An eBook by DATAMARK, Inc.www.datamark.net

An Executive Toolkit

Outsourced Contact Center Services

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Intro: The outsourcing decision

Gaining access to technology and expertise

Benefits of consolidating contact centers

Benefits of relocating

Exceeding customer expectations in a multichannel world

Making it happen: Best practices and considerations for implementation

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At a certain point in an organization’s growth, the “writing on the

wall” becomes painfully clear:An in-house business function such as contact center services

(the focus of this eBook) becomes an increasing drain on the bottom line; customer complaints of slow or unresponsive service increase; agent turnover creeps up; and it becomes harder to find managers willing to deal with the headaches of day-to-day operations.

If operating contact center services in-house is turning into a distraction from your core business, then it may be time to explore outsourcing the function to an experienced, specialist provider.

For company leaders considering this important decision, this executive toolkit provides useful introductory information and links to in-depth resources to pave a path to success.

A starting point is a review of the benefits that can come from turning over contact center services to an outside provider. Benefits include lower costs, the ability to quickly ramp up to handle seasonal volume, and an ability to return your focus to core business. Read the “Top 10 Reasons to Outsource Your Call Center” to learn more.

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For many companies—even large, established ones—outsourcing may be something that has never been part of the organizational culture. Or it may have been attempted in the past, with mixed results.

Turning over a key business function to an outside provider is a big step that requires a number of careful considerations and a great deal of confidence in the new teams you’ll be working with.

If outsourcing is new to your organization, or if you need a refresher on best practices for engaging with a third party provider, read “Business Process Outsourcing 101: Five Steps for Success.” The eBook covers these topics:

1. Top reasons to outsource

2. Identifying ideal processes for outsourcing.

3. Conducting a cost analysis to determine if

outsourcing makes financial sense.

4. Choosing an outsourcing location.

5. Achieving a successful and sustainable BPO

engagement.

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Access to the latest contact center technology is one major

benefit of working with a service provider.The provider invests in facilities, equipment and software, helping

your organization avoid significant up-front costs. In regard to software platforms, today’s innovative

communications solutions are typically delivered through the cloud. A flexible cloud-based solution allows for quick ramp-up of agents for seasonal volumes, as well as regular software upgrades, helping to continually improve service, reporting and analytics.

Check out “Five Trends that are Moving Call Centers to the Cloud” to understand why more and more organizations are adopting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) contact center solutions.

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The annual Call Center Week Conference and Expo brings together the industry’s leading technology vendors and some new players eager to introduce their solutions to contact center service providers. DATAMARK developed a two-part information brief series to round-up the major technology trends exhibited at the conference.

Part 1 highlights:

• Cloud-based contact center software platforms

• Data security and customer authentication solutions

• Social media applications

• Gamification solutions to improve performance

• Using artificial intelligence to speed up problem resolution

Part 2 takes a closer look at:

• Language interpreting audio and video services

• Callback technologies to reduce wait times

• Workforce management platforms

• CRM and analytics solutions

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As they grow, many companies will add customer service

agents in locations geographically close to customers—at regional offices or distribution centers, for example. Acquisition of other companies also may bring in agents at offices scattered geographically.

However, at some point it may make sense to bring scattered service centers under one roof, so to speak, and bring consistency to training, technology and customer service culture. Consolidating, or centralizing, contact center operations also delivers many other benefits, including lower costs, streamlining of management and technical support, and the ability to free up facilities for core, income-producing business.

Read “The Benefits of Centralizing Contact Centers” to learn about conducting a cost analysis to determine if consolidation makes sense, and more reasons why centralizing locations can deliver peace of mind while improving customer service.

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Many times, when the decision to consolidate centers arises, it is also a good time to consider outsourcing the function to a specialized provider that already has the necessary facilities, technology platform and agent training systems in place.

Here are just a few benefits that are possible by consolidating contact center operations with an outsourcing services provider:

1. Gain economies of scale: Costs for facilities, equipment

and software come down on a per-agent basis when

operations ramp up.

2. Lower wage and real estate costs: Shift operations from

expensive cities to communities with lower costs of

living.

3. Reduce travel costs: Eliminate flights, hotel stays and

car rentals needed to check on distant contact centers.

