Things To Look For When Hiring A Call Center

So you are going to make the move and upgrade your store’s customer service by hiring a call center?  Before you pull the trigger, here are some things to consider.

1. Do you really need one? This is a major commitment.  My guess is that there will be at least a 6 month contract.   There will be training, setting up a toll free number, and more.  Be sure that the volume of your store can support such an agreement.  For me, I made the decision when I was getting more calls and emails than I could respond to, and I felt I was losing more than I wanted, and hiring my call center was worth it to capitalize on the orders I felt I was losing.

2.  Training/Call Monitoring/Coaching – Any decent call center, large or small, should have programs in place to initially and constantly update their training of their associates.  They should be trained in telephone customer service in general, problem solving, and training on the individual stores themselves.  Additionally, they should have call center managers who monitor calls to be sure quality standards are met.  When they are not, they should have a coaching program to help the rep in question improve their performance.  Don’t be afraid to ask these questions to find out exactly how they train their reps.

3. Knowledge of Software System – This is important, but not as much as you might think.  There are tons of different kinds of store systems out there, and the back end software is different on all of them.  On one hand, it is important that the reps know how to use the software in question.  On the other hand the individual reps themselves may never need to even see your back end software.  Many call centers simply pull up your website, take the order from the customer on the phone, and key it into your site just as they were the customer.

4. Reporting – The call center should provide you with monthly reporting to reflect the reporting on your account.  The reports should be able to show how many calls came in and went out, the time and length of the calls, and the outcome.  This reporting will help show you how beneficial the call center is being for you.  If the report show a large number of calls ending in orders, the call center is probably doing you a great service.  If a majority of them are ending in just questions or tracking inquiries, you might want to look at your site to see how you can improve it to cut down on these calls.

5. Dedicated Person with the Ability to Take Assignments – Of utmost importance, in my opinion, is to have a point person for your account.  One main contact that you can direct any questions, issues, or concerns to.  If you find that the customer service reps are giving out some incorrect information, or any other mistakes are being made, this is the person that you will go to to make sure that the issue gets resolved.  This should also be a person who you can give some directions to (“I need customer #1234 called, their item is on back order.  Please find out if they can wait”).  Note that this person may or may not be the actual one to make the calls, but they should be the one to coordinate the effort and report back to you.

6.  Administration – In many cases, you can upgrade your call center agreement to include administrative responsibilities.  This is where you can really begin to save your time and effort by having a person that does a lot of your back end work for you.  In my case, it’s Lori.  Lori checks all my orders, posts all my tracking numbers, follows up with suppliers if orders don’t ship on time.  She fixes billing issues, calls customers when a mistake is made, and she handles the problem customers that ask to speak to a manager.  If I have any problems or needs, whatsoever, Lori is who I turn to.  She checks and take care of my email and forwards to me what is important.  I have given Lori permission to make most decisions herself, but calls me when something comes up that needs my attention.  When I go on vacation, Lori handles everything.

I absolutely don’t know what I’d do without my call center.  In a business that I work part-time (and obviously have a full-time career to tend to), it is reassuring to know that I have people there to mind the store.

Because I know you are dying to know, I proudly use Call Center Services from Solid Cactus.

One Response to “Things To Look For When Hiring A Call Center”

1. Hiring A Call Center | Drop Ship Digest Says:
   August 16th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

   [...] Next up, what to look for when hiring a call center. [...]

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