Inbound Call Center Services
Customer Service at a New — and Better — Level
As a business owner, you already know a strong customer focus is key to success. Attaining your goal of being the best may hinge on customer satisfaction. Your happy customers are your biggest advantage when it comes to spreading the word about your products and services. When your customers need to reach you, are you available?
The biggest customer complaints involve long waits or no answer at all. Right behind that is customer service agents who don’t seem to understand the issue and/or cannot answer the question.
Successful company leaders understand their customers want to support their favorite brands, so making it easy for them to feel heard and important is key.
What is an Inbound Call Center?
An inbound call center serves as a direct line of communication for your customers who have comments, questions, and concerns about your products and services. In today’s world, customers may choose to contact you through various channels, such as phone calls, chat sessions, or social media platforms. In addition to resolving customer issues and providing support in product usage, an inbound call center can also handle tasks like payment processing, appointment scheduling, refund issuance, claim filing, account updates, IT support, and more.
An inbound call center consists of agents trained in your brand, products or services. You choose how many agents are available and when your calls are answered. This is entirely scalable, so, for example, if you launch a new product or your business is seasonal, you can scale up your agents and hours to match the expected increased flow. Some typical industries using inbound call centers include:
- Insurance: Agents can take payments, open claims, resolve claims, handle customer questions and complaints, perform accounting and more. Maintaining updated insurance rules and regulations is expected.
- Healthcare: Agents can set appointments, transcribe medical records, perform data entry, take messages and more. HIPAA standards are strictly enforced.
- Financial: Agents can perform tedious tasks such as treasury reporting, accounts payable, data entry, bookkeeping and claims processing. Staying current with government regulations is mandatory.
These are just three industries where inbound call center services can make a huge difference in your customer care. Regardless of what industry you are in, there’s a place for affordable BPO services. Free your core team up for what it does best, whether that’s patient care or research and development.
Benefits of an Inbound Call Center
Keeping your client base happy is the key to driving to your number one goal: Being the best in your industry. Whether you are B2B or B2C, choosing to partner with an experienced BPO inbound call center will make the difference because your customers will tell their friends and family, as well as engaging in social media with you. A lively social media group on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or any number of up-and-coming apps has its own way of connecting you with your base and outward from there.
This ongoing and dependable customer contact is the main benefit to hiring an inbound call center, because the alternative is to provide this constant and perpetual customer service on your own. Here are just a few places where a BPO partner can help you shine:
- Superior customer experience: Customer retention is always less expensive than customer acquisition. A superior customer experience will keep your base happy.
- Grow your social media presence: A robust social media presence is a requirement in today’s digitally heavy customer base.
- Increased core operations: Your core group of employees can focus on helping you grow your business, rather than answering the phone.
- Data you can use: Your BPO call center will provide you with analytics and important customer data you can use to make business decisions around new products, sales and much more.
Setting up your own call center comes with a host of associated costs. Yes, you can hire a few people to sit in a phone room and answer the phones for less. However, a well-appointed call center fulfills many other necessary tasks to help your business thrive.
Average Costs Associated with Setting up Your Own Call Center
| Finding a facility to house the call center | $8-$12 per sq foot |
| Overhead (operating) | $5-$6 per sq ft |
| Furniture | $250 per workstation |
| Cabling | $250 per workstation |
| Hardware | Up to $13,000 per agent annually |
| Software fees | Up to $7,600 per month per user |
| Business license fee | Up to $6,000 |
| Agent training materials | $90 per month for one platform |
| Salaries | $3,000 average monthly per agent |
| Ongoing marketing | $300-$1,000 per month |
As you can see, you’ll save money by hiring an inbound call center in just the facility, hardware and software costs alone. And there are two other big costs: Remaining current on all new equipment and software innovations (including AI) and updates, plus recruiting, hiring and retaining employees.
Another big benefit of joining with an experienced call center partner is metrics and data. Your call center should provide you with measurable results and data. This information is vital to help you understand what’s working and where improvement is needed in your overall plan.
Optimize your customer experience with affordable, modern and fluid inbound call center solutions.