4. Improve management efficiency: reduce the number of

directors, supervisors and analysts needed for

oversight.

To learn more, check out the infographic “Understanding the Benefits of Contact Center Consolidation.”

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The path to outsourcing your contact center services will

inevitably lead to the decision of where to locate the facility. Will it remain in-house, but with an outsourced staff? Off-site in the same community? Or can it be moved to a location with lower wages and an overall lower cost of living?

These are some of the questions to consider. Relocating your contact center services can lead to other advantages, such as access to a workforce that speaks English with a neutral accent, as found in the American Midwest and Southwest, and abroad in the Philippines.

The American Southwest, particularly along the U.S.-Mexico border, offers a bilingual workforce of agents who can switch effortlessly between English and Spanish on the same call, and who have a deep knowledge of Hispanic culture. Read more about the importance of language accents in “Selecting Call Center Services: Locate the Neutral Accent.”

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Connecting With the Hispanic Market

Part One: http://bit.ly/1b8eZ4P

Connecting With the Hispanic Market

Part Two: http://bit.ly/1DfXmMg

Outsourced Contact Centers in

Mexico-A Closer Look:

http://bit.ly/1wEHSiE

Many companies are taking advantage of contact center services located along the U.S.-Mexico border staffed by bilingual agents who speak neutral-accented English and Spanish. These agents also have an in-depth knowledge and cultural understanding effective for engaging with the U.S. Hispanic consumer market, which wields $1.2 trillion in purchasing power. Read these white papers to learn more:

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It’s not just Generation Y and Millennials: a growing number of

tech-savvy baby boomers and seniors are embracing multichannel customer communication. Consumers of all backgrounds are turning to companies for service and support—and to offer praise and complaints— through voice, email, web chat, and through social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.

Outsourced contact center services must be prepared to engage with customers through all channels, and with a variety of languages—primarily English and Spanish in the U.S. and Latin American markets.

Leading contact center service providers such as DATAMARK have responded to this era of customer interaction by investing in cloud-based multichannel communications technology, and by strategically locating facilities in the U.S. Southwest and along the U.S.-Mexico border to engage the growing (and very youthful) U.S. Hispanic consumer market.

Learn more about the multichannel trend by reading about one analyst’s prediction in “Social Media Customer Service to Equal Phone Call Interactions in Five Years.”

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2014 Contact Center Preferences

Survey:

http://bit.ly/1F9NS4k

Infographic: The Multichannel

Experience: http://bit.ly/1CddUmA

At DATAMARK, we regularly reach out to consumers through surveys to gauge their attitudes toward customer contact centers and their preferred channels for resolving issues.

This kind of feedback is critical, because it is used to develop near-term and long-term strategies for delivering outstanding multichannel customer service. Check out some recent results from our customer surveys:

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Armed with knowledge of internal capabilities, strengths and

weaknesses, a company should seek an outsourcing partner who also serves as a best-practices consultant. This partner can develop a strategic plan for a successful outsourcing engagement--a plan that includes a business process analysis to map out the organization’s customer service workflow and related processes. The partner can prepare a solution that includes new workflows to improve efficiency and the ability to serve customers across all channels.

Read more about a high-level view of multichannel strategies that take into consideration legal requirements, quality assurance, content for customers, performance metrics and other critical elements of the customer service environment in “Top 8 Best Practices for Multichannel Customer Contact.”

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Take the next step and open the channels of

customer service excellence.

The time is right to engage with a partner who can deliver all elements of a high-performance contact center.

These include: •Savings through the consolidation of geographically dispersed centers and relocation to communities with lower costs of living.•A high-skill bilingual workforce ready to engage with your customers and proudly represent your brand.•A provider that understands data collection, analytics and forecasting, and continuous process improvement.

Learn more by reading “Best Practices and Considerations for Multichannel Contact Center Implementation.”

For 25 years, DATAMARK, Inc. has provided outsourced bilingual (English/Spanish) multichannel contact center services, mailroom management document processing, business process improvement consulting and other outsourcing services for Fortune 500 companies across all industry sectors.

www.datamark.net

Find out if your organization can benefit from outsourced contact center services.

Contact us today to arrange for an initial consultation with a DATAMARK business process expert.

©2015 DATAMARK, Inc.