Why Small Businesses Should Use a Call Center

Being a small business owner is tough. You have to play multiple roles and still you may not get the kind of results you hoped for.

You may be selling the best product in the world, but if you are a small business owner, you do not stand a chance against your big counterparts. So how can small businesses capture their share of the market? If you run a small business, making the best use of available resources is the key to retain your competitive advantage.

Small businesses have limited resources and hence they need to leverage what they have. One way of doing this is to outsource business activities that do not require special expertise. You can, for example, outsource your customer support.

You can hire a call center to communicate with your customers. Call centers now do much more than forwarding calls. By utilizing these services, you can break into the big league.

Benefits of outsourcing

Call centers provide round the clock customer support. That means there will be someone to interact with your customers 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This ensures that your customers will be greeted by a live agent whenever they contact your customer support. This improves customer confidence in your brand.

In addition, when you outsource your customer support activities to a call center, you get to devote your time to more pressing issues. Small businesses are unlikely to employ a large number of people; therefore, it is imperative that they use their employees' skills in areas where they are required. Though important, customer service is not your core business activity.

Outsourcing leads to higher satisfaction levels and more sales

Consider this situation: Your call center agent easily solved a problem your customer had. Now that the customer is happy, you could perhaps use this opportunity to ask them if they would like to use one of the new products you have launched? Most call centers now provide this service.

Besides interacting with your customers, call center agents can complement your sales team and help you attract more customers. Better still, call centers guarantee 24/7 live customer support. This is far better than having an automated messaging tool because the personal touch will increase your sales and profits.

Professional customer service

Small businesses can also use call centers to manage their logistics. When you hire their service, you will have a team of highly trained and courteous representatives working hard to improve your company's public image and reputation. You just need to teach them how to use your company's ordering software and process sales.

Most importantly, these professionals are trained to respond politely to customers under all circumstances. When you outsource your customer care activities, you do not have to worry about having to turn down a customer request at 2 in the morning. No matter what time the customer calls, a 24/7 call center will ensure that the call is attended.

To conclude, by outsourcing your customer care activities, you are giving your startup a chance to compete with the big players. Customer service has suddenly become big business. Companies can no longer ignore the need to provide great customer support all through the day because an unhappy customer will never return to them.

 

How Customer Contact Centers Are Going to Change Over the Next Few Years

Thanks to the credit crunch, companies have realized the need to adopt a customer centric strategy. However, contact centers are unlikely to undergo major changes over the next few years.

What are the possible changes?

Now that new and innovative products are making their foray into the market, we should definitely see an improvement in customer care. Several organizations have already turned to cloud-based systems to improve the performance of their contact centers. There are also many organizations that have not yet woken up to the challenge.

The problems facing the contact centers

The most important factor that is still preventing many companies from upgrading their contact centers is the lack of budgets. Another reason is that organizations have not yet felt the need to change. Contact centers have been around for decades and have established a certain way of doing business. They just don't feel the need to embrace change anytime soon.

It is true that all organizations now want to be customer centric, but very few have got the right technology and people in place to deal with an empowered customer. Budget constraints are another major problem. Most organizations allocate nearly 90% of their operating budget to run existing systems. They do not have enough money to invest in newer systems.

Furthermore, running a contact center is hard work. Agents can go sick and customer problems can go unresolved. As a result, call center managers do not have enough time to explore the market to see if new technologies or products are available. All of these factors prevent them from adopting change.

The slowly changing face of call centers

The biggest change so far is the adoption of VoIP technologies. Now nearly 50% contact centers use VoIP. However, this change is largely fuelled by a desire to reduce operating costs. What's more, those contact centers that use VoIP do not use all the available features.

Another area that witnessed growth is the deployment of automated tools like IVR. Unfortunately, these tools have not yet been able to significantly improve the customer service.

Contact centers of tomorrow

Things are unlikely to be all that different 3 or 5 years from now. Over the next few years, the most likely changes will be the investments in VoIP technologies. There will also be some workforce optimization.

