Good customer service is the lifeblood of businesses in a customer-first world. Irrespective of whichever industry you are operating in, customer care should be such that it meets customers' growing needs, caters to new-age industries, and constantly improves. An increasing number of businesses are realizing the benefits of outsourcing. So, it is vital to do the legwork because there are chances that you get overwhelmed with the number of offerings in the market. How will you evaluate customer service outsourcing companies? Will you consider prices or skills? Or it is technology innovation and reliance on Artificial Intelligence?

Here, we will discuss the parameters for evaluating a top-performing outsourcing service provider.   

Price

It is better to talk about prices first because it is one of our major concerns when we outsource. Outsourcing prices vary based on offshoring, onshoring and nearshoring. There are other differentiators like dedicated resources and shared resources. Besides, many call centers also provide packaged services from which you can choose. However, it is recommended to sit your outsourcing provider and discuss the SLAs first. It would be best to choose a provider who is ready to offer customized services as per your business needs—different strokes for different folks.

Customer loyalty programs

What are you doing to retain customers? As per the stats, repeat customers invest 33 percent more than a new customer. And, it costs 6 percent more to acquire a new customer than to sell to a repeat customer. Hence, it is essential that customer service outsourcing companies consider customer retention as a priority. However, with increasing competition and technological advancement, keeping customers stick to your business just by good customer service is not enough. A good customer service call center provides good customer service and strategizes and manages customer loyalty programs on your behalf. After all, if old customers are engaged and valued, they will help spread good word-of-mouth and acquire new ones.   

Industry-specific skillset

Gone are the days when a travel call center agent also took calls for healthcare. Today, domain-centric services demand highly specialized skills and processes. For example – A Pharm. D graduate for pharmacy call center support; a qualified fashionista for apparel and fashion call center services.  

So you can see the need for consistent and committed customer support services that will nurture and strengthen your relationship with customers. Some of the major problems customers have are unanswered complaints, pricing-related issues, competitors with better offers, or they can feel you don't think of them. One has to be continually tuned in to a customer's shoes. Determining what and how they want is an essential factor to succeed. As there is continual flux in the market environment, you require a constant and dedicated approach to measure and connect with a consumer's varying impulses.

If customer service is not your specialized area or you lack the resources, it is advised to look for outsourcing. Customer service outsourcing companies will provide you a balance of cost and skill efficiency.