Inbound Call Center Services
Any B2C or B2B business interaction requiring your company to respond to your existing and potential customer base falls under the capabilities of an inbound call center.
Customer Service
Customer service is more than just a pleasant voice on the other end of communications. Done right, it’s something that makes your customers happy and satisfied — and makes them want to keep coming back to your brand or services. If they call upset or frustrated, we want them to leave feeling like someone listened and helped. If they need help, we want to successfully provide it. White-glove customer service is the goal.
Accounting and Collections
In order to be successful, you must be paid for your products and services. Having a trusted team of accounting professionals, as well as those versed in gentle collections, is mandatory. Understanding industry compliance and integrating new and updated software is paramount to optimizing your bottom line success. Your BPO partner takes care of training and updating, so you get the benefit without the stress and cost.
Direct Response Marketing
What happens when you ask your customers to take immediate action to access a new product or service, enter a contest for a free prize, gain points for referrals or even just respond on a social media app? Direct response marketing is a great way to expand your base, as well as bring new numbers to your bottom line. But your campaign can fall flat if the call or social media post is left unanswered. An inbound call center is always on for your customers.
Technical Support
The world of internet technology moves quickly. When your product or service depends on accessing the internet quickly and efficiently, your customers are bound to run into technical issues. From simple problems such as resetting a password to more challenging tasks, such as connecting to a printer or installing virus protection, you need to have IT experts in your corner to give your customers the technical support they need.
Inbound Sales
When a customer contacts your company for any reason, it is an opportunity to talk to them about your new products and services or other items that may complement the one they’ve already purchased. Inbound sales lead to increased purchasing and a more robust bottom line. Your in-house ad salespeople are supposed to be out there selling, not sitting in the office. The sad truth is that any new opportunity presented when a customer calls in can be lost if the call goes unanswered or to voicemail.
Back Office Processing
Data entry, number crunching, annual budgets, payroll… the list of back office processing tasks just gets longer every year. As your success grows, so does your requirement to manage a never-ending list of accounting duties so necessary to shine a clear light on your day-over-day progress. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could turn all of that over to professionals who have the right skills and the ability to keep up with new laws and regulations as they are issued?
Payment Processing
It’s necessary for your financial health to be able to quickly and efficiently process payments for your products or services. Most payments and payment processing are done online in today’s modern world. This entails handling sensitive information about your customers. Security and accuracy are the main goals. Putting those safeguards into place, while automating for less human error will win the day.
Facility & Procurement
You have a need for ongoing facility management and procurement. If you own your building, it’s important to take care of any issues as they arise, as well as performing ongoing regular maintenance to keep your space healthy. It’s not a duty you want on your plate and there’s no need for a FT or PT employee. An inbound call center agent can take care of all of this for you, so you can focus on growing your business.
Claims Processing
If you are in an industry where claims processing is necessary, you already know it can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. Claims processing requires data entry, reviewing, investigating in some cases, and decisions based on facts. It’s critically important to have accuracy, as well as the proper security and adherence to rules and regulations. Your outsourced claims processing service can simplify this process for you, so you and your staff have time to focus on core activities.
Costs of an Inbound Call Center
The cost of an inbound BPO call center hovers between $10,000 all the way up to $200,000. A great deal depends on the services you require, the number of agents involved and how many hours you need to have agents available to receive and handle your customers’ incoming contacts, whether that’s through the phone or various other channels, including social media.
It’s vital to meet with your own decision makers to understand where you want and need inbound call center services. If you are a B2B, for example, you can scale to hours when your business clients are operating. However, if you are a B2C, you may need to consider extending the hours. If you choose a nearshore partner, your call center will have normal business hours – just like your clients. However, if you choose an offshore BPO, your agents will be working through the night to be available when your customers are awake. Bringing potential BPO inbound call center experts into your meetings for insights may be valuable to help you choose what will work best.
Average Costs of the Three Main Call Center Models
| Type of Call Center | What It Is | Average Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Onshore | Located in the U.S. Agents are native English speakers and understand U.S. customers. | $20-$30 per agent per hour |
| Nearshore | Location that typically shares a border and time zone with the U.S. Agents are fluent in English and understand American customers. | $10-$20 per agent per hour |
| Offshore | Located far away from your customers. May be hard for English speakers to understand and somewhat familiar with U.S. customers. | $8-$15 per agent per hour |
Do You Need an Inbound Call Center Provider?