The two things that give hope to people expecting a sea change in customer care are the rise of cloud solutions and the increasing empowerment of the customer. Most companies now realize the need to improve their customer service. This will definitely encourage companies to invest in technologies that support multiple channels.

Gone are the days when letters and telephone were the only tools customers had at their disposal. Now they can contact the support center via multiple channels including text messaging, chat, and video. Applications that can personalize web-based interactions will also be popular in the future. There will also be an increase in the number of companies using smart desktop and web-based systems.

As we have already seen, the biggest change will be the adoption of cloud-based VoIP solutions. When companies use cloud systems, they do not have to invest in expensive hardware and software. Using a cloud-based solution is as simple as using a traditional web browser. As a result, agents and customers can use them easily.

Social media

Customers are increasingly taking to the internet to voice their complaints. Tools that allow companies to integrate social activity to their customer handling strategies are also likely to be popular.

In short, customer contact centers are unlikely to change much during the next five years or so. However, customers are more likely to receive better service.

How to Deal with an Angry Customer

Check out this helpful video on effectively dealing with irate customers during calls for a positive outcome:

Call Centers Must Comply with Changed TCPA Regulations

If your business uses a call center to market and generate leads, the revised TCPA regulations must be complied with. According to an article on Chief Marketer, the regulations set forth from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act “will require unambiguous written consent before a telemarketing call or text message,” and an established business relationship “no longer relieves advertisers of prior written consent.”

The changes in regulations are connected to the rise in mobile phone usage in the form of text alerts. Apparently, some marketers created problems when they “processed a large number of mobile leads and automatically put them on recurring text alerts."

Experts recommend that marketers employ tracking to avoid making mistakes. The new TCPA rules may make marketers nervous, but experts say that they can ultimately improve the way businesses generate leads.

Top Reasons To Embrace Cloud Technology

Modern customer contact centers employ technologies that allow them to talk to a large number of customers from one center. Customer contact centers need to be innovative. In fact, call centers have been adopting innovative technologies for some time. Most centers already support call recording, automatic dialers, and sophisticated routing.

In most cases, the company owns both the software and the hardware and hence they have complete control over the technology they use. While several companies still prefer to own the technology, this approach has several drawbacks. First, purchasing equipment is costly. Second, proper maintenance will be difficult without expert guidance.

Many industry analysts feel that the need to own the technology is actually holding the industry back. But this should change when the cloud technology becomes more popular. Cloud services eliminate the need to own expensive hardware. Moreover, it allows customer centers to improve the quality of their services.

A recent report published by Gartner confirms that when call centers use cloud-based technology, their total operating cost reduces. Furthermore, most cloud solutions permit the integration of several channels.

Customers themselves have already embraced cloud technology. Apple customers enjoy the benefits of the cloud-based service iCloud. It allows them to store their data in the cloud and access it from any device they like. The popularity of cloud services will only increase in the coming years and then firms that do not possess the same capability will look outdated.

If cloud technologies are better why should businesses obsess with the idea of owning technology? This can be attributed to the natural conservatism present in the IT field. That also explains why IT departments are unwilling to adopt wholesale changes without assurance of the benefits.

There are some other reasons as well. IT professionals are responsible for ensuring that the technology will provide the desired results and that it will be constantly available. Consequently, they seek control over the technology they use.

Fortunately, cloud technology advanced so much during the last few years that service availability is no longer a cause for concern. In fact, several providers of cloud services now guarantee 99.99% service availability.

Moving your customer contact centers to the cloud has several benefit:

·         Cloud technology allows the consolidation of contact centers across different sites. This improves overall efficiency and reduces operating costs.

·         Cloud technology also provides the ability to utilize data from various sources. This helps frontline agents to serve their customers more efficiently.

·         Greater flexibility is another advantage. Cloud services allow you to scale your operations up or down. At any given time, you only pay for the services you use. When your requirements increase, you can upgrade to a higher plan. This flexibility helps save money.

