How to Hire a Call Center Services Company

Nov. 14, 2011 - If you’re a first-time user of an outsourced call center services company you might not know what to expect, or ask, of your provider.  Having been on the provider side of the equation for many years, here’s my recommended approach to call center selection.

The first principal: Come to mutual agreement with the call center services provider on your program’s objectives.  Then, hold them to it.

Like direct mail and social media marketing, a great attribute of telemarketing is measurability – and, by extension, call center accountability.  So how do you keep a call center accountable?

Start by developing a list of goals – also called a Service Level Performance Agreement – with your prospective call center services firm.  If it doesn’t want to set performance goals for your campaign – or balks at agreeing on measurable standards – then keep looking.

OK, here’s a check list:

- Results Coding: The result of every call, be it inbound customer service or outbound B2B lead generation and sales appointment setting, should be coded for tracking and analysis.  This is critically important for adjusting and continually improving your campaign.  Results codes include: Processed Order, Appointment Set, Forwarded Customer to Client, Answered Caller’s Question, Survey Completed, Sale Completed.

- Success Rate: Depending on the type of campaign involved there should be a “best outcome” call result, such as scheduling a sales appointment, completing a sale or successfully resolving a customer problem.  Set a goal with your call center services manager for successful calls per week or month.

- Internal Measurement: As the client, measurement of your telemarketing campaign extends beyond the call center’s results report.  For customer service outsourcing and order taking programs, code your ads and have the call center incorporate them into their results report – and then adjust your ads according to those that generate best results.  For outbound telemarketing programs, track the quality of the sales leads you are getting, assessing the level of interest and appropriateness for your product or service offering. 

- Cost per Call: Call centers with advanced telemarketing technology infrastructures can measure results and costs to a high level of granularity, including breaking your campaign’s costs down to the individual call.  Ask your provider for project costs per call and hold him to it.

- Productivity: Similarly, the call center services company should provide data on call volume handled per FTE per week or month.  Productivity targets vary depending on the nature, length, purpose and detail-level of the campaign.  Work with your campaign project manager on setting productivity targets.

- Abandoned Calls: A key measurement for inbound call center quality is the percentage of abandoned calls.  Your call center should pick up calls within a pre-agreed time limit.

- First-Call Resolution: This is another critical measurement of inbound call center effectiveness.  Agree with your provider on a target for first-call resolution.  Target rates vary based on the complexity of the product or service involved.  Set a goal that reflects your program.

- Call Agent Availability: This measures the speed your call center agents resolve phone calls.  You want to balance speed with thoroughness.  Get your telemarketing provider to set an aggressive standard for agent availability.  

- Service Response: This measures the time needed to answer calls: the faster the better.  Your call center should validate the time it takes for calls to be picked up.

And the most important measure of all:

- ROI: This is what call centers are all about, right?  Lower your cost of doing business and boost your revenue.  For outbound campaigns, OnBrand24 clients typically realize returns of between 5-1 and 10-1 of realized revenue over telemarketing fees.  For inbound, results vary widely because campaigns vary widely – but I encourage you to press your call center for some level of ROI expectation.

That’s the gauntlet you should put your prospective call center through.  If it passes, you’re already well on your way to a strong, profitable relationship.

Mark Fichera, CEO
OnBrand24
Beverly, Massachusetts