Call Center Outsourcing and its Pros & Cons in 2024!

Companies attempt to cut costs wherever possible. Budgeting plays an important role in this process. The process can help companies put more resources towards making improvements to areas of their company they want to focus on, like buying new equipment or appreciating their employees. 

It takes a lot of effort and dedication to run a successful business today. There are several reasons for this, including omnichannel marketing, customer care, and advancements in enterprise IT. This is more difficult than it used to be only, a decade ago.

The popularity of business process outsourcing in this environment makes sense since it’s an ideal solution for many functions like tech support, call center services, and accounting.

Several large corporations outsource whole departments, projects, and tasks to professional firms that can deliver high-quality service and deliver products on time. 

But what is call center outsourcing and what are the pros and cons of call center outsourcing? Let’s find that out!

What is Call Center Outsourcing?

Call Center Outsourcing refers to the outsourcing the customer support function of a company to a specialized provider. Customers can receive assistance with questions, payment failures, and many other issues from a third-party vendor. 

As a result of call center outsourcing, not only do companies save a great deal of money, time, and resources but they can also focus more on other critical business functions such as product design, marketing strategies, and sales.

It is therefore imperative for organizations to find outsourcing agencies that integrate well with their corporate culture. 

How do Outsourced Call Centers Work?

Businesses will generally start exploring call center outsourcing when they are faced with one of two situations. Other companies already have an in-house call-handling program, but their operating costs have risen to the point where it would make sense to find a more cost-effective alternative. 

A call center outsourcing process begins with an assessment of the pain point. Organizations explore their options with outsourcing companies. The goals and the methods for achieving them are discussed.

A customized script is then prepared with the client’s policies and procedures integrated into the script by the outsourcing partner. The script will be used to train their team and help the companies optimize their resources and time.

Call centers companies provides a range of services like addressing caller inquiries, managing and handling outbound calls, scheduling appointments, and leads generation. Pricing models vary among call centers, with some charging based on call duration, others charging per call, and still others offering a fixed monthly fee.

Generally, however, outsourcing call centers is much more affordable than hiring new employees or setting up an entire department from scratch. This is one of the main advantages of outsourcing call centers. 

Determine Call Center Outsourcing Needs

Business leaders and executives know what functions call center outsourcing providers should handle as soon as they realize outsourcing is time to do so. First instincts are sometimes wrong, as outsourcing different tasks bring both positives and negatives.

When seeking an outsourcing partner, it’s advisable to explore various options available in the market, considering factors such as technological capabilities and human expertise, to find a suitable partner for businesses seeking high-quality customer service.

The need for call center outsourcing changes depends on a vast number of variables, and some leaders overlook other avenues for profit if they outsource a department based on its importance alone.

Identifying the current state of the organization is recommended. What services do they currently deliver? How much do they charge? Does it divert attention from core competencies? Does the work they do meet your expectations? Does it differ based on geography?

Types of Call Center Outsourcing

A company should opt for a call center agency while having a clear idea of the services required from the third-party vendor. Eventually, this will help in calculating the cost of outsourcing your call center services and other details.

Every call center company requires different levels of expertise and skills based on the services it offers.

However, call center outsourcing is classified into 3 main categories. They are Outbound, Inbound, and Automated Call Centers that include an off-shore call center, in-house call center, or even a virtual outsourcing firm where agents work from different locations while answering calls from the cloud. 

1. Outbound Call Center

Outbound Call Centers are mainly used for outgoing calls, i.e. the agents of the outsourcing call center firm talk to the clients of the business or organization. They can be important for sales funnel and lead generation while acquiring brand-new customers. The outbound services related to this call center are:

• Market Research
• TeleSales
• Product Recalls
• Conducting Customer Surveys
• Billing Explanations
• Event Registration

2. Inbound Call Centers

Inbound call centers are responsible for taking calls initiated by the customer. Organizations typically opt for inbound call centers that provide support and resolve the queries of their clients. 

Companies outsource their inbound call centers for customer support because they do not have the infrastructure and personnel to handle a high volume of calls from customers. Inbound call centers provide the following services:

• Chat Support
• Email Responses
• Help Desk Services
• Tech Support
• Order Processing
• Hotlines

3. Automated Call Centers

Nowadays, nearly every company relies on automated calls i.e., electronic processes for staying in touch with their customers. The firms benefit from it because it eliminates the need to hire staff to take calls from customers.
The services that come under automated call centers are:

• Online Scheduling
• Appointment Reminders
• Email Management
• SMS Texting
• Check-in Reminders

Pros and Cons of Call Center Outsourcing in 2024

Outsourcing a business process away from your business space has its own set of pros and cons. Here we’ll discuss some of the major pros and cons of call center outsourcing for any business or enterprise.

Pros of Call Center Outsourciing

1. Increased Savings

Cost-effectiveness may be achieved by outsourcing customer service. In particular, if your customer base has increased significantly and customer service consumes a large portion of your profits.

In some cases, further spending on infrastructure, labor, and training does not justify its value. When this is the case, cooperating with the outsourcing company might be worthwhile.

It is necessary to do some easy math in order to determine if it would be beneficial. The average wage for customer service specialists, managers, and team leaders must be included as well.

Also consider the cost of infrastructure and technologies that enable them to do their work, such as call center software. Then compare those costs to those typically charged by outsourcing companies.

2. Reduced Workload

In customer service, there is often a high level of pressure. Furthermore, it is a very time-consuming endeavor that requires you to continually strive to build and maintain meaningful relationships with your customers. 

Managing customer service internally could be overwhelming for a business with limited resources that are looking to scale rapidly. This might make it difficult to focus on the most important functions of your company. 

Outsourcing your customer service in these instances can relieve a significant amount of pressure off your shoulders, and allow you to invest your energies into the core aspects of your growth strategy.

3. Field Experts

It is a good idea to outsource your call center business to a company that is dedicated to always being an expert in the field in order to ensure that your business is in the right direction at all times.

Moreover, a good outsource provider will research new systems and recommend them when they become available, and they have a deal with system providers that allows them to offer tools at a discounted rate to multiple clients.

4. Multilingual Customer Service

Hiring a call center company to serve your foreign customers is the best option if you have a client base that speaks different languages. In summary, companies are able to succeed in the international market without too much focus on customer service. 

Customer service can be better delivered by call center outsourcing firms than by large organizations’ internal customer support teams. Customer support agents at call centers, on the other hand, are more skilled and experienced enough to handle complex tasks with ease while providing satisfying customer service.

5. Efficient Customer Service Management

It is a Herculean task to build a customer service department from the ground up – and an expensive one at that! Recruiting the right talent, training them, and establishing clear processes and workflows can take several months. On top of that, customer service tools can require a lot of investment.

Those who specialize in customer service outsourcing will have the necessary resources and processes in place to handle a wide range of requests from customers of varying levels of complexity. They can therefore operate more efficiently and deliver products and services to customers faster.

Cons of Call Center Outsourcing

1. Lack of control

Generally, outsourcing is not the best option for businesses that require complete control over their customer service operations. When you select a partner with industry expertise and experience, you’ll be able to feel more comfortable with the loss of control.

In this case, you will need to review your RFP and conduct a site visit to identify a partner who you can trust with your business. 

2. Lack of product/service awareness

There is a possibility that your outsourcing partner does not understand the culture, ethics, and values of your company. Additionally, they may lack the same dedication to your product or service that your in-house team does. 

As a result, you’re less likely to provide quick and comprehensive responses to customer issues, which results in less-than-stellar service to your customers. Therefore, it’s imperative that your outsourced team is familiar with the company’s culture and offerings.

3. Security concerns

A background check is rarely conducted for overseas call center outsourcing companies. As a result, sharing sensitive and confidential data may be at risk compared to sharing highly confidential data with local outsourcing agencies that have undergone thorough background checks.

Privacy is therefore one of the major security concerns that can result in significant losses in the future.

4. Poor collaboration and information silos

The efficiency and effectiveness with which a team of customer service agents collaborates and exchanges information will depend largely on how well you outsource your customer service.

A poor customer experience occurs when agents do not collaborate well. It can lead to discrepancies and inconsistencies in the service you offer to your customers. 

Getting a different response each time your customers contact your outsourced service department, or worse, having their requests repeatedly transferred, not only makes your brand look unprofessional, but is also frustrating and wastes customers’ time. 

5. Lack of customer insights

Having a conversation with a client is a wealth of information. It is possible to lose this precious knowledge by outsourcing your call center operations. 

A message archive or call recording is an invaluable resource for discovering patterns. By finding similar issues and questions, you can make the product better. Using this information to explain common questions on the website could also be beneficial. 

Final word

Outsourcing customer service could be a contentious conversation for hours. In the end, which is better is up to you. There is a wide range of types of companies; some are small, some are large, some belong to a specific industry, and some have different objectives.

It is therefore up to you to make the final decision. Don’t settle for the easy answer – outsourcing or not. Do your homework and carefully consider the pros and cons of outsourcing call center services. 

Make sure that all options are explored, even partial outsourcing of customer service functions. You may also want to consider other options, like call center software such as KrispCall, which can help you organize your customer service processes and collect more data.

Once you have verified your assumptions, you should draw your own conclusions, even as you work with the call center services provider

Arun Chaudhary

Arun is SEO Analyst at KrispCall. He has written in extensively in the field of cloud telephony and call center solutions.