·         You get access to expensive software and hardware without having to invest in them. Since the equipment is owned and operated by the service provider you do not have to worry about maintenance either.

 

·         When you use cloud services, you can upgrade to newer technologies as they arrive.

Hopefully, when a heavyweight analyst like Gartner confirms these benefits, and assures companies about the availability of impressive services, we will see many more organizations adopting cloud technology in the coming years.

Some Basics of Cloud Telephony

Many people have heard about cloud computing and cloud telephony, but very few people understand what they are.

Cloud computing is all about accessing your data via the internet. You will have to pay a pre-determined recurring fee to use the service. When you use cloud computing services, you do not have to invest in expensive hardware or software. This makes these services cost effective and convenient.

What is cloud telephony?

Cloud telephony is another cloud based service. It uses voice over IP technology to deliver telephone calls over an internet connection.  Since cloud telephony runs on hardware owned and maintained by the service provider, businesses using this service do not have to invest in expensive conventional telephone equipment like PABXs. Of course, they have to pay a monthly subscription fee for using the service.

Great call handling features

VoIP is no longer about making free internet calls. Most cloud telephony service providers offer great call handling features including auto receptionist, call forwarding, music on hold, dial-by-name, parking, and screening. As a result cloud telephony allows SMEs to enjoy call handling capabilities that were formerly only available to large organizations. These call handling features also allow organizations to unify their physically separated staff.

Stay connected no matter where you are

Since calls are made over the internet, the physical location of employees does not matter. They can attend the calls no matter where they are. All calls are sent to a single landline number and then get routed to different employees. As a result, the caller gets the impression that all employees are in one place.

Cloud telephony services can deliver calls to cellphones. You may be running your small business almost exclusively from your mobile phone. This can give your callers the impression that your business does not have an office. When you use cloud telephony, you will get a landline number. Your mobile phones will then act as extensions of your landline number.

Cloud telephony also allows your staff to communicate better. They can, for example, call one another by dialing extensions. If they are at their computer, they can use the click-to-call feature. Cloud telephony also allows your employees to set up free conference calls.

Ease of use

Cloud telephony services can be easily set up. By contrast, if you use a traditional telephone system, you will need someone with consider technical skills to install it. This system will also need regular maintenance. Since cloud telephony uses equipment owned by the service provider, you do not have to purchase any costly equipment. In other words, when you use a cloud based service, you can reduce operating costs.

There is yet another problem with traditional telephone systems. As telecommunication technology is developing at a fast pace, these systems become outdated in months. By contrast, cloud service providers keep their equipment and technology at state-of-the-art level.

Huge savings

Since delivering phone calls over an internet connection is much more cost effective than leasing traditional phone lines, service providers can pass the savings on to their customers. In fact, an average customer who moves to cloud telephony can save up to 60% on line rentals and call costs. Better still, there is no compromise in call quality.

When you use cloud telephony, you will be able to provide better service to your customers. It also makes your staff more productive. There are obvious cost advantages, too.

 

How Will the Recent TCPA Rules Impact the Predictive Dialer?

The call center arena welcomed the predictive dialer’s arrival. It proved to a game changer of sorts in the industry. A large number of manual activities of the agent base were eliminated. An agent was assured of getting the right contact connection when he ended a call and was ready to take up another one.

However, there’s a challenge associated with this technology. It is subject to the scrutiny of governing bodies responsible for protecting the rights of consumers. Because of this, call centers are required to pay careful attention to which technologies they use. They need to first ascertain whether they are allowed to deploy a specific technology. Then they need to find out the appropriate methods in which that technology can be used.

To help with this process, LeadiD recently introduced a new Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) software application. The trustworthy media transactions arbiter provides a sound and effective way for organizations to keep themselves on the right side of the law. They can now get and display proof of proper TCPA disclosures being in place when they conduct their activities. The emphasis here is on demonstrating that they had the consumer’s express consent regarding receiving their call.