You’ve come to the right place if you are considering using an inbound call center provider to boost the bottom line of your B2B or B2C company. One thing is for sure: Customers drive the success of your company, so keeping them happy should be your number one goal. As mentioned, have a clear understanding of how exactly an inbound call center will help you achieve your goals. Once you’ve outlined a plan, keep these considerations in mind as you choose a partner:
- Do you have the in-house staff or funds to create a dedicated team for customer service? In many cases, reaching a voicemail will simply cause a caller to hang up and try a company with a similar product or service.
- Can your company use analytics and data to measure the success and failure of initiatives? This type of information is priceless when making company decisions concerning your products and services.
- Do you have the funds and ability in-house to incorporate new technology as it emerges into the market? This technological infrastructure is always changing and improving.
- If necessary in your industry, do you have the ability to stay current on all federal government rules and regulations, updates and changes as they become available?
These are just a few questions you need to ask yourself when evaluating your need for a BPO inbound call center.
Tips for Choosing the Right Inbound Call Center Provider
If you are new to choosing a BPO partner or thinking about switching, consider these tips to help simplify the process:
- Understand your needs: Have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish with your call center partner. Ask yourself when you need the lines of communication to be open, the level of complexity and the amount of support you need.
- Research various options: Check for call centers specializing in your industry. Ask for recommendations and look for honest reviews. Cull your results down to a few and invite their reps in for a presentation.
- Plan a budget: It’s best to go in with budgetary parameters in place. Look for a provider that offers scalable, flexible and customized options.
- Kick the tires: Look for BPO providers that offer a free trial period, as well as a demonstration, before you sign on the dotted line.
The most compelling item to check off your list is going into this venture with a clear idea of the support you want from your potential inbound call center partner.
Why Choose Confie BPO as Your Inbound Call Center?
For strong, continuous growth, your company needs a focused partner with one ideal: helping you optimize your operations for maximum benefits, including revenue building and creative solutions. With more than 1,500 bilingual and bicultural employees staffing our BPO center, you’ll have customizable and measurable results to drive business decisions. Here are a few of the unique ways the Confie BPO inbound call center will boost your bottom line:
- People-focused processes that utilize basic skills, such as listening and problem solving, as well as integrating the latest in innovative technology and trends to capture your new customers and meet your existing clients with the responsiveness they deserve.
- Meet all industry standards and guidelines, staying up-to-date with constantly changing governmental regulations, HIPAA and PCI compliance and top-notch, off-site data storage.
- No long-term commitment and simple scalability means you can see for yourself how our inbound call center services grow your existing base, while attracting new clients every day.
Why choose Confie BPO? The answer is simple: In a world of outsourcing options, we give you the competitive advantage.
FAQs about Inbound Call Center Services
Inbound call centers receive communications from clients and customers through a variety of channels. Outbound call centers reach out to new and prospective customers.
Potential agents go through in-depth training in a variety of communication methods, as well as how to represent a company’s brand when they are hired. Further training includes learning a brand’s products and services thoroughly, so they can speak knowledgably on the topic.
A BPO inbound call center needs physical space for in-person work and specialized software for virtual or remote work. Workstations equipped with top-notch telecommunications software, including IVR, CRM integration, and call routing, are essential. Each desk requires hardware and cabling, and therefore, security measures such as off-premises storage locations are critical.
Data analysis and metrics are priceless pieces of information you can receive from your inbound call center partner. This will show you the effectiveness of your campaigns, as well as the performance of each agent. Some common metrics include:
- Average Handling Time (AHT): The lower the AHT the better the agent is at resolving your customers’ calls in an efficient and productive way. The score is arrived at by dividing the number of calls by time spent on each call.
- First Call Resolution (FCR): A high FCR indicates agents are satisfactorily resolving calls without the need for follow-up calls or an escalation to a higher level of management.
- Abandoned Call Rate (ACR): This scores how many times a call is abandoned by the caller before a specified timeframe. The lower the number the better.