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Call Centre Outsourcing: Beyond Cost Savings

Whatever a business’s passion, it needs satisfied customers. A business that cannot sell its products or services and keep buyers happy will quickly become a failed business. At the same time, it also needs to return a profit. And this creates a problem: how can costs be kept as low as possible, while keeping customers satisfied and returning a healthy profit? Many businesses have turned to call centre outsourcing as a solution. And it’s one that can deliver the seemingly impossible, better service at a lower cost.

“The main attraction of call centre outsourcing is, of course, the lower cost. Using a third-party outsourcing provider usually bring in savings of around 10-15% compared to the cost of in-house operations. There are many reasons outsourcing providers can deliver savings, but ultimately, they it is down to the fact that they are specialists and can realise economies of scale from their operations. The savings come from three main areas: facilities, technologies, staffing, and the list goes on,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, an award-winning mid-sized contact centre outsourcing provider.

In-house customer support is expensive. Finding a place for all those call agents to sit and work requires significant capital expenditure. While call centre outsourcing does not remove that need, it usually is much more cost effective. An outsourcing provider is likely to have anywhere between 20 to 50 clients sharing the capital costs. They may also operate from an area where property is more affordable than their client’s location.

Infrastructure costs likewise provide a cost saving. A provider’s size is likely to mean that things like per seat licensing costs are cheaper. And because of their size they are likely to be able to use their seats more efficiently, meaning that call centre outsourcing doesn’t just provide the call agent, it also avoids the waste of empty desks or unused software that would be unavoidable in-house.

Finally, call centre outsourcing can offer savings on staffing costs. For most businesses, salaries are the biggest expense they have. And while call centres still need to pay staff, there are still significant areas in which they can save. They may operate from a lower cost area, reducing the cost, but they can also benefit from their size. Supervision and management overheads can be shared between clients, as well as offering savings on the support services required, like HR or finance.

It’s also important to realise that call centre outsourcing can provide an improvement in quality as well as a cost saving. Call centres are focused on their core product, meaning that the infrastructure and technologies their agents use, and the agents themselves, are dedicated to the quality of their service. “When partnering with an experienced call centre outsourcing provider, most businesses can expect not just a financial saving, but also a healthy improvement in their customer satisfaction and net promoter scores,” says Ellspermann.

Using an onshore provider in Australia can save around 10-15%, while for those looking for even better options, looking abroad can improve those figures. The Philippines, a world-leading call centre destination, thanks to the accent-less English their premier call centres can offer, can be between 40-50% lower priced than in-house provision, while still providing the same or even better service standards. “The dual benefit of lower costs and better service, makes call centre outsourcing, whether onshore or offshore, an obvious choice,” he adds.