This TCPA app offers an access route to consent records that can prove legal compliance. It also allows lead buyers to confirm that they had obtained consent before dialing the lead.

The contact center environment has found this app considerably beneficial. No disruption is required in predictive dialer activities and the advantages of speed-to-contact are preserved. Because of this, the contact center can be sure that only people who have given their consent will be included in the list of numbers that will receive calls.

To put it briefly, the TCPA app presented by LeadiD offers conclusive confirmation of proper declarations. It makes sure that all dialer operations continue smoothly and without interruption. This is probably the first option that’s built with scalability in mind. It is likely to benefit industries related to short term loans, education, insurance, mortgage and others which are affected by changes in the TCPA rules.

The changes in rules are making it very important for lead buyers to ascertain definitively whether there were acceptable disclosers present on lead forms. In addition, such organizations need to be able to precisely document consumer consent details. They have to state whether or not they had the consumer’s express consent for receiving contact from the lead buyer. For complete legal compliance, companies will need to allow access to all their authoritative consent records. The TCPA app LeadiD helps with this process.

In spite of the new laws, contact centers continue to depend on the predictive dialer for assisting with crucial calling campaigns. With the predictive dialer from SpitFire Enterprise, both inbound activities as well as outbound ones are possible. This offers a completely integrated solution with unlimited lines that’s designed to be cost-effective and user-friendly.

This comprehensive software package offers all tools required for launching an integrated campaign. At the same time, it manages to adhere to all rules and regulations stipulated for the industry.

How to Offer Superior Call Center Service

It always makes smart business sense to give high quality customer service, especially in tough times. We’ve listed some proven principles that you can use for improving your customer service quality.

Understand that customer expectations change

Your customers’ expectations are likely to rise and change over a period of time. What worked last year might not be good enough at present. Use interviews, focus groups, and customer surveys to figure out customer needs accurately. Try to understand their thoughts regarding what they feel they’re not getting from your business.

Use superior customer service quality to get an edge

Even though your products are great and your delivery systems efficient, it’s quite likely that your competitors’ offerings are great too. So how can you get an edge? Make a long lasting difference through personalized and responsive customer service quality. Customers should feel that you’re ready to go an extra mile for them and they’ll appreciate you for it - and not forget about it soon.

Improve customer service quality in a sustained manner

Try to go beyond basic service levels and pleasantly surprise customers with the interactions they wish for but don’t really expect. Generally determine your industry’s customer service quality and figure out how you can offer something better. Offer more options and flexibility than is normal. Try to be above average in terms of delivery speeds and product warranties.

Your customers will appreciate your high standards. Eventually, competitors will also match the steps. So keep up the pace and try to step up service quality in a sustained way.

Strike the right balance

Try to manage customer expectations in the best possible way. You need to strike a balance between their expectations and what you can deliver.

A great way to do so is by creating a good reputation. Make clear promises and deliver accordingly. Once you have your customers’ trust, even when you cannot service requests right away, they will be willing to be patient most of the time.

Make amends effectively

Things may go wrong sometimes. In such cases, try to quickly set things right and demonstrate high quality customer service. Display sincere concern for any inconvenience or frustration. Go a step ahead with something positive like a gift or a discount coupon for future use.

Treat complaining customers as business building aids

It’s a fact that customers having complaints can offer new insights to your business. They point out the faulty areas of your system and weak, problematic procedures. Through them, you know which of your products and services are below par.

They prove to be vital aids to building a strong business by highlighting areas in which your competitors score better or your staff is lacking. You can regard complainers as free consultants who help you raise your customer service quality!

Take responsibility

Blaming other members and departments for shortfalls does not help. No point blaming computers, the budget, or the system either. In fact, this makes things worse. The customer is not interested in your internal problems; he wants a solution to HIS problems. Just focus on ending your customer’s pain as soon as possible and make the required changes.