for outsourced automated voice response applications, freeing your agents to handle more complex calls.

Determine which level of outsourcing is best. You'll want to take a hard look at which of your company's operations could be handled most effectively by a service provider. For example, a telecommunications company may be most comfortable outsourcing new account acquisition and billing functions, while keeping all technical support in-house.

Identify your particular needs. Specific requirements such as extremely large volume or strong automated response experience automatically narrow the candidate field. Even if this is your first foray into call centers and you aren't sure what your requirements are, that will also narrow the candidate field as you will want solid consulting experience in a variety of applications.

Step 2

Develop an outsourcing plan. Once you've done your homework and decided that outsourcing is right for your business, it's time to lay out the plan. Planning is one of the most essential elements to a successful outsourcing program, yet it's often the most overlooked aspect. One of the most common mistakes both customers and service providers make is to assume their planning work is finished once the project goes live. In fact, that's when your work is just beginning. Successful outsourcing projects require planning at the following junctures to ensure smooth transitions and continued customer satisfaction.

The planning process encompasses the following four stages:

The Blueprint. Proper planning at this stage ensures that you will have consistent goals. This stage is also where you will lay the groundwork for the kinds of agents you want to hire for the project. For example, a good sales agent is not necessarily a good customer care agent. You will also develop your training requirements and programs at this stage. This is also the time for both parties to lay out critical milestones and mutually agree to implementation target dates.

The Execution. Outsourcing call center functions resembles building a house in that a blueprint is only the beginning. Once you've developed the initial blueprint and launched your project, you need to know what kinds of planning to implement to keep the project running smoothly. Keep in mind that you're managing the service provider while you're managing the project. This planning stage is where you will incorporate escalation planning and reporting, service checkups and service-level agreements.

Your ongoing review process may include reviews at the 5-, 30-, 60- and 90-day marks.

The Contingency Plan. Contingency planning is a lot like insurance: You hope you never need it, but you don't want to be without it if the unthinkable happens. There are two types of contingency planning.

First, your service provider should have a plan of attack in the event of a service catastrophe. (If your service provider does not have a contingency plan, find a different service provider.) Make sure the plan covers every possible point of failure. You want redundancy in three key areas: at the site level, the network level and the operational level. You will also want to have an exit strategy in case your service provider fails to deliver on its promises.

The Future Vision. Once a project is successfully underway, you and your service provider need to focus on how to meet the requirements of the expanding call center. This includes mutual agreement on the level of technology implementation that will keep pace with your customers' and your company's demands. You will also work out a process for transitioning additional programs to your outsourcing provider.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. But there is no substitution for a wellthought-out plan if you want your outsourcing project to run smoothly. If it's handled properly, outsourcing call center functions offers many rewards, including improved productivity and job satisfaction among your in-house agents, continued or improved customer satisfaction and increased revenue. For information and subscriptions: Call Telemarketing 203-852-6800 or Fax to: 203-853-2845 or 203-838-4070.

Mark frei is vice president of sales for inbound services for the Interactive Teleservices division of West TeleServices Corporation. He is responsible for all inbound automated- and live-operator shared group services. West's Interactive Teleservices division provides large-volume automated voice response services.

Copyright Technology Marketing Corporation Nov 1997
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved