Don’t Trust Your inbound call center To Just Any Answering Service

There was a time when the telephone system was an important part of every business operation. Those days have long gone. Today, a call center is often the most important part of businesses. Instead of purely serving as a point of contact should customer need to call with quick questions such as hours of operation, or to check the status of an order, call center services have evolved to the point where they have frequently become the revenue-generating business unit for many companies.

How can a company make money through its call center operations? Think telemarketing for one. Not just outbound telemarketing, the kind where agents go through lists of prospective clients and call them to pitch an offer or product, but inbound as well. That's right, there are businesses out there whose customers actually call them about their products, and in large volumes. These companies can't afford to let calls go to voicemail.

One of the difficulties in this business model is the investment in technology and staff needed to support a consistent and high quality experience for customers. That's where an experienced call center solution provider can step in, providing the required knowledge, equipment, trained staff and support. Hundreds of offshore call center operations have popped up in recent years, but don't judge all providers by these examples; there are companies that have been in this business for decades and they provide high quality, reliable and professional service. In addition to telemarketing and call answering, the better providers have the capacity to handle any volume of calls and have the expertise necessary to offer additional services, such as taking appointments, taking customer orders, responding to e-mails, conducting surveys (such as customer satisfaction surveys) and acting as an overflow for reception.

Like it or not, your business is judged by its telephone service, so make sure yours is capable of making you look good.



About the Author:

David F. Gingras is a well known speaker on the topic of effective call center services and a frequent guest at communications industry conferences. After earning his MBA, Gingras chose to avoid the usual career path of finance or sales and marketing, and instead accepted a role heading up the troubled inbound call center for a multinational insurance company, moving into consulting after successfully turning that operation around.