Guide For Customer Service Outsourcing For Small Business

Customer service may be the single most important factor when it comes to customer acquisition and retention. While most of us are aware of the importance of customer care, it can be difficult to maintain when businesses are spread thin with day-to-day operations. Small businesses especially feel the strain of providing quality customer service, when oftentimes one employee is already wearing many hats. Customer service outsourcing allows small businesses to achieve both growth and excellent customer care.

What is Customer Service Outsourcing?

Customer service outsourcing refers to the use of a third-party provider to handle customer phone calls and non-verbal communication in the form of contact centers or call centers. Whether contact is made via phone, email, social media, website form, or a live chat box, customer service outsourcing provides a personal level of customer care that reaches your customers across a variety of channels.

Pros of Customer Service Outsourcing

Today’s customers expect immediate, quality support, and they use a variety of platforms to reach out to businesses. Outsourcing customer care not only frees up time for you to focus on the tasks critical to operating your business, but it can actually improve the quality of your business overall. Customer service outsourcing provides many benefits for small businesses:

• Reduced Costs: Customer service outsourcing for small businesses reduces costs by removing the need for in-house customer care employees.
• Increased Revenue: Offering prompt, knowledgeable service will improve customer satisfaction and retention. Likewise, in-house employees will have more time to focus on core workload and growth, rather than getting bogged down by addressing customer questions. Small businesses will be more equipped to capture new customer inquiries with customer service outsourcing.
• Multilingual Support: Expand your customer base with multilingual support. While it may not be possible for small businesses to provide bilingual customer service in-house, outsourcing customer service allows businesses to choose a provider who offers multilingual support to a variety of customers.
• Increased Customer Satisfaction: Quality contact centers train their customer care specialists to deal with customer complaints, questions, and concerns with professionalism and tact. Even the most reputable businesses can encounter issues with customer satisfaction, but it’s how those issues are handled that will determine whether a customer stays with your business. Customer service outsourcing allows for prompt 24/7 service, with no wait times and improved customer retention.

Disadvantages Of Customer Service Outsourcing

It is understandable that businesses may have qualms about outsourcing their customer service. Will contact centers have enough business knowledge to ensure customer satisfaction? Does outsourcing raise any security or privacy concerns? Small businesses are right to consider the risks. It is imperative, therefore, that businesses work with a qualified, accredited call center like Ansafone. Customer care specialists at Ansafone are vetted and specifically trained to suit the needs of your business, so that every customer is offered the same professionalism and expertise expected from an in-house employee.

Outsourced Customer Service Channels

Customers reach out for assistance across many platforms. Thus, there are a variety of outsourced customer service channels available. Here we’ll outline the options for contact center support.

•  Live Phone Support: When a customer calls with a question or concern, they will receive prompt support from a contact center customer service specialist, 24/7/365.
• Live Chat Support: Allow customers to engage in real-time text conversation using live chat software embedded on a company’s website.
• Email Management: Customer service outsourcing offers services to manage incoming emails, and respond to customer emails promptly and effectively.
• Social Media Management: Customer service providers can manage social media engagement, including responding to comments and direct messages.

Should You Hire Customer Care Outsourcing Services?

Customer service does not have to be a burden for your small business. Customer service outsourcing will free up your time to focus on the tasks that build your business, but with so many options, it is important to choose carefully the services that you hire.

How To Choose The Best Outsourced Customer Service Provider

With many business process outsourcing options available, we’ll breakdown a list of aspects one should consider when choosing a provider.

• Genuine Engaged Customer Service Agents: Your customer service provider should employ only the most engaged, motivated customer care agents who will provide the most quality care, leaving your customers satisfied.
• Constant Quality Assurance and Data Monitoring: Choose a customer service outsourcing service that collects customer data to better understand the buyer persona. Quality assurance will improve customer satisfaction and increase sales in the long run.
• Latest Technology: Provide fast, effective service with the most up-to-date technological tools available across all communication channels.
• Fairly Priced Services: The costs need to match the services provided. Small businesses should avoid the temptation to outsource low-quality services in an effort to cut costs. Choose a customer service provider that provides high quality care at a fair price.
• Smooth Communication Process: An effective customer service outsourcing company will keep an open line of communication with your business. Look for a provider that values feedback and follows up with your business, so that you’re always in the know.

Conclusion 

Running a small business is no easy feat. Customer service outsourcing allows business owners to free up time and resources to focus on other critical operations. Effective customer care specialists will provide prompt, quality service, and improve new customer acquisition and retention, with live support at any hour of the day or night. Business owners should choose a provider who offers quality assurance, clear communication, the latest technology, and fair prices.

Outsource Customer Service for Your Small Business with Ansafone!

Ansafone Contact Centers is an award-winning BPO provider with 50 years of world-class customer experience and brand care. We are a national call center with omnichannel services, fully equipped to help you with your business and with any special circumstances.

Please request a quote or call 800-510-0514 to learn more about how you can benefit from outsourcing a call center and how we can improve your business. We’re happy to offer insight into what your customers seek from your company’s language offerings and tailored customer solutions